Two Rivers, which opened in 1987, used to be an alternative high school — a non-traditional learning setting for students struggling to keep pace with the mainstream curriculum or at risk of dropping out.

Today, while Two Rivers remains non-traditional, it is something entirely different: a Big Picture school.

Big Picture is a network of hundreds of schools that share 10 Big Picture Learning distinguishers. These distinguishers ensure that students receive a personalized learning experience, pursue their interests, develop leadership skills, are assessed outside of written test formats and are connected with their community.

Two Rivers is the only Big Picture school in the Snoqualmie Valley, but there are similar schools in Issaquah and Bellevue.

“The idea is that it’s really student-driven and interest-driven,” Principal Catherine Fredenburg said. “You’re still learning the state standards and getting a really rigorous education. It just looks different how you’re doing it. There’s a huge project-based learning component of it, and there’s also kind of that interest exploration, and then the internship piece of it.”

Two Rivers transitioned to a Big Picture school for the 2019-20 school year. Since then, it has settled into a hybrid model: students take four periods of traditional courses in the morning and then spend the afternoon pursuing passions and attending internships.

Along with learning math and doing book reports, students are raising salmon, planting trees, filling sand bags during flood events and engaging in many other projects that benefit the greater community.

The students are able to enroll in any Mount Si High School courses, join clubs and be on sports teams, all easily accessible because the two schools share a campus.

Internships are required, but each student can choose what they want to do. These typically last a year, but can go longer if the student and their mentor would like to continue.

“It’s a cool way for them to test drive these careers,” said Christina Riley, Two Rivers internship coordinator. “You can pick something you’re interested in doing for a career, or you can just pick a hobby you want to learn more about.”

Students have held internships all over the region, but most are in the Snoqualmie Valley, since students are responsible for their own transportation. Students have worked at several local businesses and nonprofits, such as senior centers, coffee shops, farms and more.

Riley hopes to grow the community’s understanding of what a Big Picture school is and how Two Rivers has evolved.

“Because we’re so project-based and community-oriented … it really takes the whole Valley, I think, to help support it,” Riley said. “And that’s where the mindset shift comes of what it was and what it is now.”

Two Rivers students learn the fundamentals and complete state testing like all other high school students, but they aren’t tied down to traditional schooling.

“They enjoy the Two Rivers model because they don’t have to spend their time in a classroom at Mount Si for seven periods,” Riley said. “They can use their afternoons to hone in on and master their skill, work with community members, learn trades or do art with a professional out in the community, or work with like-minded students in groups and clubs.”

Within their coursework, students have choices, too, and get the opportunity to absorb material through different learning styles.

“One kid might be a writer, and so they do writing, and another kid might be really good at demonstrating, and hands-on demonstrations, and they will bring in all sorts of artifacts from their daily life and pictures, and be talking about how to do something. And then another kid might make a film about it,” Fredenburg said. She added, “Anytime there is the ability to provide choice, the kids are given it.”

This freedom can greatly alter the way a student experiences school, according to Two Rivers counselor Meagan Elliot. She said this system allows kids to “enjoy school again.”

“They actually didn’t hate school or learning, they just hated the system,” she said. “And then you change the system and it changes them, and they love school. The counselor doesn’t talk about school-based anxiety, which was so hard in my old job, because I’d shore them up, and then I’d send him right back out to the thing that’s breaking them.”

But Big Picture is not suitable for everyone, Fredenburg said, noting that some students would rather not have the amount of freedom Two Rivers offers.

“It’s pretty independent and self-driven, which for some kids, they do better being told every day, do this assignment, turn it in tomorrow, take a test on Friday,” she said. “If you are not self-motivated, you are not going to be successful. The kids have to want to be here.”

Students have to apply to get into Two Rivers, and while they can technically join at any high school age, it is recommended they join as a freshman because the transition to Big Picture’s style of learning can be difficult.

In addition to coursework, Two Rivers teaches students life skills that will support them long after graduation.

“I think we intentionally put them in uncomfortable positions to learn from those,” Fredenburg said, with the example of requiring students to make cold calls for internships.

She added: “We’re just always looking for ways to help kids learn what it means to be a person.”

And, she said, the program works, with students diving into their passions and ready to take on life after high school.

Student Maddie Merseal interns with a Kataluna Horse Rescue in Fall City, where founder Katie Berman saves horses from slaughter auctions. After graduation, she said she wants to enlist in the military and go to veterinary school.

Another student, Annabelle Hohhe, wants to enroll in the Puget Sound Electrical apprenticeship program and become an electrician. She is currently interning for the Salish Lodge maintenance team.

“It’s nice to have that individuality,” she said. “And then I get to focus on my career, get to make some money. And it’s honestly nice. I love it so much more than traditional schooling.”

Senior Kaylub Eibert is currently doing worksite learning, rather than an internship, because he completed his required internship hours (360) by the end of his junior year. Essentially, he said, he got to “go to work early.”

Eibert works for The Model Garage in Fall City. After graduation, he plans to go to the Universal Technical Institute in Arizona. Then, he said, he’ll return to the Snoqualmie Valley to be a full-time mechanic “rather than the tire guy.”

Eibert, like the other students, started at Two Rivers as a freshman. Though he’s not the biggest fan of the curriculum’s emphasis on presentations, he does appreciate its emphasis on community and relationship-building.

“It’s a lot more one-on-one with the teacher. You call them by their first name rather than their last name,” he said. “You feel a lot more connected.”

That connection is helped by the teachers being just as passionate about Two Rivers as the students are.

“We don’t intentionally sell it,” Fredenburg said. “We just really believe in the program.”