Lowell APP to Lincoln Next School Year
From our readers:
Dear Lowell Elementary families,
After hearing from the Lowell community at our community meeting last week, in addition to feedback from an online survey and personal conversations, we have decided to move APP students in Grades 1-5 to Lincoln for the fall.
I want to apologize to our students, families and staff for the timing of this decision. I know this has been frustrating for many of you. We are putting proper systems in place to ensure this will not happen again.
Moving APP to Lincoln for the 2011-12 school year not only provides a short-term solution while we look long term at our growing APP program, but it also presents an opportunity for additional capacity at Lowell. We will be looking carefully at how we can work together to ensure that the ALO and Special Education programs at Lowell will be vibrant and successful. We will work closely with you and the community in the next school year on these issues.
We are working on the details and logistics of this move and we are compiling answers to the many questions you must have. We are working on issues about transportation, resources and other logistics. We will have more information in the next few weeks, including answers to frequently asked questions that we will post on our website at http://bit.ly/lowell-2011. You may also email us with specific questions at LowellAPP@seattleschools.org.
We look forward to working with the entire Lowell community on strategic long-term solutions for both APP and the school. I know this solution is not ideal, but I appreciate you working with us to make this the best possible situation for our students. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Susan Enfield, Ed.D.
Interim Superintendent
Seattle Public Schools
Dear Lowell Elementary families,
After hearing from the Lowell community at our community meeting last week, in addition to feedback from an online survey and personal conversations, we have decided to move APP students in Grades 1-5 to Lincoln for the fall.
I want to apologize to our students, families and staff for the timing of this decision. I know this has been frustrating for many of you. We are putting proper systems in place to ensure this will not happen again.
Moving APP to Lincoln for the 2011-12 school year not only provides a short-term solution while we look long term at our growing APP program, but it also presents an opportunity for additional capacity at Lowell. We will be looking carefully at how we can work together to ensure that the ALO and Special Education programs at Lowell will be vibrant and successful. We will work closely with you and the community in the next school year on these issues.
We are working on the details and logistics of this move and we are compiling answers to the many questions you must have. We are working on issues about transportation, resources and other logistics. We will have more information in the next few weeks, including answers to frequently asked questions that we will post on our website at http://bit.ly/lowell-2011. You may also email us with specific questions at LowellAPP@seattleschools.org.
We look forward to working with the entire Lowell community on strategic long-term solutions for both APP and the school. I know this solution is not ideal, but I appreciate you working with us to make this the best possible situation for our students. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Susan Enfield, Ed.D.
Interim Superintendent
Seattle Public Schools
Comments
I wish she made some mention of long-term planning for APP, though.
I wonder what she means by that. I'm thinking that she doesn't mean anything at all by it.
You need to be patient.
Moving APP to Lincoln for the 2011-12 school year not only provides a short-term solution while we look long term at our growing APP program,
NSAP is in. APP has been around a long time.
So now the district shall begin to look "long term".
It takes a crisis to even begin to think long term in this district .... because the rule of thumb is ... make it up as we go along.
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We will work closely with you and the community in the next school year on these issues.
Even though we rarely use community engagement and did not do this in regard to creating the current mess.
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" I know this solution is not ideal, but I appreciate you working with us."
as I make this stuff up as we go along.
Sincerely,
Susan Enfield, Ed.D.
Interim Superintendent
Seattle Public Schools
Now, we get to tell our 8-year old that he won't be returning to the school he just started this past year, which he liked. A lot. I feel as if we should all videotape these conversations with our kids and make them available to those tasked with fixing this mess.
Two months before school starts, all these children and parents are moving to a new school. This is not merging two existing programs or joining an existing school. This is moving to a new location and setting up a new school. A principal has not even been assigned yet. And school starts in nine weeks.
Parent
David, what would you like to have seen happen to resolve the Lowell overcrowding? Personally, I think Lowell got a decent deal. The APP cohort, teachers and staff remain together, and move as a group. What's so bad about that? There is a different school housed in Lincoln almost every year and those communities haven't complained at all.
Steve, maybe when you talk to your 8 year old you can be positive, and treat the move like a grand adventure where he/she will get to explore a big, new, building, with all of her friends. It's all about the presentation.
