Robert Eagle Staff Middle School Updates

The letter below was sent to parents at RESMS.  It's okay but there are some troubling issues.


- the kids need snacks because the period between breakfast and lunch is so long?  They don't exactly say what that length of time is and when these kids will eat (and how can the school afford to buy snacks?)

- the students get their schedules on the first day of class.  Well, there's a way to make for a crazy day.  Kids lining up to get their schedules and then wandering the building to find their classrooms. And they get to figure out how to use their lockers the same day?  I know many kids don't use them but that's a lot of information for the first day of school.

And this:

Students will also receive a duplicating form on which they can document any questions or concerns about their schedules.  One copy of the form will be picked up and brought immediately to the registrar and counseling team, and the other copy can stay with your student.

Oh my, that should be interesting.

- hey, a zero period.  I remember those; anyone else?

There is an orientation for 6th graders on Monday the 28th from 9 am to noon.

Lastly,
Join us for an event to celebrate the unveiling and dedication of the Andrew Morrison's murals and Honoring Circle at Robert Eagle Staff Middle School, Cascadia Elementary and Licton Springs K-8 School.
The public ceremonies will be held July 13, 6 until 8 p.m. and August 25, 5 until 8 p.m. at Robert Eagle Staff Middle School, 1330 N. 90th St.

From Marni Campbell, Robert Eagle Staff Middle School principal:


Dear Eagle Staff Families,
The first day of school is September 6th, and we hope that you are as excited as we are to launch our new school community. 

Here are a few key items for your information:

  • We finally have a phone number!  Call the main office at 206-413-2300, the attendance office at 206-413-2304, and send faxes to 206-413-2301.
  • On Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, the school day begins at 8:55 am and ends at 3:45 pmEvery Wednesday except for the first day of school, the school day begins at 8:55 am and ends at 2:30 pm.
  • Students should not arrive at school more than 20 minutes prior to the start of school unless it is for a planned activity.
  • We will have two mixed grade lunches.  Because of our later start, students may have a long time to wait between breakfast and lunch, so we invite students to plan for snacks and water accordingly (protein is brain food!).  We will have snacks on hand for students as needed.
  • Students should plan to bring their supplies on the first day of school.  See the attached supply list.  Note that composition books are a core component of our supplies and of our instruction.  We have purchased extras to provide if needed, and welcome donations in our main office.Eagle.Staff.17-18.Supply.List (Autosaved).pdf 
  • We are partnering with the North Boys & Girls Club to provide after school opportunities for students.  Students who are members of the Boys & Girls Club can participate in after school activities every day after school.  To enroll, go to ns.positiveplace.org or email ns@positiveplace.org.  We will also be sponsoring 10-week after-school enrichment courses throughout the school year which will begin in October.
  • Students will receive their schedules on the first day of school in their first period classes.  We will have clearly marked tables by the main entrance to the building on the first day of school where students can find the location of their first period class.  First period teachers will be launching our students with a welcome, an introduction to our school, student schedules with maps that students can use to plot their day, and lockers with combinations.  Students will also receive a duplicating form on which they can document any questions or concerns about their schedules.  One copy of the form will be picked up and brought immediately to the registrar and counseling team, and the other copy can stay with your student.  We will address any questions or concerns as soon as possible.
  • Jazz Band will be a zero period (before school) class that will meet at 8:00 am on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.  If you are interested in being part of our Jazz Band, email Mr. Aguilar at jcaguilar@seattelschools.org.  Choir will meet during the school day, and we will work to develop out of school time choir opportunities as well.
  • Please partner with us to help our students have a safe and healthy pathway to school and to keep our neighborhood peaceful.  Walk or bike to school if you can.  If you are driving, plan to drop your student off a few blocks away from campus if possible.  If you are dropping off directly at school, you must do so in our parking lot, entering at the east, and exiting with a right turn only from the west (see the attached map).  There will be no stopping or parking along 90th in front of the school during drop off and pick up times.  (7-9 am and 3-5 pm).  School buses will be dropping off on Stone Way.  Robert Eagle Staff Middle School Transportation Plan.pdf 
We have loved meeting our students and families over the past few weeks, and look forward to partnership and community in the days to come.  At Robert Eagle Staff Middle School, we are nurturing leaders who are engaged citizens, scholars, artists, and activists.  Thank  you for partnering with us in this important work.
Yours truly,
Marni A. Campbell, Principal
Follow us on twitter @EagleStaffMS

Comments

Anonymous said…
I wish I could say the practice of handing out schedules to middle schoolers on the first day of school is as rare as you seem to think it is, but that's how we roll at my son's school. And yes, it is totally chaotic.

