Lincoln High School Info

Update: From a photo taken at the meeting last night, a huge turnout.


Image may contain: 1 person, basketball court and crowd
End of update
I did not attend tonight's meeting at Lincoln but here's some info that other parents had up at Facebook.

Anyone attend with more to add?


Comments

Anonymous said…
There is no mention of north end current 9th grade HC students who may be attending Ingraham, Hale Garfield, Rossevelt or Ballard who have an option to opt into Lincoln in 2019 for 10th.

Why is there a general statement about current students at Garfield or Ingraham who may opt into their neighborhood school? Don't students always have an option to opt into their neighborhood school at any time?

If this is supposed to mean that students at Garfield or Ingraham can opt into their neighborhood school meaning specifically Lincoln they need to be more specific. That is a very confusing statement and also does not specify grade level that Lincoln will serve which is only those who will be 9th and 10th next year.


Confused
SPS Mom said…
Also, I understand why students enrolled in HCC would get auto-assigned to Lincoln, but it doesn't make sense that HC-eligible students who have not been enrolled in HCC would be assigned to Lincoln. I'd like clarification on that. I have an HC-eligible 8th grade kid who's never been part of the cohort and we live in Ingraham's assignment area and were planning on going there. Any insights?

Anonymous said…
The notice is poorly worded. Only students in the Lincoln attendance are will be automatically assigned to the school. Your student is guaranteed a seat at either Ingraham or Lincoln.

Fairmount Parent
Fairmount Parent, I agree. How can this keep happening? It's either inept or by design. Either way, not good.

SPS Mom, I urge you to call Enrollment (not AL) and ask. I would give you the answer I think is right which is that you go to Ingraham.
Book Doctor said…
The district's communications are NOT very clear about where HCC families go:

The district page linked below lists the HCC pathways from years ago (from before Jane Addams or Eagle Staff or Meany opened):
• Students who live in the Eckstein, Hamilton, Jane Addams, Whitman, or McClure service areas will be assigned to Cascadia Elementary, Hamilton, and Garfield pathway.
and
• Students who live in the Washington, Mercer, Aki Kurose, Madison, or Denny service areas will be assigned to the Thurgood Marshall, Washington, and Garfield pathway.

And suggests that families who want to know more should read the following 89 pages of district procedural documents:
1. The 67-page-long Superintendent's Procedures for Student Assignment
2. The 15-page-long Student Assignment Transition Plan for 2016-17
3. The 7-page-long Superintendent Procedure 2190

Thanks for making kids' access to a basic education easy, SPS! Is this how underserved families get equitable access to programs?

https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/advanced_learning/services_and_programs/hcc_assignment/highly_capable_cohort___h_c_c__eligibility_and_ass
Anonymous said…
@SPS mom -Can you look up your next yea'rs child's assignment online? For some current 8th HC it states Garfield which really means Lincoln (they have yet to change it) their "pathway" school. I would turn in a form that states Ingraham IBX (can decide on regular IB later) to be certain they assign my child correctly. The HC designation is supposed to follow the student whether they are part of an 8th grade cohort or not so I would think be the same. But who knows.

Confused
Eric B said…
SPS Mom and book Doctor, it turns out that it's a little harder than first thought. The main reason is that the assignment plan for 2019-20 hasn't been approved by the Board yet. Until that happens, we're mostly guessing. That said, the version that was introduced late last year is here: https://www.seattleschools.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_543/File/District/Departments/School%20Board/18-19%20agendas/December%2019/I02_20181219_Student%20Assignment%20Transition%20Plan.pdf

Assuming this all holds, page 14 of the PDF is what you're looking for.

"[HC] Students eligible, but not enrolled as HC, will receive an initial assignment to their attendance area high school. These students may also apply during Open Enrollment to attend their pathway high school and will receive placement at this site. These students may also apply during the Open Enrollment process for the IBX program at Ingraham. Assignment depends on space available; tiebreakers apply during Open Enrollment.

If they apply for their attendance area high school during Open Enrollment through May 31, they will be assigned to their attendance area school (unless they apply for and are assigned to a higher ranked choice).

IBX: Students may also apply for the IBX program at Ingraham; assignment to Ingraham depends on space available and tiebreakers. If not assigned to IBX at Ingraham, they retain a seat at their pathway school (unless they apply for and are assigned to a higher ranked choice.) Assignment depends on space available; tiebreakers apply during Open Enrollment."

