Pinehurst: Final Notes - Pinehurst Saved
Director Patu came out like a lioness, saying that the district tends to start programs and then, if they drag, stop supporting them. She also said that no, she did not believe these kids could be served elsewhere.
Peaslee said the commitment is there. They will take anything to continue on as a program (AS #1) and Indian Heritage, like WS, has been tossed around. Both know it will take work.
Carr - So I would like to respond to Director Patu's comment about not working to help grow the school. We've had this conversation before when I was on the CAICEE committee and that was back in the '90s. She believes staff HAS tried. I've tried to listen to both groups and both are showing a willingness to work hard and I'm willing to take a chance on it. But I will be watching it closely.
Smith-Blum - if there's a pathway forward, I know staff can help find it.
Vote
Martin-Morris and DeBell - no
Rest - yes
Pinehurst is saved (to live another day).
So they will move to Lincoln for two years and then (somehow) Wilson-Pacific after that.
DeBell asked that APP @ Lincoln be considered given it was not "fair" to do this out of nowhere.
Peaslee said the commitment is there. They will take anything to continue on as a program (AS #1) and Indian Heritage, like WS, has been tossed around. Both know it will take work.
Carr - So I would like to respond to Director Patu's comment about not working to help grow the school. We've had this conversation before when I was on the CAICEE committee and that was back in the '90s. She believes staff HAS tried. I've tried to listen to both groups and both are showing a willingness to work hard and I'm willing to take a chance on it. But I will be watching it closely.
Smith-Blum - if there's a pathway forward, I know staff can help find it.
Vote
Martin-Morris and DeBell - no
Rest - yes
Pinehurst is saved (to live another day).
So they will move to Lincoln for two years and then (somehow) Wilson-Pacific after that.
DeBell asked that APP @ Lincoln be considered given it was not "fair" to do this out of nowhere.
Comments
Except Martin-Morris. Not a word. Just a sulk in the corner. I don't care which side of this argument people are on - we should expect some leadership from the director in the heart of this mess.
Complete. Waste. of. Leadership.
Furious Viewer
Whatever works to benefit students and families with few advocates!
I think merging Pinehurst/AS1 with the Native American program is an innovative idea with great support from both schools and the general public. Awesome turnout from them at tonight's Board meeting. I'm sad that Staff, DeBell, and HMM were so against the idea and it took 5 members on the Board to make the Staff do their job and find a home for AS1/Indian Heritage. I reached out to them individually and they never supported keeping Pinehurst.
We reached out to many schools and programs and it says a lot for the Indian Heritage program that they were the only one who welcomed the idea of merging with AS1. Sadly the APP program at Lincoln is not receptive to sharing space in the interim at Lincoln though I am confident that will be worked out.
Thank you Melissa for publicizing Pinehurst on your blog so that others are aware of the program that serves the unique needs of kids who thrive in the alternative model.
-flibbertigibbet
I haven't heard though whether this is what Pinehurrat wants.
Welcome
Don't know how 150 or more kids are going to join 600 - I believe the bathrooms will work, but not the outside space (there is ALMOST NONE) and not the lunchroom.
Frankly, Pinehurst should have been put in the funky cute historic space at Cedar Park historic building.
And I am SO TIRED OF HEARING DEBELL TALKING. Yeah, we get it, it's your last meeting. And you want to say nice things to everyone.
Signed: whatever
Apparently since APP is only a program it deserves no outreach or consideration by Peaslee and her fellow board members. I don't think Peaslee has ever even been to Lincoln.
The logistics of this are going to be very difficult.
Lincoln mom
Doesn't make sense
Pinehurst should look at the Nordic Heritage museum building for a permanent site. It goes back to district in 2016 when the museum moves out (I think that's on schedule).
And it can't be used as attendance area school b/c lot is too small for an addition (the playground is owned by city park, apparently, not SPS).
So it's a space. Might be big enough. Nicer than Decatur buildings.
Signed: tired
North exports far more than that to the south: Garfield APP kids from all over north, NOVA/World School kids, some TOPS kids. Some Wallingford/Fremont kids go to Queen Anne Elem. b/c it's an option school they got into when it opened.
Signed: In north
-Flibbertigibbet
Sense?
