Seattle Schools Community Forum

I mean, seriously, why does this district bother?  To explain, it was noted by several readers that the testing schedule for Advanced Learning programs is NOT in the school calendar.  And, by law, they have to supply public notice (at least for APP).  You'd think the calendar , going to every single family in the district, would be the ideal place.  You'd think the first-day packets , going to every single family in the district, would be the ideal place. You'd apparently be wrong. So I wrote to the Board and the Superintendent: Special Service Program Highly Capable Students WAC 392-170-042 Annual notification. Annual public notification of parents and students shall be made before any major identification activity. The notice shall be published or announced in multiple ways in appropriate languages to each community in school and district publications or other media, with circulation adequate to notify parents and students throughout the distric...

Both Green Lake Elementary and Genesee Hill Elementary buildings are being considered for city landmark status. From the Landmarks Preservation Board: The Landmarks Preservation Board will consider landmark nomination for Green Lake Elementary School at   2400 N 65th Street. The meeting will be on Wednesday, August 21 at 3:30 p.m. in the Seattle Municipal Tower, 700 5 th   Avenue, 40 th   Floor in Room 4060.   The public is invited to attend the meeting and make comments. Written comments should be received by the Landmarks Preservation Board by 5:00 p.m. on August 20 at the following address: Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board, Seattle Dept. of Neighborhoods, P.O. Box 94649, Seattle WA, 98124-4649. A copy of the nomination is available for public review at the Green Lake Branch Library, 7364 East Green Lake Drive North (206-684-7547); and at Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Office in the Seattle Municipal Tower, 700 5th Ave, Suite 1700 (206-684-0228). ...

Not sure if this helps but from SPS: Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Education Association have agreed to key dates for next year’s school calendar, including: • frst day of school: Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2013; • winter break: two weeks, from Dec. 23, 2013, to Jan. 3, 2014; • mid-winter break: Feb. 17-21, 2014, including the Presidents Day holiday; • spring break: April 14-18, 2014; and • last day of school: yet to be determined (June 18 or 19, 2014). The calendar also builds in four snow make-up days, including Jan. 31, 2014, May 23, 2014, and the two days after the last day of school. It’s important that families should plan for students to potentially be in school during these days, and to note that the last day of school could be Monday, June 23, 2014. Still undetermined are three professional development days, designed to allow teachers and other instructional staff time to collaborate and participate in professional development activities...

Found this out at the Executive Committee meeting - intro and action at the May 15th meeting. Yes, I know this is late.  Yes, I know other districts get this done way earlier. There is to be a press release between SEA/SPS sometime in the next couple of days. Tentative highlights: - school starts on September 4th, ends on June 18th - full week Mid-Winter Break is back (I was confused during the discussion about why but I will endeavor to get a clarification), Feb. 17-21st - Winter Break starts Dec. 23rd, back to school in 2014 on Jan 6th ( note: the 6th is the correct day - I had it wrong the first time) - Spring Break - April 14-18th, 2014 - 4 snow days have been built-in Reminder - until approved by SEA/SPS, this is tentative.

 Executive Committee agenda for Wednesday.  Hey, all of you waiting for next year's school calendar - they will be discussing that.  (I note that other districts have theirs published already.) Audit& Finance agenda for Thursday.  I see there is a "resolution" about moving leases and rental revenue to the General Fund.  Well, okay but ONLY if it goes to building maintenance.  Those are really capital dollars and should go to capital needs.  But I'll bet they won't.  Work Session presentation on Boundaries. 

From SPS Communications: Families, staff and community members should receive the calendar the first week of September Seattle Public Schools would like to thank those organizations and businesses that sponsored the District’s 2012-13 wall calendar and family guide, which will be mailed soon to Seattle Public Schools students, families and staff.  Sponsors include KOMO, Allstate, Camp Fire, City of Seattle, Comcast, Every Block, PiPlus, the NW Network, Seattle Committee to Save Schools, Stevens Pass and Swerve driving school and Defensive Driving.  “We are thrilled to partner with these businesses and organizations to ensure our families have access to this important information,” said SPS Chief Communications Officer Lesley Rogers. “Without these sponsors, the district would eventually have to stop publishing the calendar, which our families and staff rely on for news and information throughout the year.” The calendar, which features photos and ...

From District Communications: Local businesses, nonprofits and other organizations can now partner with Seattle Public Schools to help defray the costs of our annual calendar, while at the same time reaching a large audience with sponsored advertisements. The calendar, which reaches an audience of 55,000 families, staff and community members, is an essential resource to the district. Becoming a sponsor is a great way to help support the district, staff and students by helping us to fund the printing of the calendar and increase community involvement.  “During these lean budget times, many school districts have eliminated their calendar or placed it in an online-only format, which isn’t easily accessible to all families, especially those without regular Internet access,” said Lesley Rogers, Chief Communications Officer. “With these sponsorship dollars, we can continue to provide our staff and families with this useful information.” Interested busi...

Here are the highlights from the April 25th Curriculum and Instruction Committee meeting.  (I'm just behind, sorry.  I also don't have the agenda with me so I'm flying by the seat of my notes.)