And would this been avoided if TT Minor had remained opened, as the data suggested?
And I empathize with Steve's situation telling his son. Yes, we will put a positive spin on it. Our daughter will be happy to stay with her friends. But, not uncommon among this group, she is very anxious. No matter how positive I spin it, she will spent weeks this summer "worried" about her new school. We already went through it last year when we moved to Lowell. Heck, she already spent half of June worried about what teacher she'll get next year (and I'm not exaggerating).
I share this with all of you because I think the district needs to know the actual impact this has "on the ground." Yes, in the end, the kids will be fine at Lincoln and they'll learn their way around. But if I share the news now with my child, I will spend the summer listening to complaints about how life isn't fair (since she loves Lowell), and what if she gets lost at her new school, and where will her classroom be, and what if the other third grades aren't on the same floor, and what if she can't find the library, and what if the bus doesn't know where to take her, and what if she doesn't like the new principal or the new PE teacher or the new art teacher.... I've been through this once. It ain't fun to do a second year in a row. And a third next year, since this sounds like a 1-year solution.
I'm left feeling relieved that there weren't any new surprises today, yet overwhelmed at the unknowns and work ahead. We still don't know what staff will remain at Lowell and what staff will come to Lincoln. There are also several new teachers to be hired.
It's not exactly the experience I imagined when we first enrolled in SPS...
frazzled
And realize that there are many other parents in the past years besides APP who have had those difficult discussions with their kids (Summit, Cooper, etc)... it isn't fair, it isn't right, but you are not the first and definitely not the last given the latest capacity updates.
As for hiring "last minute", there were newly opened schools last year that hired classroom teachers 1 day before school started. Did it suck? Yes. Did it all turn out okay? Yes.
Take a deep breath and jump in and be positive and make it happen!
---signed, been there, done that
I bet those communities got more than two months warning.
BB said, "The APP cohort, teachers and staff remain together, and move as a group."
Sure, until next year, when another elementary APP split is likely.
I'm looking forward to meeting you and your positive attitude when our kid starts at Lowell, uh, I mean Lincoln in 8 weeks.
Susan
I think there are a fair number of other north end families who will feel this way -- and, I think that means that SPS should be considering APP growth into the future, at both Hamilton & north end elementary APP.
(zb)
Yes, and the nomadic Lowell APP students should at least have some familiar faces next year and into the next phase (wherever that is). It’s the least the district can do to bring some level of continuity to the kids’ experience.
We promised my son last year that his first year at Lowell (for 2nd) grade would be the last elementary school change for him, after already changing schools in 1st grade. Last year was a hard transition for him, with a fair amount of anxiety. This year was supposed to be where he started to see the payoff -- returning to a familiar school, knowing the drill, a place where he could really feel that this is “my school.” We promised him: No more school changes.
Well, now we have no choice. We’re putting a good face on it for him and emphasizing the friends he will still go to school with (like a family moving houses). But, really, he’ll have a new teacher, a new building, will have mostly classmates he doesn’t know…it’s going to be a lot like a another new school. AND he’s facing another move in a year or two wherever the APP group goes next. That’ll be FIVE elementary schools in six years by the time he finishes 5th grade.
Could he AT LEAST have the continuity of administrators, a librarian, music, art, and PE teachers for the next three years (wherever they are actually housed)? Please.
-Needing Continuity
I would just gently suggest that any parent who makes promises or gurantees to their child about school should be very careful about what promises they make. Coming out at the end of a very long time in SPS with my kids, one thing I have learned is not to promise anything. Teachers quit, classrooms move, principals change - all these can happen over the summer without your knowledge or input.
I know that all kids need reassurance, and some deal with more anxiety about change than others- I have one myself. But having that child meant I had to learn that I cannot make any guarantees or promises, and that in fact, life was not going to be full of guarantees or promises. Unfortunately, part of growing older means that you do need to help your kids learn that lesson. (Example: Try college application time for anxiety and the realization that you are smack up against forces you can't control - and that even if your child did everything right, its still not enough sometimes. That one's an an eye-opener)
I am not trying to minimize the feelings here or the situation. But the reality is, you cannot guarantee things that are out of your control. And neither can Seattle Public Schools.
