Lakeside Considering "Micro-School" to Satisfy Demand
Seattle is growing and with it, there are more school-aged children.
Most of you know that Seattle has always held steady - at least for the last 30+years - with private school enrollment of about 25%. At one time, that was a problem for SPS but now, I'd be willing to bet the district is glad so many people go private.
A reader let me know that Lakeside, one of top private schools in our area, is considering opening a "micro-school" to meet demand. From their newsletter:
Things to know about the micro-school:
So between this kind of move by private schools and new charter schools, it will be interesting to see who goes where.
I can say that if the district does not get its act together - to be transparent, coherent, consistent to all students - they will may be less-than-happy with their demographics and how that plays out for resources and outcomes.
Most of you know that Seattle has always held steady - at least for the last 30+years - with private school enrollment of about 25%. At one time, that was a problem for SPS but now, I'd be willing to bet the district is glad so many people go private.
A reader let me know that Lakeside, one of top private schools in our area, is considering opening a "micro-school" to meet demand. From their newsletter:
The catalyst for this work was a basic supply and demand issue: There is huge student demand to attend Lakeside and comparatively few spots available. Given constraints of campus space and class size, Lakeside turns away a considerable number of stellar students every year. The board anticipated that Seattle's projected growth would only make the demand increase. Furthermore, as independent school costs around the country continue to rise, they wanted to explore how to meet the need for an independent school that is more economically accessible to the middle class.That last part - about it being economically accessible to the middle class - is followed by this:
Things to know about the micro-school:
- The Lakeside Board of Trustees has set fall 2018 as the target date for opening the school.
- It will serve 160 students in grades 9-12. Tuition will be set at approximately $17,000 per year.
- We hope to start with 80 students, likely freshmen and sophomores, and grow by 40 students each year – one grade level at a time.
- We hope to lease a site in the general area of the intersection of I-5 and I-90.
- The school will be separate from but affiliated with Lakeside, with a different educational model, admissions process, and student-life program.
- The board has approved $300,000 for the research and development phase; a donor gave $1 million toward startup costs.
So between this kind of move by private schools and new charter schools, it will be interesting to see who goes where.
I can say that if the district does not get its act together - to be transparent, coherent, consistent to all students - they will may be less-than-happy with their demographics and how that plays out for resources and outcomes.
Comments
We can't wait for other private schools to jump on board. The need is great.
HCC Momvocate
But more power to them, I am sure every building they open will be packed quickly.
Kinda brilliant.
-Pessimistic
If I didn't know better, I'd think someone was trying to drive this district into the ground. It's hard to fathom how the majority of our schools are pretty good and yet the management gets no better. And the management has some seemingly very bright people and yet they go in circles.
But, the ed reform movement loves this kind of thing and yes, we will end up with tons of fly-by-night charters and private schools (where you can use a voucher to get in ) and districts will be left with the most high-needs kids and struggle.
-parent
FYI
Whatever
One private school just purchased a resort in north central washington for a satellite campus.
Teach Everyone
Teach Everyone-- I think they are just trying a different model of education out that costs less to operate. The main campus already awards financial aid and middle and low income kids attend, along with the rich.
Ballardite.
Seattlites open their wallets and hearts to support many progressive approaches to public policy. Things may change soon in terms of compassion for homeless people, but I think the city council is off the rails and a few need to be voted out.
Tax Me
As for Lakeside, I think it could be a good idea. We certainly need more private schools spots. I have always been pro public schools, but my kids only get one chance at an education, and I no longer trust SPS to give my child a good one. We are not suburbs people, so we are looking private.
-REM
I have a theory on this. It appears that small schools like Center graduate everyone with 24 credits, while the other high schools are 20-21 credits, with many students needing to TA a class to get a .5 credit.
I wonder what the cost per credit issued might be for the various high schools. No clue on how you might collect that data but I'm pretty confident that Lakeside has a good handle on the economic of education.
