Open Thread

I hope each of you has a safe and fun 4th of July holiday weekend.

What's on your mind?

Comments

Anonymous said…
More principal changes in West Seattle.

http://westseattleblog.com/2013/07/new-chief-sealth-international-high-school-principal-aida-fraser-hammer

http://westseattleblog.com/2013/07/6th-principal-change-for-west-seattle-public-schools-alki-elementary

-yumpears
ws said…
don't forget gatewood.

http://westseattleblog.com/2013/07/another-west-seattle-principal-change-this-time-gatewood-elementary
Charlie Mas said…
Funny how Mr. Banda goes on about the need to reduce turnover in the district leadership while creating churn in school leadership.
mirmac1 said…
How is it that 50% of the principals in Exec Dir Carmella Dellino's area of West Seattle are either forced out or change schools? Last I checked we had some great schools, teachers and leadership. Quit messing with them!
Charlie Mas said…
Two stories in the Seattle Times about the legal challenge to the charter school initiative.

One by Brian Rosenthal in the Local News section.


One by Brian Rosenthal in the Politics Northwest section.
Anonymous said…
The problem, as I see it, mirmac1 is that when a principal spends too much time at an individual school they become an advocate for that school rather than a district shill. It is to the administration's advantage to keep moving principals around.

If you like your principal - better buy him/her a farewell card. They won't be there long.

-tired of district tactics
Anonymous said…
The merry-go-round of principals is one of the most aggravating things about Seattle public schools. Consistent leadership can create a strong bond between families and a school. The unnecessary turmoil is hard on everyone but the superintendents.

S parent

Jet City mom said…
A few schools however, do have principals that stick around.
THII for example has been at Garfield since fall '04.

If Summit k-12 still had Cathy Hayes when MGJ came to town, they would still be around.
& I think the district would be better for it.
Anonymous said…
Jet City Mom, This is why Summit died with Roy Merca. A placeholder at Summit, now running out the clock at AS #1. Cathy played a better game of politics, whatever it was that held them together. I'm grateful my kids had a great education at Summit. Nothing like it exists now.

Mr. White
Anonymous said…
Consistent leadership can be very bad if you are ell or sped. The problem with the reassignments is that they do not result in net gains for the students who are ell or special education.

Reader
Anonymous said…
Yes, leaders change .... but has this ever impacted the situation for ell or special ed in a positive progressive way? No. For these communities principal changes have no positive outcome.

Kessler Stevens
Linh-Co said…
Thorton Creek has had the same principal for over a decade. He was also a teacher there. John Miner must be tight with someone in charge.
Anonymous said…
Martin Floe is closing in on a decade at Ingraham. Of course, an overly ambitious Exec. Director TRIED to get rid of him, but we all know how THAT turned out...

Floe Fan
Anonymous said…
The state released the list of new schools eligible for free all day K funding.

http://www.k12.wa.us/EarlyLearning/FullDayKindergartenResearch.aspx

For Seattle, it includes: Graham Hill, John Muir, Sanislo, Maple, South Shore, Kimball, Pinehurst, and Broadview-Thompson.

Can anybody confirm that all of these schools were already receiving free full day K?

Half-Dayer
Anonymous said…
Sorry for the double post, but per the memo from the state:

"On June 30, Governor Inslee signed the 2013–15 state biennial operating budget that provides funding for 43.75 percent of kindergarten students in the state to receive full-day kindergarten in the 2013–14 and 2014–15 school years. In the 2012–13 school year, funding was available for 22 percent of kindergarten students."

With a 21.75% increase in funding, families who are paying for all day K, should see at least a 20% decrease in tuition, don't you think? That would bring it down from $311 per month to around $250. Who do I contact to make sure this actually happens. My board director? Who else? Thanks!
Half-Dayer
dw said…
Semi-repost from another thread, but this seems more like general news, so:

Eleven "Steve Jobs schools" will open this fall in the Netherlands

Not even sure what to make of this. It seems like it could allow some atypical kids to thrive, but somehow I'd see "Fail" written all over this if it were to be implemented on any kind of wide scale.

I do see the possibility that systems like this could work well in specific areas, like math, where there is a well-defined path of topics to work through and master. I don't see it working nearly as well in something like social studies (the conversations with teachers and among peers need to be fluid and shared), and not very well at all in writing. Also, I don't see how they could even attempt to have instrumental music or team activities (think PE or sports) without some kind of fixed schedule for at least those classes.

