Number of schools - 36
Number of students – 17,622
Percentage of students in poverty – 58%
Percentage students of color – 60%
Percentage students who are English Learners – 16%
Teachers – 916
New Teachers 2005-06 – 61
Teacher Experience – 11.7 years

Highline, located in Burien, serves nearly 18,000 students taught by over 900 classroom
teachers. Almost 1/3 of these teachers are novices (4 years or less of experience). They have
four high schools, all beginning conversion to small learning communities, a regional skills
center, and one thematic small high school (Aviation High). They have four middle schools
(7-8) and 19 elementary schools. Their students represent 81 nationalities and speak 71
languages. The largest ethnic group represented is white (40%) followed by Asian or Pacific
Islander (21%) and Hispanic (24%). Although only 12% of students are enrolled in English
Language Learner classrooms, in sheltered classrooms or monitored in mainstream classes,
over 50% come from homes in which a language other than English is spoken. Nearly 58% of
students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Student mobility is high (40%). In some
schools it is as high as 70%.

Six years ago, Highline's Peer Mentor program began as collaboration between two
districts and their respective education associations. Highline currently employs 2.75
mentors with a caseload of approximately 1:23.

For Highline, the profile of the teacher workforce by experience is similar to the state, but
reveals lower retention rates across all experience levels. However, it has increased slightly for novice and mid-range experience teachers.