The school is slotted to open in Fall 2018; they are planning to find a location in central seattle (the I-5/I-90 intersection is mentioned). The school wouldn't offer what we normally consider extracurriculars (sports, performance arts, . . . .).
The school is being targeted towards "middle" SES families (I have no idea what this is supposed to constitute in Seattle) who can afford the full cost of a 17K education but balk at the 30K cost of schools like Lakeside. My read of the articles suggests that financial aid will not be a part of the 17K model. Selective admissions is part of the model (both in admissions and in the 17K price tag).
I wonder, but do not see addressed, how much of the model will include cash payments, from, say, businesses that want to support a downtown school model. I also believe that the cost will be modelled by hiring teachers on an ad hoc basis (although at higher pay) and expecting greater roles from the teachers (i.e. administrative duties, etc.).
So in the comparison to the small public school (like Center School) I would argue that budgets will be different because of flexibility on teacher hiring -- that is teachers will be hired when enrollment is known, by using selective admissions + the price tag to limit who is served by the school, and, yes, to test a new "disruptive" model of education.
bz
I could see a small school, with a tight-knit group of dedicated long-term teachers, a small, inexpensive building, and very little admin, being able to run pretty lean and be affordable.
Teacher everyone
Archimedes
Lol.
-parent
I have a child who attended private schools on financial aid. She would have fallen between the cracks in the public school system, and I expected ( although I am very happy that this wasnt the case) to only have one child, so we felt it was important enough to sacrifice for her education.
Union workers are generally paid more but- but personally, if I was a teacher I would take stability and greater autonomy over more per hour. Which is not the case of course in all private schools, but in the time that her sister in public had three changes of principal, the private school kid had none, and in fact the director only retired a few years ago.
Private schools also have ( at least the ones that we are familiar with), classrooms that are half the size of public school classes, more parental support, better financial support for equipment and supplies, and frankly, more freedom to deal with miscreants.
Demand is strong enough for private schools that the days of kids who were expelled from public school being sent to O'Dea, are long gone, although it is possble that some private schools can help a student who is bored and acting out to get back on track.
When we had problems, the school was very responsive, although the public school was eventually responsive, it likely took longer because of numbers of students, and that was at one of SPD smaller alternative schools. The counselor who reached out to me was funded by a grant, and the grant wasnt renewed. ( it also was life threatening behavior, I was so grateful that her friends and the counselor that intervened.
Both my kids also had learning challenges and the private school provided services that fell under tuition, and were open to whomever needed it, while even with an IEP, the public school did not provide as much support.
I think that Lakeside lite would have a lot of interest, as I have the impression that the school has gotten away from its original mission. It seems to be the place where the elite send their progeny, if they can't afford Andover or Hotchkiss, and studiousness is not always at the forefront.
But it also emphasizes how we are now a town where some have an obscene amount of money, and everyone else is scraping by, some more successfuly than others.
Sanders baked
Actually, Lakeside "original flavor" seems to be much less of a place for the offspring of the elite than it used to be. For that they are to be commended. *And* they have tons of financial aid, if your kid(s) are the kind they are looking for - i.e., super-bright, achievement-focussed, ambitious go-getters, especially kids of color who fit the above profile.
I wonder what kind of students they will be looking for at Lakeside lite? When I first read about this micro-school, I fantasized that it might be a school of the arts. Alas, not. Probably stem- or technology- focused, as all schools seem to be these days.
-parent
Hmmm- In LI many excellent public schools that are like Lakeside in resources, class size etc. ( under 20 to a high school class etc) in surburban areas were spending upwards of $27,000 three years ago in 2013. Most are spending at least $20,000 and they are good schools also with small classes. http://data.newsday.com/long-island/data/education/school-spending/
They are districts that have somewhat comparable cost of living to Seattle but HIGH (double-triple) property taxes & a state income tax, but lower sales tax. But they pay some of the highest school taxes in the nation. Very affluent, as well as poor and middle all send kids to public school.
