Seattle Schools Community Forum:
Seattle Schools Community Forum
Shooting Roundup
The Stranger Slog has a weekly child shooting roundup and hey, one story is local.From Q13:PUYALLUP — Neighbors say they never heard a gunshot, but saw what happened next. “The young man was sitting in the driveway just rocking back and forth saying; I shot my best friend, I shot my best friend,” neighbor Carol Sharick said. ... Police say five boys were in the house hanging out after school, the
Friday Open Thread
One Community meeting on Saturday, Director Carr, from 8:30-10 am at Bethany Community Church.It is Neighbor Appreciation Day in Seattle this Saturday the 8th. Nearly all the Seattle fire stations will be open so it's a good time to take the kids to meet your local firefighters.Superhero ladies re-imagined by artist Celeste Pille. I like this.Speaking of heroes, GI Joe, the very first action fi
FEB 06
Ah, Testing - Here It Comes
Update: here's what's happening in the white-hot capital of ed reform pushback - Chicago - around testing. Chicago is just one of many cities in many states caught in this muddle between existing state tests and the coming Common Core assessments. Why take both? Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett sent a letter to parents on Wednesday telling them why they should not have their child opt-out of t
KUOW wants Input on Transportation Changes
Update: Here is a link to SPS about the changes to Transportation. It includes a link to the approved amendment from Director Peters "which shifted bus arrival times back about 10 minutes from the most recent proposal, closer to the bus arrival times for many schools this year. She called the amendment a "compromise" solution that is intended as a one-year solution only." As
FEB 05
Seattle Schools Math Adoption
I am a bit late on this post but here is the latest.As noted by one reader (I believe Lynn), there is a hastily scheduled Board Work Session on Math Instructional Materials Adoption tomorrow, the 6th from 6-7 p.m. The agenda has no presentation so I don't know what kind of update it will be.Meanwhile, the next meeting of the Math Adoption Committee is this Friday, the 7th, from 8:30 am to 3pm in
This and That
According to KIRO tv, 565 teachers and 13,523 students reported absent from SPS. Wow. (I had thought of attending but being short makes a parade challenging. It started late and sounds like an absolute zoo (of the crazy, fun kind but really cold to wait for).The Police were asking the crowd to keep cell phone use to a minimum because they were not getting 911 calls.Ed Week reported on Seattle'
Seattle School Board Meeting Tonight
Second Update: I erred in some of my reporting here. As I told someone, sometimes I get a narrative in my head based upon what I know and forget that others might be starting from a different place. My apologies.Corrections:- Policy 4260. To understand, there are Board POLICES and Superintendent PROCEDURES, that mostly go hand in hand. However, ONLY policies are voted on while the Superinte
Advanced Learning: Where is Seattle Schools Going?
Some updates:- according to the AL webpage, as of yesterday, 1,637 eligibility letters were sent (out of a possible 4024). So if you were looking for one, it may be in the mail. They started mailing them out on Jan. 31st. Scores and eligibility decisions are NOT available by phone or e-mail. - testing is continuing thru early Feb.- all eligibility decisions, including appeals, will be done bef
FEB 04
Governor Says Get Loud Tomorrow for the Seahawks (for 30 seconds)
So ask at your school if the kids can get loud for 30 seconds at 12:12 pm tomorrow.
