Windward: A History
The origin. All of the amazing things we have come to know and appreciate at Windward High became possible with a meeting. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation began giving grants to create small technologically based high schools. In the summer of 2003, the Ferndale school district decided to hold its meeting for the whole community on whether this new school should be opened.
One woman stood up to the challenge and singlehandedly (with advice) wrote the request for a grant. This woman is named Jill Iwasaki. Windward ended up getting a grant and was given $600,000 to achieve this school. The only requirements were that the school had to be a small school involved with community and technology. The grant was awarded January 2003. From that point, everything started rolling into place. The school was able to recruit six teachers who began planning out subjects and schedules. By fall of 2003, after searching for months, a building was finally chosen and given six months to fix up. Student began recruiting to a school that had no name or description.
The students that joined Windward High School that first year had no clue what they were going into. All that was offered as a description was a small school with advances in technology and community. These students must have been very brave to prepare for a high school that had no experience. “Kids have always owned this school, it will always be that way.” Jill Iwasaki explained to me when describing the leadership the first year Windward student’s tool. Students painted walls they did not like, created a beautiful totem pole to cover an ugly support beam, and even named the school. These young teens had also filed for grants to help service their community themselves.
Finally, the grand opening! The staff’s biggest fear was that no student would show up. The first day of school went off with a bang for sure, but you couldn’t say it didn’t have its uniqueness due to a slight preparation problem. As the students started pouring in, the teachers realized they were not ready! The only solution was a field trip. All the students in the entire school got on buses and went out on a field trip while Jill Iwasaki set up computers. From that point on, it was smooth sailing. The school ended up working on a blue and gold schedule with 3 teachers teaching at Windward and three teachers teaching at Ferndale, then vice versa the next day. As there was no math teacher yet, all students had to take math at Ferndale High. Community service days and community meetings every Friday have been a tradition that are still upheld to this day because of the first year.
Everything was going well at Windward until 2009. At that point the rent for the building could no longer be paid. Windward had to find a more sustainable property or had no choice but to be shut down. With devastated students and staff, the district had to find a way to save the school. Luckily, Ferndale High school gave up a section of their building for Windward until a new building was bought. Their time at Ferndale was one of the largest struggles the students had. They felt uncomfortable with their space and saw aspects of Windward that had been so strong and important begin to dwindle. The students began to take a stand and show how important this school was to them. Many attending and alumni Windwardians started attending school meetings expressing their thoughts. Windward was finally able to relocate to a permanent building. Since then, students at Windward have felt at home, being able to express themselves in their own space. The fundamental values this school sets out to withhold are still honored today. Windward is an intentionally small choice school where learning, community, leadership, and creativity flourish.