Flummoxed
Anonymous said…
Yep, My rising 9th grader actually got a schedule ahead of time only once. So I'm used to a crazy first day for my rising 6th grader @ RESMS. Other than that, I think the principal is doing a great job handling everything this district doesn't manage well for a new school opening.
-long run
Anonymous said…
That has also been HIMS policy as well, schedules first day.
-Jane
I guess I'm old school and thought you'd get them sooner.
Anonymous said…
Eckstein kids got their schedules today. Absolutely no good reason REMS can't do the same.
Anonymous said…
Received an email today that Meany orientation has been moved from Sep 5th to 6th, the first day of school. Schedules will be handed out on that day. Honestly it's fine, and I suspect it pleases many parents going away for Labor Day weekend. Our previous school always handed out schedules on the first day of school, with the first day scheduled late in the week by design. The first day is always introductory anyway and it takes a couple days to settle in so it's nice to have a short first week.

FNH
Anonymous said…
The federal FRL program has a snack component in addition to breakfast and lunch. Perhaps the is being taken advantage of. Is the FRL % at REMS high enough for the community elligibility program?

-SEWS
Anonymous said…
God Bless JAMS!!!

We get our schedules weeks BEFORE school starts AND they set aside a couple of days BEFORE start of school so that parents and students can go in and get the necessary fixes or changes done before the first day of school.

Kudos to amazing principal Paula Montgomery and her wonderful counsellors, and extraordinary registrar who is kind and caring.

Hamilton did like REMS same day first day kids get schedule and it WAS A HOT MESS. Kids would sit in wrong classrooms for a week. Teachers wasted time, learning time wasted, emotional overwrought kids, awful! Not productive AND not necessary. All middle schools should follow Paula's example. Humane and efficient: JAMS Jaguars, teachers, admin, and students put the learning experience first and foremost and every decision flows from that.

We are grateful. Marni should know better. She's not starting this off right. Nothing is more critical than a master schedule in a comprehensive secondary school, aside from the quality of the principal herself. Don't be another HIMS - be a JAMS



Thanks JAMS
Anonymous said…
Paula Montgomery is an amazing principal. We had the same wonderful experience with the registrar as well.

FormerJaguar
Anonymous said…
High school students also get their schedules a week or so before school begins. It's absurd to waste time and have schedules distributed the day school starts.
-NP
BEX 4 said…
I would imagine that Eagle Staff is having challenges from the new building. Have they even been allowed inside it yet? I thought handover from the construction folks wasn't scheduled to happen until September sometime? The ribbon cutting for the new building is September 5th. Hard to be proactive about sending out schedules if you don't have an office. I'm just saying.
BEX 4 and maybe that's the reason but I think it would have been helpful to say that.
Anonymous said…
It's so ironic to have such a white and wealthy population at a site revered by the Native people, the people conquered and subjugated in the belief of white superiority.

With all the statue talk I would like to see a reconsideration of Roosevelt High School's moniker. Roosevelt's famous quote about Natives is outrageous.

Is the district serious about requiring Native studies for all students? Naming a building is one thing, important as a symbol, but what about some action?

Let's not forget Lawton, named after Geronimo's vanquisher.

This district has failed Native students and all students by neglecting the uncomfortable history of Seattle and America in general in regards to Native people.

Let's join the 21st century and face our history head on.

Salish

Anonymous said…
I don't know if it's ironic or not but it's par for the course to insult Native people in the Northwest just as blacks are insulted in the South. Could I even imagine what it's like walking into a high school whose namesake said this about my nationality,

“the most vicious cowboy has more moral principle than the average Indian.”

“I don’t go so far as to think that the only good Indians are the dead Indians, but I believe nine out of every 10 are,” Roosevelt said during a January 1886 speech in New York. “And I shouldn’t like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth.”

Sounds like Jefferson Davis would be for a lot of folks down south. The district needs to get with the times and remove offensive, insulting and in this case deliberately oppressive names from schools.

greenbug
Anonymous said…
Well then where does it stop? Change the name of the state?

Just today someone decapitated the statue of William Crawford, a close friend of George Washington, who was tortured and killed by Sandusky Valley tribes.

Oso
NNE Mom said…
Why are so many schools named after men anyway? Aren't half the kids female?
Salish, the district (and the state) are serious about Native education; there's state law around it and curriculum.

