Growth Boundaries Announced (Round Three) - Bound for Glory or Bound for Unhappiness?
(Note: readers started commenting on this at the Friday Open Thread. I had thought to try to transfer their comments to this new thread but was unable to do so. I created a new thread as to make this huge issue, front and center here.)
From SPS:
Board Action Report (BAR) for November 6
Complete maps packet for the Board (includes more detailed attendance area maps, feeder patterns, and geozone maps)
Reference materials for the Board
Summaries of public input—on initial draft, and on October 16 proposal
From SPS:
The recommendations below go to the Board on November 6 for action on November 20. (The information from previous proposals is now obsolete.)
Two Types of Recommendations
- Long-range boundaries that will be phased in as construction is completed by 2020.
- Recommendations for specific components to implement next year.
Board Action Report (BAR) for November 6
Complete maps packet for the Board (includes more detailed attendance area maps, feeder patterns, and geozone maps)
Reference materials for the Board
Summaries of public input—on initial draft, and on October 16 proposal
Major Changes
- Jane Addams Middle School opens for grades 6-8. This will not be a “roll up” starting with 6th grade only; rather, rising grade 6-8 students will be assigned together as a cohort as middle school boundary changes are implemented. Jane Addams K-8 will be housed at John Marshall as an interim site for two years.
- Dearborn Park, McDonald, and John Stanford become option schools (international).
- A new attendance area is created for Fairmount Park Elementary in West Seattle. Fairmount Park opens for grades K-5 in the fall.
- Most elementary grade students are grandfathered if their attendance area is changing.
- North APP elementary (now at Lincoln) will stay at Lincoln until Wilson-Pacific Elementary opens in 2017. North APP elementary will be located at Wilson-Pacific Elementary as a free-standing APP school beginning in 2017.
- Two sites (co-located with attendance area students) have been designated for north APP middle school: Eckstein and Whitman. APP at Eckstein will begin this coming fall. When APP at both Eckstein and Whitman are in place, enrollment data will be reviewed to determine if Hamilton would continue as an APP site. Depending on the number of students to be served, Hamilton APP may be phased out in the future.
Eckstein and Whitman were chosen as APP sites because by far the largest numbers of APP students live closest to those schools. Note that Eckstein, currently very overcrowded, has its current enrollment reduced significantly with the opening of Jane Addams Middle School. These changes will also provide some relief to over-enrollment at Hamilton.
Feedback on these recommended changes may be sent toGrowthBoundaries@seattleschools.org. Please put your school or issue in the subject line.
Next Steps
The Seattle School Board will vote on the recommended boundaries at its meeting on November 20, 2013. See the updated planning Timeline.
Please note: Regardless of what is approved, boundary changes will be phased in over time. Many changes cannot be implemented until construction projects are complete. See above for changes recommended for 2014-15.
Comments
Nope. You clearly don't "got it." Read it again. But maybe simple language understanding is beyond you. It would explain a lot about your posts.
Be ashamed, hater
This is the question here. What are the roots of this capacity situation for APP? There is reevaluation of AL overall in district and yet the district is wanting to do program shuffles without the AL review work being done. Are we simply going to have another Assignment rodeo in 2 years?
Confused
Anyone know?
Confused
According to the second page of this map, it looks like he would be reassigned for 8th grade.
http://saveseattleschools.blogspot.com/2013/11/growth-boundaries-announced-round-three.html
Yes. You've got it straight. That is what's proposed in this latest version.
-StepJ
Thank you. Seriously, please run for school board in some capacity.
Chris,
If you're currently in Sacajawea or Wedgwood Attendance area, yes, you're getting kicked out of Eckstein under this current proposal. Your current student has to go to a new school for 8th grade.
Ridiculous, right?
Disgusted.
Superintentent Banda is now recommending. Please consider the following proposed amendment which is posted in full with capacity and enrollment numbers on the next thread thread: "You be the Director: What would your amendment be?":
Don't split APP south or north, elementary or middle school without any advanced learning task force recommendations. Cohouse all APP (North) MS intact (currently 542 students) at 952ms/852k8-seat John Marshall, with Jane Addams K-8 from 2014 until the new JAK8 building opens at Pinehurst, and then with other option/interim programs from 2016. All APP (North) MS intact, and JA K-8 (interim 2014-16), will fit together in John Marshall because public input suggests that perhaps half of JA K-8 families will exercise school choice and help start JAMS rather than move twice. Also, some APP (North) MS families will exercise school choice and stay at Hamilton MS. If necessary, portables can be used at John Marshall and/or JAMS, which the flawed but superior Version 1, Option 1 has already been recommended as the interim co-housing site for JA K-8.
