Superintendent's Message

September 2009

Dear Shoreline Schools Community,

The Shoreline School District lost a community treasure this summer. As an educator I consider myself very fortunate to have worked for Dr. Bill Stevenson in 1973 when I was hired as a beginning teacher in Shoreline – and I consider myself even more fortunate to call Bill my friend in more recent years. Undoubtedly, Shoreline has lost one of the most significant figures in our district’s history. This kind, gentle and humble man was a true gift to our educational community and his influence cannot be overestimated.

Those of us with deep roots in the District know that it is impossible to separate the reputation of the Shoreline School District from the twenty years of Bill Stevenson’s leadership as Superintendent. During his tenure from 1962 to 1982 the Shoreline District became one of the State’s premier educational communities. It was about this time that families began to move to Shoreline and Lake Forest Park specifically for the schools, a tradition that continues today.

In retrospect, Bill’s tenure as Superintendent reflected the “best of times” and the “worst of times” in education. His first decade of service was filled with increasing enrollment, opening schools and adequate financial resources. The second decade, by comparison, was challenged by declining enrollment, school closures and a devastating double levy loss. But, through it all, Bill remained committed to our community, its children and the District’s reputation for excellence. As superintendent, Bill Stevenson set an extremely high standard for those of us who have followed him.

On behalf of the Shoreline educational community I would like to express our sincere gratitude for and recognition of Dr. Bill Stevenson and his entire family for their contributions to the lives of so many children and families living in the communities of Shoreline, Lake Forest Park and beyond. In the words of another, “Each of us can look back upon someone who made a great difference in our lives, someone whose wisdom or simple acts of caring made an impression upon us. In all likelihood, it was someone who sought no recognition for their deed other than the joy of knowing that, by their hand, another’s life had been made better.” For many of us, this person is Bill Stevenson – a man who embodied the "Shoreline family spirit."

Sincerely, Sue Walker