Tour & Dinner Presentation

Tyee High School

Thursday, November 20, 2025
Tour: 4:30 – 5:30 pm PT
Dinner/Presentation: 6:00 – 8:00 pm PT

This state-of-the-art high school will provide a welcoming, sustainable environment for a diverse community. Designed in collaboration with the Tyee community, the new school will serve 1,200 students in grades 9-12, including a significant multilingual and unhoused population. The facility includes a community clinic, family connection center, and gender-inclusive restrooms and locker rooms. A shared learning wing with performing arts, athletic, and career technology spaces will serve both the adjacent middle school and the wider community. Sustainability is central to the design, making it the district’s most energy-efficient school with an EUI of 24. Ground-source heat pumps under the athletic field provide renewable energy, reducing fossil fuel use. A solar array and future EV charging stations support clean energy solutions. Mass timber construction sequesters carbon while creating a warm, inviting atmosphere. Daylit interiors with courtyard views enhance learning and well-being, while stormwater bioretention swales manage water efficiently and support native habitats. Honoring Tyee’s history, salvaged glulam beams and gym flooring are repurposed as structural decking, seating, and wainscoting. Meaningful murals and historical artifacts will be integrated into the new design. More than a school, this facility is a community hub that reflects a commitment to inclusivity, sustainability, and preservation. Construction is set for completion in September 2025.

Learning Objectives:

• Delineate the importance of setting aspirational yet achievable guiding principles to provide the framework for a cohesive approach tailored to mutually agreed upon target outcomes.
• Synthesize how community and student engagement can drive aspirational goals around sustainability and diversity that can tangibly be incorporated into the design to create inclusive environments that ensure every student feels welcome and safe.
• Examine how salvage and reuse of materials can contribute to a fresh, updated setting for 21st Century learning providing modern amenities while preserving contextual history.
• Explore trends in providing ‘wrap around’ community services to meet a range of needs for students, including an unhoused population, with a community clinic, a family connection center providing essential services, and gender-inclusive restrooms and locker rooms.

Project Team:
Owner: Highline School District
Owner’s Representative: Nexus
GCCM Contractor: Absher Construction
Architect: Integrus
Structural Engineer: Integrus
Civil Engineer: AHBL, Inc.
Landscape Architect: Osborn Consulting
Mechanical Engineer: Metrix
Electrical Engineer: Hargis Engineers
Acoustical Engineer: A3
Cost Estimating: RC Cost
Food Service: JLR
Theater: PLA
AV: Stantec
Commissioning: Sazan
Envelop Consultant: Nexus

Tour Guides:
Amy Vanderhorst, Integrus
Sam Schaffer, Integrus
Ellie Daneshnia, Highline Public Schools

Dinner Presentation: Dynamics of Gathering

Learning Objectives:

• Examine how spatial configurations influence gathering, dialogue, and engagement in learning environments.
• Identify design strategies that promote well-being and neuro-inclusive participation through spatial planning.
• Apply the Spatial Proficiencies framework to align architectural intent with instructional goals.
• Evaluate how gathering spaces evolve into adaptive systems and the permissions teachers need to utilize new environments.

Speakers:

Jill Ackers
Jill leads national professional learning, pilot programs, and design collaborations that help educators use space as a catalyst for teaching and learning. A former teacher, school leader, and professor, she is the co-creator of the Spatial Proficiencies framework. This research-informed approach equips educators and designers with the skills to align spatial design with pedagogy.

Before joining VS America, Jill taught and delivered professional learning in K-12 and higher education for over 25 years, spanning nearly all 50 states. She is an author and previously worked with a global architecture firm designing future-ready campuses across more than 20 countries. Her expertise in spatial proficiency, leadership development, change management, and school design has significantly influenced learning environments. She brings humor, humanity, and hands-on insight to every stage of transforming classrooms into catalysts for human potential.

Rob Sawatzky, BA, M.Ed
Territory Manager-West for VS America

Schedule:

4:30 – 5:30 pm

Tour Tyee High School 4424 S 188th St. SeaTac, WA 98188

6:00 – 8:00 pm

Dinner Hilton Seattle Airport & Conference Center – Crystal Ballroom 17620 International Blvd. Seattle, WA 98188 Parking information: Attendees will pull a ticket to enter the parking garage (hold onto this ticket). Hilton staff will provide discounted $12.00 exit tickets in the event space. Attendees will need to take one upon arrival in order to leave with the discounted parking rate at the end of the event. At the gate, attendees must put the first ticket in followed by the second ticket, and the gate will open.

Rates:

Private Firm Member	$70 / $80
Private Firm Non-Member	$90 / $100
School Districts / Government Agency	$35

Please register so we can get an accurate head count.

Registration closes on November 19.
Early bird registration closes on November 7.

We greatly appreciate your attendance and active participation in our chapter events.

Payment / Cancellation / Substitute Policy

1. All registration payments are required prior to the start of the event.
2. I cannot attend the event. Can I get a refund?
   All requests for cancellations and refunds must be made in writing and emailed to Rain Maldonado with “WA DATE Cancellation Request” or “WA DATE Refund Request” in the subject line. No refunds will be issued for registrations cancelled or created 2 weeks prior to the event date. Credit card refunds will be issued at the time of cancellation. Check refunds will be issued within 60 days of the cancellation request. Please note there will be no refunds for no show attendees.
3. Can I send someone in my place if I am unable to attend? If so, how do I do that?
   Yes, if you will be unable to attend you can send someone else in your place. To do this, please provide a written request to Rain Maldonado, stating the name of the person who cannot attend and the person’s name that will be replacing them. Please be advised: substitution of a person in a different registration category may result in additional fees or a refund. If payment has not been received then the new attendee is responsible for payment. Refunds of this nature will be issued immediately, all additional payments will be required prior to the start of the event. Substitutions will be honored no later than 2 weeks prior to the event date.