Mired in many inflamed issues last spring, the Spectrum Community School in Kingston moves forward with optimism, determination, tolerance and a focus on human rights, traits that are part of the legacy left behind by the school’s popular tie-dyed and visionary founder and principal, Chris Wendelyn.

Now under the leadership of Vice Principal Jackie Finckler, and with a few new staff members, the goal is to serve students who elect to be part of an alternative community and mostly stay out of the much larger Kingston and North Kitsap high schools.

Last spring, as Kingston High School was receiving much attention and accolades in its final stages of construction, the North Kitsap School District was called to task on following through with improvements to the Spectrum campus as part of the same 2001 Capital Programs bond that funded the new school and renovations to other schools in the district. The public and very vocal debate finally came to a head and resulted in a compromise to replace two dilapidated portable classrooms with one double-wide portable, and Wendelyn, who worked passionately as Spectrum’s greatest advocate for well over 20 years, was reassigned to another position within the district.

The principal position is now a part of KHS Principal Christy Cole’s job, though as vice principal, Finckler is the hands-on half-time administrator supervising students and teachers at Spectrum. The other half of Finckler’s job is as a counselor for the school. Finckler has been with the district for 16 years, a resident of North Kitsap for 25 years and holds a master’s degree in counseling and a doctorate in educational leadership. With a sign “Will work for peace” on her office door and books such as “The Nobel Peace Prize Lecture” by Jimmy Carter and “The Little Zen Companion” settled onto shelves with tea, Kleenex and Miracle Bubbles, it’s apparent Finckler knew she was stepping into a challenge.

Meeting a spectrum of challenges

Serving as vice principal and counselor has been tricky, Finckler said, and after the last three months she and the district realized that the school needs a second half-time counselor, which they’re in the process of hiring, to support student mental health issues.

One of her first priorities was talking with students and staff, finding out who they are and what kinds of support they need. She’s also working to develop academic standards and “get them where they want to go.”

She said it’s also been “a challenge to meet standards – it’s not been comfortable for them, but they have to focus on meeting specific standards in order to graduate.” Not only do graduating students at all public high schools have to meet credit requirements, but they must also pass the WASL test, complete a culminating project and create a plan for after they’re done with school.

“Meeting those additional requirements – that’s hard,” Finckler said. “It’s a challenge for them to take on and I become the bad one because of that.

“For me, these kids are amazingly strong kids in so many ways. For me to expect less from them would be disrespectful of their abilities.”

She said the parents she’s had contact with want to be supportive of their kids and see them succeed. “They all want the best for their kids,” she said.

This school year, there are 70 full-time equivalent students enrolled at Spectrum, down from about 100 last year. In addition to full-time students, others can enroll in independent study programs and take classes at Spectrum. Finckler thinks the drop in enrollment is due in part not only to staff changes, but also the proximity of Kingston High School. She thinks many students who might have otherwise enrolled in Spectrum decided to give KHS a try first.

Any student can apply to Spectrum, and must go through an interview process and transcripts review before being accepted.

Another transition, besides staff changes including the retirement of longtime favorite teacher and vocal advocate Phil Davis, included the move of the Grammy Foundation-funded and award-winning recording arts program from Spectrum to the new high school. Though teacher Richard Pullen moved over with the program, the loss of what many Spectrum students felt was something of their own still lingers, though they can still take classes in the program at KHS. Other Spectrum students walk over to KHS to take classes in art, weight training and math, and KHS students seek out Spectrum and its small class sizes to enroll in math, social studies and English courses.

“The class sizes are still small here,” Finckler said. “That’s one of the gifts we have here.”

The school’s student government is also serving as the Human Rights Council and last month held its annual Human Rights Conference in celebration of International Human Rights Day, continuing to have a strong presence as a resource for students to not only work through grievances and issues but project an environment of tolerance, peace and justice within the Spectrum community and the greater community around them. KHS students came to Spectrum, some of them for the first time, to participate in the dialogue at the conference.

A vision for

moving forward

Though last year there were some who questioned whether the district would keep Spectrum open, Finckler said, “it’s not whether Spectrum needs to exist or not, rather how to serve (the students) best.”

She’s developing a plan for Spectrum’s future and looking at how the alternative school fits in with students’ needs in the district. Alongside that, she hopes that the relationship between Spectrum and KHS will grow over the years. Finckler meets regularly with NKSD Executive Director of Student Support Service Greg Epperson, Superintendent Gene Medina, Cole, KHS Vice Principal Reese Ande and other administrators to talk about the transitions at Spectrum.

Plans for the new portable building that will replace two classrooms, one still in use and the other unoccupied due to its questionable state, are moving forward.

But, Finckler said, “we have to decide what our mission will be before we talk about a building.”

According to the district’s Capital Program Director Robin Shoemaker, they are currently refining bids and close to filing permit applications with the county’s Department of Community Development. They expect to be ready to install the new building, which will also serve as a multi-purpose room for the school, in late spring or summer, Shoemaker said. A wall down the middle of the portable that creates the two classrooms can be moved and opened up to create a larger space.

As Spectrum moves into the New Year, Finckler and the students remain optimistic that the unique community there will continue to stride towards those positive goals that Wendelyn created decades ago.

“I’m really hoping that we’ll have a clearer vision of what we need,” Finckler said, “and can envision ourselves going there.”