Seattle Schools Community Forum

I do want to put forth an accounting of the Board meeting last Wednesday, the 12th, but the MOST important thing is to tell parents to get your feelings/thoughts/ideas/amendments into the Board as soon as possible. My take from public testimony is that there are a couple of big concerns: - grandfathering (many, many calls for this to be expanded) - uncertain pathways to middle school - boundary changes that affect too many schools and their communities I cannot urge you enought to collaborate with other parents/schools and get those thoughts to the Board ASAP. Either: spsdirectors@seattleschools.org (for just the Board) or schoolboard@seattleschools.org (includes senior management) Here's what was said during the Board meeting on this topic.

Monday, May 13th Curriculum & Instruction Committee meeting, 4-5:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 14th Special Education Advocacy & Advisory Meeting from 6:30-9:30 p.m at JSCEE, Room 2700 Wednesday, May 15th Rally to save the Indian Heritage program (from press release): SPS is eliminating an entire program which has served as an anchor and support for Native learners and community. The district needs to reverse this decision and engage Native community. We have solutions and recommendations which will revitalize our Native focused programs and strengthen services, district seems intent on eliminating services and support programs which will serve to widen the acheivment gap and further marginalize our Native learners. Please plan to come out to the SPS Board meeting and support our community rally to SAVE INDIAN HERITAGE on May 15th starting at 3:30-5:00pm and public testimony 5pm . Call in for testimony is Monday 8am,  252-0040. Also bring your signs, drums, and please ...

Monday, April 29th Special meeting of Audit& Finance .  One single thing on the agenda - potential RIF presentation by HR head, Paul Apostle. Also, if you wish to speak at the School Board meeting on Wednesday, you can start calling/writing at 8 am on Monday. Tuesday, April 30th Charter Commission Meeting in Bellevue from 10 am - 5 p.m. at the Bellevue Arts Museum.  Agenda .  Open to the public (and people do come and go). They will be having an Executive Session first thing until 10:40 am.  They will then have a presentation about "charter school research findings" from the CRPE's Robin Lake.  (I have heard Ms. Lake speak before and she's a charter cheerleader. I'll be interested to see what the reaction is from the members.) Public Comment is at noon.  They are electing officers and any bets that Steve Sundquist won't be chair?  Mayoral forum from 6:30-9:00 pm at Garfield High School.  

Listening to speaker after speaker talk about the Indian Heritage Middle College program, I thought, "Well, add them to the list that includes Special Ed, Nova, and World School."  What do these programs have in common?   They get moved around as though they were furniture.   Each and every one of them deserves a permanent home. I spoke to Sarah Kelly, one of the speakers, and asked her about someone in their community doing a guest post about the history of their program.  (I was surprised to learn that Pathfinder K-8 used to be a feeder school for the program.)  One thing I told her was that once we had a history - one that is written by those who know it - it would be here for a long time.  The district may purge some history from its website but at least here it would have a home.  I'm hoping I will get that guest post within a couple of weeks. Also, there is an issue over the feeder patterns in West Seattle from middle to high sch...

Watch this video and see what looks like a community of happy kids and dedicated staff.  Inspirational. Green Lake Elementary Rocks!

First up, congratulations to Green Lake secretary, Debbie Passi , the Washington Education Association's Educational Support Professional of the Year.  Also, congratulations to Sandi Whiton, the Academic Intervention Specialist at Chief Sealth High School who received an award from the private college, Whitman.  Her award is called the Distinguished Elementary/Secondary Teacher Award and is given at their commencement exercises to honor an outstanding teacher who contributes significantly to the intellectual development of students.  My puzzlement comes from two places.  One, Ms. Whiton is an academic intervention specialist and what does that mean?  This is something every middle and high school should have.   As I mentioned previously, at the Alliance Breakfast they showed a Denny Middle School video that mentioned an "early incident specialist" who works there.  So obviously these intervention employees exist at some schools but which ones ...

Update : I managed to miss that the original source of this story was MyGreenLake.com and, as was pointed out, give credit where it is due (especially a blog!). My apologies. The Stranger Slog reports that on Jan. 13th after school was over that day, a child playing tag ran out into the street at Green Lake Elementary (where they don't have a totally fenced playground) and the child was hit by a car. Luckily the student was unhurt. The child was there without adult supervision. From the article: The blog said that Bowers admitted that the unfenced playground is "a huge safety concern," promising that fencing will go in "ASAP." "This is my biggest fear," Bowers told parents of the accident. The district said they had approved a request for the fence in December but it got held up for "parts." There was also mention that the lack of fencing could have been a decision that GL Elementary had been allowed to make. No one seems to kno...

Quick updates from our readers: Green Lake Elementary voted no confidence ; 26 yes, 1 no, 1 abstained Ballard's principal, Phil Brockman, is leaving. Big loss as Phil is one of the best principals we have. I hear he's going to be at the headquarters but I haven't heard in what position. And because it is so hard for teens to find jobs, I saw this as well: Be a Microsoft Apprentice! The Microsoft Apprentice program is designed for teens, who are going to be juniors and seniors in the fall, and have a strong interest in business, marketing, and Microsoft. Microsoft is looking for students who have great attendance, a positive attitude, like to learn new things and have great communication skills. ($9.00 per hour) Apply online at www.teenjobs.org or contact Aaron Eggers at 206.334.3310 or email aeggers@postiveplace.org see career center job board for information. Another Update: Checking the agenda I see two things of note. One, there are 5 open spots for speak...

Dr. Enfield visits Olympic View Elementary PTA on Thursday, the 14th at 6:30 p.m. if you've been wanting to hear her speak or ask a question. From an SPS press release: "Green Lake Elementary Principal Cheryl Grinager will become principal at McDonald Elementary; Coe Elementary Principal David Elliott will be the new principal at Old Hay School, and John Hay Principal Dan Warren will become principal at Sand Point Elementary. Grinager, Elliott and Warren will continue as principals at their current schools while working with members of their respective new school communities in preparation for the 2010 school openings." "Families and staff at Coe, Green Lake and John Hay elementary schools and The Center School will be notified when a hiring timeline for a new principal has been developed. The first step will be for instructional directors to meet with the school community to identify the desired qualities and characteristics for their school leader." I literall...