Seattle Schools Community Forum:
Seattle Bike to School Day
Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Bike to School Day
From Seattle Neighborhood Greenways, some stats on the Bike to School Day:Stats from Walk.Bike.School for May 7 2014Bryant K-5 200+Whittier K-5 155Alki ElementaryK-5 150Salmon Bay K-8 136Laurelhurst K-5 121McDonald K-5 120Stevens K-5 101JSIS K-5
Louis C.K. and Common Core
The blowback from the comedian Louis C.K. and his tweets about Common Core are useful in pointing out some fundamental issues with Common Core.These are issues that ALL public school parents have a right to weigh in on both as taxpayers AND as parents investing their children into public education. And that, to me, means parents have more rights to talk about Common Core than say, Bill Gates. Be
Ed News Roundup
Washington State charters, a terse OSPI tweet on the NCLB waiver, a district trying to growing their own Special Education teachers and NYC students talking about difference. Washington State just finished its first charter school conference (you weren't there? me neither). And boy, were there a lot of tweets. Some of them were funny like claiming a room was "full" when the photo in t
Robert Eaglestaff Documentary
From the Urban Native Education Alliance:"Hello Community Members, family and friends, You are all invited to attend the premier of a documentary on Robert Eaglestaff and Indian Heritage School. This documentary has been in the making for the past 8 months and we are excited to announce the premier date May 22nd @6pm at Indian Heritage Seamat building (Wilson-Pacific). Free event. Dinner and
Arbor Heights Appeal Hearing
From the West Seattle blog, a detailed accounting of the appeal hearing held on Thursday asking for an environmental review. The appeal was brought by long-time district watcher, Chris Jackins. In a brief closing statement, Jackins contended that “everything about this project seems to be rushed,” and he said that the supplemental studies presented by the district had not been done before the SEP
Call Your House Member and Urge a "No" Vote on H.R. 10
Update: It passed overwhelmingly but we'll have to see what the Senate says. Here's a good accounting from the Huffington Post on this bill. To note:Mary Kusler, the NEA's government relations director, also raised concerns about accountability. "Some provisions of the underlying bill represent improvements, such as requiring greater charter authorizer accountability, and including weighte
Friday Open Thread
I will be taking a short break for a few days as my family will be happily attending the graduation of my youngest son from his university. We are very proud that he was accepted to the Evans School of Public Affairs at UW to work on his Master's.I am disappointed to report that teacher Jesse Hagopian narrowly lost to Jonathan Knapp for president of the SEA. The vote difference was 45 votes out
MAY 07
Wilson-Pacific; FACMAC Weighs In
It might have gone unnoticed by some parents but the issues with Wilson-Pacific are near dire. This matters for two reasons. One, there is a ripple effect to nearly every single capital decision in this district. Two, next time, it could be your community. - The district will have a "community meeting on Tuesday, May 13, 6:30 p.m., at the Wilson-Pacific building’s SeaMat Center where infor
Possible Tragedy Averted at Eckstein
Today at Eckstein (from a reader):Principal messsage: "At approximately 9:30, Eckstein went into Shelter-in-Place. All students and staff were safe. Police reported that there was an Eckstein student in the neighborhood who might be armed. Police apprehended the student at approximately 9:50 and we returned to business as usual. The student is in custody at this time. I would like to thank yo
MAY 06
Common Core; An Overview
You know how you really need to get something done but drag your feet because of time, overwhelming amounts of data/research and just plain organization? That's been me with an overview of Common Core. It took a nudge from a member of one of the City's Commissions to kickstart me and get it done.It's much longer than I had hoped but this is not a simple subject. I also do not offer an alternati
Continuing Education Stories from Seattle and Beyond
The two items I've been tracking are the denial of renewal of the NCLB waiver for Washington State and the SPS math adoption.Today Secretary Duncan appeared before the U.S. Senate budget committee. He did get asked about waivers but not by Senator Murray. From Ed Week:Unlike late last month, when Duncan faced hostile declarations about his NCLB waiver moves from lawmakers in both the House and t
Tuesday Open Thread
Fun at Teacher Appreciation Day at Arbor Heights Elementary. I happened to be checking what schools require uniforms (I believe there are only 3-4 elementaries). K-5 STEM is one of them. From their webpage, the school certainly has quite a different feel to it. For example, they have four sections to their Uniforms page and the FAQ is really long and fairly strict. I can only say that you wo
MAY 05
Ed Reform - And the Walls Come Crumbling Down
One the benefits of being able to hang in there for a long time is watching - however long it takes - for what you believe to be false and unworthy to slowly loosen (or lose) its grip.I mean, we now have the Gates Foundation ((apparently) throwing about $100M away on inBloom. I'm sure they are resourceful and have learned something so all is not lost but it's a good thing they have deep pockets.
Give BIG is Tuesday, May 6th
Seattle Foundation is having its Give BIG day tomorrow where donations made to non-profits will be enlarged via a "stretch pool" of funding. The amount of the "stretch" depends on how much is raised in total donations on GiveBIG day. It starts at midnight tonight and ends at midnight on the 6th. Here's a list of non-profits - find your favorite and give BIG!Among mine:- NEST -
MAY 04
Seattle Schools This Week
Monday, May 5th Community meeting with Director McLaren from 6-7:30 pm at the High Point Community Center.Tuesday, May 6thSpecial Education Advisory and Advocacy Council (SEEAC) Meeting starting at 6:30 pm at JSCEE in room 2700.Wednesday, May 7thSchool Board meeting starting at 4:15 pm. Agenda- I see from the Personnel report that there is a new Director of Capital Projects and Planning, Richard
Seattle Schools Updates
Update: it seems that despite the fact the ConnectEdu has declared bankruptcy last week, they may trying to forge on. I will ask about the contract that SPS has with this organization and the SPS student data they have. End of update.The district recognized some Nutrition Services staff as part of School Lunch Super Hero Day. This week is School Nutrition Week so thank a kitchen staff member f
MAY 03
See Something, Say Something
A real-life enactment of that simple phrase is probably what saved the lives of many, many students and staff at a small-town high school in Minnesota.Waseca, Minnesota is a small town (about 10,000) south of Minneapolis. It has one high school and it was discovered on Tuesday that a 17-year old student was planning a massacre.From CNN:There, police say, he told authorities of his plan to kill hi
