Education

Gig Harbor Now staff are proud to provide coverage of Peninsula School District, Tacoma Community College, private schools and home schools, emphasizing the value and experiences of learning here and beyond.

Chum Walk may be light on chum again; here’s why

Nov 18, 2024 | By: Carolyn Bick

Chum salmon probably won’t attend the annual event in big numbers again this year, but there are reasons for hope for the future.

Being Neighborly | Meet Miss Gig Harbor, on a mission to remove barriers to learning

Nov 17, 2024 | By: Marsha Hart

Being Neighborly Helpers are everywhere. We just have to look for them. Gig Harbor Now wants to showcase how someone in the community — a stranger, neighbor, teacher, classmate, anyone — has helped you. Whether it’s a small act of kindness or something that had a larger impact, send it in. It could be included

Rush-owned property near Peninsula High could be sold to school district … or, it could become 130 homes

Nov 11, 2024 | By: Ted Kenney

Two plans unfolding in Purdy promise to help shape the unincorporated community’s future. Rush Companies is working to build a new subdivision of 130 homes, packed tightly on land bordering busy 144th Street. The developer has already spent thousands of dollars on permitting fees and applied with the city of Gig Harbor to extend sewer

James Coolican, former Peninsula superintendent and Vietnam War hero, dies at age 85

Nov 05, 2024 | By: Gig Harbor Now Staff

James J. Coolican, a former Peninsula School District superintendent and decorated Marine Corps colonel, died Oct. 25 at age 85. Coolican was superintendent at Peninsula from 1999 to 2006. Before the local post, he worked for Educational Services District No. 101 in Spokane from 1991 to 1997 and as deputy superintendent in the state Office

Family of football player injured in 2023 Fish Bowl sues Peninsula School District, coach

Nov 01, 2024 | By: Christina T Henry

The family of a Gig Harbor High School quarterback who was seriously injured during Fish Bowl 2023 is suing Peninsula School District. Also named as defendants in the suit are Ross Filkins, coach and athletic director of Peninsula High School, as well as the PHS student who made the tackle. The suit, filed in U.S.

Aviation academy set to take flight next year in Peninsula School District

Oct 31, 2024 | By: Christina T Henry

Gig Harbor-area students interested in exploring a career in the aviation industry will have that option close to home starting in the 2025-26 school year. Peninsula School District recently announced it will launch an Aviation Academy next year in partnership with the Museum of Flight and Tacoma Narrows Airport. Filling a skills gap The academy,

Peninsula High teacher balances art and science

Oct 29, 2024 | By: Marsha Hart

Peninsula High school science teacher by day, performing artist in her off time, Ashley Ortenzo is one of dozens who will “fling joy” in the Puget Sound Midwinter Revels show in December. Ortenzo has been a science teacher for 24 years and lives in Gig Harbor, but it’s her first year at Peninsula High School.

In the Margins | Getting curious, not judgmental, about school bus drivers

Oct 24, 2024 | By: Chris Phillips

The next training class for potential Peninsula School District bus drivers starts Monday, Oct. 28. Chris Phillips talked to three local people who love driving a bus.

Peninsula teachers, others blast school board’s new staff expression policy

Oct 22, 2024 | By: Christina T Henry

The policy establishes that the district can discipline, or even fire, employees whose off-the-clock comments have an “adverse impact on district operations.”

Conservative, progressive values collide in state superintendent race

Oct 16, 2024 | By: Christina T Henry

As K-12 schools have become a battleground for culture wars, it’s no surprise that the 2024 race for state Superintendent of Public Instruction, a nonpartisan position, is fraught with political overtones. David Olson, a longtime Peninsula School District board member, hopes to unseat incumbent Chris Reykdal, seeking a third term as head of the state’s

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