Seattle Schools Community Forum

Monday Parent Perspectives on Standardized Testing forum , Thornton Creek Elementary from 6-8 p.m. McDonald meeting for families who don't want foreign language immersion from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. at Lincoln library.   (Note; this is not a district-wide meeting and is only about McDonald but it might be interesting to hear what is said.)     Wednesday Board Work Session on Capacity Management from 4:00-5:30 p.m. School Board meeting from 6-9 p.m.   Call first thing Monday morning if you want to speak (252-0040) or boardagenda@seattleschools.org.  (I note that President Sundquist did say at the last Board meeting that you should be speaking on the topic you signed up for your slot.  I always try to do so but then I include other items.  The speakers list has not been full lately so I don't see this as a major issue.)

Two thing prompted me to want to write this thread.  One was from the thread "This or That" about what readers think are important in the budget.  Here's what "Joanie" had to say (and I believe this person is a teacher): Sorry I didn't say it all in one post. Teachers' plates are getting fuller and fuller. I watch the board meetings fairly often and the teachers and parents who appear seem to be ignored most of the time. I agree with much of what I hear. Now Dr. Enfield is creating another way for teachers to communicate with parents: turning the school website into a potential blog site that will be monitored by teachers. Good Lord! That's not what we need. How much money has been spent on IT in the Distrist already. Put it at middle and high schools where kids can make more of it. Elementary schools do not need more IT. More bandaids for appearances. They need to change the paradigm. And, with all the money that has gone in...

A local exchange group is looking for host families for Spanish teens this summer from roughly July 1-31.   I've hosted students in the past and it is fun and a very good opportunity to learn a new language (good for your kids, too).   This is an open hosting experience meaning the student will spending most of his/her time with the hosting family. From the e-mail: The students that will be visiting Seattle are fully insured, speak both English and Spanish, and bring their own spending money. They are excited to practice English with your family, experience authentic American life/culture/food, and assimilate into the daily routine of a typical American family for four weeks. They will require their own bed, but not necessarily their own room. If you have teens in your household that is a plus, but not a requirement! There are multiple benefits in hosting a Spanish-speaking student which include: improved motivation/ achievement in your own student’s study of ...

Didn't see this posted at the SPS website but over at the Wallyhood blog there is notice of a meeting on Monday night to discuss options for parents who don't want foreign language immersion at McDonald.  The McDonald Elementary PTA and the District are seeking feedback from families who do not want to attend McDonald this fall because of the language immersion program.  A meeting with Seattle School Board Director Sherry Carr and Bree Dusseault, Executive Director for NW schools for SPS, has been scheduled for April 4, 2011 from 6:30-7:30 in the library at Lincoln . (4400 Interlake Avenue N.)  This meeting is an opportunity to present concerns and potential solutions to district personnel.  Please try to make this meeting if you are, or are considering, not attending McDonald due to the immersion decision. The district needs to see just how many families are affected by this decision. The two languages to be used at McDonald are Japanese and Span...

The Board will meet next week for their regular legislative meeting. The agenda has been posted to the District web site. Some items of note: The Teaching and Learning Update , presented by Cathy Thompson will be an update on STEM. I don't know what they have to report or why they chose to report at this time, but I'll be happy to see it. Points of interest for me will be an update on the STEM budget, feedback on the NTN materials, and an update on the ALE process. I hope they will report that the school demographics haven't changed much and the high number of the students who come from the neighborhood. The Board is scheduled to vote on Consulting Services for Program Evaluation; Teacher Incentive Fund , but the contract isn't there for them to review. This reminds me of the NTN contract, the Annual Approval of Schools, and the $750,000 contract for high school alignment that the Board voted to approve immediately after acknowledging that they didn't know wh...

I thought about putting up a couple of April Fools jokes but I thought the concern about our district, its ethics, the budget and everything is so serious, it's just not worth it. One story (that I had hoped WAS a joke) is that one of the Jersey Shore denizens, "Snooki" is getting paid, via student body funds, $32 to talk to Rutgers University.  Meanwhile, Rutgers is paying Nobel prize-winning novelist Toni Morrison $30K for their commencement address in May.  You can't make this stuff up.

I've been looking at the budget numbers from the District and they just don't look right. I'm not saying that they are definitely wrong, but I have some questions. For example... Each school I have checked so far has a lower expected enrollment than the current enrollment, but the District, as a whole, has a higher expected enrollment than the current enrollment. How does that work? It appears as if the District is intentionally under-funding schools. At the PTA meeting this week Director Sundquist said that over-funding a school was the worst sort of disaster. I guess he hasn't been in an under-funded school; that's no picnic either. It also puts the District in the worst possible situation for hiring if we're trying to bring on staff after October 1. There may not be anyone left but Teach for America corps members. (By the way, how are we going to hire any new teachers while we're laying off teachers who are already on the payroll?) Also: if the Dist...