Robert Eagle Staff Middle School Principal Hiring Meetings

Here's an update from a parent on the new middle school. Note: there are still 2 more meetings coming up next week on the hiring process as well.  I expect enrollment choices i.e. rollup vs geosplit to be made about 12 months prior to opening.

"Long story short, the Robert Eagle Staff Middle School (opening Fall 2017) is expected to serve

      1)     ALL students who live in the newly established Robert Eagle Staff service area (Greenwood, Olympic View, Northgate, Broadview-Thomson, Daniel Bagley).  This includes students who want to take part in the HCC program as middle schoolers.

      2)     And ALSO all students who live in the Whitman Service area who want to take part in the HCC program as middle schoolers.

All families of students grades 4, 5 and 6 who might meet this description are welcome to attend the Principal Planning meetings.

Robert Eagle Staff Middle School Principal Hiring Meetings - UPDATED!

In September 2017, a new middle school will open in the NW Region.

Robert Eagle Staff Middle School will serve all students from Greenwood, Olympic View, Northgate, Broadview-Thomson, Daniel Bagley attendance areas as well as middle school students who are enrolled in the HCC program and who live in the Whitman service area.

Meetings to discuss the hiring of the planning principal for this new middle school will be held at four sites. Parents of current 4th and 5th grade students are invited to attend to hear more about the hiring process and the planning that the new principal will lead during 2016-2017 to ensure a successful launch of the new school. These meetings are intended to address the hiring of a new principal and will not address questions regarding enrollment, boundary questions, and so forth. Those issues will be addressed at meeting to be scheduled at a later time.

Parents of 6th grade middle school students who live in the areas served by the elementary schools listed above are invited to attend, as are parents of 6th grade HCC students who live in the Whitman service area.

Meetings are scheduled on the following dates and times:

Thursday, Feb. 18 at Northgate Elementary (7 PM to 8 PM)

Wednesday, Feb. 24 at Greenwood Elementary (7 PM to 8 PM)

Thursday, Feb. 25 at Cascadia Elementary Auditorium (6:30 PM to 7:30 PM)

All meetings will take place in the lunchroom unless otherwise noted at the school site. Spanish language services will be provided at Northgate and Greenwood. These meetings will be hosted by Jon Halfaker, the Executive Director for Schools in the NW Region.

Learn more about the new school on the Seattle Public Schools' Building Excellence Program website"

Making a decision about HCC Elementary School (Cascadia, Thurgood Marshall, Fairmount Park)

Now that tours are starting up, its time for many new families to make decisions about whether to choose their HCC pathway school. To start things off  I have a request from a parent for opinions about the program at Cascadia.

"Specifically, I want to learn more about experiences with the project-based learning model and environmental stewardship (at Cascadia)."

Tours

Cascadia

2016 Cascadia Information Evenings will be on Wednesday, February 24 and Thursday, April 7 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in Cascadia's Auditorium.

Advance reservations for the Information Evenings are required and are for adults only. Please sign up for an evening if you have kindergarten through 4th grade students who you think will qualify for HCC.Tours are extremely large, so we ask that you not attend tours if your students are younger than kindergarten age. This program will only be in the Lincoln building until June 2017. The District Open Enrollment is Wednesday, February 17 - Tuesday, March 1, 2016.

Thurgood Marshall

Principal Katie May and the Thurgood Marshall PTA will be hosting school information sessions and tours on five days this winter and spring, including one session specially focused on the HCC program. No RSVP is needed, but you must check in at the Main Office upon arrival. Please email pta@tmlink.org if a family member needs a tour in a language other than English, such as Spanish or Vietnamese. We will do our best to accommodate you.See tour dates in the Calendar section.

Fairmount Park

February 11th :
9:00am-11:00am – kindergarten tour.


February 17th :
9:00am-11:00am – kindergarten tour.


February 24th :
9:00am-11:00am - school tour for all grades


February 25th :
9:00am-11:00am - HCC tour

General school orientation for families unable to attend during regular school hours:

February 25th:
5:30-6:30pm meeting in the library


Please call the office at 252-9300 to reserve your place on a tour.

