Enrollment at Raisbeck Aviation High School, one of Washington’s highest-performing schools, consists of 68% male students. In the context of the widening gender gap in educational achievement, it is critical to pay attention to schools where boys demonstrate they want to be. Raisbeck Aviation is one such school.
2021-2022 Enrollment, Raisbeck Aviation High School
| Gender | # | % |
| Female | 126 | 31% |
| Male | 276 | 68% |
| Non-Binary | 2 | 1% |
Raisbeck is one of Highline Public Schools’ six choice schools, in addition to the district’s four conventional high schools. Its building is on the campus of the world-class Museum of Flight, which is a stone’s throw from the King County International Airport (see photo below). The school is located in Tukwila, a city south of Seattle and adjacent to SeaTac, host of the Sea-Tac International Airport.
There are two other choice schools in the district that have more male than female students: Puget Sound Skills Center (54% male students) and Maritime High School. Maritime High opened its doors on September 2, 2021 with 17 boys, 14 girls, and 4 non-binary students.
[Source: Bassetti Architects]
Many boys can benefit from vocational training during their teen years. A Forbes article by Nicholas Wyman explained why we desperately need to bring back vocational training in schools.
Raisbeck Aviation High School’s vision statement speaks to career readiness:
Vision statement: To be the premier public high school of choice for students in King County and the region who wish to pursue their passion for aviation and aerospace in a learning environment that prepares them for higher education, citizenship, and work.
The school’s accomplishments are impressive. Their 2019-2020 Performance Report provides highlights like:
- U.S. News & World Report named them the #3 high school in Washington state and ranked them #105 out of 24,000 schools nationwide.
- Over 70 of their students carried out summer internships with their industry partners in 2019.
- They graduated 100% of their students in the class of 2020.
- Their students earned just over $3 million in scholarship awards and performed over 8,000 hours of community service.
- Their Solar Car Team won the National Solar Car competition and set a national speed record.
- They were recognized by the State of Washington for Academic Excellence based on state assessment and graduation data.
In the interest of offering a diverse set of educational opportunities where students with all kinds of interests and learning styles can thrive, we support the creation and expansion of public schools like Raisbeck Aviation High School all throughout Washington state.
See related blog post: Summer of Discrimination Against Boys Begins at Pacific Science Center