Seattle Schools Community Forum

Update: of interest this week is the Board Work Session .  The topic? HR.  More on this in the thread, Seattle Schools This Week to come. end of update Neither Roosevelt nor Garfield placed in the top three for the Essentially Ellington competition in NYC but congrats to all these musicians for getting there and representing Seattle. The Times has two articles of note on Seattle Schools. One is about librarians and libraries in SPS.  A group of SPS librarians did their own research on funding for libraries and the fruit of their work is troubling.   For many libraries, the library fund is very dependent on the PTA.  From the article:

Roosevelt and Garfield jazz bands both made it into the Essentially Ellington competition in NYC...again.  Congrats to both programs. And because I love high school newspapers - news from the Rainier Beac h student newspaper, Viking Shield. I received a press release today from the district announcing that  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will visit Sanislo Elementary's  3 rd -5 th graders  tomorrow .   From the press release:

I will be taking a short break for a few days as my family will be happily attending the graduation of my youngest son from his university.  We are very proud that he was accepted to the Evans School of Public Affairs at UW to work on his Master's. I am disappointed to report that teacher Jesse Hagopian narrowly lost to Jonathan Knapp for president of the SEA .  The vote difference was 45 votes out of 1,342 cast.  About 54% of the SEA members voted which was apparently nearly twice what they have had in past elections.  There is to be a runoff for the treasurer's spot between Jennifer Matter (Knapp slate) and Dan Troccoli (Hagopian slate).   According to OSPI, Rainier Beach High School will continue to receive a federal grant to help improve academic outcomes. Ballard High School students won two awards for short films at the National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY).  Song for Anna by Lucy Harstrick, Isaiah Hoban-Halvorsen, Josh Vredevoogd...

Garfield and Roosevelt High School jazz bands are once again competing at the Essentially Ellington Festival in NYC.  This year they are webcasting the performances so you can see them for yourself.  Here's a link to SPS with the details.  Roosevelt came in second last year.  Good luck to all the performers and their band directors! Three community meetings with Board directors tomorrow - Carr, Martin-Morris and McLaren. Don't know if you saw this video of a high school student who challenges his teacher's teaching ability.  It's making the rounds and it's interesting viewing.  Both the teacher and student keep their cool but you are not certain if anyone is right. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms.   What's on your mind?

 Update:  Roosevelt's Jazz Band comes in second place in the Essentially Ellington competition in NYC, ahead of  New World School of the Arts and behind Dillard Center for the Arts. Note: both the other two high schools are in Florida are magnet arts schools, RHS is a regular comprehensive.   Congrats to all those great musicians at RHS! Great article in the Times this morning about almost- Superintendent Banda.   Makes me think the Board picked the right person at the right time for this district.    I note that the Times is also trying to push this A+Washington initiative .  LEV has a full-court press at their website.  There is nothing wrong with various groups joining together to push for better education but what they are saying is nothing new: great teachers flexibility more data and tools to collect it early education Their "reports" are sketchy.  One is a survey result paper.  One is about costs (...

There are two SPS high schools that will represent at this year's Essentially Ellington competition in NYC in May.  It's not who you might think. This year the honor goes to Roosevelt and Ballard.   Garfield, a long-time winner and participant, was not on the list. Congratulations to both Roosevelt and Ballard.  This is testament to the hard work by students, parents and band directors at both schools.  That we now have a third powerhouse jazz band in our district is great news. 

The Essentially Ellington contest, the premier high school jazz band competition in the country, announced the finalists for the competition today. Roosevelt made the cut as did Mountlake Terrace High School. Garfield, the first place winner for the last two years, did not make the cut. I'm sure this is a blow to their fine program but I'm sure it will just be a blip and they will come back strong next year. Good luck, Roosevelt.