Keep the questions comings and hopefully the rest of us can offer some useful advice.

Flip Herndon talk at Ballard High School on Capacity Issues

Another evening, another adventure in a Seattle Public Schools building I haven't been inside yet. I found myself tonight in the packed library at Ballard High School.  At first the evening started with a normal PTSA meeting. There were minutes to be approved and budget items to discuss. You could sense the anticipation in the room through all of this. The principal Keven Wynkoop even joked that while usually his speech was the highlight of the night, he knew the everyone was really waiting for Flip Herndon to speak, While Flip, the assistant superintendent in charge of facilities  was being introduced, the PTSA officer mentioned that Flip's own children attend Ingraham which I hadn't realized. It always makes me feel a bit better to find out the central staff are also parents.

His talk started with a brief mention of the general capacity issues and how all the high schools are full with the exception of Rainier Beach. For those in the SE Quadrant, he also gave a shout out to the IB program there and its successes which one could interpret as an official sign of administration support.

Onto the real meat of the talk:

• Assuming the current BTA and Operations levies pass, we will build the 500 seat addition to Ingraham High School.
• Lincoln will have an additional 1600 seats which when completed in combination with the above space will just meet the immediate needs in the next few years for the north end.
• The district actually still needs one more comprehensive high school which they really want to place near Queen Anne. The current first choice is to build on the Memorial Stadium site in the Seattle Center. However, this is governed by a covenant with the city that will have to be renegotiated. (And the city really wants the land back)
• There are no decisions yet on the boundaries or a rolling start vs. an immediate geo-split. This was probably the most emotional topic for the crowd since many were worried about having to move their kids potentially even in the Senior year to the new high school.  The district wants to have these decision made 18 months prior to opening and will start planning this 10-11 months from now.
• Interestingly Flip has gone back to the 1970's boundary maps as a starting point back when the district still had 12 high schools and ~75000 students vs. our current ~54000.
• The total cost of the renovation of the Lincoln building is now around 75 million dollars.
• In the meantime all the overcrowded schools including Ballard, HIMS, Garfield are just going to have deal with being overcrowded. There's no interim plans to help out at least for now.
• There was also a discussion about the fields spaces. The district is renegotiating its master agreement with the park department. That includes discussion on the use of lower Woodland Park for Lincoln High School. For those worried about crumb rubber fields the district has heard parent concerns but is apparently waiting on more definitive research, They also have not put out bids yet for the work on various sites and so may still change their ultimate decision. Unfortunately, I didn't find out if that included the Wilson Pacific site.
• Flip gave the first official confirmation that I've heard that Cascadia may be split due it being too large to fit on the new site. This decision will be made sometime this Spring and there is no idea about what other sites could be used (mostly because everywhere is full).
• I also asked at the very end about the Decatur Building. Currently there is no plan yet for how it is to be used.

On a lighter side before the meeting started I was able to see some video from the recent Ballard High School production of Carmina Burana. It was very impressive.  I definitely encourage you to take a look at:  https://vimeo.com/149092851


Note: The capacity crunch tend to produce the most heated discussions. Please keep the conversation constructive. 

Questions about Spectrum

There's a lot of discussion of Spectrum on the Open Thread so I though it would be worth breaking it out into a separate post.

Some General Points:

• Spectrum is a building by building program and can vary quite widely in implementation.
• One thing to bear in mind when asking about Spectrum on this forum is I assume most parents have moved to HCC instead because they found it wanting and you therefore are less likely to get a balanced picture.
• If you're a prospective parent, definitely take advantage of the upcoming tours at the Spectrum sites and ask your questions there. Yes many schools are full but you never know what will happen in the open enrollment lottery so I wouldn't rule anything out based on that.

