About Us

History of Columbia Crest

Columbia Crest A-STEM Academy sits in the foothills of Mount Rainier adjacent to Mt. Rainier National Park Headquarters, four miles from Ashford, Washington. This location provides an immense opportunity to develop science using the surrounding environment. The school is within easy walking distance of the Nisqually River and is a short ride to the National Park.The students are engaged in these natural laboratories for water testing and other projects. The school is also involved in gardening, hands-on health and providing fresh vegetables to the community utilizing their greenhouse and system of raised garden beds. STEM classes are integrated into the entire curriculum to promote learning through the lens of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Students learn in an engaging, problem based environment where collaboration and creativity are encouraged.

School History

Education in the upper Nisqually Valley underwent a major change in 1951. Prior to that date, Ashford, Elbe and Alder were each separate school districts. In 1951 these three districts voted to become part of Eatonville School District #404. The town schools were closed and the students moved to the new kindergarten through eighth grade school. It was important to the community that the legacy of the area be incorporated into their new school and the promise of always having a local school be honored. The school, located in the shadow of Mt. Rainier was named Columbia Crest after the highest point on Mt. Rainier. Student Barbara Barnett suggested the name as part of a naming contest. Duane Rose was the first CC principal.

Moving to the new school was a community effort as the parents provided trucks for the move. The gym was not finished so the men of the community secured hardwood and laid the floor themselves. It was the envy of every middle school team that came to play on its surface. Thanks to the diligent guarding of this floor by Principal Lucy Fountain, it remains a source of pride for the school. It was refinished with the center circle being painted by artist and mountaineer, D. Molenaar and lettered by former teacher, Sarah Larson.

Athletics were important to the community. The Lions’ Club maintained the baseball fields and provided uniforms for the students. The track was created by students and teachers and the community hauled the surface material. The scoreboard and glass backboards in the gym were purchased by matching PTO dollars and corporate sponsorship. The Rainiers (mascot), wearing their blue and gold uniforms, filled the trophy case with many league championships. All sports except football were offered.

Following Principal Rose, Principals have included: Jack Lowry, Richard Jasper, Oberta Bartels, Tom Collins, George Galloway, Robert Schaub, Lucy Fountain, Pam Burke, David Jacobsen, Janna Rush, and Angie Ellenbecker. The current principal is Allison Burslem.

Many changes have occurred since 1951. The building became larger as two classrooms, a locker room and stage were added. In 1989 Principal Fountain oversaw a full scale remodel. The domed roof was replaced with a pitched roof and because of increased enrollment three portable classrooms were added. The community wanted a plaza in the front of the school so they collected funds and poured the concrete themselves.

In the school year 2000 the student enrollment declined and the sixth and seventh graders were transferred to Eatonville for middle school. The school began to grow again with the addition of the Summit Program for Highly Capable students. In 2013, the school’s innovative programs under the direction of Angie Ellenbecker and Allison Burslem earned the school the STEM designation. The decision was then made to return the seventh and eighth grade to CC and the school would be known as Columbia Crest A-STEM Academy.

Community Involvement has always been at the forefront of life at Columbia Crest. As the hub of the geographic area it was where all the community gathered together. Over the years the community has raised thousands of dollars to support extra programs for the students. The school was known for the auctions which always featured original art by local Western Artist, Fred Oldfield.

There is an Open Enrollment policy in the Eatonville School District so students come from as far as Packwood and Puyallup to attend this school. Students find many ways to connect to the programs offered and thrive in this very caring and supportive environment.

Traditions run deep and former students are always honored throughout the hallways as the pictures of every graduating class are proudly displayed in the “History Lives On” hall. The legacy lives on as “the mountain” looks down from above!

School Motto

School Theme

Awards and Grants

Outdoor Camp Grant 2023

Outdoor Schools Washington, part of the Washington School Principals Education Foundation, will place a guaranteed hold of fund for a maximum reimbursement of $ 10,875.00 for your school to attend outdoor school in the 2023-24 school year. These funds are considered a state allocation. Funds guaranteed are the maximum amount to be paid via reimbursement after the outdoor school experience is complete and required documentation is submitted. We did review your submissions and may have changed those based on projected numbers shared from your district and/or OSPI counts of the upcoming grades. Please let us know if you see any major issues with your 2023-24 projected counts.

