Due to a district decision in 2012, Tiger Mountain Community High School in the Issaquah School District will be closed for the 2015-2016 school year. The alternative high school will be closed for the remodel and relocation of the building and the structure of the program.

“This change is due to a 250 million dollar bond that was passed. Schools are being upgraded and revamped, and Tiger is getting a portion of that to make them better,” Assistant Principal Ed Marcoe said.

The relocation will occur over two school years. The school will not actually be closing until the 2015-2016 school year.

“This summer, they are going to move all of the Tiger Mountain portables to behind the Issaquah Middle School. The Issaquah Middle School area is where the new Tiger Mountain will be located permanently after the remodel,” Marcoe said.

In the relocated portables, the amount of students will be decreasing each year, because as each class graduates, no new class will be able to join the school because of the closure.

“Next year, the remainder of the students left after graduation will be moved to portables behind Issaquah Middle School, and will eventually be using the 700 and 800 wings of the school,” Marcoe said.

The remodel will not only affect the location of the school, but also the organization of the curriculum as well. A possible restructure of the school includes an idea called the “Big Picture School”.

“Big Picture Schools incorporate more of the physical interactions between students and the environment. For instance if a student needs his or her science credit, he or she would have the opportunity to intern at a radiologists office at Swedish Hospital, rather than taking a science course in a classroom,” Marcoe said.

This idea of the “Big Picture School” is still being decided amongst the district office. The new program would be new for the Issaquah School District

“This new potential change gives students more interaction with teachers, and involvement in the curriculum that is taught. I think it is helpful for students to be very hands on in learning, and it was beneficial in the years that I was the principal at Tiger,” Marcoe said.

The closure of the high school will lightly affect the number of students attending Liberty, since there would only be about twenty five students left at Tiger Mountain when it is closing for the year.

“Even though the switch will not really affect Liberty very much, I believe that this remodel is best for everyone. It makes Tiger better, and it makes Liberty better,” Marcoe said.