Some Larger Questions:

• There's a lot of uncertainty about the future of the program.
• I personally have questions despite having a Spectrum qualified child myself about whether 3 tiers of education is the best model for how to do things.
• I've thought in the past and this recent conversation has made me consider it again whether this blog should more directly focus on all advanced learners including Spectrum.  I'm not sure if that would dilute focus and if it would be too much work but I'm curious as always what others think.

The conversation thus far ....

Many of the comments I've read on this site are quite negative about the Spectrum program.

Is it pointless to put a Spectrum qualified child into the designated Spectrum school? (Lawton, in our case). My Kindergarten daughter isn't getting a great education where she is as the curriculum is moving too slowly for her, but from reading the comments on this site I'm not sure moving her will make much of a difference?

Thanks --

Coe parent

 Lynn said...

The first problem is that Lawton is over capacity - so your child will not be able to transfer. In a school where Spectrum students aren't in a self-contained class, seats are offered to students from outside the attendance area only when space is available.

The quality of a cluster-grouped Spectrum program is dependent on the ability and willingness of your child's teacher to differentiate instruction and the make-up of the classroom that year. This is exactly what you'll get in your neighborhood school. I don't think it's worth moving even if you had the opportunity.

Might she qualify for APP?

  Anonymous said...

Does Coe have walk to math? Isn't that kind of all you get from Lawton in Spectrum these days? It's been awhile for us so I hope someone with more recent experience will comment.

asdf

February 2, 2016 at 12:42 PM

 

 Anonymous said...

What type of advanced work have Bryant ALO students received?

- New to Bryant

  Anonymous said...

So are there any Spectrum or ALO schools that anyone thinks IS doing a good job meeting the Advanced Learners needs?

NB Parent

 Anonymous said...

NB Parent - My son is at Lafayette Elementary, which still has self-contained Spectrum (although who knows how long that will continue). He's only in first grade, so we don't have a lot of experience with Spectrum yet, but this year they are covering both first and second grade curriculum so they will be ready for third grade work next year. If they decide to get rid of self-contained classes, we'll be first in line to switch to Fairmount Park.

-Lafayette Mom

 Anonymous said...

My HCC qualified child has attended both Coe and Lawtom. Coe has an excellent ALO program. There is a math specialist doing dMany of the comments I've read on this site are quite negative about the Spectrum program. 

Is it pointless to put a Spectrum qualified child into the designated Spectrum school? (Lawton, in our case). My Kindergarten daughter isn't getting a great education where she is as the curriculum is moving too slowly for her, but from reading the comments on this site I'm not sure moving her will make much of a difference?

Thanks --

Coe parent

 Anonymous said...

@Former Coe parent. Thanks for your comment. That's interesting. Do you mind if I ask why you didn't put your child into Cascadia? Are you going to as you are unhappy with Lawton?
--Coe parent

 Anonymous said...

It used to be that Bryant was one size fit all and the ALO program meant an occasional extra worksheet in the homework. This year they're trying to differentiate a little more seriously. There's talk of a year of growth for every student. My second grader has an embryonic walk to math once a week (but not for 3rd grade math) and they do a walk-to reading group by level as well. There's been some experiments with blended math learning earlier this fall. Overall, most advanced learners leave Bryant over the math and that still is not as good as options at other schools. We'll see if they add more next year.

 Anonymous said...

There is more talk about advanced learning lately at Bryant but for whatever reason it doesn't seem that they are able to implement any meaningful changes. They had attempted to fund a staff position that would take on some of the administration of walk to math and other extensions but without it, the staff has not moved beyond a very skeletal version of basic programs that other schools (see Coe above) are able to implement without extra staff. My feeling is that there is something about the building and staff philosophy that is contrary to implementing a meaningful structure for work above grade level and that isn't likely to change. They do have both the resources and the student capabilities despite their protests.

 Anonymous said...

