Fall 2014 at Shorecrest

1.  Alumni invited to the Celebration of the new Shorecrest  
The Shoreline School District invites you to attend a Community Celebration and Dedication of the new Shorecrest High School buildings on Saturday, September 27, 2014, from noon to 4 PM.  The "new" Shorecrest is at the same address as before - just further back from the street.

Shorecrest Boosters will provide a no-cost barbecue lunch beginning at noon.  There will be a dedication program (including recognition of alumni) in the gym at 1:15 PM.  Following that will be self-guided tours of the new school buildings, along with student performances in the Theater.  The Shorecrest Library will be the site of an "Alumni Room," where you can reminisce over historical editions of the Loch (yearbook) and the Highland Piper (student newspaper), and connect with other alums.

Should you need to Google for directions, Shorecrest's address is 15343 - 25th Avenue NE, Shoreline 98155.  Note that construction equipment is still in place at Shorecrest, and parking is limited.  Please use the north parking lot entrance (where the tennis courts used to be).  Overflow parking will be available at Hamlin Park and at Kellogg Middle School (formerly Morgan Junior High School), both just north of Shorecrest on 25th Avenue NE.  A shuttle will run continuously between Kellogg and Shorecrest.

Hope to see you there!

2.  School Year off to a Great Start
The 2014-15 school year began on September 3.  There are approximately 1350 students at Shorecrest this year, up from last year.  Shorecrest is in the 2A division of the WESCO sports league - down from 3A - based on enrollment over the last several years.

The district is continuing its efforts to align Shorecrest and Shorewood High Schools.  To that end, each school offers several classes that are not available at the other, and school-bus transportation is provided between periods so students can "commute" to a class at the other school.  Shorecrest is offering several new STEM classes, including Exploring Computer Science, Robotics, and Technology Invention & Innovation.  Additionally, a new daily "homeroom" was instituted this year, called Highlander Home.  Students still enjoy a nutrition break between their first and second classes of the day, and one all-school, open-campus lunch between the second and third classes (only three classes, plus the homeroom, each day).

3.  Shorecrest Fall Play
Do you fancy a comedy?  Shorecrest will perform The Matchmaker November 13-24.  Tickets will be available in October; call (206) 393-4286 for more information.

4.  Shorecrest Class of 1974 Reunion

Hoot Mon!  Come one, come all to the Shorecrest High School Class of 1974 40-Year Reunion!

Saturday, September 20:  Reunion Dinner, 6 PM - 10:30 PM at the Sand Point Country Club

Friday, September 19:  Golf Tournament ("best ball") at Nile Country Club, 

and post-golf gathering at 5:30 PM at Scott's Bar and Grill

More information below!

June 2014 ends a year of change at Shorecrest

1.  Congratulations, Graduates!  
Approximately 270 seniors graduated from Shorecrest High School on Sunday, June 15.  The Commencement ceremony was held at the Everett Events Center.  Pipers and Highland Dancers entertained the guests beforehand.  Then the graduating class, in gowns of green and navy, was led in by their class senators (officers) while the school band members played "Pomp and Circumstance."  The attendees were treated to bagpipe and piano solos by class members.  A group of graduating students spoke of the past, present, and future.  Honored staff members (as voted upon by the class) and the class advisors assisted the graduates as they prepared to parade across the stage while their names were read.  After graduating, many students participated in Senior Spree.

Some things change, some stay the same.  Do you remember your graduation from Shorecrest?  Was it at Mercer Arena downtown?  At Hec Edmundson Pavilion at the UW?  Or, more recently, at the Everett Events Center?  Were there musical performances?  Do you remember any of the speeches?  Were you proud - excited - nervous?  Did you attend Senior Spree?  Share in the Comments section!

2.  In with the new, out with the old!
As the previous post stated, the new Shorecrest "opened for business" in February.  Since then, the old main building has been prepared for demolition.  Interestingly, the parts to the west (the A and C wings and the Junction - the areas on the field side of the old building) were taken down first.  Only at the end were the parts fronting on 25th Avenue NE removed.  What with the uphill slope, the new building was almost completely hidden from passers-by on 25th until just a week or so ago, when the B hall, offices, activity center, foyer, main entrances, and front steps were removed.

