Some Seattle Schools Kindergarteners Will Start School Later Than Others
The District sent out letters to some kindergarten parents to tell welcome them and given them info on kindergarten readiness as well as a "transition camp" this summer. The letter is dated May 31st but somehow is just making it to parents' mailboxes.
Oh, and that their kindergartener won't start school until September 14th (not the 9th like everyone else).
Schools listed below will delay the start of school for Kindergarten students until Monday, September 14th to hold "Family Connections" visits for Kindergarten teachers and families. All other students will start school on Wednesday, September 9th.
Schools
Bailey Gatzert Graham Hill Madrona PreK-8 Rainier View
Stevens Beacon Hill Hawthorne Maple
Roxhill TOPS K-8 Broadview-Thomson K-8 Hazel Wolf K-8
MLK Sacajawea Van Asselt Concord
Highland Park Northgate Sand Point Viewlands
Dunlap Muir Olympic Hills Sanislo
West Seattle Emerson John Rogers Olympic View
South Shore PreK-8 Wing Luke
Where to start?
That list is about 30 of the 60 elementaries, so half the kindergarteners will start later than their peers at other schools.
Everyone knows that the first day of school is pretty special so those kids and their families are going to miss the real first day. I would hope that these schools would have a welcoming gathering (whether or not they already did one on the real first day) for the kindergarten parents.
These students will miss 3 full days of school. Does this family visit with the teacher outweigh that time? I'll have to ask how long this visit is.
How much less classroom time does the District think students need between late starts and assessments and now this?
Oh, and that their kindergartener won't start school until September 14th (not the 9th like everyone else).
Schools listed below will delay the start of school for Kindergarten students until Monday, September 14th to hold "Family Connections" visits for Kindergarten teachers and families. All other students will start school on Wednesday, September 9th.
Schools
Bailey Gatzert Graham Hill Madrona PreK-8 Rainier View
Stevens Beacon Hill Hawthorne Maple
Roxhill TOPS K-8 Broadview-Thomson K-8 Hazel Wolf K-8
MLK Sacajawea Van Asselt Concord
Highland Park Northgate Sand Point Viewlands
Dunlap Muir Olympic Hills Sanislo
West Seattle Emerson John Rogers Olympic View
South Shore PreK-8 Wing Luke
Where to start?
That list is about 30 of the 60 elementaries, so half the kindergarteners will start later than their peers at other schools.
Everyone knows that the first day of school is pretty special so those kids and their families are going to miss the real first day. I would hope that these schools would have a welcoming gathering (whether or not they already did one on the real first day) for the kindergarten parents.
These students will miss 3 full days of school. Does this family visit with the teacher outweigh that time? I'll have to ask how long this visit is.
How much less classroom time does the District think students need between late starts and assessments and now this?
Comments
And is that a typo in the original letter, or a transcription error about when other students start? I ask because SPS is atrocious lately about dates in information sent out, to a ridiculous degree. I remember getting about four robocalls one morning about a day off earlier this year when they just could not get it right. Embarrassing.
-sleeper
I agree that most of the schools on this delayed start list have a higher percentage of FRL or ELL students.
-Olympic Hills mom
Have the kids who are at Title 1 schools, whose families probably count on school the MOST, miss a week of school?
Does this mean they will have to END school later? Just them? Did anybody think about this?
Seriously, when are these lucky 2,500 going to end school? Anybody think about that?
I'm guessing there is a loop hole that excludes Kindergarten from the minimum number of instructional hours required. So, they want K teachers to go around and visit kids in their home environments, and to do so, they simple cancel the week of school for about 2,500 kids. I be there are at least 2,500 siblings of these 2,500 kids who will be in school for that week. What do they expect families to do? And, not all of the schools are part of that program anyway. How will this affect the new preschools? Remember those shiny new things?
This is beyond stupid. And, announcing it now, when so many won't take notice. Nice. Classic. Is this the change management that Echeverria is bringing about for his $137,630 salary? Awesome! He rocks! Go, Guillermo, go!
Do the Directors even know about this? I cannot imagine Betty Patu would stand for something this stupid, this disruptive, this unnecessary. I can't believe Sue Peters would not crash JSCEE little party and explain they have a MAJOR problem with execution. I like how the children of Viewridge or Adams or Schmitz Park or Hay don't have to deal with this mess. Go team.
#SPSWTF
And does "all other students" mean all K students at other schools, all other grades at these particular schools, or all other SPS students? Maybe the original letter includes some clarifying info?
HF
So some SPS students will miss over a week of class time in the first semester and parents will need to pay additional childcare costs.
"All other students" is the district's phrase which I take to mean all other SPS students.
-Olympic Hills mom
NEmom
HP
reader
TS
http://www.k12.wa.us/WaKIDS/pubdocs/WhatIsWaKIDS.pdf
TS
My daughter did not participate in WAkids as it apparently does not apply to kids in self-contained classes. I'm not sure if that is an official policy or was just the school being practical - her teacher already knew her from preschool, and we've had plenty of conversations with school staff about where she's at. It would also be problematic to start later than the other kids in a multi-grade classroom, so she started on the regular first day of school.
Here is the OSPI flyer on WAkids: http://www.k12.wa.us/WaKIDS/pubdocs/WhatIsWaKIDS.pdf
Mom of 4
TS
Do most of these schools have Jump Start the week before school? How weird it will be for incoming kindergartners to do a week of Jump Start, then not start school right away (and what a nightmare for those families needing childcare).
- North-end Mom
reader
It would appear the people who can least afford childcare will have to find it because of this decision. And they can send some kids to school but not their kindergartener.
Again, if this is so great and it's only 30 minutes, why not have slots on Saturdays?
I really hate the fact that our state is so cheap about education that they won't pay the teachers extra to do these visits over the summer at their convenience and the convenience of the families. There are so many ways that Washington and Seattle education administrators try to apply good ideas, but ruin it because they do it on the cheap and on the backs of the teachers and the children.
Olympic Hills mom
I do know that my daughter started kindergarten at the same time as everyone else in the district, and that the home visit was in the evening, after work.
Brief thoughts:
1) There's value in these meetings
2) It's not reasonable to ask teachers to work (even more) hours outside regularly scheduled school time.
3) There will be confusion for K students in families with older students
4) It's a childcare hardship for the very low income families who are intended to benefit from the conferences
How could/should the district handle this? I don't have a perfect solution. OPSI should have some better ideas than "start K later". Paying teachers for an additional week of work would be great. So would offering this during Jump Start--taking advantage of the families already being plugged in that week/sweetening the pot for them to do Jump Start.
One thing SPS could do that wouldn't cost any extra money: accurately convey information.
Best thing for us to do is to convey to those legislators how angry we will be if they don't fund schools adequately as they are REQUIRED to by our Courts; and tell the state Supreme Court Justices to put those legislators who refuse to do so in jail for contempt.
CCA