The districtwide benefits of this proposed amendment include not just APP program integrity pending advanced learning task force recommendations, but also reducing overcrowding in SPS attendance area schools and other option programs.
Please let Superintendent Banda and the SPS board directors know if you like this practical solution to Superintendent Banda's last-minute and chaotic Version 3 plan.
Those of you who want NE APP back to JAMS because APP kids shouldn't get the "benefit" of Eckstein are so filled with hatred for APP that you don't even see that your position is working against the NNE families whose interests I would think you would support.
I really don't get it.
--sick of the hate
Get it out of there as it has no place being in an already over-crowded school. Yes, lot of APP kids live in the area but parents don't choose APP for walkability/neighborhood location - the general ed families do.
APP just needs a building located somewhere not too extreme with another program that can coexist on friendly terms. Someone mentioned Pinehurst or Native American Heritage program. I think that's a great idea! We can support each other and have the district leave us alone for gads sake.
APP parent
Your 8th grader would attend middle school in the Jane Addams building. Current home of the Jane Addams K-8 option school.
It is proposed to have the K8 move to the John Marshall building for two years to make room to start a new comprehensive middle school.
-StepJ
Yes, and other kids, not across the street, will also have to move to JAMS. I'm just pointing this out, not saying it is right or will be easy but there is not just one small group of kids to leave Eckstein.
I don't like this idea of sending APP to Eckstein if there is major hostility. I don't even know how the staff feels but I suspect - as members of the Coalition of Essential Schools - not too happy. That org doesn't like tracking at all.
The district does need to think of the fallout and not "is this possible?"
The previous principal at Eckstein tried to dissolve their Spectrum program. The previous assistant principal at Eckstein moved to Wedgwood and successfully destroyed their Spectrum program. While I don't personally know much about the current Eckstein principal, there is a strong history of non-support for advanced learning at Eckstein. The thing is, this is not unique to Eckstein, it's the norm! As APP grows to ridiculous proportions, more and more principals, teachers and families grow suspicious of its necessity, and therefore become more hostile to the disproportionate attention the program gets.
I'm trying to point out that if there are nearly 270 APP middle school students in the Eckstein attendance area, they should be able to receive the services they need in their neighborhood school.
I agree with the vast majority of your comments and ideas, but I have to disagree here.
APP, almost by definition, is a program for kids whose needs cannot be met in their neighborhood school or regional Spectrum program. The fact that there are 270 middle school students in the Eckstein area means:
1) The identification system is completely screwed up. APP, in theory, is supposed to be top 2%, and in Seattle that may very well mean top 4% because we are a highly educated city. But 1/4 of a middle school?! That's not a special needs population, that's craziness!
2) It's not surprising that there are a lot of bright and well-prepared students that live in the Eckstein attendance area, given the demographics. Because of those large numbers, much better attention needs to be made beefing up the Spectrum programs, not only in middle school, but in elementary. Once families run away from their local elementary for APP, they're not coming back to weakly supported advanced learning in middle school. Of those 270 Eckstein area students, probably at least 150+ could have been well served with strongly supported Spectrum programs in their region. Misguided principals and administrators have been allowed to kill those programs, however, and this is the mess we're left with.
We don't need to push neighborhood kids out of their school so we can bring APP to an already high-performing building, just because some ridiculously high number of kids are now qualifying in (based on crappy metrics) in that area.
If we were starting with a blank slate in the north end, where would it be logical to place APP middle school students?
That's easy, Wilson Pacific. And it still makes sense, as soon as the building is ready. It's central, easy for transportation, doesn't push any (existing) neighborhood kids out of their building, and if it could be paired with an option program would be an almost perfect fit.
The problem right now is that there are SPS administrators (looking at you, Tolley/Heath), that are dead set on splitting APP right now, even before the task force has a chance to come up with recommendations for the future of the program, both identification and delivery models. This is ABSOLUTELY WRONG MINDED! There is a good chance that those recommendations will be to beef up Spectrum and strengthen the requirements (or even place numeric limits) for APP, reducing the population over the coming years. This is not a bad thing, the program has grown to the point that it's no longer the same special needs population it once was.
The serious problem right now is that the program cannot be allowed to split again, either north end or south end. That will be the final nail in the coffin of APP.
1/4 of Eckstein-possible kids are in APP?
Holy cr*p
Confused
Alys
I hear you, and if I am understanding this right. The changes that may come out of the AL taskforce(?) could force more changes again?
