Evergreen High School with a student body of nearly 1000 held a celebration and welcoming ceremony on the first day of school Sept. 6 for a very special reason. For the first time in a decade the school was one unified campus. The school had been divided 2007 in an experiment funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to increase student achievement levels. The three small schools were named: Technology, Engineering & Communications School (TEC), Health Sciences & Human Services High School (HS3), and Arts & Academics Academy (AAA).

But the experiment proved to have mixed results and the decision was made to reunify the school this year.

The rally began at 6:45am as teachers, administrators, alumnae, parents and the cheer staff formed a friendly gauntlet to greet students as they arrived. Some kids were a little surprised and ducked into other entrances but most were amazed and amused by the posters and smiling faces. 

While the students will be the most likely beneficiaries of the change, the gathered alumnae, community supporters and adminstrators were clearly the ones happiest about the renewed status.

Aaron Garcia an alumni and former Guidance Counselor at Evergreen now with the White Center Community Development Association as White Center Promise Manager said, "I think this was a very community centered effort. Evergreen's always been a hub. The original change was to improve academic trends but it was hit or miss. I will admit there were some areas where I definitely saw some improvement, but something that was missing was the community environment where people felt connected to the school. So, I'm excited we're moving back to a comprehensive school."

Long Phan, an Evergreen graduate who went on to Harvard, is the son of refugees and the first member of his family to go to college. He was behind a fund raising effort to buy sweatshirts for as many people as he could. He raised $18 thousand dollars and the shirts were evident as the students gathered in the gym for a welcoming assembly.

Phan said, "This has brought the community together and we are so excited. Evergreen has always had a really strong family feel. We are one big family and we are here to support the community we know and love. It's overwhelming personally just to see the community out supporting our students and staff. I think when we are all focused on each other's success it will result in better academic outcomes and better sports performance."

Principal Jacqueline Downey said, "We realized that the structure of the school was limiting to students in terms of activities outside of school and also in terms of course variables they could take, so by coming back as one high school it allows us to still have small learning communities so that teachers are sharing students. But we now have broader opportunities for students to take more courses and engage in activities outside the school. I'm thrilled to be able to help create that one school. Creating one family on behalf of our students and community is an honor and really they've been asking for it. The turn out today shows the broad support we have and how people feel connected to this school."

Athletic Director for Evergreen Emily Zimmerman said she believes the new togetherness will improve athletic participation and performance. "Our numbers are already up for soccer and volleyball this year and our football numbers are up this year too." The first game, a cross league contest vs. West Seattle resulted in a 68-0 loss, stopped in the third quarter but Evergreen was clearly undermanned. "We've got a lot of ineligible players so that's something our coach is working on. We are working on eliminating barriers for kids who have trouble getting to practice and more. The school is doing a really good job to make sure they get there. The team will grow, we should have ten more on the sidelines" for future games she said.

The Class of 1966 gathered $15,000 for a new electronic readerboard, being installed next week. They got together at their 50th reunion and made it happen. Mike Turner, Rick Canady, Ken Ruud, and Allen Sample were all there to help present the check. 

One of the most famous alums, former quarterback Jack Thompson (1974) was on hand to welcome the students and said, "When they split it up into three schools that was a real head scratcher for me... I'm just glad it's reunified. I think the community has rallied around it. I think the Highline School District thought that it was as experiment that was best in the rear view mirror and I'm glad. Now these kids will grow up in a tradition similar to what we grew up in and I think that's a good thing."

The rally began at 6:45am as teachers, administrators, alumnae, parents and the cheer staff formed a friendly gauntlet to greet students as they arrived. Some kids were a little surprised and ducked into other entrances but most were amazed and amused by the posters and smiling faces. 

While the students will be the most likely beneficiaries of the change, the gathered alumnae, community supporters and adminstrators were clearly the one happiest about the renewed status.

Aaron Garcia an alumni and former Guidance Counselor at Evergreen now with the White Center Community Development Association as White Center Promise Manager said, "I think this was a very community centered effort. Evergreen's always been a hub. The original change was to improve academic trends but it was hit or miss. I will admit there were some areas where I definitely saw some improvement, but something that was missing was the community environment where people felt connected to the school. So, I'm excited we're moving back to a comprehensive school."

Long Phan, an Evergreen graduate who went on to Harvard, is the son of refugees and the first member of his family to go to college was behind a fund raising effort to buy sweatshirts for as many people as he could. He raised thousands of dollars and the shirts were evident as the students gathered in the gym for a welcoming assembly. Phan said, "This has brought the community together and we are so excited. Evergreen has always had a really strong family feel. We are one big family and we are here to support the community we know and love. It's overwhelming personally just to see the community out supporting our students and staff. I think when we are all focused on each other's success it will result in better academic outcomes and better sports performance."

Principal Jacqueline Downey said, "We realized that the structure of the school was limiting to students in terms of activities outside of school and also in terms of course variables they could take so by coming back as one high school it allows us to still have small learning communities so that teachers are sharing students but we now have broader opportunities for students to take more courses and engage in activities outside the school. I'm thrilled to be able to help create that one school, one family on behalf of our students and community is an honor and really they've been asking for it. The turn out today shows the broad support we have how people feel connected to this school."

Athletic Director for Evergreen Emily Zimmerman said she believes the new togetherness will improve athletic participation and performance. "Our numbers are already up for soccer and volleyball this year and our football numbers are up this year." The first game, a cross league contest vs. West Seattle resulted in a 68-0 loss, stopped in the third quarter but Evergreen was clearly undermanned. "We've got a lot of ineligible players so that's something our coach is working on is making that change. We are working on eliminating barriers for kids who have trouble getting to practice and more. The school is doing a really good job to make sure they get there. The team will grow, we should have ten more on the sidelines" for future games she said.

The Class of 1966 gathered $15,000 for a new electronic readerboard, being installed next week. They got together at their 50th reunion and made it happen. Mike Turner, Rick Canady, Ken Ruud, and Allen Sample were all there to help present the check. 

One of the most famous alums, former quarterback Jack Thompson (1974) was on hand to welcome the students and said, "When they split it up into three schools that was a real head scratcher for me... I'm just glad it's reunified. I think the community has rallied around it. I think the Highline School District thought that it was as experiment that was best in the rear view mirror and I'm glad. Now these kids will grow up in a tradition similar to what we grew up in and I think that's a good thing."