Seattle Schools Community Forum

This was in the Northgate Community Center activities schedule.  Apparently, you can get a high school (maybe middle school) PE credit for this class.  Have you seen this elsewhere?  (Credit to Carolyn Leith for pointing this out.)

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 .

Monday, October 15th Superintendent Banda will be busy as he bounces from the Seattle Special Education PTA meeting and the Seattle Council PTA meeting .  Both are from 7-9 p.m. The Seattle Council meeting is in the auditorium but it is unclear where the Special Ed PTA is meeting.  I'll find out and post it. The Seattle Council PTA meeting includes Q&A on I -1240.  It also includes a presentation of the BEX IV levy. Tuesday, October 16th Operation Committee Meeting from 4-6 p.m.  Agenda .  To note, Pegi McEvoy will give an update on the BEX IV levy to the group.  Other items include the Student Assignment plan for 2013-2014. Wednesday, October 17th School Board meeting.  Agenda . A rather important one as this will introduce the BEX IV levy list AND the Board will vote on a resolution of a NO against I-1240.  I suspect quite a run for the speakers list especially from those supporting charters and the downtown folks. To get ...

The Board Curriculum and Instruction Policy Committee will meet on Monday, September 10, at 4:00pm. Their agenda has been posted to the District web site. It's pretty brief: 1. Call to Order (Marty McLaren) 4:00pm a. Agenda Approval b. Approval of Minutes: August 13, 2012 2. Committee Discussion Items a. University Tutors Contract (Kevin) b. Policy 2420, Definition of a High School Credit (Michael) c. Policy 2025 and 2025SP, Copyright Compliance (Eric C) 3. Adjourn 6:00pm

Seattle Public Schools, in fact all Washington state school districts, are working, more like blindly groping, towards awarding credit based on competency. We already have a policy for this, and the credit policy  is due for revision over the summer and fall to allow students at Cleveland to earn full credit for less than 150 hours of planned instruction. If they don't update the policy in time, then Cleveland will have to be an Alternative Learning Experience school and the state will only pay 85% of the usual funding. I think that the District should be more ambitious and should re-write their credit policy so that all of our ALEs will be able to award regular credits and get more funding. Either way, competency based credit is coming and I think we should all learn a little something about how that works. Here is an article about it.  10 Elements Towards Eliminating the Batch-Print System  by Tom Vander Ark was originally published on  CompetencyWorks . Ple...

I got a letter yesterday from Chief Academic Officer Susan Enfield advising me that my daughter will be awarded 0.5 high school credits for the French class she took in the eighth grade last year. From her letter: It was the intention of staff and at least some Board members that the policies approved in October 2009 were not to go into effect until fall of 2010, allowing the technical changes and review of courses to be in place before credit could be received. However, after further review of the Board Action Report for this item, it seems clear that it was stated that the policies would go into effect immediately upon approval. High school level classes taken in middle school during the 2009-2010 school year are eligible for high school credit. The student does have to petition the Board for the credit and does have to wait until they are enrolled in a Seattle School District high school to make the petition, but the credit will be awarded if it meets the criteria. Maybe it isn...

Incredible as it may seem, Seattle Public Schools still refuses to allow high school credit for high school level courses taken in middle school. Let's review the timeline on this cluster. Around 2004 or 2005 the State Legislature adopted this part of RCW 28A.230.090 : (4) If requested by the student and his or her family, a student who has completed high school courses before attending high school shall be given high school credit which shall be applied to fulfilling high school graduation requirements if: (a) The course was taken with high school students, if the academic level of the course exceeds the requirements for seventh and eighth grade classes, and the student has successfully passed by completing the same course requirements and examinations as the high school students enrolled in the class; or (b) The academic level of the course exceeds the requirements for seventh and eighth grade classes and the course would qualify for high school credit, because the course...

Once again I hear people asking "Why would a student want to get high school credit for classes taken in middle school?" This may not surprise you, but you're not going to get a good answer to this question from someone who isn't interested in it or who thinks it ranges from pointless to being a bad idea. Yet that's who have been answering that question of late. So, rather than their explanation, to graduate high school early, let me instead offer some better reasons. 1) Lighter course load when taking challenging classes. A high performing student might take as many as three or four AP classes as a senior. These classes are challenging and demanding classes. Wouldn't it be nice to have the option to not take two other classes at the same time so the student can devote more time to the AP classes? 2) Credit for work done. If you have ever told your child that going to school is his or her job, then credit is their pay for that job. If someone does the ...

If your child took high school level classes in middle school - typically world languages or an accelerated math course - and has just started high school, your child can get high school credit for that course, in accordance with State Law and Board Policy , but only upon request. If you want your child to get high school credit for that work, NOW is the time to request it. The District may try to require you to request the credit during the first five weeks of the school year. The procedure for the request is not publicly available, but the procedure for the District can be found in the Counseling Services Manual , section 8.10. Reasons to request the credit: 1. Your child did the work and should get the credit. Really, no other reason is necessary if you believe that people should get credit for their work. 2. It can allow your child the option to take a lighter load at the end of their high school career when taking challenging classes like AP classes. 3. It provides sc...