RS
My main point is that since this bright idea was hatched YESTERDAY and the board didn't talk to any staff, they have no idea if the logistics will work.
They did have time to vet the JA k-8 and Thornton Creek co-housing ideas and decide those wouldn't work. But why should APP get the same consideration? Heck - we got a full day's notice of this proposal.
Lincoln mom.
I attended an elementary school in Bridle Trails without a gym OR a cafeteria, it was years before the district could afford to build them.
Its not bad to think out of the box, but I can see for some it is very threatening.
Shouldn't we be thinking about how to make it work, instead of putting up a wall of reasons why it cant?
Of course, another consequence of this is that the APP Hamilton has no cushion to fall back on, impacting 8th graders who have been sent to 10 different schools during their entire school career. There are real casualties, and APP cannot be blamed if they aren't gung-ho on this idea. They weren't consulted - especially when it directly impacts their running of the program.
For instance, grades 1-3 gather in back concrete area in morning, grade 4 in the front of school and grade 5 in the gym. Neither of the two areas (back concrete and front) are big enough to hold all 600 kids.
The cafeteria already runs three full lunches with tables in the halls too. Kids can't buy lunch b/c the lines are too long to have time to eat. They might be able to knock out a wall to put more tables in, but they can't actually SERVE them lunch.
Signed: tired
Welcome
Those numbers for Lincoln include when it used the now Wallingford Center as part of its campus. The capacity is no where near that now.
For goodness sake give APP@Lincoln some time! JA K8 and ThorntonCreek both had the opportunity to consider co-housing with Pinehurst and both declined. This proposal came up In the 24 hours - no one at Lincoln was consulted. It truely could be a logistical nightmare, or maybe it will be fine. What disgusts me is that the directors saw fit to discuss these possibilities with some communities but not others. How would your neighborhood elementary school community feel if a 150 Kid k-8 program was plonked in with them?
APP families will welcome them, but this process stinks!
-2boysclub
You'll be welcomed at Lincoln, certainly more than APP has ever been welcomed anywhere - that's for sure.
However, don't stop your advocacy. You can't rest. You still need a permanent location (as do we).
And you must, please, must keep the screws on the district to get mitigation money for the building/core.
Lincoln MUST have more lunch staff and faster serving capability. Locating more tables alone is not the solution - the cafeteria can't actually feed all the kids.
The building also must have more play/sports stuff and people. There's a nice climbing wall in one of the underground gyms we're not allowed to use. Now work to get access to that gym opened up, so that it can become additional recess space so that your school and ours can rotate through the spaces for recess. We truly barely fit in the current recess spaces (many parents would say we don't fit).
Your students are probably not going to be happy at recess with 150 - 200 other kids, are they? We have to get more spaces open and upgraded despite the location being temporary. Help with that, please.
Work for money for more playground supervisors so we can open some of the upstairs gym spaces and parking lot for ball during recess - we need adults who can supervise those areas, or we can't open them. If you're going to be at recess with APP - and given that APP has recesses filling the whole day b/c there are SO MANY kids - there is no "empty" time -- you have to keep agitating for extra remediation to make recess happen.
Or, you can ditch us (our feelings won't be hurt - again, we've been ditched before!) - and agitate for Cedar Park or Daybreak Star rental for two years or something else. But no matter what, it's not done.
Good luck!
Signed: tired
What I do not understand is how, after vetting various alternatives - they suddenly pull Lincoln out at the 11th hour without any engagement of the the large community currently there, and from what I can see minimal or no engagement with the Lincoln administration/BLT. The lack of time and opportunity to gather information and feedback is appalling! Has anyone done a walk through to see where exactly Pinehurst will go? The stated capacity does not reflect the actual usable (i,e, accessible, safe, non-derelict) spaces in the building. Has anyone checked out the cafeteria/staggered lunch process, and staggered recess process and figured out how this is going to work with another school as well? Thought about how to stagger start times and transportation to avoid complete mayhem? Considered the loss of the potential space for HIMS overflow - annex. One of the reasons the use of Lincoln as an annex for HIMS APP reasons was slated was because of lack of room, too costly to repair the spaces etc - so why is it now suddenly OK for Pinehurst?
