Seattle Schools Community Forum

From Beacon Hill parents: On Monday, June 8th, Lester "Flip" Herndon from Seattle Public Schools came to Kimball to let us know that SPS staff will now recommend to the School Board that Kimball-area kids stay assigned to Mercer Middle School for the foreseeable future, instead of Washington Middle School.

From Seattle.gov (thanks to reader Lynn): Detectives are investigating an early morning arson and burglary to one of the portable classrooms at Asa Mercer Middle School in the 1600 block of  South Columbian Way. At around 1:30 this morning, Seattle Fire responded to a fire alarm at the school.  SFD found evidence of forced entry and arson.  SPD was called and detectives from the Arson/Bomb Squad (ABS)  responded.  SFD quickly extinguished the fire set inside the portable classroom.  It is believed that a number of computers that were inside the classroom were stolen by the suspect(s).  CSI detectives also responded to and assisted with evidence collection.  ABS will be responsible for the follow up investigation. One thing to consider is how many more of these portables there will be throughout our district and how secure they are.  I am sad that someone felt the need to try to burn own this one at Mercer. 

Almost a year ago I did a thread on South Shore and compared it to the other K-8s.  I found in reading, SS is about the same as most K-8s but the math is worse.  So I did a comparison today with South Shore, Roxhill and Maple from 2009 to today and there seems to be two issues.  One, something seems amiss from 3rd to 4th grade at South Shore .  The children in third grade do really well only to see those scores drop (and I mean drop) by 4th and into 5th.  Two, there is a bit of a mystery about South Shore.  No one mentions the long-time partnership that started South Shore (with the New School Foundation and now LEV).  Not at their school website and barely in the district's own pages.  You'd think this would be some shining example of (1) what you can do with smaller class sizes and (2) public/private partnerships.   Why doesn't the district talk about SS more when confronting legislators over funding?  I note the district d...

 Update: a great story from the Times about the Ballard valedictorian this year.   Mikael Perla got diagnosed with leukemia in the middle of his freshman year.   He spent two grueling years fighting it off (with steroids causing him to have diabetes).   He could have taken time off to fight but he continued his studies.  Don't mistake Perla's persistence for arrogance. He credits his top grades to hard work and teachers who tutored him. He doesn't mention that he practically taught himself the language and math of chemistry from textbooks in bed, that he turned in every homework assignment, that he came in after school to do labs when he would be less likely to catch germs from classmates, reluctantly accepting his mom as his lab partner. Mikael Perla will attend the University of Washington in the fall after completing a summer program in engineering. He's considering a career in medicine. Good luck, Mikael - you have lots ...

I attended part of the Board retreat last Saturday and part of the (kind of funny) School Board meeting last night.  If you've been around this district awhile, you could definitely feel a change. 

A good story in the Times about the growth and success of Mercer Middle School by reporter Brian Rosenthal.  What's interesting about this story is the subtext - namely, that Mercer has raised its achievement level by going off the district script.   To whit: - Mercer didn't follow the Strategic Plan.  That's not in the story but when Mercer was being extolled at the Seattle Channel forum on the Strategic Plan at Town Hall earlier this year, the question was asked if this work done at Mercer fell under the Strategic Plan directives.  The answer was no. - This story explains: There have been some bold moves, such as scrapping the district's mandated math textbook in favor of a specialized curriculum built to the same state standards. While the district requires middle schools to use Connected Mathematics Project textbooks, Mercer decided those books were too reading-intensive for its large number of students whose native language isn't English. So s...

Two heartwarming stories about rivals, Aki Kurose and Mercer Middle Schools, and a meeting of the minds (and bodies) over Ultimate Frisbee.  I heard the the KUOW story myself and had to smile and a reader (thanks!) sent me the PI story.   From the PI: Four years ago, the kids from Aki Kurose and Asa Mercer middle schools – both in Seattle's South End – were bitter rivals. Mercer students would bus to Aki on half days to jump those who lingered after school. Aki students threw rocks at Mercer school buses. Gangs grew out of each middle school, and violence gripped the area. So Terry and Rex Gaoaen of the Union Gospel Mission decided to take over the fledging ultimate program (at Mercer). Ultimate, they reasoned, was a peaceful sport. But the North End kids didn't bother them as much as a nearer opponent: Aki Kurose. Tugade said that after losing to Aki in seventh grade, the players wondered, "Why be mad at them? They made good throws and good points. These guys aren...

