Seattle Schools Community Forum

From SPS Communications: Garfield and Roosevelt high schools are ranked in the top 10 for students receiving the Washington State Honors Award. Garfield is ranked 8th and Roosevelt is ranked 9th – tied with Brainbridge High School. The  Washington State Honors Award Program  honors the top 10 percent of the current year's graduating class from Washington state. To qualify for the award a student must rank in the top 10 percent of this year’s high school graduating class. The ranking is determined by an index, which considers Grade Point Average and college prep test scores. Furthermore, a student must have completed at least 75 percent of the credits required for graduation and be enrolled in at least three academic core subjects in Grade 12. Of the 260 school districts in the state, the following heads the list for having the most recipients. 1. Newport High School - Bellevue School District 2. Skyline High School  - Issaquah School District 3. Mercer Island...

Remember that Leonardo DiCaprio movie, What's Eating Gilbert Grape?  The SPS version is, "What's Going on with Advanced Learning?"   What appears -to me - to be happening is that Michael Tolley and Shauna Heath are quietly making a lot of decisions behind closed doors and quietly spreading them out through the schools.  Spectrum principals, either on their own or thru Tolley and Heath, seem to be dismantling every single Spectrum program, whether popular and/or working well. It is now late April and at the time of year that staff loves because the end of the school year is nigh, you parents get distracted and the staff has the entire summer to continue to roll out whatever they are doing. That much of this is happening all the while the district has not one, but two AL taskforces, both dedicated only to APP makes it quite clear what is happening.  (The Taskforce that Charlie and I served on?  All APP, all the time.)  This district does not care f...

United Opt-Out , a website that has state-by-state resources for parents on how to opt their children out of tests got hacked recently.  They say it was " maliciously hacked and destroyed in an act of political sabotage." Odd, no? I mean, it's not Target or any money-making entity where you could get credit card info.  It's information for public school parents.  And yet it didn't just get temporarily interrupted - it got destroyed. From Reclaim Reform : How much money is involved for investors in the highly lucrative fields of testing, online programming, training, publishing, vendor contracts, etc.? The latest estimates from a Bill Moyers interview with Diane Ravitch is about $500 billion annually. View/read HERE .  And, of course, there is the power in directing the course of public education.  I'm sure some ed reformers could not have that taken away from them.  On Common Core and popular support (which supporters insist is huge). ...

Last night's Board meeting saw the honoring of four (!) SPS basketball championship teams.  (My apologies to Garfield's boys basketball team - I managed to flub my photos of them.) Ballard High School Beavers -Special Olympics Unified Basketball Team Cleveland High School Lady Eagles- 3A State Champs Rainier Beach Vikings - 3A State Champions The Superintendent in a demonstration of how much a middle school student would have to carry w/o a locker. Later Start protesters before the meeting Ballard High Video by Will Erstad, Aurore Bouriot and Side Johnson about needing more sleep.

 Update: Congratulations to the Cleveland High School girls basketball team - now the 3A state champions !  They beat Bishop Blanchet High School, 54-45. Congratulations to Garfield High School's  boys basketball team for winning the 4A state title overland Richland, 68-59! Congratulations to Rainier Beach High School's boys basketball team for winning the 3A state title over Eastside Catholic, 47-45!  It is RBHS' third straight state title.   No other team in state history has won three titles in a row. End of update. All three Seattle schools won their basketball game last night and are playing in championship games today. Good job and best wishes to the Cleveland girls basketball team, the Rainier Beach HS boys basketball team and the Garfield boys basketball team! (The Garfield game went off without any incident from either side.  There had been concern about the issue of racially-charged tweets by a few ignorant Issaquah High students.)

Garfield High School's basketball team is on its way to start playing at the state finals.  (So is Cleveland's girls basketball team. )   My Northwest is reporting that after the school's third meet-up with Issaquah's basketball team, things took a nasty turn after tweets were sent saying racially disrespectful things about team members and cheerleaders.