Also, TechyMom said elsewhere the "data could also be misused if the system is not designed well".

Let me modify that slightly to the "data will eventually be misused if the system is not designed well". In fact, I'll say that any large-scale data that can be tracked down to individual students is extremely likely to be misused no matter how it's designed. The only way to prevent abuse is to never let the data be distributed beyond the individual school or district data systems, and to attach "kill dates" when the data is automatically and irrecoverably destroyed. Sadly, programs like RoadMap and inBloom are currently taking the opposite track.
Anonymous said…
"With a 21.75% increase in funding, families who are paying for all day K, should see at least a 20% decrease in tuition"

Without knowing anything at all, I wouldn't assume that this funding is going to be equally distributed across the state (or, in fact, distributed according to population or students). Look forward to seeing what answers you get. I still think it's crazy that people have to pay for full-day kindergarten, even when their neighborhood school offers nothing else.

zb
Anonymous said…
Yes, data will always be misused (and used), in proportion to its accessibility.

"Some of the ideas that may have occurred to Jobs are now on display in the Netherlands. "

Yech. I personally think (and, of course, you should listen to me) that Jobs would invent an entirely different kind of school.

"Some 1,000 children aged four to 12 will attend the schools, without notebooks, books or backpacks. Each of them, however, will have his or her own iPad."

I cannot imagine in a million years signing on to this for my children. A classic example of a tool driving a solution instead of the other way around.

zb
A-mom said…
@ Half Dayer
Link to SPS page listing their most current list of schools with/without free all-day K.
I don't know about the other schools, but I know Broadview- Thomson and Pinehurst K-8 changed status to free for next year.
A-mom said…
Half Dayer,
Link failed, just go to SPS home, click on Schools and the drop down has Kindergarten Enrollment info page.
mirmac1 said…
Let's picture what this misuse of Road Map data looks like. Say info on Johnny M's disability and discipline record (diagnosis ADHD, occasional disruptive behavior) is available to an FEL after school service provider. Someone with no incentive to have to understand his needs, then decides "ugh, too much trouble to deal with" and decides the session is "full". When he matures and transitions to middle school, rather than familiarize himself with Johnny's present levels of performance, the administrator decides that he should be in the "high needs" math class that is teaching remedial math. Oh, and instead of foreign language or art, he will have "study skills", just because.

That's the lazy man's "differentiation". Without this dossier at their fingertips, these adults would actually have to suspend their presumptions and get to know the student. They'd have to assume this student could learn as well as any other, and should be allowed access to anything the school/enrichment programs have to offer.
Charlie Mas said…
Kristin Bailey-Fogarty on the Center School fiasco.
n said…
Excellent column, Kristin. Now, who else are you sending it to? SPS admin staff and families should read it.
Kristin said…
Thank you, n, and thanks Charlie, for sharing it.

I've sent it to Sherry Carr, who is my Director, and it's being well "shared" on Facebook. I will send it on to district admin. I'm upset at the precedent this sets, and hope we can get Mr. Greenberg back where he belongs. Not that there's anything wrong with middle school....
Krom Family said…
My husband met last week with Paul Apostle, director of human resources at SPS. He wanted to express how critical Jon Greenberg was to the Center School. He made a difference to our family and was an iconic teacher.

There were hundreds of students who were impacted positively by this class and one family should not torpedo it. This curriculum is not transferable to a middle school and Greenberg should be reinstated at the Center School. If parents want action, they need to keep pressure on the district.

Georgi and Steve Krom
Anonymous said…
Good to see that Kristin Bailey-Fogerty is coming to the defense of another teacher. She has a history of publicly trashing her co-workers in print.

She also has a history of being particularly catty toward, and dismissive of, Melissa, Charlie's co-blogger. Too bad Charlie doesn't reciprocate Melissa's loyalty (though she sometimes goes beyond when defending him), but instead can be found championing and cozying up to Bailey-Fogarty on a consistent basis.

Also ironic that there was a reference to Martin Floe in this thread. Bailey-Fogarty was at Ingraham and was a good friend (and staunch defender) of the ED who tried to fire Floe, even though the ED was a short-term principal who did not possess the credentials to have the job in the first place.

Some of us may be losing our short-term memories, but remember clearly when people have been treated unjustly.

--enough already
Charlie Mas said…
I agree or disagree with positions, policies, and practices, not with people.

