Tuesday Open Thread

Today is the last day to take a short survey about the Seattle Public Library's website.

Annual free health clinic at Seattle Center this weekend via the Times:

More than 4,000 people from across Washington will have access to $3.5 million in free vision, dental and medical care starting Thursday during the third annual Seattle/King County Clinic.

Dental fillings, extractions, X-rays and cleanings will be provided, along with vision screening, eyeglasses, physical exams, wound care, immunizations and more. Help connecting with and navigating health-insurance options will also be available, said Deborah Daoust, communications director for Seattle Center.People must wait in line — sometimes for hours — to be seen during the four-day event that runs from Thursday through Sunday in KeyArena at Seattle Center. Numbered admission tickets are distributed each day starting at 5 a.m., and registration begins at 6:30 a.m.

A patient waiting area, situated this year in the Fisher Pavilion, opens at 12:30 a.m. each day. For the past two years, hundreds of patients camped out and lined up early in hopes of obtaining care. Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days, so organizers encourage people to come earlier in the week.
The district's LGBT Family dinner is coming up on November 3rd from 6-8 pm at Washington Middle School.
Members of the school board will be there to welcome LGBT families and their friends.
All Seattle Public Schools (SPS) students, families and staff are welcome to attend. This this donation-funded event is brought to you by the Health Education Office and the Office of School Family Partnerships.
Dinner and entertainment will be provided. To reserve space at this popular event, please RSVP with the number of people in your party to Lisa Love in the Health Education Office at 206-252-0982 or llove@seattleschools.org.
What's on your mind?

Comments

Charlie Mas said…
There is a new Friday memo available for October 21, but it's just more of the same and not really worthy of much comment.
10/26/16, 7:39 AM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Charlie, you missed the boundary change documents (but readers let us know about them.)
10/26/16, 10:53 AM
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
10/27/16, 7:56 AM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Reprinting for Anonymous (no anonymous comments, please give yourself a name):

The State GOP and Erin Jones: http://imgur.com/a/7pYIG
10/27/16, 9:48 AM
Josh Hayes said…
I have a question I hope I can get some sort of definitive answer to: I was under the impression that passing the SBA is not an actual graduation requirement, but I'm now being told that because my daughter opted out of taking them last year she will not be allowed to graduate (she's got the Bio EOC and Math EOC squared away: it's just the English SBA that's outstanding).

So, is this for real? If she continues to not take this, will she not get her diploma from SPS? And if not, can someone provide a reference I can take to the test coordinator/administration at the school? Thanks!
10/27/16, 1:21 PM
Lynn said…
That's correct - she has to pass the ELA SBA in order to graduate. The alternative is to fail the exam and then ask for her IB/AP/SAT/ACT score to be accepted as a substitute.

Here's the info on state-approved alternatives; http://www.k12.wa.us/assessment/GraduationAlternatives/Equivalency.aspx
10/27/16, 3:11 PM
Anonymous said…
Josh, required tests depend on the graduating year of the student. For this year's juniors and seniors (graduating classes of 2017 and 2018), the ELA SBA is required for graduation, along with a math EOC (or math SBA) and biology EOC. With class of 2019 and beyond, they will be required to take both the math and ELA SBA, even if they have passing scores on the math EOCs.

http://www.k12.wa.us/assessment/StateTesting/

fyi
10/27/16, 4:26 PM
Josh Hayes said…
Thanks for the info, everybody. I had misread the page Lynn provided above, and believed that a high enough SAT or ACT score could substitute for the ELA SBA score, but that's only true if the student has sat the SBA and not achieved a passing score.

The upshot: She's gotta take the stupid test. I wonder what will happen to all those kids at Nathan Hale who opted out of the SBA tests? Are they not going to graduate?
10/27/16, 5:29 PM
Anonymous said…
The Hale students that opted out were the kids that graduated in June 2016. It wasn't required for them so it was an easy opt out.

HP
10/28/16, 7:53 AM
Lynn said…
Yes - my kid at Garfield who opted out was a 2016 graduate. My current junior took the ELA exam last year but will opt out of ELA and math this year.

If she feels strongly about opting out - she can fail the exam on purpose. That at least starves the system of meaningful data. They are comparing students's SBA and SAT scores.
10/28/16, 8:21 AM
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