tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post1501019888106684667..comments2024-03-29T02:41:52.718-07:00Comments on Seattle Schools Community Forum: Seattle Schools UpdatesMelissa Westbrookhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17179994245880629080noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-73574877011085112742014-09-06T10:42:31.490-07:002014-09-06T10:42:31.490-07:00@ International School Teacher
Thanks for this in...@ International School Teacher<br /><br />Thanks for this information. It lets me know that at least a few front line professionals in the SPS system are thoughtful on the subject. But the lack of big picture leadership from staff and board and civic leaders is absolutely maddening, and it won't ever get better with a superintendent mouthing platitudes that are flat out false.<br /><br />EdVoterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-78179749570764232252014-09-05T23:55:15.080-07:002014-09-05T23:55:15.080-07:00Heads-up: Richard and I are going to the Council o...Heads-up: Richard and I are going to the Council of Educational Facilities Planners, International (CEFPI) annual conference in Portland October 2-6. <br /><br />Info: http://www.cefpi.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3335<br /><br />Eva worked some minor miracle and got me into the host hotel. Otherwise rooms in central PDX are very spendy.Joe Wolfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16747791661117554332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-90561691278911068202014-09-05T12:35:30.907-07:002014-09-05T12:35:30.907-07:00Finally the mayor is paying attention to the youth...Finally the mayor is paying attention to the youth commission. <br /><br />HPAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-60644804735975810122014-09-05T11:25:54.922-07:002014-09-05T11:25:54.922-07:00@Fedmomof2:
Agreed that there is no begrudging of...@Fedmomof2:<br /><br />Agreed that there is no begrudging of the families within the system who have accessed the paltry 21st Century Skillbuilding the district does offer. Although, I am constantly amazed by the number of parents who do little or nothing for the greater system beyond their own kid. A system needs both professionals AND community insisting on better for ***ALL***.<br /><br />You also reminded me of two other nonstarters within 21st Century skills. Our schools systemically are decades! behind in the integration of technology in the classroom. Not years. Decades. And, as NPR just reminded me, our ELL programs are not even close to as robust as they need to be in a 21st Century city. ELL needs are going to explode in the next decade(s) and is there advanced planning for it in SPS? No. Absolutely not. ELL, by the way, does not necessarily equate with children of poverty. Not in a city attracting professionals from all over the world.<br /><br />You know, the more I type, the more I'm getting really outraged at the "Seattle is a leader" statement. It's glib, trite, in denial, flat out wrong.<br /><br />EdVoterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-30349487180849062492014-09-05T11:11:11.906-07:002014-09-05T11:11:11.906-07:00Why is the Friday memo referencing academic achiev...Why is the Friday memo referencing academic achievement matters without reference to students with special needs? Did he forget? Did Tolley's slide show actually not include trends and issues for students with special needs? Why is this information not important enough for Nylund to reflect on? The Friday memo has no reference all to activities relating to special education. If that is not the elephant in the living room, I don't know what is. <br /><br />Befuddled Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-50618745551294154282014-09-05T11:08:28.579-07:002014-09-05T11:08:28.579-07:00EdVoter, totally agree with you. The bits of good...EdVoter, totally agree with you. The bits of goodness in this area that SPS has developed (or the immediate communities themselves have developed) are only available to a few. How many other elementary parents are interested in language immersion, or at least more language training in elementary than the paltry sum provided? How many other high school parents are interested in IB or academies, but cannot access it? Technology seems to be very much dependent on how wealthy your PTA is. <br /><br />That statement is fantasy for so many of the kids in the district and only reality for a few of the lucky (and I do not begrudge them this at all).<br /><br />-Fedmomof2Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-36673608002592595232014-09-05T10:17:34.331-07:002014-09-05T10:17:34.331-07:00Seattle is a leader in focusing on 21st century sk...<i>Seattle is a leader in focusing on 21st century skills needed for students to survive and thrive in a global world. <br /></i><br /><br />Who gave that quote? Nyland? Because it is bunk, pure and simple. Seattle is highly limited in its language immersion programs, does not offer world class STEM immersion at any level (minus maybe a couple of elementaries)(no, Cleveland is not world class although it is trying) is far behind in hands on tech training in high school (those CTE centers are a bunch of talk and not much enrollment). It has very little tie in with the world class universities sitting in its backyard. It doesn't recognize asynchronous gifted kids - who are highly likely to be the ones who innovate in their adult lives, if they can just make it through their education. It offers students very little training at a systemic level on the world of multiculturalism (I get it that NOVA and some teachers at individual schools do their best...but that's not 'systemic') and has a paltry teaching staff of non-white educators.<br /><br />On the positive side it's got a couple of good high school IB programs and a few excellent high school academy-type offerings at Garfield and Ballard. It takes almost no advantage of the wealth of talent employed at the 21st Century employers based in and around Seattle. Talent that would love to engage with school kids.<br /><br />We live in a 21st Century city, but the failure of SPS to begin to approach growing our kids into adults who can thrive within and also propagate the possibilities here is one of the biggest failings of SPS. (Failure to keep kids baseline safe at school and school functions being the top of the failure list at the moment.)<br /><br />I'm sorry for the rant, but I simply cannot bear it when SPS spouts pr fluff that is the complete opposite of the reality. Because then staff and the public believes their own fluff and nothing gets better here. SPS is mediocrity defined, compared to what a 21st Century city should be offering in its public education system.<br /><br />EdVoterAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28765366.post-6866322350762455952014-09-05T10:03:26.684-07:002014-09-05T10:03:26.684-07:00We need a reminder citywide that school is now in ...We need a reminder citywide that school is now in session and watch where you are going.<br />A student at Hamilton was hit this morning, in the crosswalk at 40th & Wallingford.<br />He was taken to the hospital, but expected to recover.<br />If people are this careless now, whats going to happen when it is dark/rainy?Jet City momhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14804841958585043967noreply@blogger.com