June Rimmer was the worst I ever saw. If she told me that the sun rose in the east, I would question it - but I wouldn't deny it without checking. And if it proved true, I would acknowledge that she got it right. Either way, I would let people know that she said it.

I have seen folks who think that loyalty requires them to disagree with rivals on every point. It isn't productive and loyalty doesn't ask for it.
Anonymous said…
I also happened to be at Ingraham when the "Floe fracas" blew up. Kristin was one of my best friends in that building. She was entitled to her opinion, and just because she had a slightly different perspective than many others, doesn't make her a bad person. Just because she befriended the exec director doesn't make her a member of the evil empire.

Like any friend, we occasionally disagreed on things, but I still consider her a good, true, (and incredibly smart!) friend.

Floe fan
Kristin said…
I've never trashed my coworkers in print, and I use my name. It's easy to be mean and inaccurate when you hide behind anonymity. Melissa and I have both exchanged strong words. She can handle it.
I am a staunch defender, and though Jon Greenberg is not a friend, I'm hoping you can resist the urge to be gossipy and mean and instead put your energy toward asking the district to reverse its decision on the Center School situation.
Thanks Floe Fan. I miss you guys, but it's really satisfying to catch kids up before they start high school.
Anonymous said…
Using your name makes looking up your track record very easy, and I thank you for that. (All of the quoted sections come from previous postings on this blog).

On the other hand, using your name on blogs and in print as a practicing teacher, while talking about colleagues publicly, is very troublesome. In fact, when someone puts down their colleagues when attempting to look better by comparison, I call that "trashing."
You may have another word to describe it:

"Speaking of Ingraham teacher, Kristin Bailey-Fogerty (and to connect a few more dots), apparently she has drunk the ed reform, test-obsessed, anti-seniority, 'more effective than thou', Kool-Aid, and seems to intimate that she is the only teacher at Ingraham who wants to be more than "satisfactory."

Not surprisingly, she is featured on LEV's web site. (http://www.educationvoters.org/2011/04/13/teacher-evaluations-a-teachers-perspective/) LEV, of course, is also a corporate ed reform front organization funded by Gates.

Here Bailey-Fogerty makes some comments about her "colleagues" that are less than collegial, shall we say. But perfectly in keeping with the TFA,Inc. dogma."

"Here's the SaveSeattleSchools thread where Dorothy Neville got a nasty email from Ms. Bailey-Fogerty, who at the same time "reported" Dorothy to Melissa:

Dorothy: "I received an email from a teacher at Ingraham, Kristin Bailey-Fogarty, a friend of Bree Dussault and former TfA corps. She cc'd Melissa as blog administrator to let her know that my comment about Bree and Chris was inappropriate on many levels. She called me an idiot. Now, I've been scratching my head to figure out why she would feel the need to do that. And why cc Melissa? Was Kristin feeling threatened? Was her tattling to Melissa trying to get me censored? Was it meant as fear and intimidation?"

"And now for our morning dose of irony...

First, quoted from the Crosscut article "Less insult, more discourse..."

“The mud-flinging is hard,” says Kristin Bailey-Fogarty, a Seattle public school teacher who has been outspoken in her support of education reform and the A+ Washington initiative and, as a result, has sometimes been viciously attacked in the blogosphere. "I've found the best strategy is to assume your attackers care as much about an issue as you do," she says. "People come out of the gate in attack mode, but eventually they can come to a place of reason."

And now from Ms. Bailey-Fogarty's response to Melissa Westbrook's comment on "Why I Like A+ Washington"...

"Are we stupid? Are we so stubborn and paranoid we can't learn from others? I would hope not. We are complete fools if we do not examine successful schools in an effort to learn from them. I would hope we're not fools.
If you're going to load every verb up with your own fears and negative expectations, you're going to hate everything." "

Being a staunch defender is a virtue when one is defending what is ethical and fair. Just because Bree Dusseault is your friend is no excuse for defending her unjust actions when she attempted to fire Marin Floe (while you were a teacher at the school, no less). Ethics supersede relationships.

My references to your actions and words do not constitute gossip, but hold you accountable. You have made yourself a into public figure by roles on the LEV board and Teachers United (Gates funded) and being on a state educational committees. You have chosen to be in a position to be held accountable.

Bringing attention to your cattiness toward Melissa in no way implies that Melissa can't take care of herself. That woman is strong on her own terms, and has a long track record to prove it.

--enough already




Anonymous said…
Using your name makes looking up your track record very easy, and I thank you for that. (All of the quoted sections come from previous postings on this blog).