NB parent-- You will find that parents all have differing opinions about how well their child's needs were met in spectrum & ALO schools. My child attended Loyal Heights, an ALO school. It was awesome for her, not one bad teacher or experience. But you will hear from others who will complain their child was not challenged. Granted my kid is highly self motivated. She was a stand out student, but it built her confidence and identity as a "smart" kid. Solid walk to math program. Great to be at a neighborhood school, great kids. I felt she was very well prepared for HCC in middle school. She did stellar on the private school admission test, which affirmed our confidence that she received a solid education. We have never done any tutoring or subject supplementing outside school. She was offered admittance to Lakeside for 6th, but we chose HCC instead.

February Open Thread

Its February and we're in the midst of the final phases of testing and the beginning of open enrollment.

Articles

I saw this interesting article two days back in the NYTimes on whether we're stifling creativity with the values we choose to accentuate: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/opinion/sunday/how-to-raise-a-creative-child-step-one-back-off.html?_r=0

"The gifted learn to play magnificent Mozart melodies, but rarely compose their own original scores. They focus their energy on consuming existing scientific knowledge, not producing new insights. They conform to codified rules, rather than inventing their own."

I just found a followup interview with the column's author: http://techcrunch.com/2016/02/02/wharton-professor-adam-grant-on-creativity-and-the-first-mover-myth/?ncid=rss

On a totally different note, this piece on extra curricular math just came out. I'm familiar with most of the groups mentioned and its a great read if you didn't know about some of them already. I wish we had a version the Proof School in Seattle (that didn't cost an arm and a leg to attend).

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/03/the-math-revolution/426855/

West Seattle HCC Pathway Information Night

    Thursday, February 25th, 7-8:30
    at Madison Middle School Library

    Next year Madison Middle School will become an HCC (Highly Capable Cohort formerly known as APP) pathway option school, an exciting next step in West Seattle’s advanced learning options that began with the opening of Fairmount Park Elementary last year.

    This event provides an opportunity to learn more about the new middle school pathway in West Seattle and the preparations underway for its successful launch in the fall. Topics include course offerings, class structure, and the options following middle school, along with any questions you may have. Speakers will include representatives from the Advanced Learning Office, Madison administration and faculty, and both West Seattle High School and Chief Sealth International High School.

Eagle Staff Middle School Update

From SPS:
In September of 2017, a new middle school will open in the NW Region.
Robert Eagle Staff Middle School will serve students from Greenwood, Olympic View, Northgate, Broadview-Thomson, Daniel Bagley, and Cascadia schools.
Meetings to discuss the hiring of the planning principal for this new middle school will be held at four sites. Parents of current 4th and 5th grade students are invited to attend to hear more about the hiring process and the planning that the new principal will lead during 2016-2017 to ensure a successful launch of the new school.
Parents of 6th grade middle school students at Whitman and 6th grade HCC students at Hamilton, whose reference school is one of the schools named above, are also invited to attend.
Meetings are scheduled on the following dates and times:
•February 17th at Bagley Elementary (6:30PM - 7:30PM)
•February 18th at Northgate Elementary (7 PM to 8 PM)
•February 24th at Greenwood Elementary (7PM to 8PM)
•February 25th at Cascadia Elementary Auditorium (6:30 PM to 7:30 PM)
All meetings will take place in the lunchroom unless otherwise noted at the school site. Spanish language services will be provided at Northgate and Greenwood.
Learn more about the new school on the Seattle Public Schools' Building Excellence Program website.

Ballard PTSA Meeting on Lincoln High School February 4th

Have you wondered how Seattle is going to continue to deal with the growth in the North End of Seattle? What new schools are opening in the next few years? Are you concerned about how the boundary re-draw is going to impact your neighborhood or your school? What grade levels will Lincoln High School open with in 2019? Will Ballard and Roosevelt students be forced to move to Lincoln? Do you have concerns about the impacts that the late start will have on athletics and field use? If any of these questions apply to you, attend tonight’s Ballard High School PTSA Meeting at 7:00pm in the BHS Library and hear from the person who will ultimately be in charge of these decisions, SPS Associate Superintendent of Facilities and Operations, Flip Herndon.
Please feel free to forward this to any friends at other schools that would also be interested in this conversation.
Keven Wynkoop
Ballard High School
Principal

HCS Advisory Committee meeting

Today - Tuesday, February 2, 6:30 - 8:00 PM

Garfield High School Library

400 23rd Ave

Quick Blog Roll:

 I'd like to get a rough idea of where our readership is to aid in picking topics, vote multiple times for multiple children:

What school does your student atttend?