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 ...

I had hoped to do my endorsements all in one fell swoop but I still have three incumbents to interview.  But by week's end, I hope to be done. I'm sure some of you might think, "Why is she bothering to interview them when it seems clear she doesn't support them?"  My answer is that it is the fair thing to do.  Is there something I can glean from talking to them one-on-one that I have missed?  I have very few questions for them so I'm not grilling them.  My most basic question is this one: Going forward, what will YOU, as an individual Board director, do differently in your second term based on what you have learned from your first term?   I am endorsing Sharon Peaslee because I believe that: she has the skill set to get up to speed quickly (something that is key for new Board member) she has had the experience as a parent in three districts in our region she has the understanding of Special Ed because of her own children she has shown herself s...

The West Seattle Herald ran an interview with Director Steve Sundquist where he says some pretty interesting things.   (They will be running interviews with challengers Marty McLaren, Joy Anderson and Nick Esparza soon.)   The Herald made one mistake (I believe) which was to only list the other incumbents running and not their challengers. 

Good news from The Road Map Project.  One of their efforts is to make sure that as many eligible students as possible sign up for the College Bound Scholarships .  Looks like it paid off as a record 91% of eligible students signed up (as compared with 74% lat year).  Thank you to everyone who reminded a kid or their PTA. The scholarship will cover students who pledge to graduate from high school, demonstrate good citizenship and seek admission to a college. The area covered includes South Seattle, Auburn, Federal Way, Highline, Renton, and Tukwila.  Tukwila signs up 100% of all eligible students while Auburn climbed from 38% to 67%.  Over 3900 student signed-up.  The Seattle schools covered are Secondary BOC, Merce, Aki Kurose, Orca, South Shore, Washington and Denny.  Secondary BOC, Mercer, and Aki Kurose enrolled 100% of their eligible students.  South Seattle schools overall went from 91% to 95%.

SPS reports: An Aki Kurose teacher has been selected for a Fulbright Classroom Teacher Exchange.  Math teacher Suzanne Mayer was the only Washington State teacher selected for this honor.  She will travel to India in August and stay until January 2012.  A teacher from India will take her place during that time period at Aki Kurose.  Robert Ettinger, a teacher at Mercer Middle School , received the Amgen Award for Teaching Science Excellence.  He receives $5,000 and Mercer receives $5,000 towards science development there.  Ettinger was chosen to receive the award because of his creative teaching methods and effectiveness in the classroom, according to Carol Pawlak of Amgen Washington. Center School students Tara Conley, Riley Moffitt, Jasiah Ruby, Sophie Mitchell and Sam Wolk won the 48-Hour Film Off at the  National Film Festival for Talented Youth. Their film, Jam the Jam, was both the audience and judges' favorite.  Center...

OSPI announced its list of 2010 Washington Achievement Award winners . There are several Seattle schools on the list (a couple notable for being named in two places) but there aren't many. From OSPI: The Washington Achievement Award: Is awarded collaboratively with the State Board of Education (SBE) and based on the Washington Achievement Index. Celebrates schools for overall excellence and special recognition in: language arts, math, science, graduation rate, improvement and closing achievement gaps. Honors schools at an annual ceremony hosted by the SBE and OSPI. OSPI uses statewide assessment data from the past three years to make their selections. OSPI wants to recognize the efforts of schools and their families into making good schools happen. So what SPS schools are on the list? Overall Excellence Bryant* - Concord Int'l* - Coe - Hay* - Loyal Heights* - McGilvra* - Montlake* - Schmitz Park - Mercer* - Blaine K-8 Language Arts Nova Math Loyal Heights - Schmitz Park Sc...

Looking at the School Board agenda for tonight's meeting, there are many changes. (One thing that hasn't changed is that there is no information what the Superintendent's update, CAO update or COO update will be about tonight.) One big change is that Kay Smith-Blum has withdrawn her amendment . Her statement seems to reflect having listened to her constituents and finding their reasoning plausible. First, I have withdrawn my amendment from tonight's agenda. I greatly appreciate your input and sincerely apologize for any anxiety caused. My amendment would NOT have reassigned any student, but I appreciate neighbors who would like to see their children continue to be assigned to the same school and greatly appreciate the upheaval the NSAP/TT Minor closure has had on the neighborhood. The numbers the board received LAST NIGHT from Tracy Libros show that Steven's enrollment will be up from the already 111% capacity, and do not include siblings of current Stev...