Seattle Schools Community Forum

Please, feel free to add to this list. Ron English Alliance for Education MOU MOU for partnering with the City on their pre-k program the issue of Africatown getting back into the Mann building (which they apparently believe is going to happen) FACMAC  Directors Blanford and Martin-Morris' plan for African-American boys (an idea that both have said they want to work on but have never said how) a high school for QA/Magnolia transparency in this district - why can't the district put up every budget for every school/department? 

I learned some new things at last night's Board meeting about the growth boundaries and decided to pull them out as a separate thread. 1) There is to be an added Work Session on growth boundaries in the next couple of weeks.  President Smith-Blum stated this but no date was given.  She also stated that a big concern for the Board is that "we don't compromise instructional quality" in these discussion. UPDATE: The Work Session will be AFTER the Intro of the plan to the Board, sometime between Oct 16th and Nov. 20th.  I wish it was before Intro, given we are two weeks out from that.   2) The Superintendent and various Board members specifically said thank you to all who have given comments on the boundaries.  It seems pretty clear that they ARE listening.  And, I believe the Board is listening enough to push back in some areas.  I'm not sure which ones but I believe the plan is definitely fluid. 3) One issue has risen to the top of my radar (t...

A reader with background in planning and with much knowledge/background on the district and facilities offers these thoughts on what may be coming for high schools and growth.   ( Gray areas are my thoughts as we go along and the rest is the reader's.) To understand: coming up fast is the possibility of very overcrowded high schools.  Not 5, 10 years out but probably three years.  But a three-year plan may be all that is possible at this point especially since the needs/growth is very different for each region of the district. And guess what?  Nearly out of inventory.  Where will everyone go?  Will the district go to shifts (and they have done this in the past)?  Portables?  The reader's basic thoughts: get this out to the Seattle legislators.  We need help. get high school on the table now.  High schools are high stakes for students and parents. fix the worst of the BEX mistakes.  There were many but all of the stuf...

It was confirmed to me that Principal Martin Floe was fired (not RIFed). Some staff were worried this might happen (based on visits by the Ex Director, Bree Dusseault).  Today, the staff passed, unanimously, a resolution of confidence in Martin Floe's leadership. Principal Floe is appealing this decision, declining to resign.  The resolution: Whereas Martin Floe is a highly respected principal who has built Ingraham into a cohesive, caring and academically challenging high school; Whereas he sets clear policy direction for an achievement-oriented school; Whereas he maintains a balanced and holistic vision for the school; Whereas he maintains a safe and secure learning environment in which students and staff can work without distraction; Whereas he maintains an open-door policy for all members of the Ingraham community, including staff, students, alumni, and parents; Whereas he is marked by his excellent listening skills and positive attitude; Whereas he...

As requested, an open thread to talk about any and all high school curriculum issues. I can start off by saying I do not understand this opt-out testing for Physical Science that is only for Ballard students.  Why?  Also, one of our Ballard High science teacher readers, India Carlson, told DeBell at his last community meeting that the test created is extremely difficult (so it would seem that few Ballard kids would pass it anyway). Other suggested topics: science math language arts electives foreign language oc-ed uneven teaching quality (I found this more apparent in high school than any other level; this was at both Roosevelt and Hale.) counselors

The District has quietly announced the number of open choice seats available at attendance area high schools in the fall. Nice transparency. This represents a clear failure to keep the commitment of maintaining choice by reserving seats for out-of-area students at every high school. Here's a link to the table . High School Open Choice Seats for 2011‐12 School. . . .Grade. . . Seats. . .% Ballard. . . . 9. . . . . 21 . . . 5% Ballard. . . .10. . . . . 41 . . .10% Franklin . . . 9. . . . . 38 . . .10% Franklin . . .10. . . . . 21 . . . 6% Garfield . . . 9. . . . . 0. . . . 0% Garfield . . .10. . . . . 0. . . . 0% Ingraham . . . 9. . . . . 32 . . .10% Ingraham . . .10. . . . . 32 . . .10% Nathan Hale. . 9. . . . . 32 . . .10% Nathan Hale. .10. . . . . 6 . . . 2% Rainier Beach. 9. . . . . 31 . . .10% Rainier Beach.10. . . . . 31 . . .10% Roosevelt. . . 9. . . . . 43 . . .10% Roosevelt. . .10. . . . . 21 . . . 5% Chief Sealth . 9. . . . . 0 . . . 0% Chief...

