Dear Parents, Guardians, and Scholars of Todd Beamer High School,We grow, nurture, and improve school climate every single day, and it takes all the adults and all the scholars in our building to do so!  One of our best assets as a school is the diversity of our student population!  Did you know that Federal Way Public Schools is the most diverse school district in the state?  Our end-of semester Multicultural Assembly was such a success January 30th!  Thank you to the ASB Leadership, ASB Advisory teacher Ms. Bray, BSU’s Step Team (Advisor Ms. Laguana Smith), our LatinX Club (Advisors Ms. Hanway and Mr. Huffstetler-Rowan), Pacific Islander Club (Advisor Ms. McKinney), PRISM (LGBTQ) Club (Advisory Ms. Johnson), Air Force JROTC (Teacher Major Jones and Sgt. Lott), and Scholar Evelyn S. for her a bit of Irish dancing! We are so proud of ALL our scholars!

The first semester has come to an end and our students continue to be reminded daily to persist with assignment due dates, to focus on learning challenging material, and to take care of themselves by eating right, exercising, and balancing work with play.  It is important to learn these skills now before we send them off to college or technical school! As a reminder to our seniors:  please see our College and Career Specialist, Ms. Collopy to ensure you have completed your Financial Aid forms.  A few of you may decide later to attend university, so get this done to qualify for financial assistance!

Our graduation rate deserves recognition as our school and district take pride in developing a graduation pathway that is individualized and meaningful for each student.  Currently, our graduation rate is 88%, one of the highest in the region.  How is this possible?  Our state has identified multiple graduation pathways for scholars and it has been a priority for us as a school to ensure we guide and lead scholars to make the best choice for them. With opportunities available for them through the Puget Sound Skills Center, Highland Community College, Green River Community College and partnerships with University of Washington---we know our children can achieve a lot more with proper guidance and care from parents and our amazing counseling team.

Coming up in the next few months:  February is Black History Month; Student Led Conferences March 19th and 20th; SAT and AP testing; and on June 9th---Graduation!! Thanks for supporting our school, our teachers, and our scholars in the work of learning and character building.  Let me conclude with this quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.  Intelligence plus character---that is the goal of true education.”

In partnership,

Anali Weatherhead