Seattle Schools Community Forum

I asked the district: Is it true that opting out your kids can get them removed from the Spectrum/APP seats? The answer, via Advanced Learning, was a flat "no."   So if your teacher/principal is saying this, tell them you checked with the district.   If you continue to hear this, I would write to your region's Executive Director because it is wrong to give out misinformation about SBAC testing. Nationally, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, endorsing opting out (at least in her home state of New York).  Her statement yesterday via Twitter, We believe parents have right to opt-out & tchrs shld be able to advise parents how. We’ve said it repeatedly, are fighting for it in ESEA. @lacetothetop et al have asked what I’d do if I had kids in NYPS—based on what I’ve seen, if I had kids, I’d opt them out of the PEARSON (PAARC) tests this yr. I may have put this up before but I think it worthy of a repeat: it's the ...

This is a guest editorial from Palo Alto On-line,from a junior at a high-pressure high school who has much to say about the nature of public education.  And yes, I know if you read this, you might roll your eyes and think, "white people problems."  But despite Palo Alto being a wealthy area, talking about teen stress and pressure is important no matter where a student lives. It is about what we are doing to kids, their joy of learning and the nature of learning. My stress began in elementary school, where students were segregated into separate class meetings as "early" and "late" readers. Although we were just elementary schoolers, we perceived this as a differentiation between the less and more advanced students and either felt superior due to our intellect or shamed for a "lack" thereof.  Middle school didn't get any better. At the end of sixth grade, we were placed into either Pre-Algebra or Pre-Algebra Advanced, though nobody ...

I note that the district's home page has a prominent section on the upcoming Open Enrollment period that starts on Monday, Feb. 23rd.  It lasts until Friday, March 6th.  This period is to request "a school or program outside" of your regular assignment. As a general rule, your student is assigned to the same school he or she is attending now. In the case of students moving up to middle or high school, students will be automatically assigned to their neighborhood school. You will be able to confirm your student's school assignment via the Assignment Look-Up Tool after Feb. 23 or by calling our automated phone system at (206) 252-0212. If you would like to change your current or assigned school for the 2015-16 school year, get detailed Open Enrollment instructions at bit.ly/Apply-OpenEnrollment or by contacting the Admissions office at (206) 252-0760. School Choice forms will be available when Open Enrollment begins on on Feb. 23. If you request a different schoo...

The Shoreline School district is currently in lockdown.  A staff member at Meridian Park Elementary reported seeing a man with a gun. Students on buses currently enroute to school have been rerouted to Spartan Rec Center where parents with ID may pick them up.  The district is asking parents to NOT send their kids to school today.  Also today, Hoquiam School District, Taholah School District on the Quinalt Reservation, Aberdeen School District and South Bend School district - all of these are closed today because of the landslides and flooding in their area. Please send out some good karma/prayers for all these districts and their students and staffs.

Let's give the proposed Advanced Learning policy some thought and see where it leads us. Schools had better start thinking about it and right quick because School Board policies become effective immediately upon approval by a majority vote of the Board. That means that any services promised in the Advanced Learning policy will have to be delivered immediately after the vote on December 3. Those services are supposed to be provided in every school and they will be required to be in place on December 4. The Kindergarten services will have to be in place at the start of the second semester, Monday, February 2. Has anyone asked if the schools are ready to deliver?

The District has posted an updated draft of the proposed Advanced Learning Policy and Procedure . The updated versions still contain the flaws of the previous drafts.

The deadline for input on the Advanced Learning draft updates has been extended until Wednesday, Oct. 22nd.   The draft policy and procedures are available through the link in the right hand column on www.seattleschools.org/advlearning . The Oct. 22 public comment deadline will provide time for the Advanced Learning Office to edit the documents if necessary before they are introduced to the full school board at the Nov. 5 board meeting. A vote is expected at the December 3 meeting. Community members who would like to submit a comment should email it to advlearn@seattleschools.org and be sure to include POLICY – in all caps – in the subject line. The district is also looking for input on the "revised Special Education policy related to Commencement Exercises and Certificate of Attendance." Deadline for comment is Oct. 31, 2014. The draft policy will introduced to the Seattle School Board at its Nov. 5 meeting. The draft policy is posted on the district’s Speci...