You said about Lakeside: "studiousness is not always at the forefront." Do you base this on first-hand information?
I ask because I have one kid at Lakeside and one in SPS. Your statement does not match our experience at the school. The vast majority of students are excited to learn and apply themselves fully in class. My kid would say the kids are really academically focused.
As for your other statement that it's a school for the "elite" I can't say. I can say that there are some known last names there, but the majority of families there no one has heard of (like us). There are several other fancy schools in Seattle with similar admission costs like Bush, Seattle Academy and Northwest School.
first-hand
I wholeheartedly agree that the "Lakeside Lite" concept is a terrible one. If there is demand for a school that is more focussed in its offerings and available at a lower cost and at a different location I think intertwining it with the real Lakeside is bad for both Lakeside and Lakeside Lite. Intertwining will inevitably draw comparisons and misperceptions. I also wonder and question what it means for Lakeside, in terms of how Lakeside is managed and for Lakesides budget and fundraising.
bz
HP
It's hard to believe they're doing this for money (don't think they really need any). But knowing Lakeside, I'd guess that there is probably some big, purposeful, heavily-thought-out educational mission behind this new "micro-school."
-parent
And before you pull out the "they don't see the bill" argument, I own a house. When property taxes (or insurance) went up, I got a notice from the bank saying the escrow dollars are now going to be X per month instead of Y. Yes, I could have looked up the exact changes from the previous year, but I'd be pretty surprised if most people do that.
It's much easier for a renter to move or walkaway than a home owner. Just because a group thinks handouts at other peoples expense are good, shouldn't mean property owners get taxed out of their homes.
Sanders baked
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/03/07/altschools-disrupted-education
(altschools, NOLA schools, and the Kahn Lab school, for examples).
Lakeside's high school plan seems like an extension -- since many of the examples are for younger kids.
bz
SPS is totally failing families in this city and doing so quite deliberately. The board won't step in and do anything about it, so Nyland and Tolley and their ilk are able to repeatedly gut effective education in favor of the fads their education reform friends keep pushing.
Until the school board steps in and fires Nyland and Tolley and demands better instruction and insists that SPS staff work with parents rather than against them, you will continue to see a growing exodus toward private schools. One has to wonder if this is deliberate.
In the end the SPS will devolve into just another big city "troubled" school district. All the kids (of all colors) eager to learn will have fled to greener ($$) pastures. All the private schools in Seattle whose entrance is based on testing or ability offer scholarships to low income students of color operating at a high achievement level. They already cherry pick these kids out of the public schools - thus giving the impression that high achieving kids of color are not getting into advanced learning programs in the public schools. I know this because I have seen it. UCD, Evergreen, SCDS, Lakeside - they offer full ride scholarships to these deserving students. I think that is great, but by removing AL and other educational programs from the public school system they remove any incentive for anyone else to remain there if they possess the means to get out.
I'm a naive idiot in that I would not have predicted this. I would have thought that a top-notch public school system would be attractive to businesses trying to recruit the best workers. Instead Seattle is going down this other path....
-Ack
We need to focus our attention on the root of the problem, SPS, and not waste our time with moralizing about these parents and private schools.
Focus
-st
http://saasrising.org/stream/
They are planning to build new middle school classrooms, but the middle school has been housed in Temple de Hirsch for decades, as new facilities have been built for SAAS and consolidated from their locations blocks away, it makes sense that the middle school is included.
-parent
Alice's world
I think it is great that it is a green building, and I wish Seattle schools were as interested in that as other districts.
Deferring maintanance I expect causes greater waste both of money and materials in the long run.
But if I had to chose between excellent staff and a state of the art building, I would pick staff every time.
But then I liked the old Garfield building better than the new one, even though my mom said that it was old when she attended in the late 40's.
But still, staff makes a difference.
Does anyone think the administration of SPD has improved since they moved into the JSCCEE?
Anyone?