On the other hand, using your name on blogs and in print as a practicing teacher, while talking about colleagues publicly, is very troublesome. In fact, when someone puts down their colleagues when attempting to look better by comparison, I call that "trashing."
You may have another word to describe it:

"Speaking of Ingraham teacher, Kristin Bailey-Fogerty (and to connect a few more dots), apparently she has drunk the ed reform, test-obsessed, anti-seniority, 'more effective than thou', Kool-Aid, and seems to intimate that she is the only teacher at Ingraham who wants to be more than "satisfactory."

Not surprisingly, she is featured on LEV's web site. (http://www.educationvoters.org/2011/04/13/teacher-evaluations-a-teachers-perspective/) LEV, of course, is also a corporate ed reform front organization funded by Gates.

Here Bailey-Fogerty makes some comments about her "colleagues" that are less than collegial, shall we say. But perfectly in keeping with the TFA,Inc. dogma."

"Here's the SaveSeattleSchools thread where Dorothy Neville got a nasty email from Ms. Bailey-Fogerty, who at the same time "reported" Dorothy to Melissa:

Dorothy: "I received an email from a teacher at Ingraham, Kristin Bailey-Fogarty, a friend of Bree Dussault and former TfA corps. She cc'd Melissa as blog administrator to let her know that my comment about Bree and Chris was inappropriate on many levels. She called me an idiot. Now, I've been scratching my head to figure out why she would feel the need to do that. And why cc Melissa? Was Kristin feeling threatened? Was her tattling to Melissa trying to get me censored? Was it meant as fear and intimidation?"

"And now for our morning dose of irony...

First, quoted from the Crosscut article "Less insult, more discourse..."

“The mud-flinging is hard,” says Kristin Bailey-Fogarty, a Seattle public school teacher who has been outspoken in her support of education reform and the A+ Washington initiative and, as a result, has sometimes been viciously attacked in the blogosphere. "I've found the best strategy is to assume your attackers care as much about an issue as you do," she says. "People come out of the gate in attack mode, but eventually they can come to a place of reason."

And now from Ms. Bailey-Fogarty's response to Melissa Westbrook's comment on "Why I Like A+ Washington"...

"Are we stupid? Are we so stubborn and paranoid we can't learn from others? I would hope not. We are complete fools if we do not examine successful schools in an effort to learn from them. I would hope we're not fools.
If you're going to load every verb up with your own fears and negative expectations, you're going to hate everything." "

Being a staunch defender is a virtue when one is defending what is ethical and fair. Just because Bree Dusseault is your friend is no excuse for defending her unjust actions when she attempted to fire Marin Floe (while you were a teacher at the school, no less). Ethics supersede relationships.

My references to your actions and words do not constitute gossip, but hold you accountable. You have made yourself into public figure by roles on the LEV board and Teachers United (Gates funded) and being on a state educational committee. You have chosen to be in a position to be held accountable.

Bringing attention to your cattiness toward Melissa in no way implies that Melissa can't take care of herself. That woman is strong on her own terms, and has a long track record to prove it.

--enough already
Anonymous said…
enough already, nothing you share is as catty as you're being. Our son, who is dyslexic, was lucky enough to have Ms Bailey for reading this year. In September he hated reading, and was way behind his peers. Right now he's devouring the Hunger Games series, and his spring MAP score was in the 80%, up from 40th last year. He is going to Roosevelt on par with his peers. She is the best teacher he ever had. Your attempts to smear her with old, out of context quotes is sad. Go do something productive on this beautiful day.
--Eckstein Mom
Anonymous said…
Our young neighbors are enrolling their incoming K at Jane Addams k-8 for 2013-2014. They think they will be moving to Pinehurst in 2014-2015. Is this accurate? They are new to the district. I have tried to find info on the SPS website but am not having any luck. Perhaps my sleuthing skills are out of date.

Does anyone know anything?
Thanks

-slp
Maureen said…
I've enjoyed reading Ms. Bailey-Fogarty's posts on the Stories From School site over the years. I also really appreciate it when blog posters (especially teachers or Staff) are willing to use their actual real names (I understand why many don't feel them can, but I believe doing it generally makes a person more thoughtful about what they post.)

I don't have to agree with everything a person posts in order to respect and appreciate their perspective.
n said…
Maureen, you can see from the responses to Kristin why many of us do not use our real names. Esp. if we post our authentic feelings and beliefs.

