 It is also a member of the Coalition of Essential Schools.In 1963, Tyee High School was founded as a part of the Kent School District to serve an area between Burien and Des Moines in the west, and Tukwila in the east, which would later become the city of SeaTac.In 1993, one of Tyee's distinguished teachers was recognized by the state of Washington for building an observatory on school grounds, one of the few in the nation at the time, with the State's Golden Apple award.