Seattle Schools Community Forum

Somehow I missed this but PBS had a story in June.  on the International Baccalaureate program at Rainier Beach High School.  I am glad they are getting this notice.  The International Baccalaureate program, once thought of as a college preparatory curriculum exclusively for the rich, may also help students at struggling schools. The NewsHour’s April Brown explores how the program has transformed one high school in Seattle.

Rainier Beach is one of three comprehensive high schools to not have a complete renovation. Chief Sealth has had major work done and got some of it via the fallout of them having to share a campus with Denny.  Ingraham is the other but Ingraham has also had major work done and has been on every single BEX and BTA.   Rainier Beach got a performing arts hall (but no performing arts curriculum or program so it sat, mostly unused for years) and had some building area upgrades but not much else. According to the Times, the Rainier Beach community isn't going to wait for the district to make their building better.  They would like to make it the greenest high school in the state.  The story in the Times . T he community’s aspirations were announced Tuesday at a news conference where Mayor Mike McGinn and Denis Hayes, president of the Bullitt Foundation, expressed their support, albeit not the financial kind.  The Bullitt Foundation doesn’t fund capita...

Tonight and tomorrow night, PBS is showing 180 Days: A Year Inside an American High School .  It's a two-part 4-hour special about a "failing" high school in Washington, D.c. where only seven percent of students are deemed proficient in math and only 19 percent in reading.  It was produced by the National Black Programming Consortium.  (Locally, KCTS 9 is showing it on both nights, starting at 9 p.m.) From the director, Jacquie Jones', piece at the Huffington Post: After receiving this press release, a veteran African American journalist for whom I have the utmost respect, asked me this question in an email: "I looked at the   site   for this program and I see that the team spent a lot of time in the high school, but what I'm not getting is why this is compelling television. Why should I watch?" That's a good question. And, as I said to him, my honest answer on whether or not you should watch really depends on how interested you are in the to...

From The Pitch Room at PBS: We want to hear more ideas. If you’re an educator and you have one practical idea that can be implemented in a classroom to help students, then take part in our Education Ideas project. Upload a video that discusses your idea to our YouTube channel, and we’ll pick some of the best ones to showcase on our website, and possibly our national broadcast. Here’s how to do it: 1. Use a digital camera or video recorder to make a video that discusses your idea. Please don’t use any copyrighted content or images of students without parental consent! 2. Log in to your YouTube account (if you don’t have one, you can create one here ) and upload your video. 2. Go to the Need to Know Education Ideas video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVeN7MFVnmg 3. Click on the comments field. A button should appear that says “Attach a response video.” Follow the instructions from there. Looking for inspiration? Take a look at some of the ideas that have already been su...