I'm not a fan of Kristin's ideology but I do appreciate her thoughts in the face of such retaliation. I hope you keep posting, Kristin, because I really appreciate your points of view whether I agree or not.

Also, my principal was under Bree and I liked her. However, we had few interactions and my school didn't seem to be in turmoil at that time. Sometimes I do think people in the hierarchy can get sucked in by bureaucratic demands and quit really looking independently at what is best for the school and kids. I suggest that only because I've witnessed it myself and I have always been on the side of the oppressed when I felt their treatment was unfair.

That's probably a little obtuse but just saying that I've been on both sides. And people - colleagues - can gang up on you mercilessly for having a different point of view. No real names for me I'm sorry to say.

PS: How did you approach a dyslexic reader? I've had training (Slingerland) and I still can't figure out how to get it into the day for one student. I always refer outside the District. Perhaps the dyslexia was minor . . . I really would appreciate knowing what you do. Thanks.
Kristin said…
n, thank you, and I'd be happy to share some of the strategies I used. Email me at my sps address.
Maureen and Eckstein mom (of one of the greatest kids ever!) thank you.
Anonymous said…
Eckstein mom,

Great news about your son's progress, and kudos to the good teaching by Kristin Bailey-Fogarty.

Her teaching is not the issue I raised, but I did raise the issue of hypocrisy. Coming to the defense of Greenberg like a knight in shining armor, but participating in near-destruction of Floe's longtime career as a devoted professional is hypocritical. Coming to the defense of a teacher while having a record of putting down teachers (on your own team) to look good publicly is not appreciated by colleagues, to put it mildly.

I almost avoided talking about her cattiness toward Melissa, but Charlie deserved a wake-up call.

--enough already
Anonymous said…
@slp

The new building for the K-8 at Pinehurst is to be completed by Fall 2016 (it will not be built by Fall 2014).

The following email letter was sent out (5/15/13) to families in the probable Jane Addams Middle School (JAMS) feeder pattern. It may (or may not) be helpful to your neighbors.

Dear Seattle Public Schools families of John Rogers, Olympic Hills, Olympic View and Sacajawea Elementary Schools:

Seattle Public Schools is growing. This means we need to plan for more students in the next decade. Seattle voters approved the Building Excellence IV (BEX IV) capital levy in February which will allow us to increase our capacity and help meet the demands of our growing enrollment.

The northeast region of the District will benefit by the addition of new buildings over the next several years, including a new elementary on the Thornton Creek (Decatur) site, a home for the Jane Addams K-8 program on the Pinehurst site, a new building at Olympic Hills and new elementary and middle school buildings at the Wilson Pacific site.

Another important step to address growing enrollment is the creation of a comprehensive middle school at the existing Jane Addams building, which is scheduled to begin receiving students in September 2014.

We are in the process of selecting a planning principal for the Jane Addams Middle School program. The planning principal will be responsible for collaboratively working with the Jane Addams Middle School community to develop the educational program. The comprehensive middle school will be opening in September 2014.

A school design advisory team for the Jane Addams Middle School will be selected. The team will include school and District staff, the architect and community members - led by the planning principal. We will notify the community and send out applications for design team membership at a later date.
The Jane Addams building is a BEX IV project and will be repurposed to address the educational needs for the Jane Addams Middle School students and staff. The remodeling work will be done in phases over upcoming summer breaks from 2013-2017, even though the Jane Addams Middle School will open in the 2014-15 school year.

The Jane Addams K-8 program will eventually move to a new building on the Pinehurst site, but will remain in the Jane Addams building for now. We are in the process of planning for our enrollment growth over the next 2-4 years, which will help us determine whether it may be necessary for the Jane Addams K-8 program to move to an interim site until the Pinehurst site is ready in September 2016.

Boundaries will need to be aligned with the new BEX IV building projects – and with enrollment growth in mind. Equitable access to services and programs will also play an important role in boundary revisions. The initial focus of boundary revisions will be at the elementary, middle and K-8 schools levels, with high school revisions to be addressed at a later time. This September, we will hold growth boundaries community meetings to share information and ask for public input and feedback before the Board adopts changes for the 2014-15 school year and beyond. It’s important to note that there will be no boundary changes for the 2013-2014 school year.

In the meantime, we are continuing planning for enrollment growth and developing Jane Addams comprehensive Middle School enrollment information. Updates will soon be available at http://bit.ly/SPSBEX.

Best Regards,
Michael Tolley,
Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning
Seattle Public Schools.

