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Looking Ahead - At a glance
November
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, Delridge Library, 5423 Delridge Way SW, November 17, 11:00am-12:30pm
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, High Point Library, 3411 SW Raymond St, November 13, 11:00am-12:30pm
October
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, Delridge Library, 5423 Delridge Way SW, October 27, 11:00am-12:30pm
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, High Point Library, 3411 SW Raymond St, October 9, 11:00am-12:30pm
September
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, Delridge Library, 5423 Delridge Way SW, September 29, 11:00am-12:30pm
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, Southwest Library, 9010 35th Ave SW), September 18, 11:00am-12:30pm
June
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, High Point Library, 3411 SW Raymond Street, June 19, 11:00am-12:30pm
May
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, Southwest Library, 9010 35th Ave SW, May 27, 10:00-11:30am
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, High Point Library, 3411 SW Raymond Street, May 22, 11:00am-12:30pm
April
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, West Seattle Library, 2306 42nd Ave SW, April 29, 10:00-11:30am
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, High Point Library, 3411 SW Raymond Street, April 24, 2:00-3:30pm
March
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, High Point Library, 3411 SW Raymond Street, March 24, 11:00-12:00pm
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, High Point Library, 3411 SW Raymond Street, March 20, 11:00-12:30pm
February
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, High Point Library, 3411 SW Raymond Street, February 27, 2:30-4:00pm
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, High Point Library, 3411 SW Raymond Street, February 24, 11:00am-12:00pm
- Operations & Capital Projects Levy Campaign – February 9
January
- Operations & Capital Projects Levy Campaign for February 9 Election
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, High Point Library, 3411 SW Raymond Street, Jan. 27, 10:00-11:30am
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, Delridge Library, 5423 Delridge Way SW, Jan. 16, 1:00-2:30pm
December
- Operations & Capital Projects Levy Campaign for February 9 Election
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, Delridge Library, 5423 Delridge Way SW, Dec. 16, 10:00-11:30am
November
- New Student Assignment maps - Updated version – Nov. 3
- School Board Elections – November 3
- New Student Assignment plan – board motion Nov. 4
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, High Point Library, 3411 SW Raymond St, Nov. 7, 1:00-2:30pm
- New Student Assignment plan – Public hearing Nov. 9
- New Student Assignment plan – Board Amendments submitted by Nov. 10
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, Delridge Library, 5423 Delridge Way SW, Nov. 18, 10:00-11:30am
- New Student Assignment plan – Vote by School Board Nov. 18
- Scorecard on Measuring Progress of Strategic Plan – this fall
October
- New Student Assignment Maps released – Oct. 6, public review
- New Student Assignment Plan – District Public Meetings – - Oct. 12, 13, 14, 15 and 17
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, Delridge Library, 5423 Delridge Way SW, Oct. 21, 10:00-11:30am
- Steve's Neighborhood Chats, High Point Library, 3411 SW Raymond St, Oct. 24, 10:00-11:30am
Coffee with Steve
Saturday, Sept 18
11:00 - 12:30am
Southwest Library
9010 35th Ave SW
Wednesday, Sept 29
11:00 - 12:30am
Delridge Library
5423 Delridge Way SW
Saturday, Oct 9
11:00 - 12:30am
High Point Library
3411 SW Raymond St
Wednesday, Oct 27
11:00 - 12:30am
Delridge Library
5423 Delridge Way SW
Saturday, Nov 13
11:00 - 12:30am
High Point Library
3411 SW Raymond St
Wednesday, Nov 17
11:00 - 12:30am
Delridge Library
5423 Delridge Way SW
Seattle School Shorts
Dear Friends:
Please find a brief summary of current Seattle Public School news and achievements.
- Thank you Seattle Voters – Levies pass with 73% Support!
