Dear Cleveland High School Community,

The winds of change are blowing at Cleveland High School. This is a bittersweet moment in my professional career. After eight years as the proud Principal of Cleveland High School, I have decided to move on. I am going downtown to serve as a Principal Coach and Mentor for newly appointed principals in Seattle Public
Schools. It has been an honor to serve as the proud Principal of Cleveland High School, and I will never forget the support that the Alumni have shown my family and me over the years.

We have seen Cleveland become one of the most desired schools in the region, with the highest graduation rates in the area. Many of our students are being accepted into and graduating from four-year universities. Cleveland’s legacy is stronger than ever because we are family at Cleveland High School.

Catherine Brown will be serving as the newly appointed Principal of Cleveland High School. Catherine has been at Cleveland for over 18 years, serving as a teacher, an academic intervention specialist, and Assistant Principal. Catherine is extremely passionate about student equity, academic rigor, and social justice. She has a long history at Cleveland, and she will diligently work with students, staff, community, and families to take Cleveland High School to the next level.

Mr. Ray Morales, who serves as my other wonderful Assistant Principal, will be leaving to become the Principal at Chief Sealth High School. Mr. Morales has been at Cleveland for five years as an Assistant Principal and has brought passion, energy, and expertise to our race and equity teams. Ray has also helped re-shape our special education department, athletic department, and science
department. Ray will be sorely missed at Cleveland High School, and we wish him well at Chief Sealth High School– except when they are competing against Cleveland.

Finally, Ms. Fely Regan, who serves as the life-blood of Cleveland, will retire this year after 36 years of excellent service. I have had the pleasure to work with Ms. Regan for eight years, and she is by far the best administrative secretary in the District. Ms. Regan is not just a colleague; she is family. I would not have made it as the Principal at Cleveland High School without Ms. Regan. She is the heartbeat of Cleveland High School, and everything at Cleveland runs smoothly because of Ms. Regan’s dedication, institutional knowledge, expertise, and work
ethic. Ms. Regan holds Cleveland High School together, and she is the go-to person for teachers,

Sincerely,
George L Breland, Principal
Cleveland High School

We continue to wish you and our alumni families good health, peace, and steadfastness. I would like to also thank the alumni, PTSA, staff, and students for your continued perseverance through the pandemic.

We just finished the first semester of the 2020-21 school year in this virtual environment. Cleveland teachers have done an amazing job of adjusting their instructional styles to meet all our students’ needs in this unique learning setting. Our students have done an excellent job of meeting the challenges of the pandemic, virtual learning, jobs, family stress, and isolation. We are all in this together, and united, we shall get through this storm together.

Currently, the district and the teacher’s union are in negotiations for a phased-in return to in-person learning for K-1, first graders, and Intensive Service Pathways students. High school students are not currently ready to return. All decisions will be negotiated and determined by the District, the School Board, and the SEA teacher’s union.

The sports season is set to begin this week, and follow- ing Governor Inslee’s Road map to Recovery Metrics, athletics are slated to begin in February. Our region needs to be in the new Phase 2 for competitions to take place.

Based on the information in Governor Inslee’s plan, the Metro League adopted a two-season sports model for this year only. Season 1 begins February 22 for football, bowling, girls soccer, slow-pitch softball, girls swim and dive, volleyball, cross country, and golf. Season 2 begins April 19 for baseball, boys soccer, boys swim and dive, basketball, fastpitch softball, tennis, track, and wrestling.

Cleveland’s softball team has been selected as one of the winners of the $5,000 Mariners Care Equipment Donation Grant. The organizers received over 45 applications from high schools across the state. Cleveland was one of just 10 schools to receive the award.

As always, a big THANK YOU to the Cleveland Alumni Association for your continued support; you are an integral part of the Cleveland community. I cannot wait to see what 2020-21 has in store!

Cleveland Eagles keep soaring!

********* In Other News *********
Feb 25, 2021, King5.com

Seattle Public Schools names interim superintendent

Dear Cleveland Community and Alumni,

It has been a successful start to the new school year, and there have been some bumps in the road, but families, staff, and students have been flexible and understanding as we work in this new virtual learning environment.