From the New York Times: an op-ed about asking students what THEY want in a high school .  The author, Susan Engel, followed a group of 8 high school students as they " designed and ran their own school within a school. "  Interesting reading.  Here's a connecting lesson plan .  A couple of thoughtful parts: An Independence Project student who had once considered dropping out of school found he couldn’t bear to stop focusing on his current history question but didn’t want to miss out on exploring a new one. When he asked the group if it would be O.K. to pursue both, another student answered, “Yeah, I think that’s what they call learning.”  The students in the Independent Project are remarkable but not because they are exceptionally motivated or unusually talented. They are remarkable because they demonstrate the kinds of learning and personal growth that are possible when teenagers feel ownership of their high school experience, when they learn thin...

Quick news story out of Edmonds via the Seattle Times. A student running for student government got suspended because he went off-script from the speech he had previously turned into the administration. (They don't trust the kids enough to tell them what NOT to say in a speech; they have to preview it?) What could he have said? "No bra Fridays for the girls!" "Whazz up, #%*@*#%*!" I was dying to know. He told the students not to vote because the ASB had no real power and " members are just puppets of the teachers." That's it? He knew that he would get disqualified for not following his speech but not that they would suspend him. (It's not clear if the students listening knew he had gone off-script.) His parents were told his suspension was based on " disrupting the educational process ". Seriously? He wanted to say that he thought student government was bogus AND knew he would be disqualified for saying it but it meant somethi...

I attended the press conference today about the Transition Plan for 2011-2012. Tracy Libros was there along with the new(ish) head of Customer Service, Brandon Holst and Teresa Whipple of Public Affairs. The media was represented (in person) by me, Phyllis Fletcher of KUOW and Jerry of KING-5 tv. (By the way, I think KING-5, followed by KIRO-7, do the best job for tv coverage. KOMO and KCPQ always seem awol on these issues.) On the phone were reporters from the West Seattle blog, PI-online, Seattle's Child and The Stranger. Two of the most important things before Q&A. Again, as I posted previously, the deadline for issues/concerns to Board members in order to create amendments is FRIDAY, JAN. 7th (tomorrow), not Monday, the 10th. Steve Sundquist abruptly changed this date. Second, I asked and Tracy verified the following point. There used to be an amendment to the enrollment plan called the Waldman/Barnhart amendment. Basically it was a hold safe amendment. Yo...

The Social Studies Instructional Materials Adoption page has links to parent/community and staff surveys. Oddly, although the science adoption has a survey for students, social studies does not. They are also looking for 2 parent/community representatives to survey on the high school social studies adoption committee. Applications are due by Jan. 6th and you will be notified by Jan. 10th. Here's some more info: We are asking that prospective applicants bring an open mind, with passion about student learning in Social Studies, and avoiding approaching the process with a specific textbook or set of materials in mind. Time commitment will be approximately 60 hours between January and April, 2011 . We expect to hold five day-time meetings (8:00 AM – 3:00 PM), and four after-school or evening meetings. The committee will determine its schedule at the first session on Thursday, January 20th, 2011. (3 PM – 6 PM).

The High School Science Instructional Materials Adoption page has links to surveys for staff, students and community/family members. That they are asking for student input is great so encourage your student to take the survey. The surveys close on Jan. 6th . They are also looking for members of the Science Instructional Materials Adoption Committee. The application period closes on Jan. 6th and you will be notified by January 14th.

Last part - I promise. Q: Olympic View's new Special Ed inclusion program is great. However in one kindergarten class, there are 3 children with behavior challenges. The principal is frazzled from worried parents coming in and asking how all the children are going to learn if the teacher has to direct her attention to those children more often than not. Volunteers can't help because of liability issues. (The parent didn't say if there was an IA but I get the impression there isn't.) A: We needed to give better service to students with special needs. They have a legal right to be in the class. Teachers need more training and yes the process is hard on parens. We intervene when things aren't working. Talk to the principal about providing resources and intervention but yes, it's about money. Q: There was a question about a self-contained autism program that had 4 IAs and now has 1. Where to go to troubleshoot this? A: There's a special ed manager f...

This is going to be a difficult thread to address and I will try to be clear about why I think it is important. There has been a heightened awareness in the last month or so over bullying at school over students being, seeming or being perceived as gay. It has been heartbreaking to hear what has been done to young people and their reactions (suicides). The most visible case has been at Rutgers University where a freshman, Tyler Clementi, was videotaped, twice, by his roommate in an intimate encounter with another male in his dorm room. The taping streamed live on the Internet. Tyler learned of this, contacted an RA but ultimately, for whatever reason, killed himself by jumping off a bridge. Interestingly, I wouldn't call that episode bullying. It's just a breathtaking lack of kindness/sensitivity and total lack of decency on the part of his roommate (and his woman friend) and a huge amount of cruelty and meanness to have done this to Tyler. Many have felt the perpetrato...

