Renton Reporter, March 20, 2015

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BACK TO BASICS | Marianne Binetti answers questions for beginning gardeners in this week’s column. [10]

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Best of Renton 2015| It’s time once again to vote for your favorite people, places and businesses in Renton! Check the back page for your ballot and be sure to vote! [Page 16]

NEWSLINE: 425.255.3484 FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 2015

Homeless man pleads not guilty in Skyway rape

Michael Shawn Stanley, 49, is being held on $1 million bail in regard to February attack BY DEAN A. RADFORD dradford@rentonreporter.com

Teachers and students had a chance to explore the new Renton Prep Christian Academy, located in the former City Hall building at 200 Mill in downtown Renton. The new school officially opened its doors on Tuesday. BRIAN BECKLEY, Renton Reporter

Amazing Grace gets a new home at 200 Mill BY BRIAN BECKLEY bbeckley@rentonreporter.com

Tuesday marked a new era for the folks at Amazing Grace Christian School; New era, new building, new school and even a new name to go with it all.

Amazing Grace Administrator Dr. David-Paul Zimmerman and his wife, Gloria Zimmerman – whose family started the school in 1960 – officially cut the ribbon this week and moved in to the first floor of the former City Hall building at 200 Mill Ave.

“It’s awesome. It really is,” Gloria Zimmerman said of the school. The school, which will house students from grades six to eight, was also officially renamed the Renton Prep Christian School. The school takes up a total of 8,661 [ more RENTON PREP page 8 ]

A 49-year-old homeless man pleaded not guilty Monday to second-degree rape charges in the Feb. 27 assault of a Skyway woman. Michael Shawn Stanley was being held on $1 million bail in the jail at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. His next court appearance is March 31 at the King County Courthouse in Kent. Stanley was also charged March 2 with firstdegree burglary with sexual motivation. Stanley, a U.S. citizen, made news in October 2013 when he cut the monitoring bracelet from his ankle and crossed unchallenged into the United States from Canada, according to charging documents. He was convicted in Canada in 1988 of raping an elderly Edmonton woman during a [ more CHARGES page 4 ]

New principal helps Lakeridge Elementary make big turnaround BY TRACEY COMPTON tcompton@rentonreporter.com

Your Residential Specialists

[ more LAKERIDGE page 12 ]

206-949-1696 info@MarcieMaxwell.com www.MarcieMaxwell.com

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State Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn makes an important announcement at Lakeridge Elementary. SUBMITTED.

Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn announced that Renton school Lakeridge Elementary has dramatically improved student test scores in math and reading, taking the school off a list of the state’s chronically lowest performing. The announcement was made March 11 during a surprise visit to the school by Dorn. He gave an update of school districts in the state known as Required Action Districts, or those that received money and assistance to help schools improve.

Lakeridge in Skyway was identified in 2011, based on a three-year trend in the previous years of low performance, with the School Improvement Grant (SIG) Designation. At that time, the school was among the lowest 5 percent for performance of state schools. The grant required the district to replace the principal at Lakeridge in 2011, lengthen the school day and year and pick a research-based model for improvement. Lakeridge found a new principal in Jessica Calabrese and a research-based, math-improvement effort, led by the University of Washing-


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