Seattle Schools Community Forum

Note: I pulled this out of one thread because I thought it important for parents to see and let their views be known to someone in SPS in a position to do something about it.  Thank you to Maureen from TOPS for this info. If anyone thinks their 8th grader is prepared to skip 9th grade Physical Science (Seattle Girls' School? TOPS? Others?), please email the High School PTSA and Science Director, Elaine Woo (ewoo@seattleschools.org), and let them know right now. You can also email me at maureen at germani dot org so we can coordinate. TOPS grads cover 100% of the 9-12 Physical Science standards and at least 75% of the 9-12 Life Sciences standards. Their teacher is certified K-12. There has never been a reason (or a way?) to make sure they get HS credit for what they cover but I spoke with Elaine Woo yesterday about the possibility of piloting a HS level Physical Science class at TOPS (not that I have to authority to do anything about it). It makes more sense to allow...

From the SPS website: Committee seeks feedback on recommended high school science instructional materials The High School Science Adoption Committee is seeking feedback from staff, families and community members on the top three choices for high school instructional materials. The materials - 9th grade Physical Science, and 11th and 12th grades Chemistry & Physics -can be reviewed March 7-21 at six locations across the District.    You can also make an appointment to view them in the evening hours by e-mailing Elaine Woo, ewoo@seattleschools.org.

Here is the final section of the thread on the high school science curriculum alignment. Again, ALL parents, you may not be here yet but believe me, you will care deeply about this when your child gets to high school. But if you are an elementary parent and you shrug now, then when you get there, no fair asking why science in SPS high schools is so limited. Tell the Board you are worried and want a wide variety of science classes available. (Also, ask the Board to not let the district systematically dismantle the BioTech program at Ballard.) Part Two Currently the district is still proposing that all 9th graders take physical science, 10th graders take biology, and then chemistry and physics or a science elective. These are the issues that schools are facing as result of this proposal: 1) What will happen to students who do not pass the first two classes? Will they simply retake those courses over and over? If so what does this do to upper level science class selection. 2) ...