Tuesday Open Thread

We remember a very brave public school student who died today - Linda Brown.  She is the "Brown" in Brown vs Board of Education.  From the New York Times:

Linda Brown, whose father objected when she was not allowed to attend an all-white school in her neighborhood and who thus came to symbolize one of the most transformative court proceedings in American history, the school desegregation case Brown v. Board of Education, died on Sunday in Topeka, Kan. She was 75.
 The agenda for tomorrow's Work Session on BEX V is out with documentation.  (It's a 92-page document so get comfortable.) Staff has divided schools by those that need work for "capacity" (page 46) and those that need work for "facilities" (page 54).  I have not yet had a chance to examine the document to see where the overlap is.

There is also a report on the district working with the City on forecasting growth for the child population.  Good to see.

I do have to laugh at the continued use of the "Facilities Master Plan" - it is NOT a plan and never has been.  It's a collection of data points.

What's on your mind?

Comments

Anonymous said…
Congratulations to Franklin HS Mock Trial team- they won the state championship last weekend and are headed to the national competition in May! Also congrats to the Franklin JV team who placed 10th in state, and to Chief Sealth HS, who went to state for the first time this year, and placed 7th! Amazing program, amazing kids.
-southpaw
That is great news, Southpaw.
Anonymous said…
Reports from a recent Roosevelt parent meeting indicate a possible change to SPS grading policy - no more weighted GPA or class rank. Anyone know more?

wondering
Tim said…
Interesting about the grading policy. Probably not great for college entrance?
Anonymous said…
Interesting about RHS. Is this in response to the influx of HC students or something else? They are well respected, maybe they are comparing policies with area private schools and feel they can move in that same direction given the high caliber of their school. I have no opinion at this point on the change, just curious about the impetus.

Fix AL
Anonymous said…
In recent years Roosevelt test pass rates, grad rates and other statistics are nearly identical to BHS. If this change is happening at RHS, I wonder if it will also be happening at BHS. Those two schools seem to be aligning in other ways as well. BHS is moving to the same honors credit (no separate classes) for LA.
KG
Anonymous said…
It was suggested that the policy change would be district wide, starting next year (does that mean current juniors would not have the info next year when applying to colleges?).

wondering
Anonymous said…
On page 32 of the BEX planning document, it says about West Woodland elementary" "10 Classroom addition to open 2022-23". I'm assuming this is 10 new permanent classrooms, not portables. I haven't heard about this plan. Is it finalized, or part of the BEX V plan? That's a big increase for an elementary school...

Bigger
Bigger, nothing is finalized on BEX with the exception of any field turf being redone.
Anonymous said…
Thanks Melissa. Just wondering because this was included as an asterisk, and it sounded like a done deal.

Bigger
Anonymous said…
What does the "social justice participation measurement" mean for students?, how can SPS possibly included this in student grading. Is just another capacity management initiatives? Isn't it enough to have community service requirement?

Is this just at RHS or will it be rolled out across the district.

RHSP
Anonymous said…
What are you referencing, RHSP?

wondering
Anonymous said…
Congrats to the Garfield Robotics team! They are advancing to the World Championship in Houston after being awarded the Rockwell Collins Innovation Award at both the Washington State Championships and the West Coast Super-Regional Championship. For anyone interested, they are trying to fundraise to help cover fees.

https://www.gofundme.com/team4042

Regardless, their teaser trailer looks like they are plotting to take over the world :)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmOR6uCFAMii3WZJFb2xBcw

Nonstandard Deviation


Anonymous said…
From page 46:

Capacity Assessment – Priority Schools

Elementary & K-8 Schools:
Adams(1), Alki, Coe(2), John Hay, John Muir, Lafayette, North Beach,
Olympic View, Roxhill, Viewlands, Wedgewood, West Seattle, West
Woodland, Downtown Elementary School

Middle Schools:
Madison, Mercer International,

High Schools:
Ballard, Garfield, Ingraham, Nathan Hale, Roosevelt, Downtown High
School

Notes:
(1) Assumes Webster opens as an elementary school
(2) Funded 2018 Legislative Request


What exactly does this mean? Why is Downtown Elementary and Downtown High School on this list? Also, I will note they don't even know how to spell Wedgwood correctly.

HP
Anonymous said…
From page 55:

Facilities Condition Assessment – Priority Schools

Elementary & K-8 Schools:
Alki, Rogers, North Beach, Montlake, Salmon Bay K-8 @ Monroe,
Northgate, McGilvra, Roxhill, Lafeyette, Schmitz Park, Kimball,
Sacajaweja, Louisa Boren STEM K-8

Middle Schools:
Whitman, Washington, Mercer International, Aki Kurose, McClure

High Schools:
Ingraham, Rainier Beach, Franklin, Lincoln

Service Schools:
North Queen Anne (Cascade Parent Partnership),


I am glad to see Rainier Beach on this list. Why Franklin though? Wasn't it already updated?

HP
Anonymous said…
Ballard High school and Roosevelt High school jazz bands were accepted into the 2018 Essentially Ellington Jazz Competition & Festival in New York. The only other school chosen from WA was Mountlake Terrace. Only 15 bands are chosen nationwide and it is the most highly competitive competition nationally, so it is a huge honor and demonstrates the achievements of these students. The competition is in May.
Karen
Garfield didn’t get in? Sad to hear.
Anonymous said…
Why is Lincoln on the facilities priority list? Shouldn’t it have just opened?

NE Parent
Anonymous said…
Does anyone know why Eckstein is rated a 7 on great schools? I thought it was a 9 or 10.... facility? Opening of JAMS and migration away of those HC students? What? Why?

Test Lores
Anonymous said…
Garfield’s sun is setting. An open hostility to excellence is going to have a profound affect on students who have choice (they’ll stay local). Fact: 74 HCC enrolled 8th grade students choose Roosevelt last year, avoiding Garfield. 53 choose Ballard. I suspect the HCC students who are Garfield frosh are Wallingford kids who were trying to avoid Lincoln (and IBx wasn’t a fit), so they did head to GHS.

It is sad, but completely predictable. Check back in 3 years and you’ll see the trend and change even more pronunced. In addition to Jazz excellence, there used to be numerous National Merit Scholars from GHS. Not any more.


Future Bulldog
Anonymous said…
Those HC students came from Hamilton. What Eckstein lost were lower income/diverse students. Looks like great schools has revamped their rating system so that progress made by historically underserved groups (and overall student progress as opposed to just a snapshot) is a big part of the score, and Eckstein does not do well with lower performing students. I don't think anything has changed about the school, just the rating mechanism.

-sleeper

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