A reporter at Seattle Metropolitan magazine is looking for parents who might want to contribute to a story. He's looking for parents who successfully managed to get their student into a high school outside of their assignment area whose child went to a private middle school but decided to go public for high school If you are such a parent and are interested in relating your experience, please contact Matt Halverson (mhalverson@seattlemet.com or 206-957-2234 x133).

I had heard on NPR that one of the winners of this year's MacArthur Genuis Awards was a public school teacher who had created a robotics program at his high school. I wanted to say, "Yay for public school teachers!" (Want to be simultaneously depressed AND inspired? Read through all the winners. Amazing people.) So here's what the MacArthur Foundation has to say about the teacher, Amir Abo-Shaeer , who works at a non-charter public high school in Santa Barbara called Dos Pueblos High School. Amir Abo-Shaeer is a physics teacher who is inspiring and preparing public high school students for careers in science and mathematics. Recognizing the potential for programs at the secondary level to encourage students to pursue science and engineering degrees, Abo-Shaeer left a career in industry to become a teacher at Dos Pueblos High School in Santa Barbara, California. In 2002, he created the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy (DPEA), a school within a school with a r...

This story appeared in this morning's PI. The Oak Harbor School Board has rewritten their policy on cell phones to include allowing administrators to search the phones in order to protect the district against possible criminal charges around sexting. It's interesting because there are no real laws against sexting per se but there are laws around sending, receiving or storing photos of minors in a state of nudity on a cell phone (it's a felony). From the article: The first reading of the new policy, which was unanimously approved at Monday’s board meeting, states, “By bringing a cell phone and other electronic devices to school or school sponsored events, the student and parents consent to the search of the device when school officials have a reasonable suspicion that such a search will reveal a violation of school rules.” Assistant Superintendent Lance Gibbon presented the policy to the board. He pointed out that school officials already have the right to search...

From the PI online, a story of a study out of Rhode Island boarding school that shows that teens do better going to school later (and they're talking just 30 minutes later). Anyone who has a teen surprised? I didn't think so. The results were in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (which, unfortunately, you can only access with a subscription. From the article: Giving teens 30 extra minutes to start their school day leads to more alertness in class, better moods, less tardiness, and even healthier breakfasts, a small study found. "The results were stunning. There's no other word to use," said Patricia Moss, academic dean at the Rhode Island boarding school where the study was done. "We didn't think we'd get that much bang for the buck." Researchers say there's a reason why even 30 minutes can make a big difference. Teens tend to be in their deepest sleep around dawn - when they typically need to arise for school. ...

Another interesting article in the NY Times, this one about a terrible high school in LA (shockingly bad) that got taken over by a large charter organization, Green Dot. The beatings, rapes, gangs, etc. have gone away and now the grounds are cleaner and the test scores have inched up a nudge. The biggest deal? Kids who previously would not go to school (fear of walking to the school, indifferent teachers, gangs, etc.) are now coming to school. It sounds like a great success story and a "mecca for reformers". But the pricetag? But progress is coming at considerable cost: an estimated $15 million over the planned four-year turnaround, largely financed by private foundations. That is more than twice the $6 million in federal turnaround money that the Department of Education has set as a cap for any single school. Skeptics say the Locke experience may be too costly to replicate. Wow. And that's just one high school (albeit with, gulp, 3200 students). So what did ...

Did you get your e-mail or phone call yet from the district? Apparently (and without any notice), the district is surveying parents of high school students. (There is nothing at the district website announcing it nor at my own school's website.) It's a 15-question survey that I don't find particularly useful. (I feel bad saying that because I'm happy someone is asking something but it's frustrating when it's not the survey it should be.) I accidentally hit send before I wrote all the questions down. Basically, it was things like: does your child feel safe at school do you get notification of academic issues do you get notification of meetings are there opportunities to volunteer do you find the principal effective do adults in the building "care" about your child is the school well-rounded in activities provided do you feel the teachers are effective do you feel welcome coming into the building They didn't ask for your zip code or school so the...

I attended the informational meeting on boundaries at Roosevelt High on Thursday night. There were about 60+ attendees along with staff. Steve Sundquist, Hairum Martin-Morris, Peter Maier and Sherry Carr attended as well. Dr Enfield was the lead staff person with Tracy Libros giving the presentation. The handouts included the new map, the SAP, information about map revisions as well as a curious handout about the STEM program (I'll try to get a link for it). The information sheets about the map revisions were very cursory and did not fully flesh out how boundary changes impacted other schools. For example, they noted Roosevelt's changes and Ingraham's changes but not that it made Hale's boundaries much smaller. They said at the Work Session that something like 42 out of 58 elementaries boundaries changed but that was not reflected in the information on the sheet. Also, Tracy made note of the updating of the FAQs but I could swear that questions I've heard at...