I certainly wish the Lowell community best of luck, and hope the move goes well.
Signed,
Veteran
What about APP students in the Lowell walk zone? What is the status? Lincoln? TM? Choice of the 2?
-Bike to School
Lowell APP will be at Lincoln temporarily next year. After that, all the children will have to move again, most likely split across two other schools, making three elementary APP sites total.
That is reality. Ignoring it and smiling doesn't make it go away.
It's so sad, incompetent, disruptive, evil, even.
Why don't they just leave it at Lincoln, and be done?
If APP isn't in Lowell, I have to wonder if Lowell's building will make the BEX IV list? Kay said the Central area had a lot of kids in private schools; maybe more would come back if there is room at Lowell.
That's only right and fair.
- Realist
A better choice is to use this space for all three populations to create a running list of concerns. The district once again has shown the planning prowess of a paper bag. So help downtown. Give them a list of items they need to resolve. Dividing staff is but one of many issues.
-skeptical-
WV says kajack. Don't want to see you kajacking the teachers to Lincoln because you are 'entitled'.
You said:
"Do you realize how hard it is to run an organization that serves 47,000 students,"
Humm so far with a leadership team that continually refuses to intelligently apply relevant data to decision making ... I would say it is impossible to run this organization effectively, under such leadership.
Listen to what Dorothy Neville had to say at the last board meeting. It is clear that leadership's rejection of evidence has produced numerous calamities.
YUP with the current set of Directors it is clearly impossible to run this district in an effective fashion.
The teachers should have some choice and do what's right for them. Maybe some are tired of commuting to Lowell and would prefer to be at Lincoln. Maybe others prefer to stay at Lowell. Who knows. But it should be their choice, and I don't want to see Lowell families pitted against one another fighting about this sort of stuff.
There are no real winners in this situation, neither the kids who are being moved nor those staying behind asked for any of this to happen. Let's be sensitive to all involved, please.
Let's assume the APP classroom teachers all move with the students (although I hesitate to assume anything these days), but the PCP staff should have the right to choose. Or at least they should have a good deal to say in the matter.
When Lowell was (stupidly) split 2 years ago, the staff was consulted with and given a lot of say in which building they taught at post-split. The same thing should happen now.
Speaking of looking for something positive, if the program moves to Lincoln and gets a new principal, who knows, perhaps some of the amazing, experienced APP staff that jumped ship might be willing to return. ;-)
At the very least, we could hope for a stemming of the exodus.
BTW Kelley, SPS is not 60% living in poverty. It's just over 40% FRL. It doesn't help your cause to wildly exaggerate or pull numbers out of thin air.
Not unless someone realizes that those letters signed under duress were not in the best interest of the district. Sure, the teachers could improve and should have been afforded the support and PD to improve. But....
That's only right and fair.
...
Why don't they just leave it at Lincoln, and be done?
The attacks on APP will never stop, not even when we are down.
Right. We are entitled to an attendance area school, entitled to all the specialists at Lowell because we "drive" them", entitled to a special program, entitled to a Lincoln (an interim site school), entitled to a cohort no matter how large it gets hopefully all in 1 school.
--entitled
stu
This totally makes sense to me. My hope would be that the APP program has staff who want to be there going forward and who, hopefully, are committed to seeing the program and students through to a longer-term home. Whether they are new or moving with the program, I still say that continuity of staff in the next few years would help mean a lot. For my son and for the other children, it would at least contribute to the sense that they belong to a school community, despite changing buildings.
--Needing Continuity
That probably means some staff and resources will be shared between the two physical sites since they'd still be paid for out of the same budget, etc. The art, music and PE teachers are supposed to serve the entire student population after all, not just the students in one program. I'm not sure how that would work but I suspect they may not get to choose which site they're at, or whether they gave to split their days between the two.
Just an interested observer
Yeah, I'm not sure how this turned into such a controversy . . .it's so far down on the list of problems. It's just a matter of scheduling, isn't it? So, you look at the enrollment numbers and you have the music teacher go to Lowell for 2 or 3 days and then to Lincoln for 2 or 3 days. Same with Art or PE. Or, they rotate week by week. Music/Art/PE for a week at Lowell then Music/Art/PE for Lincoln.