Further down, the planned HC high school pathways by middle school service area are:
Aki Kurose, Meany, Mercer, Washington: Garfield
Denny, Madison: West Seattle
Eagle Staff, Eckstein, Hamilton, Jane Addams, McClure, Whitman: Lincoln

All of that said, remember that things could change at the board meeting in a week.
Thanks, Eric, but the least staff could have done was explain what you just did.
Anonymous said…

there are also grandfathered students:

this year's freshmen at ghs can continue.
this year's west seattle 7-8th graders at wms can continue to ghs not wsh.

at least that is my understanding. and yet i thought that this was all approved when tolley tried to ram through pathways for all and then kari hanson, geary and dewolf- who were completely complicit in this illegal plan- looked as if they were holding back their tears when calmer heads prevailed. i'm so sorry. especially since we all know the plan is 90% white, is he out next year? shheesssh.

no caps

Anonymous said…
Ingraham 9th grade HC (current freshman) students are grandfathered as well as Garfield, a reason some we know chose Ingraham or Garfield as they knew in advance, so as not to be moved from BHS or RHS if they were to be rezoned to Lincoln. However current HC 9th grade freshman (IHS,GHS,BHS,RHS, Hale) who want to can also "opt in" to Lincoln next year.

Jane
Andrew said…
So, those of us who have been following things know this, but I spoke to a non-native speaker of English (Spanish speaking family at a title one school) whose child just became eligible for HCC. And it was not clear to that family. If a family has not been following Seattle HCC news (child newly identified, family just moved here, etc.), how do they find this information out?

The district needs to make these things clear.
Anonymous said…
For those following the Lincoln open, if given the choice, would you choose Lincoln for your student? Is it going to be an exciting school with lots of enthusiastic teachers and new equipment? Or is it going to be a mess with insufficient organization and few class options for the leading edge students - those entering as 9th and 10th graders? Does it matter if your student is gen ed or hcc?

Thanks for your help.

sixwrens
Anonymous said…
What options do families have (leaving out those who may have left for private)? Lincoln or Ingraham or Center School? Or maybe Ingraham->RS or Lincoln->RS? Or rolling the dice and putting another HS as a choice? Will SPS enrollment limit Ingraham enrollment, even though they have a 500 student addition opening the same time as Lincoln?

questions
Greenwoodsman said…
Lincoln sounds like it's aiming for project-based expeditionary learning like they use at Pathfinder, Thornton Creek, Cedar Park, Billings MS, etc. It's hard to picture what this would be like at the high school level. Families seem to really like the expeditionary learning style, so I'm hopeful. I just am not sure if it will be a good fit for all kids. Pathfinder and Thornton Creek and those schools are option schools, so families have specifically chosen that for their kids. I'm puzzled how Lincoln can be an assignment area school but just pick the methodology it wants. If families opted in, I would have no problem with it, because we can see from the other SPS sites that do it that families DO opt in. So, that's my hesitation. It seems popular and effective. But should it be mandatory if you happen to live in that neighborhood?

https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/is-expeditionary-learning-the-future-in-public-schools-some-say-yes

https://explorationsinliteracyblog.wordpress.com/2016/12/04/expeditionary-learning/
Anonymous said…
You can tell from her spoken language and body language that Ruth Medsker doesn't appear to be that into having HCC or dual language immersion at the school. She has not yet come out clearly as a defender or advocate of either, which reinforces that preception. Expeditionary Learning is a terrific model that should be more widely adopted than it is, but for Medkser's program to succeed she has to fully integrate the needs of her dual language and HC students into it. It really shouldn't be that hard to achieve (and Expeditionary Learning might work really well for it), but I get the feeling she doesn't want to do it. She has also made some questionable hires for department leads who also don't seem that into dual language or HCC. I could be wrong, I feel like she's intentionally making a Frankenstein's monster out of her future community and not working hard enough on the smooth functioning of everything together. Time will tell if I'm wrong.

Franken Stein
Anonymous said…
It will be interesting to see how Lincoln evolves and anything can also change.

For HC kids specifically, regarding Lincoln as the new pathway I predict a few things. I predict a very low 10th grade HC enrollment next year as many were grandfathered and others will not want to leave their high schools. 9th grade HC enrollment will be higher as those kids will be starting first year of high school. However Ingraham & also maybe RHS & BHS will also have a decent enrollment and will draw some HC kids (if neighborhood school) due to being established schools.

Friends also play a big role in which schools students choose for students who have a choice. If Lincoln becomes popular, HC kids will gravitate like they did for Garfield just due to it being labeled a pathway. Not because they are offering anything better for HC than the other schools, including RHS & BHS.

