Open Thread
So now we're a little less than a month out from the end of school. How was your school year? Longing for summer or worried about your child's academic progress?
What celebrations does your school do for the end of the year? (I remember at Whittier they had a Field Day just before the end of school with lots of outdoor activities and then, a great slide show of everyone at the school at the last day of school assembly. Roosevelt has, what looks to be, a fun day that's a little bit of everything called Moving Up Day/Rider Recess. But that takes place in early June as the seniors get done by then.)
Any other burning questions or are we all burned out from another busy school year?
What celebrations does your school do for the end of the year? (I remember at Whittier they had a Field Day just before the end of school with lots of outdoor activities and then, a great slide show of everyone at the school at the last day of school assembly. Roosevelt has, what looks to be, a fun day that's a little bit of everything called Moving Up Day/Rider Recess. But that takes place in early June as the seniors get done by then.)
Any other burning questions or are we all burned out from another busy school year?
Comments
We also attended another elementary school in the district, and did not find this culture of arrogance. Parents input was welcomed and celebrated (within reason) and the operation of the school was much less intimidating and more transparent.
Cailean, #5 is a good position. You'd be surprised how waitlists can move especially after school starts (if you are still willing to move after it does).
A good school to me, for elementary is one that is open to parents, sustains your child's academic needs (and grows love of learning i.e. not all WASL based), has school activities after school/evening that you enjoy with your whole family (after all, you are there for 6 years).
And, my kids attend a private school, which I don't believe is particularly responsive to parents. I like this, 'cause I don't want the *other* parents to change/interfere with something that I think is working pretty well.
We have a friend who lives near John Rogers but sends her child to Laurelhurst and she said she has been shunned by both parents and staff. She says they feel like outsiders, and that her kids have never been accepted, don't get invited to birthday parties, play dates, etc. How sad.
On the other hand, I have heard that Sacajewea has a great community and is very welcoming.
I think being part of a community at all levels is important to families. Most parents spend a lot of time in elementary school - volunteering, fund raising, sitting on committees, and it is important to be in a welcoming environment where your work and input is valued.
For this reason alone I would not choose Bryant if I had to do it all over again.
At AEII when the parent community wanted to add a foreign language to the program, the principal firmly told us that he could not fit it in into the already busy school day. But he recognized our concern, and encouraged us to pursue an after school class on site, and he provided the portable for us! In other words, even though he couldn't give us what we were asking for, he valued our input, and worked with us to find a solution.
That's just one of very many examples of how parent input can impact a school in a very positive way.
I also am sorry to hear your friend's experience with Laurelhurst, but have also heard different things. I have tons of friends there and have also heard great things about their community. A ton of families attend that school from outside the neighborhood. I know someone who lives near John Rodgers who has been very happy and active taking a huge role with the auction this year. I also remember touring there and the two tour guides lived near John Rodgers and Green Lake and loved the school enough to be tour guides and marketed it as a school with a broad community often from outside the reference area. I just don't want generalizations to be made based on one family's experience.
BTW - this is just my experience and my view, not a generalization. And, in all fairness to Laurelhurst, we only know the one family, and their experience could be unique.
Helen Schinske
I'm reasonably happy with this plan. It is baby steps, but I think they're baby steps in the right direction. I was pleased to see that there was a discussion of value-added measurement, and of addressing the needs of kids in the middle and top of the achievement curve, not just the bottom.
There's a lot of basic management in there, which we desperately need. Just because they're basic doesn't mean that it will be easy to implement them. If it were easy, we would have done it long ago.
Once basic management is in place, and we've cleaned up the IT mess, and we have value-added measurement, and goals for students at all levels, we'll be in a good position to make larger steps. It probably will take several years to complete this plan. That feels slow, but it is realistic. Realistic is good.
My son is very disappointed.
'I was told no more high schools on late start until all of them go that way.' Did they explain why it would be easier to do it for all of them at once vs. a few at a time? I don't see how that will solve the ESL/Sped problem. And if it will then why not just do it now for all of the schools (or at least for a region). Or does this really mean that they will never do it for the other schools?
(I really want Roosevelt to adopt late start!)
No, I'm not sure how doing it all en masse makes a difference but I think the point is that Transportation believes that with a new assignment plan, the transportation will change and they want to wait for that to happen.
WSHS has just announced it will be starting at 8:10am next year. Most Metro busses arrive in that area around 8:00am, thus the 8:10 start.
There is concern for students living outside of WS (Beacon Hill, South Seattle) because with Metro they will have to go downtown & transfer as there are no busses going directly from Beacon Hill to WS, for example. I've heard this will take up to 1-1/2 hours each way!
Sealth will stay on the 7:45 am schedule for the next 2 years, because of it's move to the temporary location on Deldrige Ave. This seems good, because many families were worried about the lack of east/west busses, with horrible connections.
I've also heard that Garfield will start at 8:30am next year, but not directly from the school. Can anyone verify this? The later start will help WS kids, as it is also a long haul, with a transfer downtown also. Bummer!
I forgot to mention that they will remain on yellow busses for the next 2 years, which requires the early start still.
I wonder if the WSHS parents of the yellow bus students are aware of this issue for their students.
It gives me food for thought and if Garfield et. al are going for it, maybe Roosevelt should.
I have heard many times at school meetings from the district that all regular ed. high school students next year will be using Metro (not yellow busses)- except for Sealth which recently announced that it will still use the yellow busses.
I have not heard what WSHS will be doing for the special ed/yellow bus kids. The teacher's decision to start at 8:10 was co-ordinated with the major Metro busses arriving at 8:00am. It's been apparently announced to the students about the new start time (verbally).
Letters were sent to families at Seatth to confirm that they would still be using the yellow busses & would therefore have the early time still.