Just because we managed to colocate with MacDonald does not mean it was easy - it was challenging and MacDonald was smaller. APP has grown since then. I suppose everyone will just have to pull together to try to make it work for everyone as best it can.
This District Sucks
Director Sharon Peaslee proposed an amendment on Nov. 13th to have Pinehurst as interim at Lincoln. That is unfortunate that according to the APP community, they were not informed until yesterday or did not see the amendments until now. Sadly in our experience that happens often. Over a year ago we received a memo from Banda that Pinehurst was being booted out and torn down for a new school for Jane Addams K-8. It blindsided both our schools since there was no engagement with either of us on that decision.
I am glad to hear that the APP community is willing to work with the AS1/Indian Heritage program to make co-locating at Lincoln work if that is where Staff decides to place the interim program. At tonight's Board meeting we learned of work that will be done to add basic amenities at Lincoln. We reached out to numerous communities and not one was open to co-locating with us, even if we were willing to be creative and solely use portables.
The reality with overcapacity there is no optimal location for AS1 though that's not enough of a reason to close a 40 year program that supports kids who thrive in their alternative model. Also it would rebuild the Indian Heritage program that has been neglected by the District.
I am confident that the Pinehurst community will be up to the challenge to make co-locating work at Lincoln.
Pinehurst is rather surprised by the new idea (which, as far as I know, wasn't brought up before yesterday), but the community is thankful for your welcoming words, and will do its best to fit in with minimal upheaval to the extent it's within their control.
SPS is not known for being very inclusive in its communication with everyone affected, and I'm probably not the only one that is sorry that it's come a surprise to the Lincoln community.
This whole thing has *stunk* (as it has every time they've threatened PK8/AS1) but of all the closure threats I've been through (4), Peaslee has been the BEST director we've ever had. Really appreciative of her commitment, and for Patu's support. I give a big ol' side-eye to Carr, but she gets a pass.
And I give a special, public FU to HHM. Unbeleeevable. Can't wait for our chance to vote him out, he's been such a huge disappointment.
~PK8 parent
~PK8 Parent
-Frustrated
Michael DeBell, you made a wise choice to retire. You stink.
-Frustrated
r school gets. Why should anyone stay?
- Tired
-
I sure hope Peaslee sticks by you to make the transition to Lincoln easier for you because she seems to do every thing she can to destabilize APP. Maybe you all will have better luck getting the building capable of housing us all.
-2boysclub
For the record:
Look at: http://saveseattleschools.blogspot.com/2013/11/growth-boundaries-work-session-part-two.html Ammendment 19.
Speaking for my family and my own child in the building, I'd rather figure out how to manage lunch time than sacrifice another kid's entire program. I'm also mindful that several elementary schools don't even have a lunch room and eat in their classrooms due to space crunches. We can be creative about the space constraints for a few years.
Ben
Not to say it was OK for the district not to consult APP@ Lincoln, but they weren't the only impacted school left out of the engagement process for these amendments.
I'm not sure whose job it would be to do that engagement when these were board sponsored amendments, not ideas brought by staff. It seems like that would be the responsibility of the board member proposing the amendment.
Of course Lincoln parents will be nice. Nobody's mad at Pinehurst, unless you want to perpetuate an inaccurate idea of how this went down. What actually happened here is they went to Thornton Creek, who said no; no one batted an eye. they went to JA k-8, who said no, and no one batted an eye. They TOLD Lincoln they would be sharing, YESTERDAY, having told Lincoln for months that there was no space available for 5 classroom spaces their own middle school program, so we absolutely had to split, right this second, and now there's uproar when Lincoln says the equivalent of "what?" Where's the ire at TCor the k-8? We have the exact same no space problems they do- the exact same ones. No core space. And the middle school split is predicated on the idea that there is no space- just the space Pinehurst is apparently going to use.
I don't think there is a school with less playspace than Lincoln's. JM's is great, actually, and has more core facilities. Or, if JAMS really doesn't do self contained for APP, I imagine there will be a lot of room there. Has Peaslee actually looked at the building? I mean, I know she'd have to hold her nose and actually see APP children, who she clearly would prefer not exist, but it might be worth a glance.