I do want to note a couple of items before attending to the subject of the thread. Director McLaren was not in attendance at last night's meeting. Also, the student speaker, Mallory Richey of Roosevelt , told the Board and Superintendent that they are working more on school pride and have "Rider Pride" cards that they send home with students to their parents, letting the parents know a good thing - either kindness, leadership, etc. - that their student did that contributed to the life of the school.  Great idea. After attending part of last night's Board meeting, I feel somewhat differently about later start times for secondary students becoming a reality at some point in the near future.  Here's why. Most of the speakers for public testimony were speaking in support of later start times and boy, did the supporters find some good speakers. One was Michael Vitiello who is a UW professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.  From his UW page: Dr. Vitie...

 From the Central District News , a trailer was released for a film, One Square Mile, that was shot throughout Seattle including Garfield High School .   Many recognizable sights and yay! Garfield.  I learned that there is a subtropical storm brewing over the Central Atlantic about 600 miles off Bermuda.  Melissa is showing signs of developing a tighter core of convection (thunderstorms) close to its center, signaling that it may be trying to become a fully tropical storm. However, an approaching cold front over the western Atlantic should catch up to Melissa by Thursday, heralding its inevitable transition to a post-tropical low. Melissa is no direct threat to land, but its large wind field is generating large swells that will affect Bermuda, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, parts of the Bahamas and the northern Lesser Antilles over the next few days. So really, a lot of hot air.  Hmmm. What's on your mind?

Contact me at sss.westbrook@gmail.com.  Anything you might wish to say could be said anonymously but contact me first. Thanks.

Two Special Education stories of note. First, the Times reports that the State will accept SPS's Special Ed plan with a few extra conditions.  The concern seems to be that the staffing plan seems more worried about teachers's needs than meeting student needs.  The State also wants the district to spend more federal dollars on consultants to help to shape/improve services.  Also, the AP is reporting that Bainbridge School District has to pay the family of a student with Asperger's who was bullied $300,000 in damages .  The lawsuit started in 2010 when the student was then 14 and at Bainbridge High School.  The parents had gone so far as to get a restraining order against four male students as well as contacting the Bainbridge Island police.   The students were found guilty of criminal conduct relating to their actions towards the victim. Another STEM school with an aviation twist has opened in south Seattle.  The school, Raisbeck Aviation High Sch...

I did finally manage to get the narrative police report on Garfield (missing a page and I'm going to request some other items as well). Just by way of explaining my coming criticism, I did a 6-month stint as a volunteer investigator for the Public Defender's office (I've been around) and I had the opportunity to read a lot of police reports and interview many police officers.  I learned a lot and naturally, the first thing to always state is that the only thing between us and the bad guys are cops so we have to be grateful for their presence.  (And, everyone is always happy to see firefighters but hardly ever the cops.  It's a tough, tough job.) This is not a great narrative, you can't follow exactly where the action is at any given point, very loosey-goosey and I suspect that there is a better one out there somewhere. Basically, the officer says that he was told, by the victims (so there are kids who were willing to talk), that they were sitting at lunch on...

From My Northwest: The Seattle School District has temporarily banned 11 students from Garfield High School while it investigates a widely publicized hazing incident that involved over 100 students.  The "emergency expulsion" prohibits the 11 sophomores, juniors and seniors from campus and school activities during the investigation, said spokesperson Teresa Whipple.  "We are working on an individual basis, so if a student is cleared, they can get back to school right away."  Once the investigation is complete, officials will determine punishments. They could range from being prevented to taking part in prom or graduation to suspension or expulsion. In the interim, the students are still able to do their school work and communicate with their teachers from home. I am still trying to get the police report from SPD but it is still unavailable.  Clearly, a serious issue.

The Garfield High School Associated Student Body does not condone harassment, abuse, intimidation, humiliation, violence, or bullying of any kind. We support and encourage inter-class unity by continuing to provide and promote safe and school-appropriate events. Any student who needs help or assistance should contact an ASB officer, counselor, teacher, or administrator.  Garfield ASB From Principal Howard on October 4th:   To our Garfield families,  Thank you for your continued support of Garfield High School. As I reflect on the events from the past week, I have given some thought to the following ideas. We are in the process of researching ways that Garfield will be addressing the reported hazing incident which occurred within our neighborhood last week.  Garfield's next steps will be to educate our faculty and students around self advocacy and decision making as it relates to the day to day stressors that adolescents are faced with in today's ...

