Seattle Schools Community Forum

As usual for a great university, the University of Washington has a great upcoming lecture series with topics we have seen here.  All of them are free unless otherwise notated. Some that might be of interest:

Has it always been that short a window?  I don't remember that it was.  From the SPS news page This year’s referral form for students in grades kindergarten through 8th is available online via The Source starting September 7, 2016. Once you login to your parent or guardian source account , click on the “ Advanced Learning Parent Referral ” button to start the referral process. Read more about how to submit a referral on the Advanced Learning referral webpage.   K-8 eligibility testing for the 2017-18 school year begins in October. Applications for students in grades 9-12 will be available in January. All k-8 applications are due by October 6, 2016 to determine eligibility for school year 2017-18. I would be interested in hearing from parents at all schools about how well your school is letting you know about this opportunity.  Are there forms on the counter in the office?  Did your child's teacher say anything?  Anything in PTA newslett...

I've been saving up articles on ESSA (Every Child Succeeds Act, the next No Child Left Behind).   Congress may have given more power back to the states but there appear to be some truly troubling issues around increased data collection, opting out, and what "indicators" they will be collecting on each and every child.

From the Federal Student Aid office of the Department of Education: FAFSA ® Changes for 2017–18 On Sept. 14, 2015, President Obama announced significant changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA ® ) process that will impact millions of students. Starting with the 2017­–18 application cycle, the following changes will be put in place:  Students will be able to submit a FAFSA ® earlier.  Students will be able to file a 2017–18 FAFSA as early as Oct. 1, 2016, rather than beginning on Jan. 1, 2017. The earlier submission date will be a permanent change, enabling students to complete and submit a FAFSA as early as October 1 every year. (There is NO CHANGE to the 2016–17 schedule. The FAFSA became available January 1 as in previous years.) Students will use earlier income information. Beginning with the 2017–18 FAFSA, students will be required to report income information from an earlier tax year. For example, on the 2017–18 FAFSA, student...

From the SPS website (I'll note that the webpage says they were out by August 31st but the district just tweeted this yesterday.)  I have not looked thru any of them but would welcome any thoughts you have about your own school. Surveys are administered in the spring of each school year to all families, school staff, and students grades 3 through 12. Results are used to guide improvements at the school and district level. By August 31 of each year, all survey results are made available in our new Survey Reports Portal, hosted by Panorama Education.

From the ACLU: For nearly 100 years, the ACLU has fought to make sure Americans have the right to read what they want. Despite our  many victories , there are still misguided attempt to ban books. The American Library Association   keeps track  — some of the most frequently challenged books from 2015 include the best seller Fifty Shades of Grey along with Fun Home and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (both of which were turned into Tony Award-winning Broadway shows, by the way).

 KUOW education reporter Ann Dornfeld is working on a story about the new no/low-homework policies at several schools, including Whittier and West Woodland. She’s heard from plenty of parents in favor of these new policies, and is looking for a parent who wants to keep homework part of their child’s routine. She’s at adornfeld@kuow.org .