Taking in many students from Roosevelt for the 2019-2020 school year, the Lincoln High School Lynxes are making a comeback.
In order to alleviate the overcrowding in many North Seattle schools, $93 million is being spent by the city to modernize Lincoln. The school originally opened in 1907, but closed in 1981 due to the building’s age and declining enrollment. Yet, since 1997 has remained in use as an interim for schools under renovation and other programs.
Located in Wallingford near Hamilton Middle School, many students living in Green Lake, Fremont, Queen Anne, Ravenna and Latona are set to attend the school next year.
The school has space for 1,600 students but is expected to only serve 600-750 students in 2019. Keeping their historic red and black colors, Lincoln also plans to offer a variety of athletics, which will grow as the school’s population increases.
Lincoln has many teachers and staff members already hired, who are now working “two jobs” says Lincoln’s new principal, Ruth Medsker. On top of working at their current jobs, they are also helping prepare for the next school year in their off hours – such as visiting neighboring high schools to ease students’ transition into Lincoln.
The staff is planning to implement a unique education design to their curriculum. To create more continuity between class subjects, there will be a whole school annual theme, with next year’s being “true cost.” This theme will be addressed in different ways in the different subjects, all while aiming to better connect the students’ education as a whole.
“The idea is that our lives and the way we live them all have impacts on the world, but many of these impacts are hidden,” Charity Allen, educational consultant who helped Lincoln staff design the program, said of the concept. “And so, how do we manage to explore and examine and unpack the ‘true costs’ of our lives, so that we can learn to live better?”
As students begin to attend Lincoln High School in the coming school year, the hope of decreasing overcrowding in both Roosevelt and Ballard will become a reality.
To learn more about Lincoln and the events surrounding the school, check out The Lincoln Alumni Association website: https://www.lincolnhighlynx.org/
Photo By: Andrea Weston