Cascadia

Thurgood Marshall

Fairmount Park

HIMS

WMS

JAMS

Garfield

Ingraham

polling

What's on your minds?

Choosing between Garfield, Roosevelt and Ingraham for High School

This thread comes from a parent request

Middle school has been an extraordinary experience for my kid (she’s at JAMS) largely because of the extraordinarily mature, talented, and learning-focused cohort of APP kids who surround her.
In choosing a high school, one of our chief aims is to try to continue to live among this very strong and mature cohort of kids. In decades past, this APP cohort, I believe, tended largely to go to Garfield rather than Roosevelt or Ingraham. Is that still true?  Does anyone know where we can find numbers?

For the numbers part of the question, I happen to have data on hand for Roosevelt HC enrollment. It ranges from 25-12 kids per year which is similar to what is occurring at Ballard HS as well. All other non-HCS high schools are generally much lower.  Currently most of the cohort is continuing onto the pathway schools.  *Caveat: this data was not even collected until the last year or so the accuracy is a little bit questionable esp. the 11th and 12th grade numbers.

However, I thought I'd broaden the topic a little and let folks discuss how they are making their high school choices.

New Middle School Spin-up Process (Meany and Eagle Staff)

I received the following email this morning:

Mr. Leis,
Good morning. You emailed Michael Tolley last week regarding Robert Eagle Staff Middle School. He asked that I respond to your questions, which I am happy to do. We agree that the planning process for Jane Adams Middle School was greatly enhanced by giving the planning principal a full year to meet with community, hire key staff, and work on the logistical issues, etc. associated with opening a new middle school. As such, we will be looking to hire for this position during our opening round of hiring this spring. While I can’t guarantee a hiring date, I would anticipate by April 1 that we have planning principals in both of the middle schools (Meany Middle School is also coming on line at the same time). Thank you for your question and the embedded feedback regarding what worked in opening Jane Adams.

Sincerely,


Jon Halfaker
Executive Director of Northwest Region Schools
Seattle Public Schools

This essentially matches the timeline for JAMS. I remember a parallel parent effort to help out and establish a PTSA. So I've set this thread up for folks to talk about what worked well last time and what they'd recommend other parents do during this process.

1/5 HCS Advisory Committee meeting

There are a few things the advisory committee meetings accomplish. The most important of those is the exchange of information especially the direct report from Stephen Martin about what the AL office has been up to for the preceding month, The committee can then provide direct feedback from the parent perspective to the staff (which is totally nonbinding) and ask further questions.

So it was disappointing tonight that Stephen Martin had to cancel at the last minute due to some unfortunate circumstances. I had planned to ask some clarifying questions about the test process which I couldn't do. As a result,  I'll be waiting to hear from everyone if the K-2 followup appointments to finish the CogAt testing happen tomorrow.  My read of the recent status mail and the office's pattern of mass emailing on Wed. nights is that it's reasonably likely.

However, on the flip side Paula Montgomery, the principal of JAMS attended the meeting and gave a long and interesting talk on the current state of the middle school.  Some of the points she mentioned:

• Enrollment is rising rapidly. It will go from 850 to 930 students next year and all the grades will most likely be over 300 students. This will require the final mass hiring of new teachers over the summer.  Interestingly. Spectrum enrollment continues to be very small 20-30 students per grade.  While they are still evaluating the model, the blended classes provide the best option for scheduling these students.
• She was very proud of the quality of last year's new hires. They averaged 10+ years of experience.
• Math is a special focus at the school.
• Scheduling at JAMS revolves around Math classes.
• Math Classes are grouped by grade and subject. There are no mixed grade classes.
• For those coming in from neighborhood elementary schools but HCC qualified, the preferred pathway is to do Math 7 and then skip Math 8 and go directly to Algebra. 
• This is also the main use of Professional development in the building. A consultant from the UW comes 2 days a month and conducts studio model classes and coaches individual teachers.
• Beyond HCC/Spectrum, they try to identify via Amplify tests students who are above level and place them in the most challenging classes.
• Potentially (this is not firm yet) there will be screening tests for incoming sixth graders this spring to further aid in Math placement. The focus here is on the gen-ed population.
• So far they find the unblocked LA/SS are working well. When asked for details, Paula mentioned it made hitting the writing standards more precise.
• JAMS has been piloting the implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards. 

