“Whether we remain the ash or become the Phoenix is up to us.” — Ming-Dao Deng
Two students from Phoenix High School, Eden and Grace, spoke with Tumbleweird about the good times (and the bad times) in Kennewick School District (KSD), and the community they found at Phoenix.
Phoenix’s school motto is: Supporting Students To Reach Their Highest Potential. On their website, they make it clear that Phoenix promises to “respect the integrity and worth of each individual.” From what these students told us, it seems that Phoenix High upholds that standard.
Eden graduated in 2024 and is planning on going to college in the fall. Eden said, “I am a trans guy, and I spent all four of my years at Phoenix, and it has been incredible for me. I feel respected and supported.” Phoenix is a choice school, meaning students in KSD can elect to go there. Eden said he originally chose to go to Phoenix because he has ADHD and thought that their project-based model would work better for him.
Grace’s experience in KSD is not as pleasant. Grace was outed as trans at 14 when she was attending Southridge High School. “I got very much bullied and excluded, and that deeply affected me going into high school. I was struggling to make friends and fit in and with the environment that Southridge provided. It just led me to start to not behave the best. And after that, I transferred to Phoenix for mental health, and also because I was getting in trouble.”
Grace graduated this year from Phoenix. She said, “[It] made me realize how fortunate I am to be at Phoenix.” She said Phoenix gave her a place where she was “surrounded by more like-minded people.” Both Grace and Eden also have supportive parents who agree that going to Phoenix helped them graduate successfully.
Community
The school is housed in a storefront building across from the district headquarters, next to a grocery store. Looking from the outside, it is hard to tell that it is a high school. There are also only about 60 students enrolled at Phoenix.
There are no ‘gendered’ bathrooms, which is beneficial to the students. That was one big source of bullying Grace had heard about at Southridge before she ever attended. “The disciplinary principal did not get girls in trouble for continuously looking under bathroom stalls to make sure there weren't ‘men’ in the stalls ‘for their safety.’”
But at Phoenix, with its supportive environment, the students said that bullying was not really an issue. Grace has experienced a lot of bullying and discrimination in the Tri-Cities, but feels that Phoenix is “100% supportive” of the queer community.
“I think one thing that is actually pretty cool about where we live is that when you meet someone queer, here, there is a lot more feeling of solidarity; whereas in Seattle, it's much more of a normal thing,” said Grace.
Eden explained that while other schools might have non-discrimination and anti-bullying policies, Phoenix meaningfully follows through if issues come up.
The class day at Phoenix is very different from a traditional high school. Kids have portable work stations and use a program called Apex to do their work.
“And instead of having a teacher, you have an advisor who watches over you” Grace explained. Each student has an advisor to help them complete their work. Grace said that the projects are self-guided, but the advisor is there to help.
There are also paras and teachers at Phoenix to assist students. The schedule is an hour of APEX math in the morning, then ‘advisory’ time, when the students meet as a group. After that, they do project work time, getting help as needed.
Lunch, according to both Grace and Eden, is not the best at Phoenix. Grace said it is the leftovers of the other schools’ lunches, and it is usually cold. Eden explained they don’t have a kitchen, so the lunches are just packaged meals. Students are allowed to go off-campus for lunch, but it's difficult to do within the 30 minutes they are allowed.
School sports
Grace said she knew of one former student at Phoenix was really into track, and would travel back to their boundary school to participate. This student was not trans, however.
Grace explained that she never did sports because of the expected backlash she would receive. “I wanted to try extracurricular when I was at Southridge,” Grace said. “I had friends who were joining the tennis team, and I know that shouldn't really be too big of a deal for a trans girl to join, but the anxiety of the backlash prevented me from doing that.”
Eden said that he has been fortunate enough not to have experienced discrimination or bigotry living in the Tri-Cities. “Personally, I love it here,” he said. “It's been my home since I was seven, and I've lived here most of my life.” Eden said that most of the bullying and bigotry they see is online, not in person. “I haven't necessarily had any negative experiences living here.”
Unfortunately, that hasn’t been Grace’s experience. “I do not like living here,” she said. “My dad lives in Seattle, so I've always been super excited whenever I can get away to Seattle, because I can just feel so much safer to walk outside there. I get so much anxiety here. There are times where I haven't left my house for months on end, because I'm just too scared.” Grace agrees with Eden that most of the hate they see is online. But Grace knows people who have been the victims of hate crimes.
“I know so many people who have been forced back into the closet due to pressures here,” Grace said. She mentioned many people who have been suicidal because of social pressures. “I was definitely bullied in middle school and high school, and being trans was definitely a big part of that.”
Graduation
Patrick Yecha was Grace’s student advisor when she attended Phoenix High. During our interview, Grace said several times how much she valued Yecha. In an email exchange, Yecha mentioned the academic success of Phoenix High students. “That is due mostly to the dedication of the staff,” he said.
According to the OSPI data from 23-24, 43% of students graduated in four years from Phoenix. That is a better graduation rate than New Horizon High School in Pasco (23%), and about the same as River’s Edge in Richland (43%) — the other alternative high schools in the Tri-Cities. Phoenix is very small in comparison, however; they have about 60 students, while New Horizon has about 350 students and River’s Edge has 287 enrolled.
KSD is arguably the most hostile district to kids that identify as trans. Tumbleweird has reported on the school board several times, mostly about their policies for kids that want to play sports. (See https://tumbleweird.org/level-playing-field/ and https://tumbleweird.org/offsides/.)
Somehow, the little school that could, Phoenix High School, is avoiding the drama and graduating students. Which means kids have hope.
“Wake up, wild one! Your mind is a cageless bird waiting to fly to uncharted lands. Like the phoenix, you’ll rise again with renewed vigor, clarity, compassion, and insight.” — Melody Lee
A lifelong resident of Eastern Washington, Dori enjoys the outdoors, her family, and making good trouble. She has worked for many years in broadcasting and reporting and believes in the value of the 4th estate. She is a true community advocate that loves Washington.