I hope everyone understands that Cleveland is not a perfect school, but we are always striving toward perfection. Many times we fall short but not for a lack of effort. This year has been tough for families, students, and staff, but I am proud of our staff, which has worked hard over the summer to prepare a quality learning experience for our students.

We are focusing on two primary themes this academic year at Cleveland. First, we want to meet the social and emotional needs of our staff, students, and families during this pandemic. If teachers, students, and families are not healthy in mind, body, and soul, nothing else matters. Creating a caring and collaborative environment for teachers, families, and students is our most essential task as a community. We have ensured that every student has access to a laptop and quality wi-fi, school supplies, school lunch, and health and wellness support through our Teen Health Clinic. We truly believe that a student’s basic needs must be met before they can perform efficiently in the classroom.

Our second focus is to make sure that students have a quality virtual learning experience. Cleveland teachers spent many long hours this summer collaborating with colleagues preparing, planning, and developing innovative lessons and projects for their students. We are social creatures by nature, so this has been an adjustment for teachers and students, but Eagles always rise above the winds of change. Cleveland students still have eight classes, four classes every other day, except on Wednesdays. Students work on Microsoft Teams with 50 minutes of live instruction followed by 20 minutes of small group instruction.

Cleveland’s goals for each student haven’t changed: they are to reach every student where they are and help them grow one day at a time. Athletics have been affected by the pandemic also. The fall sports season as currently set will likely not happen, as King County would have to be in Phase 3 for it to happen (golf is an exception). See the schedule below:

• WIAA Season 1: Cross Country, Slow-pitch Softball, Girls Swim & Dive*, Golf (Alternative Season), Tennis (Alternative Season)
• WIAA Season 2: Basketball, Bowling, Boys Swim & Dive, Gymnastics, Cheerleading, Wrestling
• WIAA Season 3: Volleyball, Girls Soccer, 1B/2B Boys Soccer, Football
• WIAA Season 4: Tennis, Fastpitch Softball, Track & Field, Baseball, Golf, Boys Soccer, Dance/Drill

I don’t know what the future holds, but the “Eagle Nation” will stick together during the storm and rise above our trials and tribulations as long as we stay strong and stay united. As always, a big THANK YOU to the Cleveland Alumni Association for your continued support; you are an integral part of the Cleveland community– I cannot wait to get back to the Eagles Nest!! Cleveland Eagles
keep soaring!

Sincerely,

George L Breland
Principal Cleveland High School

Dear Cleveland Community and Alumni,

We hope you and your families are healthy in mind, body, and spirit.

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed life as we know it for all Americans, and the Cleveland community has pulled together in many ways to support our students, staff, and families. I would publicly like to thank the Alumni, PTSA, and staff for providing financial assistance, meals, and social/emotional support for our families during this time of need.

We are saddened to share the news that Lois Brewer, a grant-writer and service-learning coordinator at Cleveland from 2008 to 2018, has passed away. Lois made many contributions to Cleveland and some highlights include: the multi-year service-learning grant she wrote, which funded some of our early Project Based Learning; the STEM Summer Learning Opportunities grants, which allowed interested students to pursue real-world STEM work; she actively participated in the first professional learning our staff did on restorative justice and supported that work overtime; she made important contributions to the City of Seattle Levy Grant that is in its final year; she wrote the Race To The Top grant that funded job-shadow and internship opportunities for our juniors. Lois also served on many committees and task forces for the district and the larger community. She devoted much of her life to the improvement of schools and school systems and was a beloved wife, mother, and grandmother. Here is a link to more information, as well as an opportunity for you to leave a memorial message. We will remember her impact on the Cleveland community, and we send support to the family members who are grieving her loss. The link is

On March 11, 2020, the Superintendent closed all Seattle Public Schools until further notice. On April 6, 2020, Governor Inslee made an emergency proclamation extending the closure through the end of the school year. Our staff went right to work planning ways to ensure Cleveland students were able to continue their education through virtual platforms. The Cleveland team worked with the Central Office to roll-out a detailed plan of continuous learning for all students during this closure. Teachers and support staff have been reaching out to students twice a week through e-mails, conducting online meetings, and placing individual family phone calls. Cleveland teachers have created virtual classrooms to continue student learning as well as a weekly class schedule. They set up teacher’s office hours for extra student support and developed many learning activities, assignments, and projects. Advisory teachers connected with families to determine who may need help in getting laptops and Internet access to students. I am proud of our staff. This has been a heavy lift, and everyone carried the weight.