We based the subsidy support on the following elements:

Number of 2023-24 students	Grades	High School students	Number of days attending	Notes
29	5th, 6th	No	3	0.75
Subsidy hold for
Columbia Crest A-STEM Academy (Eatonville School District) \| 102317: $ 8,156.25

2023 Energy Efficiency Grant

On April 26, 2023 Superintendent Fountain announced extremely great news at the end of the board meeting as the CCA was awarded an energy efficiency grant from Lewis County PUD. The grant will outfit new HVAC in exterior buildings and every bulb in the school will be converted to LED. All expenses are covered by the grant. The district will save money in electric and heating costs. The total grant awarded is over $41,000 for HVAC installation and over $31,000 for the LED conversion. Both projects occurred in the summer of 2023. The savings will amount to approximately $1,000 a year.

College Bound Gold Star award 2018 & 2019

January 22, 2020

80 percent of last year’s eligible eighth graders signed up for the College Bound Scholarship in Eatonville School District. Statewide, the average sign-up rate was 71 percent, with over 30,000 of last year’s eighth graders signing up. Governor Inslee has recognized the 270 schools and 115 school districts that exceeded the state average with Gold Star Awards, which includes Eatonville Middle School and Columbia Crest A-STEM Academy.

In response to hearing about the Gold Star Award, Superintendent Krestin Bahr said, "We believe in giving every
child in Eatonville an opportunity to achieve success in school and post secondary education. This state program
changes lives and we are so happy to be a Gold Star District. Thank you to the staff and families who partner to give
our children the very best future. Congratulations to CCASTEM and EMS. We are proud of you!"

Eligible students must sign up in middle school, by June 30 of their eighth grade year, to receive this early
commitment of state funding. In combination with other state aid, the scholarship covers tuition at public college
rates. To receive the scholarship, students must enroll in an eligible college within one year of high school
graduation.

Students who sign up for the scholarship graduate from high school and enroll in college at higher rates than their
low-income peers. The first cohort of College Bound students graduated from high school in 2012. Since then, the
four-year high school graduation rate for these students has consistently been similar to the statewide average, and
over ten percentage points higher than for low-income students who were eligible but didn’t sign up. The first few
cohorts of students who signed up for the scholarship have begun enrolling in college and do so at rates at or above
the statewide average.

To learn more about college bound visit: http://wsac.wa.gov/college-bound

About the Washington Student Achievement Council (WSAC)

The Washington Student Achievement Council is committed to increasing educational opportunities and attainment in Washington. "

https://wsac.wa.gov/news-2020-01-22-CBS-Sign-Up

Washington Green School, Bronze Level 2016 & Silver Level 2019

Columbia Crest A-STEM Academy was honored as a Bronze-Certified Washington Green School. We are a part of the statewide community working hard to make schools centers for positive environmental change. (Bronze level is 1 Environmental Category.)

Columbia Crest is now maintaining a Silver level Certification in 2 Environmental Categories. Our second certification in 2019 is in school grounds and gardens.

Innovative Schools OSPI Designation 2016

United States Department of Education Green Ribbon School Award 2016

This award acknowledges CCA school’s commitment to sustainable practices. The areas encompassed by the award include reduced environmental impact and costs, with energy, waste, water, and transportation measures; improved health and wellness, including nutrition, outdoors physical activity, and environmental health efforts; and effective environmental and sustainability education, which features hands-on, authentic, place-based learning and green career pathways.

"Columbia Crest A-STEM Academy has transformed from a K-5 school to a K-8 A-STEM academy and has focused early educational opportunities for students in an outdoor, place-based campus incorporating outdoor lab and learning sites." Randy Dorn - https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WAOSPI/bulletins/144cf9b

CCA-EDGRSSchoolRelease.pdf

Columbia Crest A-STEM Academy, Ashford, Wash.

Real-Life Outdoor Learning in Rural Washington

Columbia Crest A-STEM Academy (CCASTEM) is a rural school in the southeast corner of Pierce County. This small kindergarten through eighth grade school serves 200, with 58 percent of students receiving free or reduced price lunch. CCASTEM underwent a transformation from a kindergarten through fifth grade school to a kindergarten through eighth grade applied STEM (A-STEM) academy, doubling its population over the last two years with a wait list of incoming kindergartners for the next three years. This transformation has been the result of a deliberate effort to capitalize on early educational opportunities for students in an outdoor place-based educational campus, incorporating outdoor lab and learning sites.

CCASTEM was built in 1952, yet has incorporated excellent energy efficiency management for a small rural site. The building is equipped with lighting and HVAC occupancy sensors for security and long-term energy savings. The school system received a $1,000,000 grant to equip all schools with occupancy-sensitive thermostats and HVAC sensors, which help continue an ongoing decrease in energy consumption. In addition, a propane heater replaced an oil fuel generator, as well as other updates. Staff and students participate in recycling of aluminum, plastic, ink cartridges, and tallow, and use only certified-sustainable paper. In addition, they practice and teach upcycling and Terracycling, and have presented their findings to the school board. Students have lobbied for and received water bottle filling stations, which is unusual for a small rural campus.