Overall, I was impressed with the presentation. I'd love to hear from other parent's particularly on the subject of Science and how its playing out from your perspective. Also I'll put another plug in here for the http://discussapp.blogspot.com/p/middle-school-curriculum-project.html.  If you're interested, please add objective details on the Winter curriculum.

January Open Thread

Happy New Year, I hope everyone had a good break.

CSIP (Continuous School Improvement Plans)

The new year's CSIP drafts are out at: http://garfieldhs.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=15987

Supposedly all schools are required to have a section on Advanced Learners although a casual glance at a few shows this to not be the case yet. I view this as an opportunity, however. If there is something concrete you'd really like changed at your site this might be the time to band together and lobby to have it included in the plan for the next year.

Testing

This update was just sent out to hopefully to everyone involved in testing:

"Thank you for referring your child for Advanced Learning testing. The Advanced Learning office will notify you via email about your child’s eligibility as scores are received and processed (late January through February). Because the notifications will be emailed on a rolling basis, we cannot give you a precise date. If you haven’t received an eligibility email by Feb. 29, please contact us at alsupportanalysts@seattleschools.org with the subject line “Eligibility Letter.”



Enrollment

If you would like your child to participate in Advanced Learning programs or services in a school other than your attendance-area school, you should enroll the child during Open Enrollment, Feb. 17 to March 1. Even if you have NOT received eligibility results by this time, or if you are appealing, please submit a School Choice Form during this window, anyway. Find guidance on our Advanced Learning Enrollment page.

Ineligible Students and Appeals

If you receive an email stating your student is NOT eligible this year, you may appeal within a limited time. Important: All appeals documents must be received by the Advanced Learning office no later than THREE WEEKS from the date of the email. (We have tightened the appeals window in order to accommodate budget and staffing timelines.) Find guidance on our Advanced Learning Appeals page.

· Families who are eligible for Free or Reduced-Price Lunch may request free appeals testing.

· Please submit a School Choice form during the Open Enrollment window, even if your appeal is in process.



Eligible Students and Enrollment

Highly Capable-eligible students: HC services are guaranteed, either at your attendance-area school or through self-contained classes in your pathway Highly Capable Cohort school. For your child to join the cohort, you should submit a School Choice form during Open Enrollment.

Advanced Learning-eligible students: Your student may receive advanced work at your attendance-area school or through self-contained or cluster-grouped Spectrum classes, available at designated sites on a space-available basis. You may submit a School Choice form during Open Enrollment, but a seat is not guaranteed.

Find guidance on our Advanced Learning Enrollment page.



Note that testing for grades K-8 continues at least through January for students referred by the Oct. 8 deadline. If you have not received a testing appointment by Jan. 6, please email alsupportanalysts@seattleschools.org with the subject line “Winter Testing.”



To learn more and to find answers to specific questions about Advanced Learning in Seattle Public Schools, please see our Advanced Learning pages: http://www.seattleschools.org/students/academics/advanced_learning/



Thank you!


Stephen Martin, Advanced Learning Supervisor"

Upcoming:

• The next HCS Advisory Meeting is this Tuesday 1/5  at JAMS at 6:30 in the library.
• Gifted Ed Day is Jan 29, 2016
  Starts in the Columbia Room
  Legislative Building (Lower Level)
  Olympia, WA
  9 am to 2 pm
  
  The Coalition is getting ready for Gifted Education Day on January 29, 2016.
  
