Pasco School District outlines "4 A" student-engagement plan for new Sage View high school

Pasco School District staff and students described plans on during a study session to launch a districtwide "4 A" program at the new Sage View high school to boost student engagement and school pride.

District leaders and student presenters told the board the program grew from a student summit and a principal-student action council that sought input from all three comprehensive high schools. "What I'm sensing is that people are excited," said Speaker 3, a student. "There's some people ... upset that they're leaving old high school friends and stuff like that. But I'm sure with this 4 A program, it would like kinda make them like forget about that."

The program is designed to combine academics, arts, athletics and activities to create a unified student experience across the three high schools. "For the student summit, we tried to get at least 25 from each of the comprehensive high schools," said Speaker 5, a district staff member. "For the 4 A activity that we're doing in August, that's 70 kids from each. So approximately 200 kids that we're gonna be inviting to participate on 2 days from all 3 high schools." Speaker 5 said the 4 A initiative has not been implemented yet and "would be something new for us this year."

Speakers described implementation steps aimed at building momentum before Sage View opens: recruiting student leaders, creating an action plan and timeline, parent outreach at a May 19 "join the pack" event where families and staff signed up students for clubs, and district-level coordination among principals and student councils. "It will be expected of us," Speaker 5 said when asked whether the program would be schoolwide, adding that selected students would return to train peers and staff would track benchmarks throughout the year.

Board members and students raised practical barriers and supports. One student (Speaker 1) described transportation challenges: "I live 30 minutes away," she said, and said that travel and scheduling can limit participation in after-school activities. Speakers asked for district support for shared events — such as holding joint activities at Edgar Brown Stadium or rotating events among campuses — and for continued collaboration to sustain extracurricular programming.

Student presenters said selection to the summit and cohort was by sign-up and outreach rather than selective invitation. Speaker 5 described the signup process: students received an email invitation, completed a simple form and were told the dates; buses were provided the day of the event. The district said the 4 A program will include academics-aligned elements such as Career and Technical Education (CTE) offerings, National Honor Society activities and arts programming (band, mariachi), and that the intention is to make clubs and activities accessible and attractive so students "want to" participate rather than being required to do so.

Board discussion emphasized measuring success through benchmarks for student participation and school pride and the role of principals' student councils in recruiting and sharing best practices across campuses. The study session concluded with the chair thanking principals and student presenters and reminding attendees the regular board meeting would begin at 6:30 p.m.