- New Student Assignment Plan – Open Enrollment
- Court affirms Public Education Funding is State’s top priority
- Transformation to Address Low-performing Schools
- Courts ruling on Math materials
- 57 Teachers receive National Board Certification
- Performance Management to Boost Achievement at every school
Thank you Seattle Voters
Seattle voters’ approval rate for renewing our school levies was 73% - one of the highest approval rates in the nation. Thank you to Seattle voters for the tremendous support at the polls for our levies. I also want to add my thanks to Schools First and the incredible corps of volunteers - family members, PTSA groups, and staff members chief among them - who tirelessly worked to ensure passage of the levies and success for Seattle's students. More information about the levies is available here.
New Student Assignment Plan – Open Enrollment
The New Student Assignment Plan is a critical component for ensuring that every school is an excellent school. For basic facts about the new student assignment and transition plan for 2010-11, click here. The new plan will be implemented in phases beginning in the 2010-11 school year. Students entering Kindergarten and Grades 6 and 9 in fall 2010 will be assigned to their attendance area schools. All current students and new students who completed the early registration process have already received their default assignments. Families may apply during open enrollment (March 1-31, 2010) to request another school, including options schools. Registration information and applications for open enrollment will be available online here. Please note that the deadline for applications is 8:00 p.m. on March 31, 2010.
Court affirms Public Education Funding is State’s top priority
The Court issued a ruling on February 4 that the state has been failing to do its constitutional duty to provide for the "ample" education of Washington state students. Judge Erlick ordered the state Legislature to establish the cost of providing a basic education for all students and then pay for it, as the constitution requires. I am pleased with the court's affirmation that it is the state's paramount duty to fund public education. While we sustained significant cuts during the last legislative session, and expect deep cuts again this year and next year, I do recognize that the legislature is trying to move in the right direction. Last year's education reform bill (HB 2261) helped to identify basic education needs and began to develop a funding formula, and this year the legislature has enacted additional reforms that will be helpful.
Transformation to address low-performing schools
Cleveland High, Hawthorne Elementary and West Seattle Elementary have applied for three-year federal grants of up to $2 million a year. The grants are part of a $3.5 billion national effort, announced last summer, to overhaul schools judged to be among the lowest 5 percent in terms of student achievement. Like other Obama administration education initiatives, the program offers big financial incentives for districts willing to accept some controversial requirements. The grant applications are made to the State of Washington, which oversees the statewide grant program on behalf of the federal government.
In this case, a district must agree to overhaul a school using one of four approaches: close it down, replace its principal and half the staff, turn it into a charter school (not allowed under Washington law), or "transform" it. Seattle intends to use the transformation approach, which has the support of the local teachers union and Seattle Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson. Its requirements include tougher teacher evaluations, a new instructional program and more learning time for students. (Seattle Times)
Seattle school district appeals math ruling
A King County judge issued a ruling on February 4 that directed the Seattle School Board to review its decision to use the Discovering Series of math materials for high school students. A group of community members had sued to stop the books from being used in high schools. Seattle Public Schools followed an extensive process in adopting the materials, which were thoroughly vetted by a diverse group, including mathematicians and teaching professionals. The Judge's finding that the School Board's decision was "arbitrary and capricious" was therefore surprising. The District has appealed the math ruling, and as I indicated when the district announced its intention to appeal, I concur with this decision.
57 Teachers receive National Board Certification
The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards announced in December that 57 Seattle Public Schools teachers earned their National Board certification in 2009. Seattle now has 174 National Board-certified teachers, and more than 85 additional teachers are working toward certification in 2010. The National Board noted that Seattle Public Schools is among the nation's top 20 in terms of the number of teachers who achieved national certification in 2009, ranking 15th. The newly certified Teachers were honored at the School Board meeting on January 20. Click on the link for the news release, which includes the list of teachers.
Performance Management to Boost Achievement at every school
Seattle Public Schools is launching a district-wide performance management system which will provide the information and data needed to continuously improve the quality of education of all schools. A key strategy of our Excellence for All strategic plan, the performance management system is focused on improving performance at all levels of the district. The performance management system tracks both performance and growth. The District scorecard, sample school reports, and performance evaluation information are available on our Strategic Plan Implementation web site. Additional information on Seattle Public Schools' Performance Management System is available here and in this Frequently Asked Questions document.
Sincerely,
Steve Sundquist