-North-End Mom
Patrick said…
SLP, no, I don't think that's accurate. Last I heard the plan is for the Jane Addams K-8 program to move to the new building at the Pinehurst site for the 2015/16 school year. It couldn't very well be earlier because the new building must be built first. If you want a more definitive answer, e-mail the principal Debbie Nelsen at dnelsen@seattleschools.org.

Congratulations to your neighbors on choosing a fine school and a fine principal.
John S said…
I believe the new Jane Addams K-8 building in Pinehurst is scheduled to open fall of the 2016-17 year. The target date has been moved more than once, however.

And I hope they come up with a new name before this gets any more confusing.

It's indeed a fine school. We'd still choose it if we had to do it all over again, in spite of the building craziness.
Anonymous said…
Thank you all for your help, our neighbors are not really aware of district machinations, but I think I can see where their confusion came from. I will send them a copy of this. I looked all over the website and could not find anything.

-slp
Mike Hipple said…
I am currently fighting to get my two kids to be in the same school. My son, who has an IEP for some issues relating to transitions and behavior, has been at TOPS and succeeding. There were some complications and we ended up not enrolling our daughter, who is entering kindergarten, until after the official enrollment period ended. Now, they apparently want to punish our children for our silly mistake and they're insisting our son at TOPS simply leave TOPS and go to his sister's neighborhood school. However, this goes against the advice of social workers and his therapist and even his IEP! I am so frustrated by this situation. We can't move our son, that is simply not an option. He has made huge strides there because he feels safe - when he's in an environment that is new and unfamiliar, he acts out and he becomes a different kid -takes months to straighten out. Anyone have any suggestions or help they can suggest? Feel free to email at mhipple @ gmail dot com.
Mike Hipple said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mike Hipple said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said…
You aren't going to win that one. Unless your son is deaf or hard of hearing, he isn't in a unquie to TOPs program. That means to SPS that he can get the services in his IEP anywhere that offers them. Access for a sibling isn't a Special Education right. Your only shot would be to convince a Board Member to make it happen for you. KBS has been known to meddle to that degree.

-BT
RT said…
I don't think they can move your son out of TOPS unless he has lost his eligibility to be there. However, SPS often tells parents that if having their kids at the same school is their main goal, then both kids must go to their neighborhood school because neighborhood school assignment is guaranteed.
mirmac1 said…
"Access for a sibling isn't a Special Education right."

Odd bit of phrasing there, BT. Perhaps it should be. If a child has, say autism spectrum disorder or severe anxiety, perhaps it should be a "right" to have a loving sibling close by (particularly an older sibling). It is also in the best interests of the child to NOT force him to move every few years - something that has been inflicted on many special education students as they age out of oddball K-3, then 3-5 programs. Finally, as many SpEd parents have often expressed, how is it that our disabled children are denied a cohort, particularly those students who struggle with social skills and now have some friends?

Your comment was perhaps meant to snark in another direction...
Carol Simmons said…
Access for a sibling should be a special education right. Approach the Board with your concern.
Maureen said…
From what I understand, the IEP status is irrelevant here. Sibling is the first tie breaker for Option Schools like TOPS. It sounds like the sister would have been given a spot at TOPS, but the parents made some mistake in enrollment (it might help to know what the mistake was: it sounds like they may have missed the deadline?) The problem now is that open enrollment is closed until next year and there is no way to even get on the wait list at an Option school. (A sib would go straight to the top of the list.) Unfortunately, they may have to tough it out for a year and have kids in two schools, then enroll her for 1st grade.
mirmac1 said…
We can't move our son, that is simply not an option. He has made huge strides there because he feels safe - when he's in an environment that is new and unfamiliar, he acts out and he becomes a different kid -takes months to straighten out

Bzzzt! Apparently NOT a priority here. What you describe is regression; a critical concern for special-needs students and their parents. But apparently not for Enrollment. While admin and the board will bend over backward (even drop a few hundred thou, along with forcing neighborhood families to cough up a few hundred thou more) to open a new language-immersion school within blocks of JSIS (just to get to parents at board meetings off their backs), if it just means your child will move to a new school to be scrutinized by new kids and teachers and served (or ill-served) by a new school's administrators, then no biggie.

Perhaps it WAS your mistake to not get your K child enrolled in time. At the same time, it will cost the district less to pick up BOTH your children on the bus, then it will to pick up a child in WS or Magnolia or wherever to transport them to TOPS. Having heard the discussion at board work sessions, it is clear to me that a) the loudest complainers; and b) the cheapest transportation costs, weigh more than the piddly problems of a disabled child and his family. Sad to say.