 Anybody get a call from the Gates Foundation survey folks?  My household did. According to my son, they asked some general questions and then got very specific.  What did he think of the efforts of the Gates Foundation in public education?  What did he think about the Gates Foundation's efforts around Common Core? They really need a poll to figure out what they are doing wrong?  I am assuming the Gates Foundation is doing the poll because 1) they fund everything and 2) who else would fund a poll on them? From SPS Legal about Title IX (bold mine): At this point the staff commitment is to create the very best Title IX program we can, complete with notices, training, and effective responses to incidents. This requires a clear chain of responsibility. Our first step was to create a Title IX web page, designating the key individuals. We are updating it frequently. We've recently provided sexual harassment prevention and response training to every school a...

One story is absolutely horrifying and appalling and ties right into the situation around the Garfield field trip incident.  The other story is about how treating more kids as "gifted" makes them perform better.

I plan on writing a thread this weekend that is an overview of how I see the Seattle School Board today.  There are certainly some interesting things being said by directors and frankly, I'm not sure I see them working as a unified body (but not the same people who usually get called out for having special interests).   I listened to the Board comments and more and more, I find them quite telling. - Update: forgot this one piece of info.  You may have heard that some school districts around the country have accepted various "items" from the Armed Forces.  One in San Diego accepted a tank.  Seriously.  I had a chance to ask Ass't Superintendent Pegi McEvoy this question yesterday.  She said the only things that SPS accepted from the military were blankets, cots and MREs.  Sounds good to me. - the district appears to have solved its website problems.  However, apparently the 46th Dems were to have an Endorsement meeting last night at ...

I'm not complaining about changing the name; I think people were forever getting APP and AP mixed up.  But why is Spectrum now "Advanced Learner or Spectrum."   Pick a name.  Uh, I see this about the webpage: "... remove unnecessarily repetitive or outdated material,.."   Meaning, we got rid of a lot of historical information that might have explained many things.  Don't worry, we're still here at SSCF. From SPS Communications: SEATTLE-As school begins and the nomination window for Advanced Learning services opens, the Advanced Learning Office has initiated several enhancements to benefit Seattle Public Schools families: changing some service and program names and streamlining its series of web pages. These changes are designed to help the Advanced Learning Office more effectively communicate with families of current and potential advanced learners. Strengthening school, family and community engagement is the third goal of the District...

Advanced Learning Task Forces Report  &  Recommendations                    August 2014 The Advanced Learning Task Force s  met  for  more than 50 hours  during the 2013- 2014  school  year   to study identification and  service delivery model s for Highly C apable students.  They  found  that many aspects of our Highly Capable/ Accelerated Progress Program work well and do not require changes.  The task forces believe  the current delivery model should remain in place with the recommendations below providing additional opportunities and direction to enhance equity of access to  Highly Capable  services . This task force was not asked to address Advanced Learning programs beyond those for Highly Capable students. The task force recognizes, however, that Spectrum and ALOs are a valued aspect of Advanced Learning, and the District should c...

Just kidding. There are no recs in the handout at the C&I meeting.  Apparently they will be in the Friday memo sent out by the Superintendent.  So unless someone who is on the Committee wants to let us know about them, I have no idea what they are. There was a funny moment when it was pointed out how old the Board's policy is (from 1993). They will be working with secondary counselors on what 9-12 students ,per the new WAC will receive as they had been getting "nothing in particular." First Stephen Martin said the vote on the recs was unanimous and later on, said it was the majority (he and Shauna Heath, head of C&I, exchanged glances on that one).  No idea what the real story is. They are hiring a couple of curriculum specialists (a good thing). Marty McLaren praised staff for this "sweet moment" to get this done.  I'm glad she's happy but I see no clarity here yet. Again, I see the end of Spectrum because they so clearly don't...

