South Whidbey School District #206 is a school district that operates on the "Southend" of Whidbey Island in the US state of Washington. The district offices are located in Langley. The current superintendent is Dr. Jo Moccia
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South Whidbey School District consists of three "traditional" school and two alternative school. South Whidbey High School, Langley Middle School and South Whidbey Elementary School comprise the three traditional programs. The district also operates Bayview School, an alternative high school Bayview, and provides support and resources to the Whidbey Island Academy (a home schooling support center) on the campus of South Whidbey Elementary School. Responding to decreasing enrollment, the district recently merged the former Primary and Intermediate schools into one entity, closing down much of the former primary school.
South Whidbey High School (SWHS) opened for the 1981–1982 school year. After only 8 years, enrollment grew larger than anticipated and additional classrooms were added in 1990. Some safety issues, as well as the need for improved access lead to a minor remodel in 1993. Enrollment continued to grow. From 1995 through 1997 an expansive upgrade, remodel, and expansion of the school occurred. This remodel removed a distinctive wall that had been a series of stairs and a ramp to the school's main entrance, on the second floor, and replaced it with new classrooms, an expanded Library and school office. Additionally, new kitchen facilities were constructed, as was a new lunch room, theatre, art room, and multi-purpose room. An auxiliary gym, mat room, fitness center and auditorium were also added. Prior to the expansion project in 1997, SWHS used three portable buildings, broken into six classrooms on the south side of the school. When the project was started, the buildings were moved to the north side of the school. After the expansion, the school district was going to sell the portables to those who need it. However, the Off-Campus Extension Program (Now "Whidbey Island Academy") outgrew the former small space in Clinton, and because the portables were not in use, they moved in. SWHS currently ranks as 18th out of 356 of all high schools in Washington as best educational school. Its students score high in the W.A.S.L and other standardized test, as well has having a high average GPA, and a low percentage of drop-out students. South Whidbey has been recognized as a Blue Ribbon school under the Blue Ribbon Schools Program for the 2007–08 school year.[2]
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Langley Middle School was one of the first schools to open on the "Southend" of Whidbey Island. It was open sometime in the late 1920s early 1930s.. The school comprises four class buildings and a sports/cafeteria complex. The "Main Building" was once the K-12 school for the Langley area. It later became K-9 after Langley High School was built on the property (now known as the "two story building"). The school became 5–8 after the opening of the Primary School on Maxwelton road. Langley Middle School became, as it remains today, 6–8 after the opening of the Intermediate School.
Recently, South Whidbey School District has proposed the closing of Langley Middle School, merging with the high school, and making the facilities available for other uses. The district has been in talks with McMenamins Pubs and Breweries as a viable commercial option for the school site and has explored other possible uses, including public/civic use. It has also been speculated that a new Middle School should be built adjacent to the other schools. An area of district property was once cleared for just such a project, in conjunction with the building of the Intermediate School, but was abandoned when the Intermediate school plans were modified to accommodate the 5th grade classes that were at LMS.
Langley Middle School Library Media Center currently occupies 3/4 of the second story of the "Two Story" building of the Middle School campus. It currently houses 40 late model Macintosh computers, approximately 3500 fiction titles and about the same numbers of non-fiction books.
Other useful equipment includes a video projector for DVD, VHS or computer presentation on a permanent 6x8 screen, several digital video and still cameras, two scanners and numerous other electronic aids and tools to facilitate staff and student media projects. The library Media Center served an average of 120 students a day during the school year 2008/2009. It is one of the oldest schools on Whidbey Island, being built in the 1920s. See web site at LMS Web Magazine
Langley Middle School has an Adventure Education program that seeks to create an outdoor experience that will inspire, in students, a sense of wonder and joy that will form the foundation for future academic interest and excellence. The program currently serves eighty seventh and eighth grade students each year. The Adventure Education class has taken trips to the Washington coast, California (San Francisco Bay Area, Ventana Wilderness, Santa Cruz Island and Angel Island) and Montana's Glacier National Park. Trips are typically between five and twelve days. Hotels are unnecessary as students live out of their backpacks. Academic work centers on preparing for and reflecting on trips.
South Whidbey Elementary School (SWES) comprises both the former Primary School and the former Intermediate School campuses. The Intermediate School is the newest of the schools, having opened for the 1988–1989 school year. There have been some minor changes to it over the years. The most significant was the addition of a second outdoor covered play area in 1997, and a rearrangement of the school offices. SWIS houses a room specifically designated for local groups to hold meetings, regardless of time, without having to enter the main sections of the school. The school's soccer fields are utilized by the local youth soccer leagues. SWES also includes and uses parts of the former primary school which is located on the same piece of property.
SWIS was built to relieve the pressure of a growing student population at both South Whidbey Elementary School and (at the time) Langley Jr. High School. Previously, both LJHS and SWES had an extensive network of portable buildings to be able to accommodate students. After SWIS was opened, LMS moved all of its portable buildings to SWHS, and SWPS converted the portable for other uses, however, by 1990 SWPS was again using portables for classrooms. After only being used for 3 years, SWIS added a portable classroom in order to accommodate the growing student population. Behind the school is the remnants of a clearcut performed at the same time the area where the school is was cleared. This area was to be the location of a new South Whidbey Jr. High School, but the plans were scrapped after SWIS was redesigned with more classrooms for 5th grade students. The money made by the district in the sale of the lumber from the property partially paid for SWIS' construction.
Opened for the 1965]-1966 school year as South Whidbey Elementary, then renamed South Whidbey Primary School when the Intermediate School was built, and now part of the combined South Whidbey Elementary School (2009). It shares its design with several schools built at the time in Washington, including an elementary school in Oak Harbor. The school comprises 6 main buildings, 3 of which contain 6 classrooms each, one serves as multi-purpose-room and cafeteria, on houses the office, computer labs, and 3 class rooms, and the 6th building, built in 1997 serves as the library and has two additional classrooms.
When South Whidbey Elementary opened in 1965, is was to encompass the entire "Southend" of Whidbey Island. As a result, all of the other schools in the area were forced to close, causing angst among parents on the "Southend" that their children were no longer going to be within walking distance from home, as most had been.
Whidbey Island Academy is South Whidbey School District's K-12 Parent-Partnered-Program / Alternative School. Please visit the website for more information: http://www.sw.wednet.edu/wia/site/
Bayview School is located in the community of Bayview. Bayview School houses the district's alternative high school program.