How about we just have fieldhouse scheduling for schools?
Confused
NEP
I was quoting a number that Lynn posted, which I have not researched myself. However, this isn't the first time I've heard similar numbers. I agree, it's crazy.
Because it's crazy, the only reasonable response to "fix" APP is to reduce the overall numbers. How to do that will be determined by the advanced learning task forces, but I think most of us can agree it needs to happen.
With that in mind, splitting APP right now, then reducing numbers shortly thereafter, means APP will have been sliced down to nothing. The situation will be bad in the north end, but even worse in the south end, especially if the West Seattle "optional" path is pushed through. Any plan that splits or dilutes APP right now is poison.
a fan
This is a snapshot of 2020 projected enrollment enrollment by closest school. While the enrollment numbers could change the lines that should which school is closest do not change.
This map highlights two things. By moderate 2020 projections all 5 middle schools are completely full and over-full again.
These lines are the lines that would be used if everyone was assigned to their closest middle school. Everyone who lives near one of those lines is going to have strong feelings about which direction they are assigned.
I'd just like to point out that it is not just the current Sacajawea and Wedgwood kids at Eckstein who are losing their assignment to Eckstein and being assigned to JAMS next year. It is also the kids from John Rogers and Olympic Hills who are currently 6th and 7th graders at Eckstein.
It is just as hard on those kids and families to be ripped out of their middle school to go to an entirely different school at JAMS. For former John Rogers and Olympic Hills families, a lot of our 6th graders are currently at JA K-8, so if there is a split from Eckstein, it will mostly affect our current 7th graders who are at Eckstein (next year's 8th graders).
Likewise, APP kids will be ripped out of Hamilton into Eckstein.
This isn't just about Sac, or Wedgwood. There will be wide-spread disruption.
- North-end Mom
_Disgusted with you
northender
They will be gathering signatures and support. Contact those two programs and Director Peaslee to support these two programs. Along with organizing boundries for our gen-ed and AL students, we have to band together to protect these small, yet valuable alternative programs that have provided services for decades. These programs serve a high proportion of free/reduced lunch demograhics, and meet their needs in unique ways. Let's band together and support them.
I don't disagree about Lowell being unsafe. We all agreed it was the right thing to do to go. Sorry you don't like my word choice, but I'm trying to point out that we've already had lots of upheaval and disruption, which some people choose to ignore in favor of statements like "APP is kicking out Wedgwood." And we'll have to disagree about how welcoming HIMS was to APP. It's been a long slog and we're finally in a good place with a supportive principal and whoops, we have to leave again.
Seattle Citizen, great idea. Would be happy to band together. The district has a divide and conquer plan. We don't have to sign up.
_Disgusted with you
I advocate for the following:
1) move NE APP region area student to JAMS starting in 2014. They will have more success at a new school, starting a program from scratch, rather than moving into Eckstein, where they will end up displacing other children and the culture is not accepting.
2) Wait on the other decision until 2016. Take into account the recommendations of the AL committee and updated capacity numbers. Determine at that point, whether 2 or 3 APP programs are needed. Only dissolve Hamilton APP if absolutely necessary. Consider second (or third site) at Wilson-Pacific rather than Whitman for the reasons listed in #1.
APP doesn't want to be shuttled around. Put the program in a stand alone school co-housed with an option program (or a few) in central north Seattle - yes, the convenient Wilson Pacific location. Keep the cohort together while the AL program recommendations are developed and Wilson Pacific is being built.
-sheesh
Northender
I just wrote a letter Sharon Peaslee asking for her support for Pinehurst and Native American combination. Should similar letter be sent to the rest of the board and Banda?
inspired
kp
And is the idea mentioned by Julie to co-house those two programs or to co-house one or more with APP at Wilson Pacific? If so, co-house with middle school? Because my understanding is the elementary school will be filled. So I'm wondering how the differing age groups would/could actually fit together in the same school.
unsure
Personally I don't know much about the Native American Heritage program except for the fact they serve native american children and have been kicked around by the district like many other small programs. A KUOW article concerning their situation is at this link: http://kuow.org/post/district-plan-move-indian-heritage-school-angers-native-community
Pinhurst is a k-8. I considered the idea of co-housing one or both of these programs with APP but I don't know what the logistics would be. We can have the district 'misfits' together and be stronger for it. (^___^) Just an idea.
Anyway, I'd prefer for these programs to survive and be given a stable home somewhere anyway that can be done. Same goes for APP.