High School Flashback - Buildings and Academics

You know it’s going to be an interesting day when the Wall Street Journal has a front page story on your high school.  That’s how my yesterday started.

My first high school was Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.  It’s a magnet school located in northern Virginia that is one of the best high schools in the country – if you believe that “the best” is defined by test scores, National Merit scholarship finalists, and acceptance rates into prestigious colleges.  The school won and installed a Cray supercomputer while I was there.  The science labs were state-of-the-art.  The math classes kicked my ass.  The expectations were very high.

Today the front page story in the Wall Street Journal reads At Top Public School, Rising Stars Dodge Falling Ceiling Tiles.  This can’t be good.  The story goes on to describe a Thomas Jefferson High School that’s falling apart.  Mold, mildew, cockroaches, falling ceiling tiles, and a falling air duct all currently plague the school.  The Cray supercomputer I saw installed was destroyed by leaking water.  The academic excellence is still there, but the facilities are a mess.

As I look around Tacoma, I see a city that seems to support school infrastructure.  When folks visit me and ask about our local schools, I can’t really answer what it’s like to be in school here.  We don’t have kids and we don’t work for the schools.  We do drive past Jason Lee Middle School and Stadium High School, though.  The remodels on these two buildings are very impressive.  Then we hear about the new Mt. Tahoma and several other new buildings and remodels around town, and at least to my naïve eye, it seem like we’re doing something right here.  Then again, I can’t speak to the academics… just the buildings I see from the road.

Link to the Wall Street Journal (subscription required)