The Community of Lake Stevens and Its Impact on LSHS

The Lake Stevens community is very interesting in regards to cultural, religious, and economical stances. Lake Stevens itself is a mix between rural and suburban and acts as a “bedroom community,” or a place where families choose to live but commute to work in Seattle and its surrounding area.

Parents of LSHS students mostly work in large companies established down town, such as Microsoft and Boeing. Those who do work closer are mostly employees of various health care facilities in the Lake Stevens area including doctors’ offices, dentistry, and optometry, or at the Everett Naval Base across town.

Lake Stevens residents’ socioeconomic statuses range from rich to poor, but the majority of its citizens are middle class. At LSHS only 15.4% of the students receive free or reduced lunch, which signifies that the majority of Lake Steven's families with high school students are those of higher SES.

Lake Stevens H.S. is comprised of mostly (87%) Caucasian students. About 8% of the school's population is of Asian and/or Pacific Islander, 5.6% Hispanic, and about 1% of each Native Alaskan, American Indian, and African American. Of the 1,663 students at LSHS, only .7% of the students are English Language Learners.

Despite Snohomish County's overall conservative nature, Lake Stevens High School is more on the liberal side. Many students have liberal political and religious views, so course curricula seems more open to potentially questionable material. For instance, many novels that would be disappoved of, such as Farenheight 451, are taught in AP or advanced level classes. As long as teachers keep their personal opinions and beliefs out of discussions and present material in a neutral manner, both students and parents are open to mature topics.

I was surprised to learn that parent involvement is somewhat lacking at Lake Stevens High. There is no PTA, and only about 10% of the student body attends sporting events. Teachers do try to create a line of communication with parents, though, by posting grades online, and calling home if a student is failing. Teachers try to call or meet with parents in person every so often, especially if discipline becomes a problem.

The LSHS teacher team has 85 teachers currently; 71.8% have at least a Master's Degree and the average number of years teaching is close to 12. No classes are taught by educators with an emergency certificate nor a conditional certificate. LSHS teachers are very dedicated and qualified for what they do. This is displayed through the school's high WASL passing rate. A little over 90% of students passed the reading and writing WASL last year, and MS. Herron, one of the teachers I'm observing, has the highest passing rate in the district at over 96%! The Vikings do have a low passing rate on the science WASL (37.4%). After speaking with students and teachers I was informed that since the test is not a requirement to graduate, students to not put in the effort to pass it like they do with reading, writing, and math. Perhaps the laid back nature and outlook of LSHS has caused this, but this mentality has also greatly benefited the students in other areas. Overall, Lake Stevens High School has proven to be a prospering school full of students with bright futures and caring, passionate teachers and staff!