Shorecrest is part of the WeatherBug.com weather-station system.  Part of that setup involves a roof-mounted camera that takes a picture every ten minutes.  The most recent picture is displayed on the Shorecrest school website.  Shorecrest's weather station and "cam" followed along to the new building, and some of these every-ten-minute photos from the last several months were saved and compiled into a time-lapse video of part of the demolition.  Picture the gym of the "old Shorecrest."  Picture yourself sitting on the roof of that gym, looking out to the street, with the field behind you.  That's roughly the location of the weather cam now, and when it took these time-lapsed photos.  See the video at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kweZmo8IfQA

3.  Ceremony
The official open house and celebration of the new Shorecrest is slated to be held on Saturday, September 6.  More details to follow!

Goodbye Shorecrest! Hello Shorecrest!

Friday, February 14, 2014, was the last day of classes at the old Shorecrest High School building.  Over mid-winter break the following week, staff finished packing up their rooms and offices, and the contents of the building near and dear to the hearts of alumni were moved to a brand-new building.  When students returned to school on February 24 from their week-long break, they started out in the gym (newly built last year) for a very short assembly.  Then, led by a piper, the students walked (in the rain, of course!) across the new plaza and into the new Shorecrest.

 

 

 

Students head for the gym.  You can see there is still work to be done.

Staff is dismissed from the assembly to form welcoming tunnels in the new building.

Students enter the new building for the first time!

Time to explore before classes begin.

 

 

Students could partake in a scavenger hunt to help them learn their way around.

The new building is three floors in a roughly "Z" shape, with five staircases (Green, Blue, Gold, Main, and Otis) and one elevator (for staff and handicap use).  In the third and fourth photos above, you see the Commons - a great room that serves the functions of the former Student Activity Center plus the Cafeteria.  (Notice the food-service setup near the center of the fourth photo above.)  Student services are on the main floor.  Numerous "Shorecrest" touches are scattered around the building, even in stairwells.

Most classrooms are on the second and third floors.  The library occupies a choice spot on the second floor, with a view east to the Cascades.

The library is airy and light-filled, even on a dank rainy day.

On the third floor is the "Heritage Room," where memorabilia from Shorecrest's past will be kept.  There are no chalkboards in the new building - it's all whiteboards, including "smart whiteboards."  All classrooms have a standard two-students-per-table desk setup. 

Equipment and furnishings were left behind at the old Shorecrest.  Many of these items will be available at auction at the school on Wednesday, March 5, 2014.  See this link for more information.

Before this summer, the gray portables (which have housed classrooms formerly in the H and J halls - where the new gym stands) will be removed, and the old main Shorecrest building will be razed.  There will be a public grand opening of the new Shorecrest building in September.  Sadly, there does not seem to be any farewell planned for the old Shorecrest building.  However, you may enjoy this YouTube video of the assembled Shorecrest students (numbering approximately 1275) and staff, taken outside the old building on the last day of school there.

Another school year comes to an end

1.  CONGRATULATIONS, GRADUATES!
On Sunday, June 16, 270 new alumni were added to the count of Shorecrest graduates.  These students will continue on to colleges near and far, including overseas.  Congratulations to them!

This is the first year that passage of reading, writing, and math tests have been required for high-school graduation in the state of Washington.  (In the next couple years, an additional math test, and a biology test, will also be required for graduation.)  These tests are required in addition to passing courses in specific areas, earning at least 22.5 credits, executing a "culminating project," and completing 40-60 hours of community service.  All these items are called out on a student's transcript.

2.  REMODELING/NEW SHORECREST BUILDING
The 2012-2013 school year has ended at Shorecrest.  This was the last year-end in the old building.  The move to the new building (the classroom portion) is anticipated to take place mid-Spring-semester next year.   Currently, workers are adding insulation and windows to the shell of the new three-story building. 

3.  DID  YOU ALWAYS WANT A SCHOOL LOCKER FOR YOUR HOME?
Our sister/rival high school, Shorewood, will be moving into its new school building over the summer.  In conjunction with that move, the school district is sponsoring an auction of furnishings and etc. from the old building.  This auction will be held Wednesday, June 26, in the "old" Shorewood gymnasium.  There is a preview from 8-10 AM, with the auction at 10 AM.  Items for sale will include large and small lockers, bookshelves, commercial cooking equipment, exercise equipment, desks and chairs, AV equipment and carts, wall-mount TVs, music stands, theater seating, cafeteria folding tables, and work benches and stools.  See the link at
http://murphyauction.com/Auction/Details/482 for more information.