Again, the salary's the same, the amount of time is the same . . . it's not like you're having teachers drive to Spokane for a day . . it's a couple of miles difference.
So simple a VAX could do it!
stu
Susan
stu
Did you see the email sent out by the Lowell PTA this morning? They are looking for people to help out at both Lowell and Lincoln.
You can access the form here:
http://lowelles.seattleschools.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?pageid=235094
Sorry, I don't know how to do the live links.
APP parent
Every single child in this district has a right to have their educational needs met, no matter where they are on the academic spectrum.
Yes, your children take your lead on how you present situations to them. But school changes are a BIG deal to kids as school is one of the constants in a child's life. Ask anyone who had their school closed.
"So help downtown. Give them a list of items they need to resolve."
Good idea, Skeptical, if I thought they would listen. I'm sure APP leaders are doing this right now but the district is not famous for listening to community.
Both my kids are facing big changes this year (daughter's preschool moved to a new location, son is moving from option school to neighborhood school with an inclusion program). It's a disruption, and it's not ideal, but there's a lot of hope there, too. Children are incredibly resilient, even anxious ones like mine (ours?). I recommend Elizabeth Crary's book Dealing With Disappointment. Good, practical stuff in there.
Good luck, Lowell APP families. (And welcome to the neighborhood!)
As a former arts teacher, I can say that this isn't an easy fix and is a bit insulting to the PCP teachers. Teachers are entitled to a classroom. Unlike instrumental music, art teachers and general music teachers need a set up room, the same as any general classroom teacher. Imagine lugging gallons and gallons of paint, papers and supplies to 2 different locations. Or 30 xylophones in one car. Or PE equipment. If they are given the same budget and not even a promised designated "space" in each building, the students suffer great curriculum ideas because the materials wouldn't be available. They then resort to what's available to be easily transported, which is a lot of paper projects. They should be given a huge voice in this.
More than any teachers, it's the PCP teachers who need a designated space. I'd like to see their plan for coming up with that. And a decent space (it was a shame to see the music classroom shrunk down to such a tiny size. My student was a special ed buddy and said that they couldn't even turn the 4 wheelchairs around successfully for dances because there wasn't enough room. Also, does anyone know what happened to the music teacher?)
My overall point is, we should provide the PCP teachers with the same expectations we would have of a classroom teacher--they need ample and secure space in both locations, they would need more supplies, and a lot of kudos for lugging things back and forth just to fulfill one job (which I believe to be unfair--but given the circumstances, it doesn't appear that there is another option). They do so much more for Lowell than we sometimes realize, and it's not as easy to just toss them around from building to building as we'd like to think.
My 8th grader attended Hamilton at Lincoln, now is next door at Hamilton, incidentally also my alma mater.
We all think this is working out OK for us for now--hope Lowell is OK.
I hope they can go to the Wallingford playground for recess. Does anyone know if that is possible?
Also, it will be fun for Hamilton to have their music performances at our son's elementary school.
Will APP be called APP at Lincoln?, or Northend APP? or what?
I think it is not going to go back to Lowell.
Sarah,
I agree with you . . . I never said that art and music teachers should be taking their stuff back and forth. I assume, though with this district that's never safe, that and art room and music room will be set up, if it isn't there already because of all the other schools that use Lincoln, for the year.
Perhaps the APP kids share teachers with the other Lowell kids, maybe they piggy back with the MacDonald kids who are; art and music need spaces and I expect Lincoln to have those.
stu
--Fool me once, shame on me; fool me this many times and then say "thanks"????
Time to sing out for highly capable kids and their needs!
While I realize that kids are all different, it is true that, at least at these young ages, they take strong cues from their parents. If the parents maintain a positive and enthusiastic attitude about moving from Lowell to Lincoln, the kids will generally follow this lead. Even a fretful kid can be channeled at a minimum to reduce stress over a change.
And, never make promises that you can't have iron-clad control over. That is, don't promise that you will never change their school (or whatever) again. S- happens (one of the few things in life that can be guaranteed is that problems will arise) and you must be flexible and help the kids to be flexible too -- which they generally are.