I also predict Ingraham will also draw many general education students, as they will open up those 500 seats to kids who previously could not access Ingraham. Therefore, many kids will have a true choice of at least two schools neighborhood or Ingraham. It will be interesting if they cap HC to 90 freshman as previous years.

Just Guessing
SixWrens, it's hard to say.

From the huge amount of work I see parents and Lincoln alumni doing, I think it will be a warm, welcoming community.

However, the district is giving off mixed messages on what kind of school this will be and, at this point, it's getting a little late. My belief has always been that 1)it should be a world school a la Sealth and 2) that it should be strictly focused on academics first and identity second. You can always bring on a focus after a couple of years of putting down roots. But it would be folly to have Hamilton nearly just across the street and not be a world school.

Just Guessing is probably right in his/her guesses.

It does not help that the district and the Board are continuing to drag out HCC issues.
Eric B said…
Here's my educated guesses about waitlists this year. These aren't based on talking with any particular staff, so please don't take this as word from on high.

* The district will want to fill Lincoln so that the school has the best start possible. I would expect that the district will give virtually no choice seats out of Lincoln to other schools.
* I agree with Just Guessing that relatively few HCC 10th graders will move to Lincoln. I think that's probably healthy for the school, since it would probably be difficult to give them the classes that HCC students take in 10th grade that Gen Ed students take in 11th and 12th grade when the school doesn't have any 11th or 12th graders.
* If the high school WSS change of 29:1 to 30:1 goes through, most schools are going to lose teachers. The principals aren't going to want to give up students and possibly lose more teachers. I would expect that there aren't going to be very many waitlist moves.
* A year or two ago, the plan was to increase the 90-student cap on HCC at Ingraham to 120 students once the addition opens. We'll see if that happens in the new environment.
Anonymous said…
When do Lincoln students get to see a real course catalog to compare to their options elsewhere and pick classes? If it’s not until after open enrollment, that’s pretty messed up.

Unclear
Anonymous said…
Unclear,

The Lincoln course catalog has been out for a while now:
https://lincolnhs.seattleschools.org/academics/course_catalog

Krab
Anonymous said…
@ Franken Stein, I've wondered the same things. For 'questionable hires', are you referring to the GHS teacher now at Lincoln, who Called HCC kids' fragile' and APP 'appartheid' on Facebook a few years ago? I was surprised by that choice too. What message is the school sending to HCC kids?

Or the teacher who made a point of saying they all believe in making challenge accessible to all students (good!) in all classes (good!) but not in separate classes (?) and they offer an honors option, but not until semester 2?

On the positive side, there's at least one Lincoln teacher who has taught HCC and has a HCC kid. But it's hard to know if many of the staff believe in advanced learning. I can't tell if they are excited about dual language either. Project based learning seems to be their main interest.

When Principal Medsker signed on, Lincoln was not yet a HCC or dual language school. Could that be part of the problem? Whatever the case may be, let's hope all staffmembers adjust and welcome the school's assigned pathways and all the kids that are coming.

Jaclyn Hyde
Anonymous said…
@Eric " I agree with Just Guessing that relatively few HCC 10th graders will move to Lincoln. I think that's probably healthy for the school, since it would probably be difficult to give them the classes that HCC students take in 10th grade that Gen Ed students take in 11th and 12th grade when the school doesn't have any 11th or 12th graders."

I am concerned about the few HC 10th graders who may enroll in Lincoln. Do you think science will be the only course they need to offer that is specific for 10th grade HC? Thinking about it, I believe all other classes could also combine HC, gen ed and spectrum students.

Just Guessing
Eric B said…
Just Guessing, I'd think math and science would be the hard ones, though language is going to be something of an issue because it's a language immersion pathway. In an ideal world, there might be a bunch of small classes of advanced languages. In the real budget of this year, probably not so much. I think most HC 10th graders have already taken biology and algebra 2/trig, 2 years ahead of their Gen Ed peers. They'd be looking for chemistry or physics and precalc or calculus.

