Seattle Schools Community Forum

From SPS (note: the survey at the bottom currently does not have a live link): The district is examining these programs in order to make recommendations about potential changes in the 2017-18 school year. Interested families, community members, and staff may participate in one or more of the following ways:

The district has a plan to expand the system of dual language/international schools.  I think this would be welcome news to many parents who would like that opportunity for their child. Seattle Public Schools in March 2016 initiated a process for addressing these challenges and others through the establishment of an International Schools / Dual Language Immersion Task Force. The primary purpose of the Task Force is to prepare a report to the Superintendent of Schools regarding the impacts, risks and benefits for sustaining and expanding Seattle’s International Schools and Dual Language Immersion programs. The Superintendent will use this report, along with other important data in making recommendations to the School Board for potential changes in the 2017-18 school year. However, there is always the underlying issue of how this is funded.  The district likes to start programs with little funding and then expect them to do well (or expect parents to raise money for them...

I didn't know this newsletter, Global Talk, existed and I am glad to provide the link.  They provide information on travel opportunities for both students and teachers. Here's one of their great articles. Earn High School Credits for a Language You Already Know Are you an 11th or 12th grade student who speaks a language other than English? Can you read and write in it too? Do you want to earn credit for it? If you answered yes to all three questions, then you are a good candidate for the World Language Credit Program. These credits can help meet high school graduation requirements for elective credits and 4-year college admissions requirements for world languages. Seattle Public Schools is able to sponsor tests for 11th and 12th graders. Younger students (8th-10th grades) may also sign up for testing, but they'll need to pay for their own tests at this time. Over 70 students have already tested this fall with over 70% of them earning 4 credits! Upcomi...

Sitting at the Executive Committee Meeting and wondering: - if the district is a partner in the new Seattle Teacher Residency program and the first year costs are $50k and escalate up to $1M by year 5 (it's part of Strategic Plan for teacher development), why do we need TFA at all?  Why complicate things if our district and its partners are creating home-grown talent from outside of schools of education? - wondering why, if Jane Addams has a planning principal and planning team, Wilson-Pacific doesn't have a team.  Apparently Chris Cronas, principal at Wedgwood, is the planning principal for W-P middle school but I haven't heard anything about outreach to parents. That middle school will open at John Marshall for 2014-20115.  Should parents with students assigned there get to give input just like JA parents?  (Note: just because Mr. Cronas is the planning principal doesn't mean he is leaving Wedgwood.) - I still need to do a write-up of the Board retreat but I ...

I'll try to hit the major points I heard along with quotes (and color commentary). Just upfront, it was discouraging.  It's now 2013 and so many questions - Special Ed, Advanced Learning, K-8s and others - lack clarity and definition.  What was troubling is the number of "exceptions" to current policies that are out there.   There was also the issue of the so-called Program Placement Framework?  Where is this and should this be guiding the decisions made? As well, the presentation used excerpted quotes from various policies - Board or Superintendent or WAC - to justify their work.  But it seemed somewhat random. Growth Boundaries link .  To find it on your own, go to the district website.  Look for "enrollment" under the Schools tab.  Halfway down the menu on the right side is the Planning for the future: Growth Boundaries. 

The two items I took away from this Work Session on April 10th were these: The phrase "differentiating resource allocation" came up prominently.  I didn't really hear the Directors call it out but my own notes reflect "uh oh."  I say that because the Strategic Plan - in its early stages - seems to lean towards closing the achievement gap rather than supporting ALL students and their learning.  Differentiating resource allocation would tend to support that view.   And, with parents putting in more and more financial support to schools, I can see where some schools could become resentful of their efforts being taken for granted as the district guides money in certain directions. Director Patu called this one out and Michael Tolley said that it meant not necessarily "equal support" but to support students who need help. The other phrase was "academic assurances - basic education - for all students".   One of my first concerns...

To start, I think that foreign language teaching is great and should be started in every elementary school. I would advocate for foreign language several times a week in every elementary versus what we have now which are four foreign language immersion elementary schools that are ONLY open to neighborhood children. I did a previous post on this subject that covers some of the history. JSIS started as a Mickey Rooney/Judy Garland "hey kids, let's open a foreign language school to honor a beloved superintendent." But, where was the discussion about funding, where those kids go AFTER elementary and how to expand the program? Nowhere.   Guess what? John Stanford International School was a wild success and left other parents clamoring for more. It took the district nearly eight years to bring a couple more schools on-line and then McDonald in the last couple of years. (They did also finally get around to figuring out a pathway to middle and high school although those...

