Who Seattle ICO Serves
Seattle ICO offers wilderness experiences to inner–city youth who might otherwise be unable to get out of the city. ICO volunteers work year-round through partnerships with selected elementary, middle, and high schools and agencies that serve youth in the Seattle area. Our youth range in age from 8 to 20, and come from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. ICO provides the equipment, financial assistance, and trained leaders with wilderness, first aid, environmental education, and youth experience; and the agencies/schools provide the youth.
Our current ICO partners are:
Cleveland High School
Cleveland High School is an Option School, which means any interested student in grades 9-12 can apply. We are Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM) program, with a focus on project-based learning and 1:1 technology.
Bailey Gatzert Elementary School
Bailey Gatzert Elementary is located in the Central District and serves both local and homeless youth.
Madrona Elementary
A public school has been in this location in Seattle since 1890. From humble beginnings in 1890, the property has undergone many changes over time to become the present day Madrona Elementary School, culminating in a renovation to our current facility in the 2000-01 school years.
Asa Mercer International Middle School
A teacher who also conducts a special class emphasizing outdoor education leads this program. Many students attend multiple outings. The school is located in the South Beacon Hill neighborhood. Seattle ICO began working with Mercer in 2000.
Rainier Beach High School
Rainier Beach is a comprehensive high school with the smaller size that many parents prefer. This provides more personalized education in which the staff is able to know students well - a key factor in student achievement. Through the International Baccalaureate program, the arts and music classes, the CTE classes, and AP Computer Science courses students work with a group of teachers over a period of time.
Showalter Middle School
The Showalter Middle School agency, founded in 2008, is located south of Seattle in the City of Tukwila -- just northwest of the intersection of I-5 and I-405. Because it is the only middle school in the Tukwila School District, Showalter draws students from all three elementary schools within the city. As a result, not only do kids from all three elementary schools have a chance to experience ICO, students from Tukwila Elementary gain long-term benefit from an extended ICO program (grades 3-8). Showalter's founding agency (school) representative was also the founding agency representative of Tukwila Elementary when she was teaching at that school. As a result, the Showalter ICO program benefits from substantial experience in setting up and operating a successful ICO agency. This includes working with Showalter staff to develop fair and effective methods for determining which students will participate in each ICO trip.
South Shore K-8
South Shore K-8 is a school in South Seattle’s Rainier Beach neighborhood. It’s situated in the 98118 zip code, which according to the most recent US census is one of the most diverse zip codes in the country.
Tukwila Elementary School
Tukwila elementary school is located south of Seattle in the City of Tukwila and is comprised of a very diverse student population with children representing 21 nations and speaking 20 languages other than English.
Washington Middle School
Diverse students, faculty and staff comprise our partnership with Washington Middle School, located in the heart of Seattle's Central District between Bailey Gatzert Elementary School and Franklin High School, two of Seattle ICO's other partners.