Seattle Schools Community Forum

The Board will be having a regular Board meeting tomorrow, Wednesday the 12th, starting at 4:15 pm. Public comment starts at 4:30 pm. Agenda . It appears to be a more regular looking agenda. Meaning, there are many items that directors will actually need to discuss. Of course the irony is that one item they will discuss - approving the framework for the new Student Outcome Focused Governance plan - will mean much less oversight on their part of district inner workings. It might have meant shorter Board meetings as well but the plan also rolls Work Sessions into  Board meetings.  Speaking of Work Sessions, there will be one on the Budget rolled into this very meeting.  The agenda reflects this order: - Superintendent Comments - S chool Board student member comments - Public testimony (not sure how long this will be without seeing the number of speakers but probably 45 minutes to an hour).  - Board committee reports (under the new SOFG plan, most committees are going...

On Sunday, October 16th, Director Harris ( School Board Director District 6 ) will host a meeting at Southwest Branch of the Seattle Public Library as an opportunity to listen to the concerns and feedback of the community.  We request that all attendees be vaccinated and wear a mask. This meeting is part of a recurring series of meetings typically held on the third Saturday of each month from 3-5 p.m. The meetings are held on a rotating basis across different libraries in West Seattle. As an added bonus, often times other directors will join, and there is a rotating one out of three chances for lasagna! Come join with your neighbors and others for rich and thoughtful conversation and brainstorming for creative solutions.

 Greetings from the Robinson Center for Young Scholars We would like to invite you to attend an information session this fall to learn more about our programs that serve highly motivated youth looking for academic enrichment, acceleration, and in-depth learning. Specifically, we will be presenting about our Transition School, UW Academy Program, Saturday School, and Summer Programs. The dates of our information sessions are below, and registration is required to attend: Thursday October 27th, from 6:30pm-8:00pm on campus at UW Registration sign up Saturday November 5th, from 10:00am-11:30am online Registration sign up Tuesday December 6th, from 6:30pm-8:00pm online Registration sign up   You can learn more about our programs here: Transition School UW Academy Enrichment Programs We are committed to equity and access for attendees. Please email us at rcys@uw.edu if your family requires translation services, ADA accommodations, or parking fee waivers due to demonstrated nee...

 There was this recent comment from a reader: Melissa, you might be interested to know that a bunch of schools have to displace teachers and close classrooms, reshuffling kids after the October Count. Way too many given that the numbers were IN PLACE IN AUGUST and in some cases, even last spring. So now kids' learning - as well as teachers and school programs - are massively disrupted as displacements and additions happen. It's incredibly frustrating. Last year seemed more unstable so reasonable, but there is really no excuse at all this fall. One more case of someone not doing their jobs at JSCEE. Apparently, they added an HCC 1st Grade at Decatur late in the game, even though they are supposedly sunsetting that program, further destabilizing numbers at neighborhood schools. Also special - when this happens teachers have 24 hours to move themselves and their stuff to a new building, with no support from SPS at all. This is sad to hear from parents. My take is that the district...

 EdWeek has a funny article, 10 Buzzwords Educators Never Want to Hear Again . They are - in no particular order: rigor fidelity pivot self-care grit unpack learning loss differentiation kiddos accountability (for teacher, of course) The word cloud at the end of the article with many other answers includes inclusion, best practice, data-driven and equity.  For me, I don't know where "kiddos" comes from but I loathe it.  Oh look, most parents DO like public schools .  From AlterNet : Who would have imagined that after the past two tumultuous years, when so much was written and said about how the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic had convinced American parents that public schools were “failing” institutions, that as the 2022-2023 school year begins, “Americans’ ratings of their community’s public schools reached a new high dating back 48 years.” That’s the stunning finding in the highly respected annual survey conducted by PDK. Florida is asking health questions...

 Here's a better read f or this program: Washington Aerospace Scholars (WAS) is an online distance learning course and summer experience specifically designed for high school juniors interested in pursuing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) pathways through the exploration of space and space travel. The online curriculum is a University of Washington college course focused on NASA’s space exploration program as well as topics in Earth and Space Science. If scholars successfully complete the online curriculum, they are invited to participate in multi-day summer experiences that provide them the opportunity to work with STEM professionals, NASA scientists, university students and STEM educators. Graduates of the WAS program gain access to $250,000 worth of exclusive scholarship opportunities and receive a free membership to The Museum of Flight.  Application Information Nights Want to learn more about WAS? Join an I nformation Night! Register by cli...

 First I heard about overcrowded classrooms . We are coming up on that early October headcount so we can hope adjustments can be made. (Although if you have 35 students in a class, paring it down to 30 doesn't seem all that great.) Second, I'm hearing about fewer foreign language choices . Third, I'm hearing about fewer AP class choices . Now I'm hearing SPS is NOT offering PSAT testing for 10th graders! It's such a good way to help students know what to expect (and where they are now) before they take the actual SAT as juniors.  Naturally, students whose parents can pay will send them somewhere for the test but what about "students furthest from educational justice?" I did ask SPS Communications about making the PSAT unavailable for 10th graders but got no answer. It might be money but I guess we'll never know. (You could ask a director but I can guarantee they'd tell you some canned answer from administration.)