I'm Humbled

I had heard that McDonald parents had a meeting with the head of International Instruction, Karen Kodama, on Saturday. And boy, I thought, how fair is that to these other reopening schools? Who knew you could just ask for a meeting? And mostly I thought it unfair to Sand Point who seems to have no real focus yet. (Rainier View and Viewlands aren't opening for awhile and McDonald seems in the lead for foreign language immersion and Old Hay has Montessori.)

Luckily, I have a friend who steered me straight.

The McDonald parents did set up a meeting with Ms. Kodama but they also had the courtesy to invite Sand Point parents. Ms. Kodama apparently did not talk about specifics but did talk about what an international school is and said she was there unofficially. She also said every elementary should have foreign language (she and Kay Smith Blum will get along well).

There was also a meeting with De Bell and Carr to go over McDonald's survey results about their school. Sand Point is also planning one and when it goes on-line, I'll post a link.

This is what I get for hanging around headquarters too long and being suspicious. These McDonald area residents have put my faith back into our parent-to-parent network. Bless them for their thoughtfulness.

Comments

SPS parent said…
Thanks for sharing Melissa. At a time when communities are pitted against each other, and things are getting ugly, it's great to hear an inspiring story like this one. The McDonalc community should be an example!

I'm not in the McDonald boundaries, but I subscribe to the McDonald school Yahoo group and I have been nothing but impressed with their outreach, organization, and support of each other and their community! Most families are very excited about their new school and very very happy to finally get a school to call their own!

Whatever this school turns out to be, whether an international school, or just a regular neighborhood school, it will be succesful, due to the great (and very active) community that it will have.
Lynne Cohee said…
The Sandpoint school group is also off and running. It is working hard to publicize its efforts and reach out to community families. Their yahoo group is SandpointParents.
KSG said…
How does one start an immersion at a Seattle Public School? Is this a non-starter for most existing schools, or is it something that the grassroots can get started at any given school?
Charlie Mas said…
Any school can try to start any kind of program they want: advanced learning, Montessori, language immersion, international, project-based learning, or whatever else you can imagine. Of course, once you have the idea you have to propose it through the District's Program Placement process.
KSG said…
Thanks Charlie! Sounds simple enough :-)

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