Seattle Schools Community Forum

That's the question that should be asked - no shouted - at tomorrow night's hearing at Lowell. I am learning that when I read this blog I need to (1) not skim and (2) not read when I am tired. Because I surely miss a lot. I missed this in the recent APP thread: "…that at today's Harium Martin-Morris' coffee hour he revealed that these Design teams (made up of principals, staff and two parent volunteers) will be empowered to make decisions, including having APP classes which do not have to be "contained". meaning, classes could be blended if the design team at that school decides they want it that way. it was quite shocking. as this is different than what Bob Vaughn has been saying/promising. apparently the superind will have the power to approve or disapprove but if she thinks it's a good idea, classes may not stay contained." (This posted by A Mom on Sunday saying she received it from an APP parent who had attended Harium's Saturday coffee...

So what's coming up on the closure front this week? First, there's the meeting at Lowell tomorrow night at 6:30 p.m . I would hope as many Board members as possible would attend given how many communities (Thurgood Marshall, Lowell - and its parents from all over the city - and TT Minor) are involved. I note that there was a good turnout of Board members for the Cooper meeting and I would expect the same for Lowell. Second, there's the regular Board meeting on the 21st at 6 p.m . Third, there's the final public hearing on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the district headquarters. I'm signed up to speak at that one. There are 40 people signed up with 16 speaking on closures in general and 8 about Lowell - the rest are Pathfinder, AAA. TT Minor, Summit and Cooper. According to the website, this is the last time for public comment in person but they will accept e-mail until January 29th when final announcements are made. Interestingly, all three agendas for these meeti...

This article appeared in today's PI about later start times. It includes information from a study done in Lexington, Kentucky in 1998 that showed when the school district there pushed back middle/high school start times by an hour, two things happened; more sleep and fewer teen traffic accidents (this from the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine). It did not establish conclusively that the change in start times led to the improvement of accident rates but there was a significant drop in the accident rate in the county where Lexington is located. From the PI article: "The National Sleep Foundation has conducted detailed studies into teen sleep. One statistic stands out: Three of every 10 students admit to falling fast asleep during class at least once per week." "Another stat from the National Sleep Foundation: Fifteen percent of teen drivers surveyed admitted to driving drowsy at least once per week." "In this study, when start times were delayed by o...

I went to the NYC parents education blog and found this link to a column by Jay Mathews in the Washington Post on parents and their suggestions/wishes to educators. Interesting reading.

So there's this letter that Obama wrote to his daughters about what he wants for him. It was published in Parade magazine this week. Here's what he said about education: "I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential-schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college-even if their parents aren't rich." That first sentence is almost more of a lofty goal than the second one. I think some parents would settle for a good, clean building where kids feel safe and want to learn. But no one should ever forget a child's first school is home and parents are the teachers. If parents haven't tried to help their kids want to learn and feel wonder about the world around them, then bringing them to school and expecting teachers to do that may be asking a lot. I still feel good that he continues to bring up education as being in the forefron...

Seattle Special Ed PTSA general meeting Tuesday, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m. Lowell Elementary School, 1058 E. Mercer St. Superintendent, Maria Goodloe-Johnson will speak. - Funding, advocacy opportunities ----- http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/nmf/ The City of Seattle Dept. of Neighborhoods has great opportunities for PTAs and other community groups to support schools/neighborhoods: Large Project Fund : $15,000-$100,000. For projects that take up to a year. Letter of intent due Feb. 2; full proposal due in April. Learn more online: www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/nmf, or attend a workshop Jan. 13 and Jan. 22. Workshop flier: http://www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/nmf/pubs/NMF_Workshops_Flyer_2009.pdf Small and Simple: Up to $15,000. 2009 deadlines: Jan. 12; April 6; July 6; Oct. 5. Info: www.seattle.gov/neighborhoods/nmf Empowerment and Information, a series of workshops from the Dept. of Neighborhoods: - ABCs of fundraising: Jan. 14 - Community organizing: Ja...

On January 14, new State Superintendent Randy Dorn released his priorities for the next few years, including: Funding Basic Education Task Force Recommendations Replace the Washington Assessment of Student Learning Dramatically Reduce the Dropout Rate and Improve Achievement for All Students Expand Career and Technical Education Opportunities Expand Early Learning Opportunities You can find more details in his press release, here . Also, according to a KING-5 report , Dorn plans to give details about the test that will replace the WASL this upcoming Wednesday. Talk about a week of change--we're getting a new President, and the beginning of the end of the controversial WASL! I recently talked to education experts to get their take on Dorn's priorities, for a Seattle's Child article I wrote . But I wonder how Dorn's priorities will change things in our own district, given the rumblings about a WASL boycott, curriculum decisions, etc. What do you think?