Washington State New School Start-Up Experience: Co-Founder & Program Developer: Bellevue International School 1991-1997 Founder & Head Teacher: Lake Washington International School 1997-2001 Principal & Founder: Marysville Arts & Technology High School 2003-2004 Planning Principal, Kingston High School 2004-2006 (Retirement) Credentials Held: Washington State Administrative, K-12 California Administrative, K-12 Washington State Teacher, K-12 Education: PhD Humanistic Anthropology, Union Institute 1991 BA+135 University of Washington 1965-74 Other: Washington State A+ Commission sub-committee on Successful Schools & Performance Incentives, 2001 Co-Recipient, Schools for the 21st. Century Grant for Bellevue International School startup: $300,000, 1991 Recipient, Fullbright Exchange to Denmark, 1988 Recipient, National Endowment for the Humanities & CBE Independent Study Grant, 1986 Recipient, Stanford University’s Terman Award, for “Outstanding Contributions to Teaching” 1983
Lake Washington International School Bids Good-Bye to Founding Father, Dr. Bruce Saari (November, 2001 Issue ICS Compendium) Dr. Bruce Saari, founder of Lake Washington International School, has decided to pursue a new career path, switching from teaching to administration. In June, Dr. Saari resigned from the Lake Washington school district and accepted a position at Kentwood High School in the Kent school district, minutes from his home, where he is currently completing a preschool-through-twelfth-grade administrative internship. He has taken this new position with great enthusiasm for the opportunities and challenges it offers. Dr. Saari began his career in 1971 at Lake Sammamish High School, where he spent 19 years teaching a variety of courses, including American literature, British literature, modern drama, and numerous electives. It was during his tenure there that he developed a two-year honors humanities program, which taught him the value of having the same students for two or more years in a row. In 1983, Dr. Saari was the recipient of Stanford University's Frederick Emmons Terman Award for "Outstanding Contributions to Teaching," presented at Stanford. In 1986, he received a National Endowment for the Humanities independent study grant. And in 1988, he was selected to participate in a yearlong Fullbright Exchange in Denmark, where he taught thirteenth-grade students who were preparing for the university. Dr. Saari received his doctorate in humanistic anthropology from the Union Institute, Cincinnati in 1991. Convinced that "all schools can do better than they do," Dr. Saari and five colleagues began to reexamine the elements of the teaching and learning equation. After submitting a proposal for the new school to the board, they entered the Schools for the 21st Century competition. When Dr. Saari and his colleagues won a $300,000 grant, the Bellevue school district, which was not initially receptive to their plans, approved them and gave them a building to use. The Bellevue International School was born and it quickly bloomed into the top performer it is today, with over 90% of its graduates going on to college. The success of the school, with its diverse student population, was attributed to its "program and philosophy" which Dr. Saari and his colleagues had developed. In 1997, after "graduating" with his first class, Dr. Saari left the Bellevue International School for the Lake Washington school district. He agreed to help establish ICS, which is substantially based on the Bellevue model, provided he had the freedom to improve on the process that he had helped develop in Bellevue. With just a handful of carefully selected teachers, dedicated parents, talented students, and a few portables at Redmond High School, ICS was born. Though we are sad to see Dr. Saari go, his legacy lives on at ICS in the school's curriculum design and high standard of academic excellence. He has been a wonderful teacher and role model for students, faculty, and parents. We wish him the very best, and thank him for the four years he dedicated to our school. Anita Wood, Editor
Poulsbo — One of the main forces behind the North Kitsap School District’s attempt to improve its educational and instructional practices will be departing at the end of the school year.
Kingston High School planning principal Bruce Saari announced his retirement Thursday. It is effective June 30 [Saari will continue consulting, and will be working with student teachers at Antioch, Seattle).
With his departure, the NKSD has been thrust into an unusual situation, said Gregg Epperson, NKSD executive director of student support services. With Roy Herrera also leaving NKHS and the Poulsbo Junior High interim principalship coming to a close at the end of the year, the district will be searching for three new principals at the secondary level during a time of great change.
Saari has been one of the chief architects of that change.
“I wasn’t intending just two years when I came here, but life happens to you,” Saari said, noting his affection for the work being done within the NKSD. “I just feel gratitude at having had the opportunity to be involved in so many brilliant projects. This work represents the high point of my professional career and this stage is complete.” As he finishes out this year, Saari will help guide the process into its next stages of completing the series of learning improvement days for teachers as well as starting the process of staffing NKHS and KHS for the 2007 school year. “He’s a brilliant educator. He knows how teachers need to be teaching, he’s a real expert on that,” said school board director Ed Strickland. “They’ve been teaching teachers really how to teach more student-centered and that’s more important than SLCs.” Saari joined the district in July 2004 and has since been instrumental in implementing significant curriculum alignment and instructional development work, Epperson said. Upon his arrival, Saari jumped in as co-chair of the 9-12 instructional program task force and began working toward the goal of opening lines of communication between staff. As part of that work, he designed agendas for the 2005-2006 secondary learning improvement days, which focused on strengthening clarity within departments on the aspects of the changes ahead. Though his work in the district was not exclusive to the SLCs, Saari led the group of teachers that developed the preliminary slate of three SLC designs. That process will continue to evolve, Saari said, and he believes it is on course. “I’ll tell you, those three (SLCs) are so robust ... that they will be outstanding SLCs in any high school,” Saari said.
“It’s becoming clear to (parents and community) what great potential there is in this movement and I feel satisfied at having been part of this.” Saari plans to pursue retirement projects after returning to his family’s Hobart farm this summer. With 35 years of educational experience, he said he will still be available for educational improvement consultation.
|