LA and social studies will probably be honors classes that will be good enough but not ideal. Perhaps an AP or two if they can fill the classes, but that's probably not necessary. Ideal and not necessary aren't going to get funded this year unless something big happens at the state level.
Anonymous said…
Lincoln Principal Ruth Medsker and SPS International Education Administrator Michele Aoki co-wrote a letter to families outlining Lincoln's robust Japanese and Spanish programs (both dual language immersion and non-dual language immersion) starting next year. The programs include World history classes taught in Japanese and Spanish. For more info, particularly to find out how your kid will place and whether they can already get some high school credit, go to the Admissions Fair tomorrow, Saturday 1/19 from 10-2 pm at Mercer International Middle School. Michele will be there at the International Education/Dual Language Immersion booth and can help you navigate the placement and credit testing, etc.
Anonymous said…
So do you think they’ll be able to offer Japanese 4 and Spanish 4 this fall (since those are what some immersion 10 graders will need) as well as Japanese and Spanish 1, 2, and 3 for everyone else? That seems like a lot for a school with only two grades of students. Plus, on top of that, regular AND multiple language immersion versions of social studies? Wow.

Unclear
Anonymous said…
Thank you for the link to the catalog. I doubt that everything in the catalog will be offered this year, however. Will families get to know what the more realistic classes are before open enrollment?

Unclear
Anonymous said…
Classes they anticipate offering in 2019-20 are marked with an "*" and the rest of the catalog is more aspirational. They anticipate offering AP Computer Science Principles in 2019-20, for example, but NOT AP Computer Science A. There are also several classes labeled "Honors Optional" which I assume is an honors designation granted for doing additional work within a class all students of a given grade take. Only Algebra 2 and Precalculus seem to have separate honors courses. Other core courses - Science, LA, and SS - are "honors optional" until AP coursework in 11th. The pathway for HC seems "honors optional" until AP, with the exception of the honors Alg 2/Precalc.

parent
Anonymous said…
@Unclear who said "So do you think they’ll be able to offer Japanese 4 and Spanish 4 this fall (since those are what some immersion 10 graders will need) as well as Japanese and Spanish 1, 2, and 3 for everyone else? "

I recently found out at our high school Spanish 3 teacher it is commonplace for students to skip Spanish 4 and go right into AP Spanish. They only recommend Spanish 4 for students who want some review and are not strong in Spanish 3.

Upon further reflection, a big difference between Lincoln for 10th next year and other schools may be a lack of sections due to less 11th and 12th graders who would be filling classes.

This will likely lead to less ability to take for example 3AP classes in 10th, fitting in band/orchestra or other electives etc. The one reason Garfield, Ballard & Roosevelt work so well (for not only HC but other kids) taking the same kind of schedules, is they have lots of students in grades 10,11 & 12 demanding AP classes and electives. It creates multiple sections which enable students to more easily put together their schedules.

Otherwise, I would think courses and sections will be more somewhat more limited in the beginning. Given the budget issue impacting everything next year including offering the new science sequence, cutting librarians to .50FTE etc I would also be concerned. However, on the other hand, I know the district would like Lincoln to open as a success to maybe they will prioritize needs at that school.

Just Guessing



Anonymous said…
What science option is there for a former HCC 10th grader who is getting geosplit to Lincoln? Say they took Physical Sci in 7th and Biology in 8th at HIMS, then Chemistry in 9th grade.

According to the Lincoln catalog, AP Physics will be offered, but it has HS physics as a prerequisite. My understanding was that the Physical Science class they would have taken in 7th grade isn't really a physics class so probably wouldn't count. Is that not the case, and Lincoln WILL let a student in this situation take AP Physics?

And in a potentially more challenging change to the scenario, say this student took Physical Sci in 7th, Biology in 8th, then PHYSICS in 9th grade. What can they take in 10th? AP Chem isn't on the list of offerings (and then we'd revert back to that same question re: whether 7th grade physical science can also fulfill a HS chemistry prerequisite). Does a student in this boat have to take another year of Physics if they want a science, and if so, is there really any sense that the AP Physics class at Lincoln will be that much more advanced than whatever physics class they might have taken in 9th at BHS or RHS?

Re: SS, can a 10th grader only get in 1 semester of their SS requirement? It looks like they'll have to put the rest off until later.

unclear
Anonymous said…
Just like with AP Computer Science, there are multiple versions of AP Physics - which is Lincoln proposing to offer? If offered in 10th, it is unlikely to be the calculus based course, and more likely to be algebra based. The Lincoln catalog description sounds like the description of "AP Physics 1: Algebra-Based" from the College Board.

parent
"...Lincoln's robust Japanese and Spanish programs (both dual language immersion and non-dual language immersion) starting next year."

Wouldn't that make Lincoln the only high school doing dual language? My understanding is that Ingraham and Sealth are "world schools" but don't do any dual language.

Anonymous said…
@Unclear You bring up important points. Like Eric though I am guessing there will be few in that position. We personally know zero in that position, who did not plan on Ingraham and Garfield and grandfather.The HC freshman enrollment at both those schools was higher this year than any other year. However maybe a few will decide to opt in and they will have a challenge.

