Tuesday Open Thread
On the Washington Middle School meeting last night which I attended - two words - not good. I'll do a write-up but frankly, it was quite the tour de force (with an emphasis on force) from the principal.
Reminder that tonight is the Board meeting instead of its usual Wednesday. Here's the agenda. Tonight the Board approves the one-year teacher contract.
Is your child's bus late? This seems to be on-going for more than a few parents, likely due to a shortage of drivers/veteran drivers. This was discussed at the Executive Committee, with Pegi McEvoy, who oversees Transportation, noting that this is an occurrence at the beginning of every school year. What are you experiencing/hearing at your school?
Superintendent Juneau did an interview on KUOW yesterday. Also, a link to her ThoughtExchange page so if you are unable to attend one of her listening sessions, you can leave your thoughts there.
Monday might be a good day to set the DVR because we are going to see a hearing on a Supreme Court nominee almost like no other. (Except, of course, if you are old like me and watched the Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill hearing.) This is history in the making and the committee - especially in this Me, Too time - needs to get it right. I am hearing that it will only be Judge Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser, Professor Christine Blasey Ford. It might a good jumping off point for a discussion with your children if they are teens about boundaries and sexual assault.
Garfield teacher (and author) Jesse Hagopian reports this from his I Am An Educator blog:
From the Lincoln High Parents Facebook page:
LHS Music Boosters Sept meeting, Wednesday, 9/19, 7pm
Wallingford QFC (area upstairs next to Starbucks)
Meeting agenda: 1) organization formation, 2) potential projects, 3) committee formation.
Reminder that tonight is the Board meeting instead of its usual Wednesday. Here's the agenda. Tonight the Board approves the one-year teacher contract.
Is your child's bus late? This seems to be on-going for more than a few parents, likely due to a shortage of drivers/veteran drivers. This was discussed at the Executive Committee, with Pegi McEvoy, who oversees Transportation, noting that this is an occurrence at the beginning of every school year. What are you experiencing/hearing at your school?
Superintendent Juneau did an interview on KUOW yesterday. Also, a link to her ThoughtExchange page so if you are unable to attend one of her listening sessions, you can leave your thoughts there.
Monday might be a good day to set the DVR because we are going to see a hearing on a Supreme Court nominee almost like no other. (Except, of course, if you are old like me and watched the Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill hearing.) This is history in the making and the committee - especially in this Me, Too time - needs to get it right. I am hearing that it will only be Judge Brett Kavanaugh and his accuser, Professor Christine Blasey Ford. It might a good jumping off point for a discussion with your children if they are teens about boundaries and sexual assault.
Garfield teacher (and author) Jesse Hagopian reports this from his I Am An Educator blog:
Grammy award winning Seattle-based artist Macklemore and three-time NFL Pro Bowler Michael Bennett have teamed up to purchase and distribute copies of the new critically acclaimed book, Teaching for Black Lives to every middle and high school Social Studies and Language Arts teacher in the Seattle Public Schools.It's official - more U.S. schools have police officers - than counselors.
Michael Bennett said, “This is the book I wish I had coming up in school but it never existed. Now we have the opportunity to educate thousands of youth about the Black history that was too often missing from my schooling—from the building of the White House, to the role of Black youth in social movements, to organizing for restorative justice today.”
Macklemore added, “With everything from history, to poetry, to visual art, these lessons will help educators affirm the lives of their Black students and create deeper dialogue in our schools about the struggles and contributions of Black people that all students need to learn.”
The editors of Teaching for Black Lives will be participating in a Seattle Town Hall book launch event on Monday, September 24th at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center.
From the Lincoln High Parents Facebook page:
LHS Music Boosters Sept meeting, Wednesday, 9/19, 7pm
Wallingford QFC (area upstairs next to Starbucks)
Meeting agenda: 1) organization formation, 2) potential projects, 3) committee formation.
Come join us! We are especially looking for parents with students at RESMS, JAMS, McClure, Garfield, and Ballard.
What's on your mind?
What's on your mind?
Comments
No words.
I think this community has a right to know why Prichett does not feel herself responsible for the mess that the principal describes. The reality is that nobody is accountable for anything.
Reader
So Typical
I have heard that good drivers leave First Student as soon as they can for Metro or Community Transit for better wages.
No End
Yo, Jay Inslee, this would be an excellent way for some county in Washington state to create jobs. Why don't we build a world class autism institute? Then students from out of state could come to Washington and bring their public education dollars with them. Aberdeen, for example, could use some new successful businesses. And it is a beautiful location for a kid to live in a boarding school, honestly better than the Boston Worcester turnpike.
The district still hasn’t posted the list of companies that our students’ data will be sent out to, nor what data will be sent to which companies. In January the school board directed staff to make this information available, and it hasn’t happened. It’s almost too late to be helpful now -- does the board ever force staff to keep their word on stuff like this? The list of companies that will get student data is long, potentially up to 10-12 companies, but we don’t even know how many because the information still hasn’t been made available!
Parts of this service may help some kids, and it may make life easier for some counselors, but there are unquestionable risks to having tons of personal student data dispersed like this. It’s a very different scenario than sending that data directly to colleges or sending only to Common App, whose sole purpose is to gather and forward to selected colleges. Also remember, UW does not accept Naviance, so students still have to gather all their data and input it on their forms in any case.
If you’re on the fence and your student is not a senior this year, consider opting out for this year to get a feel for how things shape up over the next 9 months. There’s very little reason for most kids to be signing up for this and shipping their data off to all these companies prior to senior year. Pass the word along to other parents who might not be aware of what’s happening and tomorrow’s deadline.
Again, this is the latest version of the ever-expanding list of data the district will be sending out:
* Student Information [unclear what this means here]
* Proxy-ID [unclear where this will be used]
* Student first name
* Student last name
* School
* Grade level
* School information
* Teacher information
* Sections/Classes information
* Student classes
* School admin information
* Date of Birth
* Transcripts
* Graduation Date
* All Student Courses
* GPA
* Student’s official GPA [how does this differ from GPA?]
* ACT/SAT Scores
* Ethnicity
* Gender
* College Bound flag
* SPED flag!
* ELL flag
* Running Start flag
* Parent first name
* Parent last name
* Parent email
-future WMS parent
Fairmount Parent
unclear
JK