In 2014, the dream of having a project-based school site became a reality. CCASTEM is nestled between Rainier National Forest Tahoma Woods 100 acres and the Mount Rainier National Park itself. Students have outdoor labs for stream bed investigations using water flow meters, which were granted to the school last year, and salmon raising tanks. In addition, the school is part of a district that is in the process of visioning with a nonprofit partner, Garden-Raised Bounty (known as “GRuB”), for the future of a 3.2-acre farm that will provide opportunities for growing sustainable crops, and food production for town and school usage. The farm includes a resident barn owl for organic owl pellet discovery. The school has designated “sit spots” in the woods behind the school that allow students to sharpen their observation skills in an outdoor area. Students record changes in an area from season to season, and study how forest areas evolve over time.

Environmental concepts are integrated into the school’s literacy and math program as STEAM topics are provided every day in an embedded, practical, hands-on learning format with programs such as Engineering is Elementary. The CCASTEM library is fully outfitted with environmental resources including books, videos, and hands-on examples of plants and animals. All staff receive training in Terracycle, building worm bins, worm bin composting, recycling, and insect education.

Students are involved directly with Pierce County environmental educators, national park staff, University of Washington Pack Forest employees, and teachers for sustainability and conservation efforts. Hands-on learning through STEM fairs, engineering challenges, field trips, and outdoor classroom settings give students real life learning and experiences unlike those in a traditional school. Students experience the river, forest, and mountain as a system of cycles by documenting river flow, glacial melt, and turbidity using current tools as well as long-term investigations. The results of climate change, river flows, lahar concerns, and glacial health are tangible and visible with Mt. Rainier only eight miles away. This is not book learning, but real life, with results and consequences that students are able to study in depth.

CCASTEM is fortunate to have multiple partners supporting STEM education. These partners include environmental educators at Pierce County Public Work and Education and Youth Outreach Program with Mount Rainier National Park, Nisqually River Education Project, University of Washington Pack Forest, and Northwest Trek. In 2014, CCASTEM earned the STEM Lighthouse Grant award for the state of Washington, making the school one of fewer than 10 elementary schools in the state with this distinction. Students have a variety of opportunities to get involved in community service with the Nisqually River Educational Project. They plant trees, test water, and remove invasive species.

For the past three years, more than 100 students from first through eighth grades stay after school on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons to be part of after school programs including robotics, Sustainability Club, and sports. The aim of these programs is for students to incorporate STEM activities, such as outdoor investigations and engineering practices, to activities outside of the traditional classroom setting. The school also travels to Northwest Trek, Mt. Rainier National Forest, and Pack Forest University of Washington for nature-based educational opportunities incorporating cutting edge tools, hiking, collaborative nature observations, and collaboration with outdoor organizations.

CCASTEM has a new guidance counselor and nurse to provide monthly guidance classes, along with individual sessions related to bullying, peer relations, and self-esteem. Mental health services are provided through a partnership with Multicare, a local health provider. Students spend at least 150 minutes each week in physical activities, with at least 50 percent taking place outdoors.

CenturyLink Teachers and Technology 2014

STEM Lighthouse School 2014

February 13, 2014

Columbia Crest A-STEM Academy was awarded a STEM Lighthouse grant for the 2013-14 school year.They were selected for their ability to reach students in STEM education. The grant was for $18,000. They were recognized for their innovative practices.

Seven Named as STEM Lighthouse Schools

Will receive $18,000 and serve as mentors to others

OLYMPIA — A total of seven schools will serve as Science, Technology, Engineering and Math mentors to other schools in the state.

Known as Lighthouse schools, the seven were recently awarded $18,000 grants each that will promote and develop STEM education, including technical assistance and advice for other middle schools and high schools that are creating their own STEM environments.

The seven schools are:

Riverpoint Academy (Mead School District)
Cascade K-8 Community School (Shoreline)
Toppenish Middle School (Toppenish)
STEM School (Lake Washington)
Lakeside High School (Nine Mile Falls)
Columbia Crest Elementary School (Eatonville)
Franklin Pierce High School (Franklin Pierce)

“It’s a great honor to be chosen as a lighthouse schools,” said Randy Dorn, state superintendent. “It makes those schools leaders in STEM education. Other schools will look to the seven for guidance on how to successfully teach STEM…”