“As the first day of school gets closer, my anticipation heightens because we have wonderful scholars and families and an amazing team.” — Chassity Hutchins, Vice Principal of Impact | Commencement Bay Elementary
Opening its doors in Tacoma this August, Impact | Commencement Bay Elementary (I|CBE) is the newest Impact Public School in Washington. As the third school in the Impact network, Impact | CBE is the organization’s strongest launch to date! At Impact, scholars are empowered to embrace their unique talents, interests, and skills to achieve their learning goals. Impact educators cultivate each child’s full potential through personalized, empathetic, and equitable guidance throughout their educational journey.
At Impact | Commencement Bay Elementary, scholars will explore their natural curiosity to achieve academic success. Starting with Transitional Kindergarten scholars, Impact’s mission is to prepare a diverse student population to succeed in college and impact communities as the next generation of equity-driven, innovative leaders.
“Every year, the excitement and anticipation grow exponentially at Impact Public Schools,” said Jessica Baumer, Principal of Impact | CBE. “As I reflect on the past week with team members and look to the future, I’m most excited about opening our doors the morning of August 25 for the first time. Our scholars, families, and faculty are incredible and I am very much anticipating the day we are all together.”
Impact schools balance high expectations with joy. Through a whole-child model, the schools aim to inspire scholars to live full, connected, and purposeful lives. To do this, scholars receive a personalized curriculum paired with project-based learning within a vibrant school community. Impact’s highly effective model is founded on four core model elements including: social emotional learning, individualized instruction, project based learning, and a culture of positivity. A standing commitment to Brave Solidarity ensures a diverse teacher and leader pipeline, equity-driven student projects, and celebrations of the diversity of their communities.
With a pronounced opportunity gap in student ELA and math proficiency throughout the South Puget Sound region, Impact | CBE connects with family through grassroots outreach and a meticulously thought out school design. As a result, family demand in Tacoma is high, with over 730 applications for 252 seats for this school year.
When schools were closed due to the pandemic, Impact Public Schools designed an award-winning virtual instructional model that kept young scholars engaged, and most importantly, resilient with strong social-emotional skills development. Impact scholars averaged 5-6 levels of reading growth last year, and 80% of scholars met or exceeded grade level expectations in math. The instructional resources will remain available for all Impact schools’ scholars, including those attending Impact | CBE, even as schools reopen to in-person learning.
Impact | CBE’s first day of school is August 25. The school will serve Transitional Kindergarten (TK), Kindergarten, and 1st grade this year, and it will grow by one grade level per year until it reaches full capacity serving over 550 scholars in grades TK – 5.
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Join Impact | CBE a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Friday, August 20 at 1pm where you can meet faculty, families, and community members, and enjoy refreshments and a complimentary light lunch.
Location: 1301 E 34th St, Tacoma, WA 98404
Contact: For media or more information, please contact Rowena Yow, Director of Communications, at firstname.lastname@example.org.