No snark intended. This is the reality as I have seen it over the years. I wish your son the best.
Anonymous said…
My intention wasn't to be snarky. My intention is to be realistic. Within the system that currently exists. If someone is successful in getting state that a lot of change more power to them. But I don't think that's going to happen by August for Mike. I'm just pointing out with a realistic option is.

-BT
dw said…
Mike,

If you can reach your principal by email during the summer, and if they are familiar with your child, then it's possible that they could step in and advocate for your son to stay at TOPS. If you know a particular teacher or two that you can refer the principal to, that might be helpful as well.

That said, if you missed the deadline it seems unlikely that your daughter will be attending TOPS this fall. Chalk it up as a very unfortunate Oops, suck it up and live with kids in two buildings for one year, apply ASAP for first grade and get on any wait list, if required as soon as possible. Make sure the administration at TOPS (principal, counselors, registrar) all know exactly what happened this year and that your goal is to have your daughter there as soon as possible. (everyone: are the buildings still managing their own wait lists for Sept changes, or has that all been centralized now?)

I say "suck it up" for a year not to be mean, but because EVERY parent of (non-twin) multiple kids needs to deal with this. It starts with preschool and elementary, then as the older child ages out of elementary, you'll have one kid in elementary and one in middle school. As they age out of middle school, you'll have one in MS and one in HS and maybe even another in elementary. It sucks, but there's absolutely nothing to do about it. By choosing a K8 you've minimized this scenario (good for you), but even in the very best case it will exist for as many years as separate your kids.

Good luck, and give your principal shot at helping. I don't think it can hurt.
Anonymous said…
First of all, open enrollment isn't over, you can still apply for transfers all summer long. Secondly, BT has it completely backwards. Special ed kids ARE GENERAL ED kids. No, they can't make the IEP kid move unless his Iep states he needs a different program. Thirdly, yes outside experts can and often do influence special ed placement, and yes, siblings are placed in schools with iep students as a first tie breaker IF it is a district mandated placement ... which it can be via outside experts. My hunch is hang tight and they will place your student.

Sped par
Anonymous said…
TOPS usually has a long wait list for K made up of students whose parents got their paperwork in on time. If you fill out paperwork now, you go to the end of the line. If there's a good reason you should be able to cut in line, it wasn't at all clear from your post. Is there? One that's fair to the first kid currently on the wait list?

Your son should be able stay where he is, but your daughter will probably need to go to k at your assignment school. If you apply for 1st grade on time, she is very likely to get in as a sib.

Grumpy
Anonymous said…
Spped Par,

No one is making the older child move and no indication that subling a was placed at TOPS. The parents picked an option schools for sibling and then for I identified reasons didn't pursue option enrollment for sibling b. Now sibling b is assigned to attendance area school. They have been given the choices of maintain sibling a at TOPS and sibling b at neighborhood school or to have both at neighborhood school. Not unreasonable, given that alternatives are setting up the kindergarten class at TOPS tobe overloaded, to the detriment of students presently in the class and to the taxpayers who then have to pay for the overload or pluck an already assigned student (whose parents followed the process) out of TOPS for assignment elsewhere. You are giving unrealistic advice.

-Realism
Anonymous said…
Reasonable is in the eye of the beholder. I simply suggest working the iep process. It is likely that the district will assign the sib with the first sib.

Sped par
Charlie Mas said…
Loved this story about the Core 24 change in graduation requirements.

Apparently the legislature funded it, but failed to authorize it.
Charlie Mas said…
Mike Hibble wrote:

"There were some complications and we ended up not enrolling our daughter, who is entering kindergarten, until after the official enrollment period ended. Now, they apparently want to punish our children for our silly mistake and they're insisting our son at TOPS simply leave TOPS and go to his sister's neighborhood school."

Please tell us, Mike, how - exactly - did you fail to register your daughter for TOPS? As the sibling of a current student, she would have gone to the front of the line for assignment.

What were these "complications"?

What was your "silly mistake"?

Why do you think that the rules that apply to everyone else should not apply to you and your family?

Why can't your family have children in different schools like a lot of other families can and do?
Mike, I am sorry to hear about your problems at TOPS. I am having a hard time believing they are saying he "has" to leave. I suspect they are saying if you want your children together you need to move him since you did not enroll your daughter there.

