Did You Know About the School At Northgate Mall?
The school accepts students ages 16 to 20, many of whom are at risk of not graduating or who already may have dropped out of the traditional school setting.
“Rather than giving up on graduating,” said Brunton, shown at right, “we help them catch up – catch up on graduating, catch up on life.
Although the space is available to the alternative public school for free through a partnership with the mall’s Simon Youth Foundation, budget cuts throughout the Seattle School District are taking a toll on the school, which has seen its teaching staff reduced from five to two teachers since it opened 10 years ago.Senior Delaney Grieve, the mind behind this weekend’s bake sale, speaks with pride about the school in a way that’s rare in many high school students: “It’s small and the teachers are so helpful,” she said. “They get you on track to graduate if you’re not going to, and the school has great scholarships.”
That’s where the Simon Youth Foundation comes back into the picture. Not only do Simon malls across the nation house schools similar to Northgate MCHS, but the Simon Youth Foundation also offers scholarships to those students.
Nearby North Seattle Community College is also a part of this unique public-private partnership, which helps prepare students for college by allowing them to work independently.They will be having a silent auction on March 3 from 5-7 (more details to come).
This is one of those outreach programs that is important even though it serves a small number of students. If we are serious about trying multiple ways to reach and graduate every student, it is important to keep programs like this alive. (I will gently say that Kay Smith-Blum made it clear that the Board is going to protect sports. Okay but don't do that at the expense of programs like this one.)
Comments
So there you have it. One of few programs in SPS that is designed to reach struggling, at risk students, and it is in jeopardy. Year after year.
Marshall was another program that served this population, and it is gone too.
Is there another program there?
The district website says there are four locations- but is that info outdated?
Four Sites available to choose from:
American Indian Heritage
Northgate Mall
South Seattle Community College
University of Washington
"The Career Education Options program offers out-of-school individuals aged 16-21, without a high school diploma, the chance to return to school for the education and job training needed for a successful career. The CEO program provides the needed tools to succeed in the college environment.
What does the CEO Program provide?
The program provides the following for qualifying students:
* Education and training toward a certificate or degree in a professional-technical program at SCC
* Tuition, fees and books
* Career exploration and educational planning
* Individual support services
Eligibility
To qualify, you need to be 16 to 21 years old, and not currently enrolled in high school. You can enter CEO whether or not you've earned a GED, but NOT if you have a high school diploma."
Helen Schinske
Several of my younger son's friends who dropped out of Ballard finished at UW Middle College.
Another bunch of them who dropped out went to the Shoreline program. Each of these kids is bright. None of them are poor. All of them have caring functioning 2 parent families.
The "comprehensive" high school model and accompanying curriculum is very unappealing for a lot of kids. I thank my stars for Running Start or my younger son would be a drop out.
Very true.
If Middle College closes, then what will be their options?
There isn't much. The NOVA Project isn't for everyone. Neither are all of these students necessarily a good fit with other Safety Net schools like Interagency or South Lake.
This would be a really grim loss of service and one that is of really questionable wisdom.
I agree.
A friend of my daughters transferred to Middle College( from a private high school), his parents were also functioning & supportive BTW ( In fact one parent had also been a Seattle school board director), he finished up high school, took college transfer classes & graduated from the University of Chicago a few years later.
We need more alternatives for kids, not fewer.
This plan was for a "community" school that was beyond what we now think about when we hear that term. "Community School," as it is currently perceived, uses the community to rally around students. The Marshall "Ravenna Blvd Academy" would have done this and also made the school OF the community, by being open early and late, by offering adult education and community endeavors such as theater and art...The intent was to change the school into a hub, not just of the community but into a global hub with online learning and "satellite" campuses run in partnership with institutions in other countries.
The plan that was produced ran over a hundred pages and was very detailed: It was basically a business plan, and it was shopped around to various community people who gave it high marks for meeting the needs of students who were not finding an education in the comprehensive schools.
They closed Marshall anyway, of course, and since then the "Safety Net" programs have been whittled away at (the idea seems to be that students who are struggling can have their needs met IN the sending (comprehensive) schools, rather than falling out of the system and having to go to some stand-alone program.
There has been some slight progress towards this, but as has been pointed out here and elsewhere, some students just do better in schools that are NOT the comprehensives.
If Middle College goes, as did Aviation High down at Boeing Field, Marshall, and some interagencies programs that were consolidated, this will further reduce the options for students who are not wanting to be in, or aren't in, the "regular" programs.
If cuts further effect the "alternative" option programs, as well, we will see more reduction.
There seems to be a consolidation at work, a drawing back to basic, "comprehensive" school services (and there, to merely Math, Reading and Writing." This seems to fly in the face for what is extolled around the country as a good thing: variety and choice. Particularly when the students who need it are themselves struggling under great burdens outside of school.
Why can't Middle College be moved to the Marshall building and expanded? They've already got partnerships with NSCC, and perhaps Simon will continue the relationship. The program could grow into a true educational hub for the northend and elsewhere, rallying the community around the students and providing opportunity for ALL students, young and old. Heck, there's already an elder-program leasing space in Marshall, they can be part of it, too!
Save Middle College, Save Southlake, save the variety of programs that meet a vareity of needs...expand these options, don't diminish them!
when life imitates art
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/jerrylarge/2012109946_jdl14.html
The two teachers wrote and taught their own curricula, each at a college level. The kids loved it. It sounded really great! We are wasting SOOO much money by dismantling and throwing away good programs that people have spent years and many dollars and hours putting together.
And it is so horrible for kids to eliminate the options that keep some of them in school and moving forward. How can the District say the things it says about graduation rates, etc. etc. -- and then throw away these programs?