Special Report
School & District Management

Marysville Getchell Campus

By Jaclyn Zubrzycki — January 04, 2013 2 min read
Students fill the hallways of a building on the Marysville Getchell Campus in Marysville, Wash., home to four smaller high schools.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

A few years ago, Marysville Pilchuk High School, one of the largest high schools in Washington state, had 3,000 students crammed into a building designed for a little more than half that many. Students were getting lost in the crowd: In the 2007-08 school year, the state-calculated graduation rate was 50.8 percent. School district officials decided that when it was time to upgrade, it was also time to downsize.

The school was split into eight schools. Half of the old Pilchuk campus’s students now attend four smaller schools on the new Getchell campus, one focused on science, one on communications, one on entrepreneurship, and one on construction and engineering. Small schools received attention from foundations and nonprofit groups earlier this decade. Though that attention has trailed off, Lawrence Nyland, the superintendent of the 11,000-student Marysville school district, says that small schools have made a world of difference in Marysville.

Getchell Campus at a Glance

BUILDING COST
$95.2 Million

YEAR BUILT
2010

SQUARE FOOTAGE
194,000

ENROLLMENT
1,400

“Students know each other, they know their teachers, teachers know students. It’s so much harder for students to fall through the cracks in this kind of new environment,” he says. The district’s high school graduation rate climbed to 77 percent in 2009-10 (72.3 percent by the new federally approved method of calculating graduation rates).

Jamie McDonald, 17, is a senior at the Getchell campus’s School for the Entrepreneur. “I came here as a sophomore,” she says, “and I automatically felt such a difference.”

For example, the school’s library now doesn’t require students to use a checkout system. Its loss rate is only about 3 percent higher than at a neighboring school that still has a traditional library.

A view of the Getchell campus, home to four smaller high schools, showing both the Academy of Construction & Engineering and the Bio/Med Academy.

The school was designed with a number of guiding principles in mind, and principle No. 1 was relationships. In addition to the construction of four smaller buildings, the Getchell campus has design features intended to foster trust and collaboration between students. Open glass doors, through which students can view the outside, “were a big deal for about two days, and then the distraction was gone,” says Nyland. They allow students to work together or outside, or to see if the library area is free.

Even the school’s eating spaces are designed to increase the “family feeling,” Nyland says. Students can choose between a smaller or a larger cafeteria area.

The smaller schools, more open design, and guiding principles all tie together, he says. “If there’s more engagement,” says the superintendent, “students are less likely to be a behavior problem, more likely to stay in school and to be able to do what they want to do next.”

Events

Budget & Finance Webinar Leverage New Funding Sources with Data-Informed Practices
Address the whole child using data-informed practices, gain valuable insights, and learn strategies that can benefit your district.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Classroom Technology Webinar
ChatGPT & Education: 8 Ways AI Improves Student Outcomes
Revolutionize student success! Don't miss our expert-led webinar demonstrating practical ways AI tools will elevate learning experiences.
Content provided by Inzata
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum Tech Is Everywhere. But Is It Making Schools Better?
Join us for a lively discussion about the ways that technology is being used to improve schools and how it is falling short.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Opinion When It Comes to Leadership, Self-Awareness Matters. Here's Why
One leader learned she had a habit of shutting down others' ideas instead of inspiring them. Here's how she changed.
Robin Shrum
6 min read
Picture1 6.19.32 AM
Robin Shrum
School & District Management Opinion Don’t Bewail Summer Vacation for Students, Rethink It
Students experience summer vacation differently, depending on family resources. We should rethink the tradition with that in mind.
2 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
School & District Management Women in K-12 Leadership Don't Get Enough Support. Here's What Needs to Change
Fairer family-leave policies, pay transparency, better data collection, and more on-the-job support are elements of the plan.
7 min read
Illustration showing diversity with multi-colored human figures.
ajijchan/iStock/Getty
School & District Management School Counselors Face 'Role Ambiguity.' This State Tried to Clarify Matters
New York's new regulations didn't always change how principals viewed or interacted with school counselors, research finds.
5 min read
Man trapped in maze.
Man trapped in maze.
iStock/Getty Images Plus