4.  CLASS REUNIONS
•  The Shorecrest Class of 1983 will have their thirty-year reunion in August.  Please see the Shorecrest Alumni link at http://schools.shorelineschools.org/shorecrest/alumni/index.php#10s for more more information.

•  The Shorecrest Class of 2003 has their ten-year reunion coming up in December.  Please see their Facebook page to keep in touch with those organizing the event:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/224860570557/?fref=ts

Shorecrest - Spring 2013

1.  SPRING PLAY
The Shorecrest spring play is the musical The Music Man.  It'll be a treat for the whole family, with songs you know, a happy ending, and . . . will there be 76 trombones??  If you are in the area between May 2-12, you'll want to catch Shorecrest students performing in their remodeled theater.  For more information, click here.  Tickets may be purchased online, or in person at Third Place Books at LFP Mall, or at Shorecrest.

2.  REMODELING/NEW SHORECREST BUILDING
As mentioned above, the Shorecrest theater has been updated, including a new "green room."  A wing of classrooms has been attached to it, for Band, Orchestra and Choir, Ceramics, and 2-D Art.  There is also a classroom for Drama, with a "black box" theater which can be used for a variety of purposes.

Two seasons of sports have used the new Gym, and now Girls' Tennis is the first team to use the new Tennis courts, which are at Kellogg Middle School (formerly Morgan Junior High School), just a bit north of Shorecrest.  Construction continues on the new main building (located where the old Gym was), with occupancy scheduled for next spring.  The new main building will be three stories.  Historical aspects of the old Shorecrest are being planned right into it.  Here is an overhead view of the site, taken earlier this month.

3.  SENIOR PROJECTS
Did you do a Senior Project?  It has been a rite of passage for Shorecrest seniors for twenty years!  Next year the school district will institute a new version of the state-required "culminating project," which will have to do with thorough, structured planning for life after high school.  So this is the final year of Senior Projects as we've know them - where the student gets to choose a project in an area of interest, be it running an event, writing a novella, building a guitar from scratch, or learning to juggle (to name just a few).  Each student presents a synopsis of his/her project to a panel of adults, and is judged not on the project, but on the presentation.

Would you like to be part of this final round of Senior Project panels?  They will take place on Saturday, June 8.  Morning and afternoon times are available.  For more information and to sign up, see the website by clicking here.  Students will appreciate it - and you will go away with a renewed respect and awe for our Highlanders' accomplishments!

What was your Senior Project?  Share some memories in the Comments section!

4.  REUNIONS
Is your Shorecrest graduating class having a reunion this year?  To check, see the Alumni link on the Shorecrest home page - or click here to go there directly.  If you have information about a reunion that you would like published on that page, send the webmaster an email (link at the bottom of that page).

The Alumni page also gives information on how to get a copy of your Shorecrest transcript, and you can look through (and maybe order) a photo book of "Shorecrest before its current transformation."  Proceeds benefit Shorecrest!

Fall 2012 at Shorecrest

1.  School has begun, with about 1300 students at Shorecrest this year.  The Class of 2016 was the first to start off with a big welcome in the new gym.  The new gym has some new and some old features:

•  There's a moveable wall between the main gym and the "back gym."
•  The new gym also includes a classroom (for that infamous "health class") and a training room, as well as locker rooms, exercise equipment, a ticket window, and a snack bar area.
•  Boards cut from the old gym's bleachers were used above the entry doorways.
•  The Spirit Bell has been hung just inside the gym (and is now rung by representatives of the winning Homecoming class - not mobbed by all the class members).

A representative of the senior class rings the Spirit Bell after the class members have deserted the bleachers to celebrate at center court.

BTW, the Homecoming theme this year was "Classic Video Games" - each class chose a video game to represent them.  And the Seniors won Homecoming.  And the Senior Class picture, previously taken immediately after the Homecoming assembly, on the hill to the west of the north parking lot, was taken in the new gym (that hill is inaccessible due to construction).  And for a good laugh, check out the video of the staff Homecoming skit, "Oppan Shorecrest Style" featuring SC's attendance secretary, Mr. Cho:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ccapIVjmQE

2.  Additionally, Shorecrest has new tennis courts - at Kellogg Middle School (just north of Shorecrest - you might remember it as Morgan Junior High School).  Shorecrest's former tennis courts were in bad shape from tree roots, and are no longer accessible due to construction.  They are complete with nice landscaping and bleachers for spectators.

