Seattle Schools This Week
Monday, Feb. 11th
Curriculum&Instruction Policy Committee Meeting from 4-5:30 p.m. Agenda
Tuesday, Feb. 12th
Special Education Advocacy &Advisory Council Meeting from 6:30-9:00 p.m. at JSCEE, 2nd floor, room 2700. The Open Forum & District updates portion of the meeting is from 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Levy election for Operations and BEX.
State of the Union speech by President Obama at 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 13th
Executive Committee Meeting from 8:30-10:00 am. Agenda. Review of next couple of Board meeting agendas, government relations, community engagement, strategic plan. And, the next Board Retreat agenda which I am very interested in because I am hoping to be sponsoring that retreat (just as the Alliance for Education is allowed to).
Thursday, Feb. 14th
Partial Furlough Day - 3-hour early dismissal of students.
Audit & Finance Committee Finance Monthly Meeting, from 4-6 p.m. at JSCEE. Agenda. A very lengthy agenda of financial updates including a "debt report" and preliminary school enrollment projections from Tracy Libros of Enrollment. There will also be a summary update/forecast of state/federal grants and development of the 2013-2014 budget. This will be interesting or depressing depending on the outcome of the levy election.
Operations Committee Meeting from 4-5:30 pm at JSCEE. Agenda not yet available.
Friday, Feb. 15th
No School.
Saturday, Feb. 16th
Community Meeting with Director DeBell from 9-11 am at Cafe Appassionato near Fisherman's Terminal.
Community Meeting with President Smith-Blum from 10-11:30 am at the Capitol Hill library at 425 Harvard Avenue East.
Curriculum&Instruction Policy Committee Meeting from 4-5:30 p.m. Agenda
Tuesday, Feb. 12th
Special Education Advocacy &Advisory Council Meeting from 6:30-9:00 p.m. at JSCEE, 2nd floor, room 2700. The Open Forum & District updates portion of the meeting is from 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Levy election for Operations and BEX.
State of the Union speech by President Obama at 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 13th
Executive Committee Meeting from 8:30-10:00 am. Agenda. Review of next couple of Board meeting agendas, government relations, community engagement, strategic plan. And, the next Board Retreat agenda which I am very interested in because I am hoping to be sponsoring that retreat (just as the Alliance for Education is allowed to).
Open House At Rainier Beach High School about their new IB program from
6:30-8:30. Any families curious
about attending Rainier Beach should plan on attending. There will be
information about our programs, a facilities tour, and an opportunity to meet
our wonderful staff and students. Encourage anyone you know who might be
interested to attend. Snacks and refreshments will be served.
Colin Pierce
IB Coordinator/Reading
Teacher
Thursday, Feb. 14th
Partial Furlough Day - 3-hour early dismissal of students.
Audit & Finance Committee Finance Monthly Meeting, from 4-6 p.m. at JSCEE. Agenda. A very lengthy agenda of financial updates including a "debt report" and preliminary school enrollment projections from Tracy Libros of Enrollment. There will also be a summary update/forecast of state/federal grants and development of the 2013-2014 budget. This will be interesting or depressing depending on the outcome of the levy election.
Operations Committee Meeting from 4-5:30 pm at JSCEE. Agenda not yet available.
Friday, Feb. 15th
No School.
Saturday, Feb. 16th
Community Meeting with Director DeBell from 9-11 am at Cafe Appassionato near Fisherman's Terminal.
Community Meeting with President Smith-Blum from 10-11:30 am at the Capitol Hill library at 425 Harvard Avenue East.
Comments
Committee Discussion Items
a. Creative Approach Schools Update (Phil)
b. Yearbook Contract Renewal (Phil)
c. Textbook Adoption Discussion (Shauna)
Here's what's in their "parking lot" that they are NOT discussing:
a. Policy 2405, Credit (Michael/Nancy)
b. Policy 2190, Advanced Learning (Bob)
c. Policy 3140, Student Discipline (Erinn)
I'm having a little trouble with a Board committee that deals immediately with the yearbook contract renewal but has deferred any discussion of Advanced Learning for over six months - since August.
Also, you'll note that the Board Policy on Board Oversight of Management, Policy 1010, calls for a review of Teaching and Learning, yet the Board has yet to conduct even one oversight meeting for Teaching and Learning since the policy was adopted over 20 months ago.
The Board recently amended the policy to make the reviews every three years instead of every two years as they approached the day two years after the adoption of the policy without a review of Teaching and Learning.
The C & I committee needs to get to work.
My high school daughter says that on days like this her classes are absurdly short - like twenty minutes long - and the whole day is a complete waste.
She wants to know if she can spend the day more productively elsewhere.
But I agree that on the shortened days from early dismissals/late arrivals- including days disrupted by assemblies, classes are inefficient. Given that at either end of the time period- 5 minutes is taken up with students settling in or anticipating dismissal, shortening the class period makes it unlikely any meaningful work can be accomplished.