Garfield High

Photo & Text Copyright 2009 Seattle Daily Photo. All rights reserved, including reproduction or republishing.

One by one each of Seattle's nine active public high school campuses have been receiving much needed renovations. Garfield High in the Central district has been in its newly refurbished diggs since last fall after a two year sojourn at the old Lincoln High campus in the Wallingford neighborhood while construction was going on. The exterior of this 1920s brick and terra cotta building remains intact, but the interior is entirely changed and updated to safely and comfortably accommodate its 1600+ students. Garfield's academic, arts, and sports programs are highly regarded, and its outstanding Advancedd Placement course offerings and music programs have attracted students from throughout the city. A few of the many notable people who once walked these hallways as students include composer/arranger/musician/producer Quincy Jones, for whom the new performing arts building is named, as well as guitarist Jimi Hendrix, architect Minoru Yamasaki, chess grandmaster Yasser Seirawan, and 2007 NBA basketball rookie of the year Brandon Roy. As of next fall, Seattle Public Schools' method of student placement will change from city-wide choice of schools to local neighborhood school assignments. Tentative boundaries for neighborhood schools were released for public comment this month and the School Board will finalize neighborhood school boundaries in time for next fall's enrollment which begins in spring