Just Guessing
Anonymous said…
@ Just Guessing, it’s nit about opting in—it’s more about being geosplit. If people thought they could avoid this mess by going to their reference school for 9th ( there’s lots and lots of talk here about how RHS and BHS are just as good as official pathways for HCC students), they may Be disappointed if geosplit.
Anonymous said…
@anonymous 12:36AM

They were given notice and were grandfathered at Ingraham & Garfield, schools that had a spike in 9th grade HC enrollment this past year. If any went to a neighborhood school it was likely an intentional choice to transfer/geosplit into Lincoln in 10th.

Just Guessing
Anonymous said…


P.S As Eric mentioned I agree there will be few in that position which is a good thing.

Just Guessing
Anonymous said…
Unclear,

Maybe AP Environmental Science could be offered the first year if they hear enough interest. Currently, it is not slated to be offered the 1st year, but in an earlier presentation, they were encouraging that class for HCC 10th graders.

Perhaps kids coming from Roosevelt and Ballard, and possibly HCC kids could take it in 9th or 10th. That way, no curriculum would need to be repeated by incoming 10th graders. Students could still get exposure to Physics or AP physics, and Chem or AP chem as needed, and they will have covered the needed material before the 11th grade assessment required for graduation. I don't know if chemA/physA or chemB/physB will be considered the prerequisite to take AP Physics or AP Chem.

rigor
Helen said…
Ms Medsker has worked really hard to include parents of students in the Japanese DLI programs in the Lincoln discussion. She can now hire a full-time Japanese teacher for Lincoln which will mean she can hire a strong candidate. She also was able to hire a Spanish teacher to coordinate the program. Ms Medsker is a really great communicator and very honest to parents about what can be done and what can't. I think parents who have attended her meetings really appreciate her candor and all the hard work she has put into opening Lincoln.

Helen
Anonymous said…
"Wouldn't that make Lincoln the only high school doing dual language? My understanding is that Ingraham and Sealth are "world schools" but don't do any dual language. "

I believe that Chief Sealth offers a full immersion pathway in Spanish for students coming from dual language immersion: World History I & II, Global Leadership, IB History of the Americas, and IB 20th Century World History.

-DLI Info
Anonymous said…
And in a potentially more challenging change to the scenario, say this student took Physical Sci in 7th, Biology in 8th, then PHYSICS in 9th grade. What can they take in 10th? AP Chem isn't on the list of offerings (and then we'd revert back to that same question re: whether 7th grade physical science can also fulfill a HS chemistry prerequisite).

Pretty darn sure that 7th grade PhySci would NOT fulfill a basic HS chem prereq for AP chem. There's very little chem content in that class. Remember, the chem sequence is different from physics, AP chem is not just an advanced version of first year HS chem, it's supposed to be taken after a full year of HS chem has been completed (with a passing grade). This is true for all students, HCC or not.

-graduated
Anonymous said…
Oh, and speaking of science requirements, good luck trying to figure out how this is all going to work if the district is allowed to do split-year chem/physics. If that happens can you imagine how hard it will be for kids who move in or out of the district? Kids who don't have a stable address will be hurt the worst by this so-called "equity" change.
-graduated
Joanna said…
I have not been following the details as much as I would like. How would Ingraham be impacted by this scheme of HC assignments to Lincoln?
Unknown said…
Not sure about Ingraham, but Ballard is slated to have only 1650 students next year, compared to over 2000 this year, due to the opening of LHS. The current 9s from Queen Anne will attend LHS as 10s, and the draw area is now different so some incoming 9s who would have attended BHS in the past will now attend LHS.
This decline in student numbers at BHS might result in a more manageable student body (the building was built for 1600, and had to add portables in the last couple of years) but it also means the building will have to displace about ten educators.
Combined with the new WSS and District funding issues (such as their proposed 0.5 FTE instead of 1.0 FTE school librarians in MS and HS), BHS will, perhaps, lose 15 staff members, which is significant.

On a personal note, when I was 22 I lived with my girlfriend just three blocks from Lincoln as it was being closed. It was so sad for us to walk by and see the students around the building, knowing it was their last year. Then the doors were chained shut...
I'm glad to see the neighborhood get a high school back. Would that we could reopen Summit, Marshall, Queen Anne and all the other schools and programs shuttered over the years...
Anonymous said…
Above comment is Seattle Citizen's.
Grace Ella said…
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