On another thread, nitpicker referenced the Highly Capable Program Requirements for All Districts document produced by OSPI. The 2013-2014 school year was the transition year, so everything is supposed to be implemented and up and running at the opening of school in a few short weeks. We're likely to be missing some required elements here in Seattle. And that's saying something because the OSPI has set the bar really, really low. Here's what's required:

I came across two articles recently on gifted students.  One is quite good, the other somewhat useful but over the top (and the tone is distracting from the content, in my opinion). NOW, to start, if you don't agree that there are gifted students or the need for gifted education, please don't comment.   Because many readers here already know that conversation. Tomorrow we will find out what the Advanced Learning Taskforce has to say about how Seattle Public Schools might view these students and their programs.  This work may or may not guide what changes the Board approves district staff to do. I offer these articles as both educational and thought-provoking. Nearly every "gift" that a child has can come with/have a double-edge to it.  For example, athletes are only as good as their health/lack of injury.  Gifted kids have the ability to go faster and farther but often have behaviors that backfire on them from this ability. No one has a better child o...

Corrections  I misspoke when I said that Jackie Bezos was Jeff Bezos' wife.  She is his mother.  She is the president of his family foundation.  I reported that two members of the Advanced Learning Committee were at the C&I meeting last week but I missed the name of one person.  That was Jeanne Thompson, the chair, of the APP Advisory Ctm and a member of the current AL taskforce. Updates The district is following other districts' in dropping the senior project for graduation.  They have waffled a bit saying individual high schools can still require them so you need to check with your high school to see what decision (if any) has been made.  You may recall that one high school student made creating a bill to get rid of the senior project her own senior project.  

Again, high school graduations are continuing so congrats to all students and their families. As well, Thursday is the last day of school for all students so enjoy these last days.  Wednesday, June 18th School Board meeting, starting at 4:15 pm.  Agenda .

Update:  AL Supervisor Stephen Martin provided the grant application to me but I can't seem to create a link.  He said this: As you may know, the final guidance from OSPI will not be available until Tuesday June 17, so the iGrant application is very much a work in progress and likely to change before submission. OSPI understands that districts may need to make revisions as local plans are finalized for this first year of implementation of the new WACs. From the SPS webpage: - Summer Testing: For students who moved to Seattle after October 2013 and were not able to test for Advanced Learning eligibility, a summer testing opportunity is available. Information and Application Form . Applications are due by August 1, 2014. - For students found eligible for Advanced Learning programs, a School Choice Form must be completed in order to enroll. Forms are available from the Enrollment office (www.seattleschools.org/enrollment or call 252-0760). You can still apply for a ...

There were some other key, important things said at both the School Board meeting last Wednesday and the Board retreat yesterday.  I'll just group information under headings but note by M (for meeting) or R (for retreat) where I heard it. Principals (M) To note, both of the Washington State Principals of the Year, for high school and K-8, came from Seattle Schools.  Keven Wynkoop, principal at Ballard , and Keisha Scarlett, principal at South Shore, were the winners.  Mr. Wynkoop is one of several of our high school principals who actually attended the high school he now leads.  Native American students (M) President Peaslee noted that she wished that the Indian Heritage program would be revitalized especially in high school.  This came in conjunction with the large contingent of Native American parents, students and community members who were part of public testimony.  They said they wanted a program for high school and hoped it could be at Ch...

Monday, June 9th Curriculum and Instruction Policy Committee Meeting , 4:30-6:30 pm.  Agenda A large agenda for various policies and includes an update on Creative Approach schools, Advanced Learning update, the BARs for the Highly Capable Program Annual Plan and Seattle Teacher Residency.  At the end of the agenda, just added - Math Adoption Update. If you do one extra thing this week (besides writing to the Board/your principal about your thoughts on the math adoption), try to attend this meeting from about 5:45-6:30 pm .  If that small Board conference room was packed with parents/community, it would send a powerful message to all in the room.  Even if you had to stand in the hall and try to listen, it would be worth it. Wednesday, June 11th Executive Committee Meeting, 8:30-10:00 am.  Agenda Among the items is "public access to district records- policy 4040", review of annual required reports (which is a funny one considering how - according to Cha...