School District Spotlight: Tahoma School District

It seems that all too often we get bogged down in cynicism and disheartening news. It is very important to remember the things districts are doing to succeed and improve our schools. Although it is nice to read national rankings from Newsweek or other sources, sometimes these prove to be a bit skewed. Where it comes down to graduation rates, Advanced Placement (AP) classes offered, etc, there are definitely other factors that make a school district great. I will be highlighting these schools each week and talking about what truly defines them as a great district.

This week I will be looking at….Tahoma School District! Tahoma is home to 7,200 students in Maple Valley.. The high school was ranked among the top 5 percent of the nation’s public high schools this year in Newsweek Magazine. Newsweek compiles this list by taking the number of AP students divided by graduating seniors. Like I said before, yes, this gives a ranking of those schools that are highly successful with AP courses. Tahoma also consistently outperforms the rest of Washington in the 10^th grade WASL.So overall, it definitely looks like Tahoma is doing what they need to do to make Newsweek.

Even with these successes, Tahoma High School is one of 75 high schools in the nation participating in a five-year study aimed at identifying and testing more effective ways to provide education to students. The school district has been working on a program called Classroom 10, which prepares students with the necessary skills to enter the 21^st century through a much more innovative yet focused curriculum. Classroom 10 allows students to use a different approach to come to conclusions by thinking flexibly, striving for accuracy, applying past knowledge to new situations and taking responsible risks. This is something that cannot be ranked using an equation, but it is definitely something to be praised.

Keep up the good work, Tahoma!