A Small Double-Standard/Hypocrisy
As we all know, the District has intentionally made language immersion programs at attendance area schools. This works directly against the District's stated goal of equitable access to programs. It's just bad in every way.
It's getting worse. When building the feeder pattern for language immersion programs, the District wants to have two elementary schools feeding into each middle school and, then, into one high school.
If the second elementary school program were placed in a school in another middle school service area, but adjacent to the middle school service area of the language program middle school, then access to the program could be extended to students in another service area. For example, if the second school with language immersion in the north-end were at Green Lake, then students in the Eckstein service area (theoretically) would have access to a language immersion program as well as students in the Hamilton service area.
The District, however, has rejected this idea because it messes with their feeder patterns. Apparently feeder pattern symmetry is more important than equitable access to programs.
BUT - when choosing a high school destination for these students, the District didn't hesitate to name Ingraham - despite the fact that the Ingraham attendance area does not include ANY of the same territory as the language immersion programs that are supposed to feed to it (JSIS, McDonald, and Hamilton).
Hmmm. So it's so critically important that the territory overlap - more important than equitable access to programs - until it isn't.
Look for this to repeat in the Southeast. After the District has built the IB at Rainier Beach, look for them to name Rainier Beach as the high school destination for students coming out of the language immersion programs at Beacon Hill, the Elementary School To Be Name Later, and Mercer, instead of Franklin, the attendance area high school for those students.
It's getting worse. When building the feeder pattern for language immersion programs, the District wants to have two elementary schools feeding into each middle school and, then, into one high school.
If the second elementary school program were placed in a school in another middle school service area, but adjacent to the middle school service area of the language program middle school, then access to the program could be extended to students in another service area. For example, if the second school with language immersion in the north-end were at Green Lake, then students in the Eckstein service area (theoretically) would have access to a language immersion program as well as students in the Hamilton service area.
The District, however, has rejected this idea because it messes with their feeder patterns. Apparently feeder pattern symmetry is more important than equitable access to programs.
BUT - when choosing a high school destination for these students, the District didn't hesitate to name Ingraham - despite the fact that the Ingraham attendance area does not include ANY of the same territory as the language immersion programs that are supposed to feed to it (JSIS, McDonald, and Hamilton).
Hmmm. So it's so critically important that the territory overlap - more important than equitable access to programs - until it isn't.
Look for this to repeat in the Southeast. After the District has built the IB at Rainier Beach, look for them to name Rainier Beach as the high school destination for students coming out of the language immersion programs at Beacon Hill, the Elementary School To Be Name Later, and Mercer, instead of Franklin, the attendance area high school for those students.
Comments
That allows parents to always have the option of attending local schools or alternative programs. Alternative programs could then be expanded or duplicated based on demand and their track record.
It would also compete local schools against alternative schools to some extent, since parents would effectively opt-out of their local school and pick an alternative school if their local school was not performing well. Again, the district could respond to demand, expanding schools and programs that are successful and attractive to parents, closing schools and programs that are not.
Anyone know why the district does not do things that way?
So, it's not particularly hypocritical to continue the same pattern with the immersion schools.
With your method, popular alternatives would be duplicated and therefore, trim the transportation costs. But I think the district wants to get those costs down and would be reluctant to go that direction again.
Kids and families who opt-out of LI miss out on getting to know the other families in their community. One of the great benefits of neighborhood schools is the community building (walking each other's kids to school, sharing the childcare load on early dismissal days, etc.).
Alternative schools are able to build community because people who choose those schools are committed to whatever that program/school is offering. LI would have no problem building community were it an option program. As it is set up now, the program excludes those who don't fit the mold, or who move in after grade 1 -- not an appropriate model for a neighborhood draw school.
@Charlie Mas:I agree that the international/language immersion schools should have always been option schools, but when the choice was made to place the program at Latona, the community asked for the neighborhood school designation and that request was granted. It was a short term fix with, to the district, unforeseen consequences. After John Stanford passed away, there wasn't any district support for the grand vision.
I think that it's going to be very important to have students from McDonald feeding into Hamilton, because without the numbers it's very difficult to maintain the program, much less grow and improve it.
If Greenlake were to be an international school, it still would be a neighborhood school. (Not to mention that while I'm sure there would be families that would be excited, I guarantee that there would be families that don't want it.) I don't see how offering one small section of the Eckstein attendance area the international program would help the equity problem. Further, you’d need to put in an exception for middle school assignment, much like they have for the JSIS out of attendance area kids for the last 2 years. Or, alternatively, you could try to offer language immersion at Eckstein for a small group of kids. Keep in mind, right now Eckstein doesn't offer language to 6th graders.
The program isn't just dual language immersion, at least at the elementary level, it really is the international program. It's more than a language program. That's what is making the choices hard for 5th grade parents. Reducing the program to one language class at middle & high school means that it's so much less than what the students got at elementary school, that if there are other criteria that families use, the one language class isn't a strong reason to choose the international middle school.
There are a lot of schools that are not interested in adding this to their programming, regardless of the numbers of students in their attendance areas who would like it. Roosevelt would have been the obvious choice of high school, given that so many of the Hamilton kids live in the RHS attendance area, but Roosevelt really hasn't shown a lot of interest in accomodating immersion language learners. Their focus has been on the ways the immersion students don't fit their pedagogy. Realistically, why would RHS make curriculum changes for 6 - 10 kids in a grade? A school would have a reason to create classes for 50-75 students, which in 12 years might be the case.
Of the 1st K class at JSIS there are 9 kids at Ingraham doing Spanish from that JSIS class. Of the 3 classes of JSIS graduates now in high school,that's the most in one high school, and that year produced 56 5th graders in immersion Spanish. The class below had one class of Spanish and one of Japanese. Those 9th graders are in many different high schools. JSIS 5th grade families commitment to language and international education at the middle/high school level is reduced in proportion to the quality of programming and support offered at the middle and high school level. The quality can't improve without students in the classroom. So while I agree that international schools should be option programs, I think that we're better off building a strong program within the structure of the NSAP and then extending it. I think diluting the program before it's completed through 12th grade will weaken the chances of having a strong program.
Tami
Tami
If you made Greenlake international instead of McDonald, you don't change anything for kids who are not in one of those two elementary attendance areas. You're just swapping out one elementary area for another. I don't see how you're improving equitability.
Because it would put LI in yet another region and thereby spread the program? It seems inherently unfair to have a hugely popular program in certain regions. Yes, you are just swapping one elementary for another but you are spreading it more throughout the city.
I'll go out on a limb here but I think most parents would prefer a language offering in elementary, starting in kindergarten (a real 5-day a week lesson), to a language immersion school. You'd have foreign language happening in every elementary (or nearly as possible).
I think more people are attracted to the idea of learning language early than a full language immersion school.
This year their rationale for not moving the Washington area program from Muir to Madrona was that they didn't want to shift the program, but they didn't hesitate to shift it from West Seattle to Arbor Heights last year. What's the difference?
SPS currently has a 6 period day in middle and high school. Language isn't considered a core subject, and if kids are interested in music, or anything else, and they have to take PE, it becomes a scheduling problem. This continues on in high school. It's tough for a student to do all the requirements for graduation (PE, Health, visual arts, occupational education) as well as the classes that will make the student competitive at selective schools.
Tami