-sleeper
her plan would be fully developed in 2014 and "implemented in 2015. Delay placement of Lincoln until Adv learning master plan is complete" (ie, don't put APP elem in WP, I assume ... this is her backdoor b/c she wants to shove the elem kids back into neighborhood schools, but hasn't been able to find a place to take them)
This is Peaslee's back door.
She is sort of saying this is board's job to develop? I don't understand.
McLaren: "I second ... but it's last minute. I'm wondering right now about how this would fit into our goals at this point ... "(is she having second thoughts?)
Tolley: TF is looking at how we identify. Next TF is looking at Service delivery model. THat work will result in creation of such a plan. What I shared was if intent or desire was implement 15-16 year, plan done by Dec 14 to move through spring implementation.
Carr: I get the idea, but it's late. I respectfully take exception this happened all sudden (from Peaslee). We red'c 100s of emails about not splitting cohort. We all rec'd emails not once but twice from woman who led research about cohort (MELISSA!!?? is that you?) - we also had letters from two superintendents to this community ... (APP)... [CARR YOU ROCK ON THIS TOPIC} she called out FAcmac stating splitting APP elem will break local elem. schools.
Signed: Kiss Carr4me
But as good as Peaslee has been to Pinehurst, she has never darkened the door at Lincoln nor made any effort to reach out to APP parents for any kind of community engagement. So the fact that this space was off-limits to Hamilton APP middle-schoolers (many of whom are older sibs of the Lincoln population and will now be reassigned to JAMS) but can now be used to house another program - well, it's a little bitter pill to swallow at first.
We'll all get along in the end, though.
Lincoln family
But what about the last-minute amendment by Directors Debell and Martin-Morris that kicks out 68 Hamilton APP 8th graders next year and sends them to JAMS?
Where was the community engagement on that?
Chances are good these families will instead choose their neighborhood Eckstein, especially music students.
--Sick of the Splits
-sad
Exactly!
as an alum parent, i am so heartened to see app activists taking such a welcoming position. we are parents working for what is best for our kids but also for ALL of the kids. framing outcomes positively is the first step to making our children step into their schools ready to learn.
1. The response of the Thornton Creek community meeting has been seriously misrepresented by omission. Thornton Creek was very welcoming or Pinehurst in the Decatur building and very clear that they felt the district should save Pinehurst and support it. They did not want to merge or share staff with Pinehurst, or in any way endanger the integrity of their program, but were supportive of Pinehurst sharing the grounds with them.
2. We know that there will be a lot of challenges with the core space at Lincoln, particularly with regard to outside play areas. In some ways this will be more of a challenge for us than APP, since we have some vulnerable students where playgrounds can already be a challenge. I know that there are plans in the south wing renovation that will help partly address some concerns, and we will be engaging the planning team for the renovations to see what can be done. We would love to see that climbing wall come back online - Pinehurst currently has a climbing wall and a very successful climbing program, and we know there are some significant head-winds to trying to keep that program in another location.
3. I am perplexed by comments that JAK8 was not engaged. Enrollment planning documents going back to the fall of 2012 propose scenarios where JAK8 and PK8 were placed together at John Marshall. We did explore co-location with JAK8 last year and there was a general feeling the programs were not compatible for a long-run co-location.
There is more that could be said, particularly about how badly treated we have been by district staff in all of this. Our costs have been grossly misrepresented, community meetings have been overtly twisted to try to get the outcome they want, community input has been misrepresented, and some absurd arguments have been used against us. It has been a painful process.
We look forward to engaging with the APP community to share the space at Lincoln. I know it will not be easy, but I think we can make it work for two years.
This district Sucks
What a failed board, and failed leadership.
-Frustrated
I think TC would have been a bit site choice than Lincoln (given the logistics at Lincoln). I am very glad for the "well, we can make it work" attitude of APP@Lincoln parents.
My goal is for the blog has always been two-fold.
One, a place for discussion and discourse (maybe heat but civil and looking for solutions).
Two, a place where we put it ALL on the table. Not just what the district wants or parents want but here's the whole enchilada. THEN, you can make an informed choice about what you support, like, whatever.
Only when you have the fullest picture can you make an informed opinion/choice.
