As Washington’s graduation requirements are changing, Lakeside is unlikely to perfectly match each of its shifts.
On Aug. 13, the Washington State Board of Education (SBE) approved a proposal that would implement a slate of changes to high school graduation requirements. These include dropping the number of required credits from 17 to 15, and adding two flexible credits to five existing flexible credits — places where students can choose from several options, including languages, physical education, arts, and more. In addition, students will take financial literacy, mental health and wellness, and 12th-grade quantitative reasoning classes as part of their required course load, in an effort to prepare them for life after graduation.
Lakeside strives to closely match state requirements for graduation, according to Upper School Dean Hans de Grys. Following the changes, Lakeside will have 5 more required credits than public schools – but that is something unlikely to change, Mr. de Grys says. When asked about the perceived reduced flexibility, he was quick to point out that “your average lakeside senior coming into senior year just needs to take one fall English semester and one semester in the spring of English, and they can choose all the rest of their classes. […] That’s a lot of flexibility!” But he does add that the school will closely review the changes, compare them to current requirements, and see if there is anything that needs to be tweaked.
Beyond credit requirements, another major change for public high schools is the addition of a financial literacy and life skills course. For the past two decades, Lakeside has been shifting to incorporate more of this learning into its classrooms and advisories, something likely to continue. An example of this development is the Beyond Lakeside Mini-Seminar, a workshop series for seniors covering topics like financial literacy, career readiness, relationships, and drug use. The proposal will also add a PE or health class (by student choice) with a focus on mental health and wellness.
The HD department is excited for the changes, despite the fact that they won’t have a huge impact at Lakeside. “Reykdal’s proposal is a great equalizer,” says Director of Student and Family Support and former HD department head, Julie Lutton. She added, “[Whatever we have], it’s never enough [instructional] time [for courses like human development].” As such, she and Dr. Geneva Jost, the new HD department head, describe the idea of the new yearlong senior course mandated by the requirements as “thrilling.” They also note that they “see a world where we have expanded [HD] into 10th grade, 11th grade — … it’s a direction Lakeside has been taking for a while.”
Janelle Komba, a sophomore at Roosevelt High School, is optimistic about the changes. “I do think [a financial literacy/life skills course] will be meaningful because a lot of students complain about schools not teaching how to actually manage life beyond high school.” She believes making the course a requirement would “help the students who think that school isn’t really prepping them.”
Several Lakeside students, when asked what they would think about the same changes being implemented at Lakeside, recognize the benefits of the changes but question the courses’ mandatory status. Joshua H. ’27 is one of them. “I don’t necessarily think that these things should be mandated,” he said. He explained that while he knows “there are a lot of kids that would be interested in learning [financial literacy skills],” the course would not substantially benefit others who are better versed.
The HD teachers also mentioned that in their conversations with students, it’s not a single “practical” life skill they are most excited to learn. Rather than learning ever-evolving life skills like formatting a résumé, they want to talk about things like their values and coping with stress — things that make them much better prepared to present who they are when they take on challenges such as new relationships or job interviews. As Ms. Long notes, not everything can or should be taught in the classroom. “Part of these lessons are just living life,” she said.
Meanwhile, student opinions are divided in response to another proposed change to state graduation requirements: a two-for-one credit system that could potentially offer two credits for one course completion. For example, a theater class could satisfy both an arts and English credit if it met the requirements for those classes. According to Mr. de Grys, Lakeside can probably look forward to more interdisciplinary courses, especially following the completion of the Allen-Gates renovation, but any course offering double credits would have to have the same class time as two classes.
Josie Lauckhart, another Roosevelt High student, views the two-for-one system as an opportunity to maximize a limited number of class periods. She said, “It would be … helpful if you could get [credit] in two [subjects] … then you could move on to doing different things with the extra periods.” But Janelle is worried that this system could propagate the exact situation it’s meant to counter. Instead of students choosing classes they are interested in, she suggests some may “take [a] class just because [they] want the credits.”
Lakeside students also voice a variety of potential benefits and drawbacks of expanding two-for-one system at the school (there are a few courses that can count as one of two credits). Jack H. ’29 hopes that it “allows people to focus more on what they are passionate about,” while Mariah M. ’28 mentions the possibility of the system helping with “credits and getting things done quickly.”
On the other hand, Joshua doesn’t believe Lakeside should implement the system “if it were not something like Amstud,” referring to Lakeside’s two-credit English-history course that occupies twice as much class time compared to the typical one-credit course. “If you’re getting two credits for one class, that gets a little iffy.”
The proposal raises an important question: What is the goal of all these changes, anyway? In a virtual State Board of Education press conference explaining the new requirements on Sept. 15, board members explained that the proposal is designed to better equip students with the skills they’ll need after high school. In particular, Abby Wu, one of two student board members on the SBE, said the financial literacy course would help open up postsecondary options for graduating students.
Josie agrees the proposal “would be helpful if you were planning on doing your taxes and getting a job right away” after graduating high school. For Lakeside students, Joshua says the situation of working post-graduation is different. “So many of us go on to higher education with college … [Public schools’] proportion of students who go directly into the workforce [is expected] to be a little higher.” There is no statistic for the percentage of Lakeside students who enter the workforce right after high school, but as a Lakeside article from January 2025 explains, 100% of Lakeside students will attend college at some point in their lives.
Given that, Lakeside’s priorities don’t necessarily need to change to be more geared towards getting its students to college. As Mr. de Grys points out, “I think we used to have a pretty narrow emphasis more on academics, and I think in the last 10 or 15 years, there’s been a really nice shift to think more about students’ lives beyond just science and history and things like that.” And it’s likely that Lakeside will continue shifting in this direction, says Mr. de Grys.