Student Rights at School at Risk
Thanks to reader Watching.Action is needed here. There is a bill affecting the rights of students at school to be searched - moving through the Legislature.This bill, SB 6023, wants to "include searches by school resource officers and local police school liaison officers within the warrantless school search exception." From Publicola:In the runup to the this week's legislative deadline
Common Core Curriculum; Here's What's Out There
I plan a big thread on Common Core about:- examples of current curriculum- developmentally appropriateness of Common Core- and the HUGE pushback (and pushing out of CC) in many states. Update: hot off the presses: twelve NY state senators urged a delay in Common Core standards because of the outcry from parents, teachers and administrators. They also said if there are not changes made administra
Annual Report on Equitable Access to Programs and Services
The School Board should reject the Annual Report on Equitable Access toPrograms and Services because it fails to fulfill the requirements of the policy. Instead of holding the required information, the report contains a lot of general information that should not appear. Either the superintendent is confused or he is attempting to confuse others. Neither situation is acceptable.Per the policy, the
Tuesday Open Thread
It's Black History month and SNL had something to say about it.Thought-provoking article from CNN on "Facebook Parenting" and children's privacy.The message from parents, as witnessed from behavior, is clear. Children grow up learning that posting pictures of one's self and sharing personal information is typical. We've created a sense of normality about a world where what's private is p
FEB 03
When/Should the City Step In? You Tell Me
Here are the new Transportation Service "Standards" for 2014-2015. I can't even read it because it has been hacked up so much. (I note that elsewhere parents have attempted to figure out what it means.)In my opinion, it is messy and a hack job that the Board should reject simply on principle. (The principle being that parents were pretty much left out of the process, it has been done a
Sorry Kids, No Superbowl Champion Parade for You
Third Update: Bellevue, Highline, Northshore and Lake Washington are all offering excused absences to students with their parents' permission.Second Update: The Mayor tweeted: "It is my hope that the school district will excuse absences for students who want to join their family" for this event.Update: quite the number of stories around this issue.One, many people unhappy at Banda's u
Charter Schools And Washington State
After the flurry of activity around charter approval/denial last week by the Charter Commission, let's take a step back.First, a great piece of work by Professor Wayne Au, at UW's education program in Bothell, and Joseph J. Ferrare, a researcher at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at UWisconsin/Madison. Valerie Strauss covered it at her blog at the Washington Post, The Answer Sheet. T
Washington State Legislature Education Bill Update
The Legislature has had its usual flurry of ed bills, some quite random, some with focus and a couple that have/will pass. Here's a comprehensive list from Parnership for Learning. There are many returning bills like one for teacher/principal evaluations (SB 6055); old ideas but repackaged to look new. I believe that tomorrow, the 4th, is the Washington State PTA Legislative Focus Day in Olympia
Behind Every Promise - An Educational Journey for Two Boys
PBS is showing a documentary called Behind Every Promise about the journey, over 13 years, of two African-American boys and their education. I heard about it on NPR and it sounds very good. American Promise spans 13 years as Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, middle-class African-American parents in Brooklyn, N.Y., turn their cameras on their son, Idris, and his best friend, Seun, who make the
FEB 02
Seattle Schools This Week (and News)
Tuesday, Feb 4thSpecial Education Advisory and Advocacy Council Meeting starting at 6:30 p.m., JSCEE, room 2700Wednesday, Feb. 5thParade for the Super Bowl Champion Seahawks 11 am (I put this in because if you are going to the district headquarters that morning, you might be aware of this because of the traffic. The parade is to end at Century Link Field which is only about a mile north of JSCEE.
Arts and Education
Two items of note:Your youth jazz story can become a KCTS film!Do you have a connection to a jazz program, jazz teacher or jazz student, and have an idea for a story you think should be told? The instructors at KCTS’s 9 Media Lab can help you tell it and share it with our viewers. Beginning in March, we will be offering free workshops to individuals interested in learning the fundamentals of video
One Parent's Experience (and Thoughts) on Common Core
Update: wanted to add a link to a Pennsylvania teacher's PD day on Common Core. Eye-opening reading and you will now know the CC theme " Kids these days" and that an official sponsor of the standards is Office Depot. Long but detailed and from a teacher's POV (which I think is important to the discussion.) End of update.From reader Kristen King's blog, My Daughter, the Guinea Pig:We’re
Chores and Children
Is this what you have your children doing? It's one thing I always appreciated about Montessori - they build in chores and responsibility. Of course, it takes follow-thru on the part of parents to help their children understand that a family is more than a mom and dad and a house is not a home without everyone who lives there pitching in.