PORT OF SEATTLE 
MEMORANDUM 

COMMISSION AGENDA                   Item No.         7a 
STAFF BRIEFING                Date of Meeting Date of Meeting   February 2, 2010 

DATE:      January 8, 2010 
TO:         Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
FROM:     Diane Summerhays, Director of Community Development 
SUBJECT:  Aviation High School Briefing 

Synopsis 
Port staff will update the Commission on the numerous ways the Port, through its tax levy and
educational partnerships, supports Aviation High School. The briefing will focus on information
about AHS' student body, curriculum, capital campaign and new building, and the role that AHS
plays in imbuing students with intellectual curiosity and providing them with the academic tools
leading to professional careers and bright futures. AHS also plays an important role in helping
the Puget Sound region maintain its competitive edge in aviation, aerospace and high tech. Port
staff will be joined by Highline Superintendent of Schools John Welch and AHS CEO/Principal
Reba Gilman. Several AHS students will also share their experiences with the Commission.
There will also be a Robotics Display prior to the meeting. 
School Summary 
Founded in 2004, AHS's goal is to become the premier school of choice for science, technology,
engineering and math students and to prepare them for college, careers and citizenship in a
rigorous academic atmosphere. The high school is part of the Highline School District but is
open to students throughout the region. Currently 65% are students from Highline with the rest
coming from other districts, as far away as Tacoma, Bremerton and Everett. AHS has been very
successful in providing a rigorous, high quality education to its student body, now numbering
400. The high school prides itself in having the third highest score in the state in math and
science, as well as a highly diverse population of which 21% qualify for the free or reduced cost
lunch program. 
From the beginning, it was the School District's vision that AHS locate near Boeing Field so the
students could take full advantage of all the aviation-related opportunities to extend and enrich
their learning. The plan, developed in partnership with Bonnie Dunbar, the current Director of
the Museum of Flight, is to co-locate the school with the new Museum of Flight building on the
west side of East Marginal Way. The School District has begun an aggressive capital campaign

COMMISSION AGENDA 
T. Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
January 8, 2010 
Page 2 of 3 
to raise $43.5 million to cover the cost of construction of a new building located next to the
Museum of Flight and scheduled to open in 2012. The Port has been a lynchpin in this effort,
but other funds have or will come from the federal and state government, the School District, the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Paul Allen Family Foundation and others. The lead
private gift of $4 million was made by James and Sherry Raisbeck. 
Tax Levy Commitment 
In June, 2004, the Port Commission authorized the Managing Director of the Aviation Division
to execute a Memorandum of Agreement between the Port and the School District, committing
$15 million of the Port's tax levy funds for the needs of the School District. (This MOA is
separate and distinct from the 2002 Port/FAA/District agreement to fund the school sound
insulation program in the Highline School District.) As part of the agreement, AHS was to 
receive $650,000 for each of 10 years, with the rest of the money going to School District-wide
programs and school insulation and construction costs. This agreement grew out of discussions
with Speaker of the House Frank Chopp and the State Legislature in 2003 about community
concerns regarding the third runway. The Port's commitment was contingent on a State match of
$15 million, which the State has since allocated to the School District for school insulation and
construction. 
The Highline School District has had challenges with securing a permanent location and new
facilities for AHS. As a result, School District and Airport staff evaluated the potential for
allocating more of the MOA funds directly to building AHS facilities. Thus, in November of
2007, Airport staff requested that the Commission approve an amendment to the 2004 MOA
allowing the remaining funds to be used for construction, operation, and other costs associated
solely with AHS. The Commission authorized this amendment.
To date, the Port has paid out nearly $4 million of the original $15 million, leaving
approximately $11 million to be used by AHS on the new facility and on other school needs. 
The high school is programmed to receive approximately $9,075,000 from the Port tax levy
monies in 2010. After 2010, they will receive $650,000 per year through 2013. The School
District is planning on breaking ground on the new high school facilities in 2010, and the Port's
approximately $9.1 million is slated to cover the construction costs for 2010. The School
District has carefully developed a strategy to achieve its goal of completion of the new school by 
early 2012, and having the Port funds in-hand for 2010 is a critical element of that strategy. 
Educational Partnerships 
Since its opening in 2004, the Aviation Division has instituted a number of programs that 
strengthen the ties between AHS and the airport and expose their students to the large variety of
aviation-related occupations and fields at Sea-Tac. The following is a summary list of the
current partnerships between the Port's Aviation Division and AHS.

COMMISSION AGENDA 
T. Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer 
January 8, 2010 
Page 3 of 3 
Airports & the Environmental Curriculum  First begun in 2008, "Airports and The
Environment" is a month-long program that integrates multi-disciplinary and multi-media
classroom instruction with a final "Environmental Challenge." For two weeks, 10th grade
high school students participate in lectures, hands-on activities, and a field trip designed
by airport staff with an aviation and environmental focus. The students are given a realworld
problem and asked to solve the problem based on their own research and what they 
learned through the airport staff-driven lectures and activities. Following the activities,
student teams present a solution to the problem before a panel comprised of aviation and
environmental professionals.
Job Shadow Program  For the second year in a row and on multiple days throughout
the year, Aviation Division staff serve as job shadow hosts to freshman from AHS. The
students, in groups of three, are assigned a shadow host based on personal career interest
and spend the entire day observing and interacting as the host goes about his or her work
day.
Airport Academy  Freshmen at AHS are invited to Sea-Tac Airport each year for a day
of briefings and tours on the airport and on careers in aviation.
High School Internship Program  The Aviation Division in 2008 reestablished a
formal high school internship program at Sea-Tac geared to students who live in the
airport communities. A good percentage of the students who have served as interns at the
airport have come from AHS. 
In addition to work with AHS, the Port of Seattle and the Highline School District, through a
memorandum of understanding (MOU), have implemented a major sound insulation program for
15 schools. To date, 7 of the schools have been completed at a cost of $50,052,757. One school
has been permanently closed. Of the remaining 8 schools, one will be closed in 2012 when AHS
moves to its new facilities. Contingent on voter approval, the next 4 will be remodeled or rebuilt
in the 2012-2014 timeframe. The remaining 3 will not be initiated until the 2021-2025
timeframe.

Attachment: Highline School District/Port of Seattle MOA and amendment