I had nearly forgotten that I had received a reply from Director Carr on the issue of the district considering partial funding for the IAs at McDonald for next year (despite the district saying previously that they weren't and it wasn't necessary to have IAs to have the program). I want to say upfront - the district created this program and after having sat through the Board Work Session on International Schools, I absolutely see the need for the IAs.  If the district wants the program to work, best practices would say have an IA in every room. However, there are two points to consider here. The main one is that that despite the popularity of the programs and the desire by many parents for access to them, they are ONLY available to children in certain neighborhoods.   This is not the fault of the parents but they also need to understand that they are getting something that other students have no access to.  And they need to understand that their program costs more ...

 (I know this is going to make many angry.  I'm sure the McDonald parents will be quite angry and I even know some of them.  My intent it to explain and to report on budgeting in the district.  If the Board is making decisions to benefit one program at the expense of others, then that deserves discussion.) Background:  When our district created John Stanford International School, there was big excitement.  This was to honor a fallen superintendent and it was a modern step forward for our district.   And, it was a huge success and a highly sought-after school. But there were a couple of big issues and one secret.  The issues were the creation of more of these popular schools AND where do the elementary students go after K-5?  I guess when they started JSIS, that seemed far away. But like all issues, the chickens came home to roost and there was a push for more schools and they were created.  And, they finally had Hamilton beco...

This was in Publicola today (bold mine): More names are circulating as contenders for two open seats in the state house: The 36th District position 2 seat, currently occupied by Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, and the 46th District position 2 seat, held by Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney. Both Dickerson and Gutierrez Kenney announced earlier this year that they plan to retire at the end of their current terms. In the 36th, which covers parts of Ballard, Queen Anne, Magnolia, Phinney Ridge, Fremont, and Belltown, several folks are rumored to be considering a run. They include John Burbank, head of the progressive Economic Opportunity Institute (and father of the infamous “latte tax”); Progressive Majority’s Washington State director, Noel Frame; Seattle School Board member Michael DeBell; Brett Phillips, son of King County Council member Larry Phillips and the director of sustainability at Unico Properties; and Jeff Manson, chair of the 36th District Democrats. It is unclear to m...

Prior to last week's Board meeting, there was a Board Work Session on the 2012-2013 Student Assignment Plan (vis a vis capacity management).  Highlights: they will be trying to link schools with fewer ELL services to those with more to provide more access to students who need those services they will be starting the new " World School " for SBOC at Meany.  I'm not sure exactly what this entails for Special Ed , they are going to try to do the same linking idea as for ELL students.  for Advanced Learning , they want to try to figure out what is a "real" ALO and what guidelines are given for schools that want ALOs.  Good question but you'd think AL would be able to answer that one right now.  Kay said she wants to see consistency in ALOs.  Tracy said the IB process at RBHS is moving along well. for International Education , they have feeder patterns set up except for needed two more elementaries for Denny.  The Superintendent said these woul...

Monday Parent Perspectives on Standardized Testing forum , Thornton Creek Elementary from 6-8 p.m. McDonald meeting for families who don't want foreign language immersion from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. at Lincoln library.   (Note; this is not a district-wide meeting and is only about McDonald but it might be interesting to hear what is said.)     Wednesday Board Work Session on Capacity Management from 4:00-5:30 p.m. School Board meeting from 6-9 p.m.   Call first thing Monday morning if you want to speak (252-0040) or boardagenda@seattleschools.org.  (I note that President Sundquist did say at the last Board meeting that you should be speaking on the topic you signed up for your slot.  I always try to do so but then I include other items.  The speakers list has not been full lately so I don't see this as a major issue.)

Didn't see this posted at the SPS website but over at the Wallyhood blog there is notice of a meeting on Monday night to discuss options for parents who don't want foreign language immersion at McDonald.  The McDonald Elementary PTA and the District are seeking feedback from families who do not want to attend McDonald this fall because of the language immersion program.  A meeting with Seattle School Board Director Sherry Carr and Bree Dusseault, Executive Director for NW schools for SPS, has been scheduled for April 4, 2011 from 6:30-7:30 in the library at Lincoln . (4400 Interlake Avenue N.)  This meeting is an opportunity to present concerns and potential solutions to district personnel.  Please try to make this meeting if you are, or are considering, not attending McDonald due to the immersion decision. The district needs to see just how many families are affected by this decision. The two languages to be used at McDonald are Japanese and Span...

Look, I know it was NOT McDonald Elementary's decision to have foreign language immersion. That the district reopened several new schools and now finds them underenrolled is their fault. I get that putting in foreign language helps shore up McDonald and will likely help fill it (drawing students out of more crowded schools). But that doesn't change the fact that McDonald and JSIS are relatively close to each other (although I think B.F. Day is closest to JSIS) and so that region doesn't even get the benefit of spreading this programming out. Now, McDonald PTA is having a survey about which languages they should have (it's closed now). I'm trying to remember if they did this for Beacon Hill or Concord and I don't think so. The choices were Spanish and Japanese (as JSIS has) or Chinese. I have to say that if McDonald takes on a different language route than JSIS, then Hamilton will then have to add on a third language to their curriculum.