As for Ms. Bailey-Fogerty, I only know of her through LEV and she and I have never personally exchanged any "strong words." I find it interesting that she comes here to this blog to defend her name but she's willing to publish her own writing at LEV's site where they allow no such allowance to anyone who comments there.

There's the difference. It's who you choose to align yourself with and their tactics that make the difference.
Mike, I am sorry to hear about your problems at TOPS. I am having a hard time believing they are saying he "has" to leave. I suspect they are saying if you want your children together you need to move him since you did not enroll your daughter there.

As for Ms. Bailey-Fogerty, I only know of her through LEV and she and I have never personally exchanged any "strong words." I find it interesting that she comes here to this blog to defend her name but she's willing to publish her own writing at LEV's site where they allow no such allowance to anyone who comments there.

There's the difference. It's who you choose to align yourself with and their tactics that make the difference.
One last thing, Ms. Fogerty, you said this:

"I'm hoping you can resist the urge to be gossipy and mean.."

Our blog prints all comments except "anonymous" ones. As well, we do not allow name-calling and your statement comes quite close to that line. For your future reference.
Anonymous said…
Does anyone know anything about the new Jane Addams planning principal? Doesn't it seem time we have some idea about the direction of this school? It will be our middle school, and we've heard nothing.

still waiting
Michael said…
Since the topic's been reopened, I'll chime in.

I don't know Ms. Fogarty, but I find her posts on stories from school to be constructive, reasonable, and engaging, something you don't often find on education blogs.

Ms. Fogarty, you seem to be hated by all the right people. You must be doing something right.
Uh, Michael, tell us who "hates" her. Because I don't hear that. I hear people - some of whom don't like her stands (their right) and some who know her from Ingraham and like her. Where is the "hate" in that?

Words have meaning. Don't inflate this into something it's not.

And Michael, if you are saying that this education blog isn't to your reading needs, then why are you here? LEV has a wonderful (if one-sided) blog you might like better.
A-mom said…
Can somebody tell me when or if John Stanford and McDonald will become option schools?
A-Mom, those decisions are aligned with the boundary changes. We have posted the drop-in mtgs with Tracy Libros this summer and there are community meetings in the fall. The final decision will be made in December to rollout for enrollment in Spring 2014 for Fall 2014. That is the impression I have received from the Work Sessions.
Christina said…
Housekeeping is on my mind:
Some of the links on the right navigation column, below the Blog Archive index, point to pages that are now obsolete thanks to SPS's new content management system. I know you're too busy to keep track and search for replacement assets: shall I send "most likely" URL updates via the contact address?
Anonymous said…
I like coming to this blog for information, but I do believe I have to sift through a fair amount of "gossipy and mean". Just sayin'. And that's kind of the rep this blog has. Oops, that was gossipy too. See?

SPS mom
Spruiter said…
Regarding the JAMS Planning Principal: I don't know if anyone has been hired, but I do know that interviews were conducted in late June and that there were community members (from the neighborhoods that will be feeding into the school) on the hiring committee.
Christina, that is a generous offer and we would appreciate the help. Thanks for the heads up.

SPS Mom, well, I have found, over the years, that many people have very different ideas about what is gossip and what is news and what is "mean." There are some very sensitive people out there so I actually think it's a lot about perception. My goal is to not have name-calling going on because it doesn't help the blog

I can also only say that at least we're willing to roll with the punches and allow people latitude. You aren't going to find that almost anywhere else. Certainly not at LEV or DFER.
Anonymous said…
KBF is teaching in the trenches, and that's enough for me to give her credit and credibility, as well as the right to her own opinion. Sure, she's a bit too cozy with Ed Reformers - most of whom have moved way on past the classrooms - for my taste, but there's an old saying that "even a broken clock is right twice a day." (No, I'm not calling KBF a broken clock). Point is, I think it's impossible to disagree with anyone 100% of the time, so let's celebrate where we agree, such as in the case of Mr. Greenberg. I don't care of the Devil himself penned the article. It's good and KBF is right on with her opinions in support of academics vs. comfort.

And odds are I'd agree with her on about 50% of education matters, while being firmly opposed to a lot of other stuff she favors. Either way, MW is right: Words Matter, and KBF's are dead-on correct. I think we should all be thankful for that piece, regardless of where she stands on other matters. She didn't have to stick her neck out and write anything, but she did. And kudos for it. My .02, anyways.

WSDWG

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