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Midway Elementary leaders describe gains in belonging and bilingual literacy
Summary
School leaders told the board Feb. 19 that Midway Elementary — with 560 students who speak 28 home languages and come from 31 countries — has raised student sense of belonging and shown mid‑year bilingual literacy progress as part of its bilingual and culture‑of‑belonging goals.
Midway Elementary leaders presented data and family testimony at the Highline Public Schools Board of Directors meeting on Feb. 19, saying the school has increased student reports of belonging and is tracking bilingual literacy growth in a two‑way dual‑language program.
Lyon Terry and Marco Martinez, the Midway leadership team, said the school serves about 560 students who speak 28 home languages and were born in 31 countries. The leaders described efforts tied to the district strategic plan goal for culture of belonging and a separate bilingual/biliteracy goal.
“We are trying to create a culture where all are welcome, valued, and safe at Midway,” Terry told the board, and noted a family testimonial from parents who arrived in 2022 from Afghanistan. That family said their children “always told me at home that they are feeling like home and feel...so safe,” the district video excerpt reported.
Terry said Midway used strategies such as “Family Art Bridal” (monthly art evenings in partnership with the Seattle Art Museum), short musical performances and PBIS/MTSS systems to build belonging. He reported Panorama survey data showing a rise in students reporting belonging from 56% in the prior spring to 65% at the most recent measurement.
On bilingual outcomes, Martinez described Midway’s two‑way dual‑language program and presented mid‑year results for the school’s bi‑literacy trajectory. “When we look at the green part, we have 41 percent of our students reaching that bi‑literacy zone for both Spanish literacy and English literacy,” Martinez said, and noted the school’s target of 60 percent meeting end‑of‑year benchmarks.
The board asked how the school plans to raise outcomes for groups still lagging district averages. Martinez said the school has prioritized greetings in multiple languages, art and family engagement nights, and developing vertical alignment from kindergarten through grade 5 to support both belonging and biliteracy.
Why it matters: Midway’s leadership framed multilingual learning and belonging as connected goals and cited early evidence of progress in both social‑emotional and literacy measures. Board members praised the school’s results and asked for more detail as the school continues toward its year‑end targets.
Next steps: Midway leaders said they will continue to refine vertical articulation across grades, expand family engagement and report further results to the board as available.