Shorecrest's new tennis courts, located at Kellogg Middle School.

3.  In other remodeling news, the new main building is starting to take shape.  The three-story main building will be more-or-less where the old gym was.  Classes continue in the old main building and in 18 classrooms located in portables, plus at Kellogg (for orchestra and art). 

The new Shorecrest main building, as seen from just outside the Junction.

4.  The fall play this year is "Romeo and Juliet" - the Shakespeare classic.  What is novel is that it is being performed in the Shorecrest Cafeteria.  (The Shorecrest Theater is not quite done being remodeled.)  This will provide a more intimate atmosphere.  Additionally, the play is being performed on a "thrust stage," where the audience is on three sides of the stage.  The play runs on various dates and times between November 8 - 18.  For tickets, or more information, contact (206) 393-6224 or sc.tickets@shorelineschools.org .

5.  For the ninth straight year, Shorecrest's football team beat Shorewood to win the Shoreline Rotary Cup on October 5.  This gives Shorecrest a 24-10 lead in Rotary Cup wins over Shorewood!

6.  After several years of being issued Apple laptops, Shorecrest students this year were issued iPads.  (Laptops and iPads both require purchase of a case and annual insurance before issuance.)  Some classes have required apps or textbooks downloaded to those students' iPads.  Students have also this year been given school-based Gmail accounts, and are using Dropbox, TurnItIn, Evernote, and Naviance with their iPads.

Congrats and other news

1.  Commencement 2012
Congratulations to the 320-some students who graduated from Shorecrest High School on Sunday, June 17, 2012!  Commencement 2012 was held at Everett Events Center.  Pipers piped, Highland Dancers danced, the band played "Pomp and Circumstance."  The graduates were led in and out by their four Senators.  Four students spoke, and there were musical performances by several graduates.  Many graduates continued on to Senior Spree!

2.  Construction of the new Shorecrest
Caen Laida, Shorecrest's annual moving-up ceremony, was held the Friday before graduation.  It was the last event to be held in the old Shorecrest Gym.  The gym, along with the "S Wing" (shop) and "J Hall" (newish English/Social Studies wing), will be coming down this summer, to make way for construction of the main building of the new Shorecrest.  This new building will be three stories high, and roughly "S"-shaped.  Meanwhile, construction continues on the new Gym, which is scheduled to be ready for the start of fall sports in mid-August of this year. 

7-12-12:  The "S Wing" is now just a heap of metal scraps.

7-12-12:  You can see right through the old gym now . . .

. . .  because it has started to come down - Back Gym first.

7-12-12:  Parts of the new gym are being faced with rust-colored metal.

Another wing, that for Performing and Visual Arts, is coming along where the North Lot was.  The Theater is scheduled to be available for holiday performances this December.  Students taking Art and Orchestra classes will continue to travel to borrowed classrooms at Kellogg until that same time.  Band students have been practicing in the Shorecrest Cafeteria this year, and can't wait to get into their new digs, either!  If you're in the area and get the chance to drive by, check out the changes!

Standing in front of the S Wing, looking east towards the (non-existent) North Lot and the Theater.

3.  Otis gets a Facelift
In conjunction with Shorecrest's new Gym, the green-gold-navy of Shorecrest's colors were standardized for use around the new buildings.  And Otis, our mascot, was redone into a new version, more "buff" and less cartoony.  What do you think of the new Otis?  Leave a comment!

Vintage Otis

Otis 2012

 

4.  Veterans Assembly 2012 - do you have ideas?

Do you have ideas or suggestions for the Shorecrest 2012 Veterans Assembly?  In November of 2011, Shorecrest had a moving and riveting Veterans assembly, which featured Shorecrest alumni veterans.  The Shorecrest Activities Coordinator is hoping to again find several alumni veterans to speak, and wishes to invite all alumni veterans of Shorecrest to the assembly as honored guests.  The ceremony will be in our brand-new gym on the morning of November 6th (which is also Election Day).

The two big things needed to start with are:
1)  Theme (perhaps tie in to democracy since the assembly is on Election Day?)
2)  Speaker(s)

If you have ideas for either a theme or speaker(s), or are a Shorecrest alumni veteran and would like to attend this assembly, please contact Johanna Phillips at (206) 393-4302, or email her at johanna.phillips@shorelineschools.org .  And thank you for your support!