From the Seattle Times, SPD are talking to six GHS students about the Garfield hazing event.  No arrests have been made and SPD will contact the parents of the students.  In the comments section, there were some more details (wild ones) about this incident.  It is clear that like Rashomon, it depends on who you are, where you were and what you saw. I have requested the SPD police report on this incident. President Smith-Blum said this at tonight's Board meeting: I want to speak about the incident in a public park where there was intentional hazing of students from a high school . Students - bad job, parents - rein it in. Hurling racial slurs is a truly a community problem and it takes all of us to solve this problem. Parents, it is not easy job. Sometimes they don't tell you the truth and you think you know what is going on and don't. Stay close to your students and create opportunities to talk. Don't be afraid to parent and if you hear there will be drin...

Update 2:  From SPS: We have zero tolerance for bullying, hazing and intimidation, and we take it very seriously. ·          We are continuing to investigate this incident. ·          We are in the process of determining what type of disciplinary action is warranted for those students who were involved. Update 1: Text of information on hazing on the front page of the Garfield webpage. 1.In addition to the district disciplinary suspension, hazing incidents will be considered criminal offenses and treated as such. 2.Hazing incidents will be reported to ALL college school applications, career and/or work references. Seems clear to me. End of update. Principal Ted Howard of Garfield apparently got wind of hazing happening off-campus and went to inspect.  He was not happy with what he found. He sent this note to parents (red mine):  Do you know where your son or daughter is a...

Garfield teacher and MAP boycott leader Jesse Hagopian was named the " Secondary School Teacher of the Year" last Saturday by the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences International in Washington, D.C.  His "Bammy" award was also joined by a "Grammys for Teachers", a special achievement award, for his work. The annual Bammy awards recognize educators from across the education field: teachers, principals, librarians, nurses, school-board members, superintendents, and others. The presenter told the audience this Bammy was for “a demonstration of courage” because, he said, courage is necessary “when doing what’s in the best interests of children…” He added that sometimes courage “means going against accepted policy, going against what is accepted convention.” “This is a victory for all of the students, parents and teachers at Garfield who refused to give the Michelle Rhee-endorsed MAP test, and who stood strong in the face of education-corrupting...

This can be an open thread on issues at your school .  I've heard from several schools that have concerns about academics and growth boundaries. UPDATE:   I am also hearing that hours for nurses are being reduced at schools to about 1 day a week (or less).  I'll have to check into this because while I love the idea of health centers at all the comprehensive high schools (and a couple of middle schools) via the F&E levy, I am dismayed that other schools will barely register a medical presence.  Anyone hear anything about this at your school? First up is Garfield .   The president of the Garfield PTSA contacted Director Smith-Blum with worries over class assignments at Garfield.  Apparently there aren't enough classes - in biology and Spanish - to help all the students trying to fulfill graduation requirements for college admissions.    Some students only have four classes and want to have a full compliment of classes. It seems to be ...

From the Central District News : Three NBA stars, each Garfield High School alumni, are returning to the Central District to distribute school supplies to neighborhood students. The project is run by humanitarian organization World Vision. The participating players are Will Conroy , currently with the Minnesota Timberwolves; Tony Wroten, currently with the Memphis Grizzlies; and Brandon Roy , who played most of his career with the Portland Trailblazers and retired with the Minnesota Timberwolves after the 2012-13 season. Each player graduated from Garfield High School before going on to play for the University of Washington. The giveaway will take place at the Third Annual Back to School Backpack Giveaway & Community BBQ. Here, the players will distribute 600 backpacks of school supplies and 500 family food kits. Kids can get free hair cuts before school starts and snag an autograph with the players. The event will be held on Saturday, August 24, from noon to 3 ...

It's summer and yet it feels busier than ever. Saturday community meeting with Director Patu at Cafe Vita at 10 am. Concerning story about the use of Roundup and links to autism, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's from Nation of Change. The authors of the new review call for more independent research to validate their findings, stating that “glyphosate is likely to be pervasive in our food supply, and contrary to being essentially nontoxic, it may in fact be the most biologically disruptive chemical in our environment.” From Director Carr on the subject of the Management Letter from the SAO: Please be clear that the Board doesn’t respond to the SAO – our management team does. The SAO doesn’t require to response to management letters, only to findings. The management team is required to develop corrective action to the Board as we track all levels in A&F (findings, exit items, management letters) though they are provided some flow time to develop that plan (so we don’...

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?