The issue of named buildings and future naming certainly is something all government entities should be considering. I think it is a difficult thing with presidents who tend to have more balanced records of public service. What I have heard discussed nationally are plaques that do much more explaining of that public service to the public. As well, I can see required classroom time of explanation of public service of any building named for a person (good and bad, see Aki Kurose as a notable good person).
Anonymous said…
This is why Hale does Raider Day the day before school starts. Everyone gets their schedules beforehand but can make changes on that day. Plus there is orientation for the freshman; school pictures taken; oppurtunity to buy log books used in freshman classes; oppurtunity to buy Raider Gear, yearbooks, SPREE tickets, etc. The day is staggered with Freshman arriving earliest and Seniors last.

In regards to Eagle Staff, it should be noted that Lichton Springs K-8 is also located there and they have a Native American focus. My Native American younger cousins go to Lichton Springs K-8.

HP
Carol Simmons said…
How many rooms does Lichton Springs K-8 currently have? Are they all classrooms? Is there a lid on enrollment for Lichton Springs?

Anonymous said…
Following the massacre, Geronimo swore vengeance against Mexico and led a series of bloody raids on its soldiers and settlements. “I have killed many Mexicans,” he later wrote. “I do not know how many…some of them were not worth counting.”

So just for the record RESMS has mural of a know killer of Mexican women and
children. The brutalities he and his men committed in the name of revenge is sickening.

Take the mural down!

--Inconvenient truth.
Anonymous said…
Was the mural painted to oppress Mexicans and their descendants? Of course not.

Roosevelt High School, however, was named with intent to show the superiority of white culture over Native culture.

Big difference.

greenbug
Anonymous said…
"According to James Bradley's "The Imperial Cruise," Roosevelt stated that African Americans were a "backward race" and that the "greatest evil" of slavery was that white men and African Americans had to coexist."

Thats our 20th century president who gave us Yellowstone! Bully!

How can Black kids walk into that school? Because SPS isn't teaching their students about the real history of the United States. It's "progressive" in SPS, but only enough to get the kids to vote Democrat after graduation.

Change It
ChangeIt, c'mon, the school was named a long time ago and if you think it was to get kids to vote Democrat, you're wrong.
Anonymous said…
Native American tribes in this region routinely raided other tribes to carry off women into sexual slavery. Should we erase Native Americans from our history, too?

Applying modern standards of morality to past historical figures is a troublesome idea. Where does it end? How many historical figures believed in racial equality, gender equality, LGBT equality, etc.?

Can anyone suggest a new name for the state of Washington (misogynous slave holder)? King (philanderer, misogynous, anti-LGBT) County?

Let Sanity Prevail
Anonymous said…
"Native culture" what exactly is that? and if there is such a cultural divide then how can they coexist?

My2Cents
Anonymous said…
Let Sanity Prevail-- Good points. Also, so often we talk about race like it is monolithic and like all always shared same values, world view etc. But I think history and individuals are more complex. There have been individuals who despite living in a very different time held at least some values we share today. One example is Roger Williams (white guy from England) back in the 1600's who some say was one of first abolitionists. Was against slavery, introduced idea of separation of church and state, lived with Native Americans and learned multiple Native American languages. Fought for Native American right to own land etc. Of course some puritans thought him a heretic for many of his radical ideas and burned his house down.
-LM
Anonymous said…
Look, America was super racist in 1920, Seattle maybe more than alot of other places.

Housing covenants, police harassment, segregated schools - it was all here like in much of the US.

TR was a racist and people liked that, He hated Indians and thought Blacks inferior. The people elected him president.

Then the school district named a high school after knowing his record and beliefs, honoring those beliefs,in fact.

So if SPS teachers really explained the history of Seattle and its racist past, no student of any race or ethnicity would walk into that school.

SPS teachers are liberal but most are not honest about out country's ugly past.

Maple Leaf
Okay, I'll have a thread and you can have this whole discussion.

But teachers don't control the names of the buildings nor curriculum so I'm not sure how calling them out - Maple Leaf - really helps.

Go and agitate for implementation of the ethnic studies resolution. Go petition the Board to rename buildings. Go petition UW about its statues and go petition the state for our state's name.

But complaining here isn't going to change much.
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said…
Fair point about teachers having no control over curriculum, I think that the staff at JSCEE is where the problem lies, and with board of course.

