Jeff Petty, Principal
Grade level: 7, 9–12
Free and Reduced Meals: 63.2%
Year school began to implement innovative practices: 2005
Highline Big Picture High School is a college and career preparatory public high school where students graduate based on competencies demonstrated through portfolios and exhibitions rather than accumulated credits based on seat-time. The school serves students from the Highline, Seattle, Tukwila, Kent, and Federal Way school districts. Unique features of the school include:
- Grade-level Advisory – Students remain in the same advisory for their entire high school career.
- Individualized Learning Plan (ILP) – Each student develops his or her ILP in collaboration with the advisor and parent(s).
- Off-site Internships – Students spend two days a week off-site working in internships with adult mentors who share their interests.
- Individualized Instruction – In lieu of a traditional schedule of classes, advisors teach and otherwise facilitate learning one-on-one and in various configurations according to the needs of the advisory group and students’ Individualized Learning Plans.
- Project-based Learning – Students complete academic requirements through school-based projects and activities and a series of increasingly complex projects developed through their internships.
- Non-traditional Promotion – Students “level-up” from one level to the next by demonstrating their competence in various learning goals aligned with state standards.