Moving forward, our primary goal is to ensure that our Seniors of 2020 successfully make it to the graduation finish line and that we send them off in the right way. We also want to ensure that our 9th-11th graders receive a quality learning experience during this period. This is new territory for all of us, but Eagles soar above the storm when challenging times arise.

As always, a big THANK YOU to the Cleveland Alumni Association for your continued support; you are an integral part of the Cleveland community. I cannot wait to see what 2020-21 has in store! Cleveland Eagles keep soaring!

Sincerely,

George L Breland, Principal
Cleveland High School

Dear Cleveland High School Family:

This Principal Update comes from Catherine Brown, assistant principal since 2014, and interim principal while Mr. Breland is recovering from knee replacement surgery. Mr. Breland is expected back at the end of January.

It’s been an exciting school year with much to celebrate. We continue to grow our enrollment and are getting very close to filling our buildings to their physical capacity with 913 students. This year we reviewed some post-high school academic data and learned that increasing numbers of Cleveland students are directly enrolling and persisting in college (including vocational and apprenticeship programs) after high school. In fact, our class of 2017 had the highest percentage of African-American students enrolling in college in all of South King County.

Fall sports teams enjoyed great successes, with a brand-new slow pitch team debuting, volleyball and football teams making it to playoffs, cross-country and girls’ swim teams competing at Metros, and our boys’ Ultimate Frisbee team winning the state championship! It’s a first for Cleveland or any other south Seattle high school to win at state. Go Eagles!

We’ve had some great connections with families this fall as well—from a well-attended Eagle Night in October to busy student-led conferences in November. We appreciate the feedback families have given us and their support of students. Our PTSA is hard at work planning this year’s auction (scheduled for Friday, April 24) and has been supporting various classroom and school projects with
funds raised from last year.

Students have also been hard at work this fall; in addition to their academics, students have put on a variety of events and fundraisers through the Associated Student Body (ASB), including a marvelous Multicultural Night celebration and a well-attended Homecoming Dance and spirit week. Our Link Crew program continues to use selected and trained 11th and 12th graders to support 9th graders through mentorship and community-building.

Cleveland continues to be recognized as an especially caring and inclusive school community, where students are challenged and supported. Thanks, alumni, for your support!

Sincerely,
Catherine Brown, Assistant Principal
Cleveland High School

Follow Ms. Brown on Twitter: @msbrownchs
Send her an email: cmbrown@seattleschools.org
Connect with Ms. Brown on LinkedIn

I hope your summer was restful and refreshing. We look forward to continuing our partnership with our wonderful parents/guardians. Our mission is to prepare our students for real-world success by providing all students with a personalized relevant and rigorous education. Our vision is to prepare, push and produce students that will be competitive in a global economy, critical/divergent thinkers and problem solvers, and students that are capable of thriving in diverse environments.

This year we are focusing on creating equity by building independent learners. Studies have shown that students who take ownership of their learning and know-how to navigate the system fare much better in our academic environment. We want to teach students how to navigate Cleveland through collegial collaboration, student voice, and problem-solving. We will also continue to focus on improving our student engagement through rigorous project-based learning and culturally responsive teaching methods. We know that authentic, rigorous, well-scaffolded projects with connections to life experiences outside of school will eliminate opportunity gaps and boost deeper learning for all students.

Finally, we are committed to improving family engagement by listening to parents and improving our methods of communication with parents. Currently, information is available

• through our website: which communicates news and updates and includes  contact information for school staff,
• through Remind app: there is a general school account that parents can sign up for, as well as its widespread use by teachers in classrooms,
• through social media feeds provided by Cleveland Publications—Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all have a steady feed of school news as well as the opportunity to message C-Pub directly with questions.

We are happy to announce that Cleveland’s graduation rate has continued to improve from 67 percent five years ago to over 91 percent in the 2017-18 school year. This is the 6th consecutive year of Cleveland High School receiving the School of Distinction Award, a state-wide award recognizing schools that made the greatest gains in academic outcomes for students. We have more students enrolling in four-year universities than ever before.
Cleveland Eagles keep soaring because the sky is not the limit but the foundation!

Sincerely,

George L Breland
Principal Cleveland High School