Schools will be in session on schedule Tuesday, thanks to the Bellevue School District and the Bellevue Education Association reaching an agreement on a new contract this week.

As things usually play out in such negotiations, each side gave a little and got a little. The bottom line is that kids will be where they belong – in the classrooms learning what they will need to succeed in life.

There will be plenty of new things to get their attention.

A big one is The Big Picture school, a facility dedicated to helping highly motivated students personalize their learning environment by focusing on real-world work and community engagement. The idea already has been implemented at 130 schools around the world.

In Bellevue, the school is starting small – 75 sixth graders and 50 ninth graders – but will grow each year until a full middle and high school is in place.

The students will complete a comprehensive college-prep curriculum and will be encouraged to enter the Running Start program at Bellevue College when they are juniors and seniors.

Also new this year is a program at Sammamish High School, a nationally recognized rigorous engineering course to help kids develop skills they will need in the 21st century. It’s so innovative that Sammamish is the only school in the state to receive a five-year, $4.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to support the project.

There’s lots going on in the elementary schools, too. A Chinese program at Ardmore and a Spanish program at Sherwood Forest will help kids become bilingual and bi-literate – skills that will help them in the future.

Perhaps most impressive is how this all came about at a time when the state is cutting education funding. The Sammamish project, for example, drew $1.1 million in private support, including $830,000 from the Bellevue Schools Foundation, to help secure that federal grant. Individuals also continue to donate their time as mentors.

It looks to be a very good year in Bellevue.

– Craig Groshart, Bellevue Reporter