Seattle Schools Community Forum

From the West Seattle Blog:   Shannon Stanton was announced by Superintendent Banda as the new principal of Alki Elementary. Ms. Stanton comes to Alki from Pine Tree Elementary in the Kent School District, where she has been principal since 2011. She is committed to the academic initiatives at Alki and we believe she will be a great fit for the Alki community. Connie Aleman as the new principal of Gatewood Elementary: Ms. Aleman comes to Gatewood from Wedgwood Elementary, where she was assistant principal last year. She is committed to a collaborative approach and we believe she will be a great fit for the Gatewood Elementary community.

Tomorrow, Sunday, April 1 , Seattle Children's Hospital will be giving away bike helmets on a first-com, first-serve basis.  They have 400 helmets to give away and your child must be present to be fitted properly.  This is happening at the Ballard Commons Park from 10 am to 1 p.m.  Salmon Bay's Leo Pfeifer won first place in C-Span's documentary video contest.  He won $3,000 and his video will be aired on C-Span on April 25th.  This is the second year in a row Leo has placed in the top tier of this competition.  Students in grades 6-12 created videos with the theme, "The Constitution and You."  They had to select any provision of the Constitution to work on.  Over 1200 videos were submitted.  Congrats to Leo, his parents and his teachers at Salmon Bay. In the Global Reading Challenge competition, two Seattle teams have advanced to the next round: Alki Elementary and Adams Elementary.   Those two teams will compete against a Canad...

Started sunny, ending rainy - another Seattle week gone by. Five Seattle schools named "Schools of Distinction" for academic improvements in math and reading that put them in the top five percent of improving schools in the state.  Drum roll - - Alki Elementary - Hamilton Int'l Middle - Madison Middle - Mercer Middle - Orca K-8 Madison has won for the last four years - good for them.  Likewise Mercer and Orca have won for three straight years.  Hamilton, no slouch, this is their second year in a row to win this honor. There were 99 schools statewide earning this honor.  The selection is through a group of educational entities; Center for Educational Effectiveness,  Association of Educational Service Districts, Assn. of WA State Principals, Phi Delta Kappa-Washington Chapter, WA Assn. of School Administrators, WA State ASCA and WA State School Directors' Assn. More honors - two of our elementary PE teachers were honored last week and they are Chuck ...

In advance of National Walk-to-School day, SPS put out this news : Thirteen elementary schools will celebrate International Walk-to-School Month in October, more than twice as many as last year, with activities ranging from scavenger hunts and “walking school buses” to a visit from Mayor Mike McGinn. Feet First, a local non-profit organization that develops Safe Routes to Schools programs, will provide assistance at several of the events. Schools participating include Daniel Bagley, Lafayette, Laurelhurst, West Woodland, and Green Lake, West Seattle, View Ridge, Van Asselt, Sacajawea, Leschi, Graham Hill, Concord and Coe.   It would be great - since we went to neighborhood schools under the NSAP - if there were more schools involved.  I walked to school until my sophomore year in high school.  Both ways and uphill (but being Arizona, no snow).    Also, in late breaking news, Alki Elementary principal, Clover Codd, has been named TIF Director and another p...