Still, teachers add content all the time. A brief history of Teddy Roosevelt's racist views does not require Board approval or official curriculum.

SPS staff is mainstream liberal, for the most part, and they do a disservice to students by white-washing history.

Looking forward to more discussion on this topic.

Maple Leaf


A brief history of Teddy Roosevelt's racist views does not require Board approval or official curriculum."

I don't know enough about how much leeway teachers have but on history? I think a teacher in a school named for a president who then talks about that president in a less-than-flattering manner just might get pushback.

I think the kids DO need to hear it all but I think the district - if this was not approved curriculum - would hear about it.
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said…
Interesting point about push-back on talking about Roosevelt.

Right now in Canada the Ontario teachers' union is asking for the removal of the name of their first Prime Minister, Sir John Macdonald from schools and anything under federal control.

He is known as the "architect of genocide" against First Nations people.

I would hope and expect free speech to prevail if Seattle teachers used original source material without editorializing to illustrate Roosevelt's racism.

I will ask the district and get back to you.

Maple Leaf
Anonymous said…
Great we will pull a FOIA and find out who you are.

Dear SPS FOIA officer please send me all information related to changing the name of Roosevelt high school. Please include any emails from the general public or school teacher and other SPS staff. Focus on Nathan Hale parents.


Do it!
Anonymous said…

San Antonio just today decided to remove Lee's name from a high school:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/education/article/NEISD-board-votes-to-drop-name-of-Lee-High-School-12159774.php

Doit%
Anonymous said…
Marcus Whitman is another controversial figure in NW history. While initially trying trying to wean the Natives from their usual lifestyle and teach them to live as whites, he subsequently became only interested in bringing in white settlers from the East.

Great read at: http://www.historylink.org/File/5192

I think we need to look at who we named buildings for and as importantly, why.

Example, Franklin High School's namesake was a slave owner but became an ardent abolitionist.

I also read on Wikipedia about the 1966 school strike in Seattle protesting racial segregation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_school_boycott_of_1966

From what I've seen of his writings and speeches, Roosevelt is not who we want to have as the name of a high school.

The man's views were not just a sign of the times. They were the views of an educated man who embraced white superiority in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War.

I think it's worthy of a task force to study building names and how they affect students and staff. I'd love to apply.

Mary Logan
Do It, you clearly don't know how to phrase a FOIA request.

Again, let the Board know you want a taskforce or a manner to advocate for changing the names of schools.
Anonymous said…
I propose that we change the name of the United States of America. The word "America" is derived from the name Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian mapmaker, whose charts guided the forces of racist imperialism that conquered the New World. Everything that includes the word "America" should be renamed in the spirit of social justice.

I'd suggest replacing "America" with "Kale" or "Oatmeal". Although both are stupid names, no one can really find an objection to kale or oatmeal.

Sarcasm intended.

Sanity
Anonymous said…
@Sanity,

I think you've hit on something.

A beautiful planet of peace and harmony.

Place names that reflect our reliance on plants for food.

But for now, in 2017, let's start by looking at the names we, as a society, have decided to name buildings, in particular school buildings, and how the men we honored with their names would have looked upon the students passing through the doors.

Seems a pretty easy task. Look up Ben Franklin and see what he said about non-whites. Look up Theodore Roosevelt and see what he said about non-whites. Look up MLK...

If they said disparaging things or held views of white superiority, then change the name.

Vespucci was also an oppressor of the Native people, so maybe we should change the name somewhere down the road.

My way of thinking is this, if we had majority Native people in the boundaries of the US would Columbus, Vespucci, Custer, Roosevelt and many others have their names on schools,
cities and the nation? No.

If blacks were majority would we have Fort Hood, Robert E. Lee anything, Roosevelt High School? No.

Of course every human is flawed but society draws a line and the line depends on who does the drawing.

So maybe plant food names are in our distant Star Trek future.

player unknown
Parent said…
Wow,
Good way to sully the start of school for kids.
Anonymous said…
Greek Life retreat at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) was promptly cancelled this weekend after a banana peel was found hanging in a tree.

“To be clear, many members of our community were hurt, frightened, and upset by what occurred at IMPACT,” Interim Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Alexa Lee Arndt remarked in an email between Greek leaders, according to The Daily Mississippian. “Because of the underlying reality many students of color endure on a daily basis, the conversation manifested into a larger conversation about race relations today at the University of Mississippi.”
Anonymous said…
Hamilton schedules up on the source 4 days early!
-a parent
Anonymous said…
I agree

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