Odds and Ends

Rainier Beach is one of three comprehensive high schools to not have a complete renovation.

Chief Sealth has had major work done and got some of it via the fallout of them having to share a campus with Denny.  Ingraham is the other but Ingraham has also had major work done and has been on every single BEX and BTA.   Rainier Beach got a performing arts hall (but no performing arts curriculum or program so it sat, mostly unused for years) and had some building area upgrades but not much else.

According to the Times, the Rainier Beach community isn't going to wait for the district to make their building better.  They would like to make it the greenest high school in the state.  The story in the Times.

The community’s aspirations were announced Tuesday at a news conference where Mayor Mike McGinn and Denis Hayes, president of the Bullitt Foundation, expressed their support, albeit not the financial kind. 

The Bullitt Foundation doesn’t fund capital projects, Hayes said, but it helped the Rainier Beach community benefit from what the foundation learned in building the Bullitt Center, which may be the world’s greenest office building.

Among the participating organizations are the Rainier Beach High PTSA, the Rainier Beach Foundation and the Rainier Beach Empowerment Coalition.

The first fundraiser is scheduled for May 11 at the Sho­Ware Center in Kent, where some of the nation’s best high-school basketball players are expected to participate in a West Coast all-star game. Current NBA players who graduated from Rainier Beach High also are expected to attend.

Rainier Beach expects to make their announcement of fulfilling the lengthy application process for being an International Baccalaureate school in the next couple of days.

There's a new documentary being make about public education called "Going Public."  From the Cool Mom Picks website:

This documentary, with the help of some of the most prominent voices in education like Peter W. Cookson, Diane Ravitch, and Lisa Graves, is exposing the untold story about what's becoming an increasingly corrupt system, as political interests and corporations have systematically privatized public education--something they are succeeding at in scary numbers. Consider it the Inside Job of education; follow the money, and you'll find a wildly compelling case for protecting the right and ability of all children to have the option of an excellent public education.

I sincerely hope you'll check out the Going Public Documentary trailer on Indiegogo, read more about the project and consider making a donation (we have a very ambitious goal!) if this is a cause as near to your heart as it is mine so that the movie can be completed. It's a 501 (c) 3 non-profit, and a darn good cause. Plus, $50 gets you a copy of the film.

From PBS' Frontline, a series of articles/videos about the SAT - its history, its use, admissions and test prep. 

Comments

seattle citizen said…
Lynne Varner (probably - a Times Editorial) is back shilling for the Our Schools "Coalition":

Editorial: Seattle teachers, district should consider community group’s ideas

Right: OSC is a "community group."
Hahahaha! Good one, Times!
Anonymous said…
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