Garfield, Roosevelt Jazz Bands Go First and Second.

Garfield and Roosevelt High School jazz bands won first and second place, respectively, in the Essentially Ellington jazz competition in NYC this weekend according to this Times article. Roosevelt took first last year and Garfield second, so they continue the NW dominance of this event (and the competition between the schools). It speaks volumes about the quality and excellence of these two programs, both in Seattle Public Schools.

Good job!

Comments

SolvayGirl said…
Now...if these stellar programs were just available to talented kids who live outside the school reference areas.
5/11/09, 8:24 AM
Stu said…
It'll be interesting to see how the Garfield program does after a few years of the split middle school APP. Right now, with all APP kids going to Washington Middle School, with it's grea music program, there's a strong foundation for the High School program. Of course, when they split the APP High School program, and they will do that in the near future, since they're arguments for splitting at the elementary and middle school levels are so sound, that'll leave Roosevelt as champs!

stu
5/11/09, 3:19 PM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Or, it may build a program at Hamilton making even more great musicians who may go to schools other than Roosevelt and Garfield and create even more demand for good programs.
5/11/09, 8:02 PM
Stu said…
Melissa wrote: Or, it may build a program at Hamilton making even more great musicians who may go to schools other than Roosevelt and Garfield and create even more demand for good programs.

Actually, we've been hearing great things about the plans for music at Hamilton. However, the individual players don't necessarily make a great band. Over the years, the amazing Washington Middle School program has fed into Garfield's program. Now the APP portion of that program, and a large percentage of APP kids do the music programs, will be split AND will probably feed into different schools. While that might increase the demand for better programs, district-wide, it has to eventually take a toll on Garfield. Plus, there's been a demand for better education across the district and THAT hasn't happened . . .

What's wrong with having magnet music schools, or science schools, or math schools? Make Roosevelt and Garfield music magnets, with out-of-cluster students supplying their own transportation, and they'll continue to thrive.

stu
5/12/09, 1:11 AM
Dorothy Neville said…
Sure, make Garfield a music magnet, decreasing space for APP kids, ensuring the dissolution of APP in High School. And make Roosevelt a music magnet, decreasing space for regular neighborhood kids at the same time continue to allow Hale's principal (see Rose's comment in bell time thread) to say she's such great buds with MGJ they will be allowed to continue their slightly eccentric teaching philosophy (popular with some but not with the majority). That's one way to support music talent and public education.
5/12/09, 6:37 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, grief, that is to come fro
Read more

MEETING CANCELED - Hey Kids, A Meeting with Three(!) Seattle Schools Board Directors

 Update 2: So I have seen a message from President Liza Rankin on why she, Director Evan Briggs, and Director Michelle Sarju backed out of this meeting.  In a nutshell: - She says there was no organization to the meeting which is just not true. They had a moderator lined up and naturally the board members could have set parameters for what to discuss, length of meeting, etc. All that was fleshed out. - She also claimed that if the meeting was PTA sponsored, they needed to have liability insurance to use the school space. Hello? PTAs use school space all the time and know they have to have this insurance.  - She seems to be worried about the Open Public Meetings law. Look, if she has a meeting in a school building on a non-personnel topic, it should be an open meeting. It appears that Rankin is trying, over and over, to narrow the window of access that parents have to Board members. She even says in her message - "...with decisions made in public." Hmmm - She also says that th
Read more