That is what has always mattered to me.
Remember, the district could net another building by maintaining two at the Olympic Hills site, like they are doing at the Decatur site.
Chris S.
-sleeper
It will be interesting to see how many APP kids with a dual assignment to Eckstein go there, instead. Maybe enough to compensate for the north-end kids would will get ripped out of their middle school (Eckstein) and placed at JAMS?
Yet, they are creating "diversity" (where?) by putting APP at JAMS and keeping Wedgwood at Eckstein.
I wish Pinehurst (AS-1)/Indian Heritage much luck, and hopefully Cedar Park will be an option for them at some point, because assigning 400 kids, mostly FRL and ELL, into a sub-standard building that is smaller than John Rogers is a scenario that I hope does not survive to see the light of day.
JR Mom
-sleeper
Does anyone have a definitive understanding of this issue? I thought this was the District's way of forcing APP to JAMS.
Clarity please
Do you know this are you being cynical? It may be a bad deal for APP to go to Eckstein, but, a silver lining for Spectrum kids and other advanced math and science students if the district would allow biology. It must be on the radar downtown.
That way the district doesn't have to provide biology, or any offering more advanced than is already offered at Eckstein.
No silver lining for Eckstein Spectrum students as a result.
Clarity please
mo
I should temper this with saying I think there could be biology some day, if the district increases rigor in middle schools across the board. But nothing about the Eckstein situation makes it likely that it will be next year.
Advocate for it anyway, though! I would much rather be wrong and have biology for my Eckstein student than right and not! But it'll be you, not the magic of APP students, getting it.
-sleeper
Thornton Creek is currently in the Decatur building. The Building is full and they have a wailist. There would be no option for Pinehurst to land at the TC site in the interim period (2014-2016) and it was never on the table. It was and is not an alternative to Lincoln.
There will be a new, 650 seat K-5 school that will be built on the TC property, which will open in 2016 and is the expected future home of Thornton Creek. At that time Decatur will be empty (at the moment slated as an emergency / interim site. The Thornton Creek community was very welcoming of the idea of Pinhurst landing here in 2016 as an Independant school with its own staff.
There is still a chance that Native Heritage AS1 could land there in 2016, but the Native community feels stronly about the Wilson Pacific site due to the old Indian Heritage School, Andrew Morrisons murals (which look like they will be preserved in the new WilPac buildings) etc. But for the interim site, the choice is Lincoln or John Marshall, unless they wanted to bus us 15 miles south to Van Asselt.
Geometry is a given, there are 7th graders in Algebra 1 as we speak. My hope would be that APP parents and their students who decide to go to Eckstein would join with others already there to demand biology. APP has the argument of kids having to repeat 8th grade science, which should be compelling. My understanding for other middle schools was an APP designation was a guarantee of Spectrum placement, or honors, in LA. This must be the case for Eckstein, not a gened assignment. I think the issue is not trying to force APP into JAMS, but having the cohort available there. It rings of a hardball play and perhaps down the road, JAMS will be the only cohorted APP middle school site in the north. If Eckstein gets a sizable number of of APP next year and some sort of blending works out, when Whitman gets its contingent and Hamilton APP shrinks sufficiently, they may both go blended. If the district wants that to fly, they have to offer bio and honors science leading up to It.
What I want to see is biology.
Could you please take a look at Attachment 2 to the Intermediate Capacity Management Plan on the SPS website? It's part of the Nov 20th agenda for the board meeting.
In that attachment, it states that for "APP in Eckstein AA", the assignent for 2014-2018 is "JAMS 6, 7 & 8; can stay at Eckstein as GenEd".
I do hope you are right that current HIMS APP kids would get a Spectrum guarantee, but I fear that is not the case.
I think this was the district's response to families who said they would just go back to their neighborhood school. That would mess up enrollment projections, and JAMS would not have a sufficient number of kids. I do think they are playing hardball here.
I would love to be wrong! Can anyone provide
Clarity please
The Capacity and Facility Condition Review: North and South Wings of Lincoln Building says "The modernization project includes restroom improvements/additions, and will expand the capacity of, and ingress/egress to the lunchroom in the Central Wing."
So hopefully that will address some of the issues.