  The Governor's proposed supplemental budget released on Dec. 17th actually slightly decreases HCP funding even though OSPI recommended an increase of nearly $2.5 million.
  
  We need to increase our support in the Legislature for full funding of HCP.  Please plan to join other advocates in Olympia on January 29th. In view of the "no change" budget proposed by the Governor, our hopes lie with Legislators and the Court.
  
  Here is our Handbook for the Day, containing background information on why the Highly Capable Program is entitled to full funding from the state as well as practical information for coming to Olympia.
  
  The basic idea of Gifted Ed Day is to meet in the Columbia Room at 9am for a presentation, get a green scarf to identify you with our group, then split up to visit your district legislators individually or in groups. Be ready to tell your representatives why Gifted Ed is important to your family, and ask them to support HCP budget increases in this legislative session. Bringing kids is great, and well received, as is groups of people advocating together. Legislators respond when they hear from voters in their district.
  
  If you plan to go to Olympia for Gifted Ed Day, NOW is the time to make appointments that day with your legislators.  Find your legislators here: http://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder/
  
  If you have a question that isn't covered in the Handbook, please contact The Coalition for Gifted Education atwagifted@earthlink.net

Articles

Some recent articles I've read on the subject of gifted education.  

• http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/26/nyregion/reforms-to-ease-students-stress-divide-a-new-jersey-school-district.html
• http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/01/the-charade-of-special-education-programs/421578/?google_editors_picks=true
• http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/03/opinion/sunday/is-the-drive-for-success-making-our-children-sick.html

What's on your minds?

Ingraham IBX Program News

IBX update from Ingraham High School

The Ingraham community has been discussing program changes centered on what we can do to meet a wider range of HCC students. We are happy to report that beginning with the next incoming 9^th grade class Ingraham is expanding the program to include the following: 

- The IBX program will still be at Ingraham in its current form as an opt-in program.

- We are adding a 4 year option for those that would be better served by a 4 year option.

- Students will be able to decide in their 9^th grade year the option that is best for them.

This is a continuation of Ingraham’s mission to provide flexible options for students. If you have any questions, please email me at mfloe@seattleschools.org.

Martin Floe

Principal

Ingraham High School

Official 6th Grade Math Placement Policy

Here is the text I finally received. This is not up on the web site yet but will be there soon. 

• This is generally an improvement for HCC students going to Algebra over being required to take a test at the district headquarters or using 4th grade data,
• I'm not sure if this is a change for kids coming from an ALO school and if they used to be able to opt up 2 years for instance and go straight to Math 8.
• The language on scheduling discretion may be a codification of what has been happening (see McClure Middle School) but it would be nice to see a stronger guarantee of a pathway.
• I'd prefer more outreach to families and an official policy rather than text on the website and an informal situation.

"Due to some changes in testing, the current middle school math placement plan has been reconsidered. All SPS students will be recommended to take the next math course in sequence in grade 6. That is, if a student was taught grade 6 standards in grade 5, the student will be recommended for grade 7 as a sixth-grader. The math program manager will work with the elementary schools to identify the current standards being taught to grade 5 students so the middle schools know what math course is next for students. In an effort to reduce barriers to advanced courses, the option for students to “opt up” of one course beyond the next in sequence will remain. Families will be guided to make this decision based on:
·         Standards mastered
·         The student’s willingness to be challenged and perhaps even frustrated in a course that is well beyond the next in sequence
Ultimate placement decisions remain the right and responsibility of the middle school and may be made based on a variety of factors at that school"

Tour Information + a Testing Update

Testing Update

This is from the AL Office:

Two testing dates have been added. Two additional Saturdays have been added to the Advanced Learning Eligibility Testing schedule: Jan. 9 and 16. Both of these will take place at Thurgood Marshall ES. Our original testing make-up date, Jan. 23 at Cascadia@Lincoln, will still occur for families who were unable to attend earlier testing dates. 

If you have not heard from Advanced Learning regarding a testing date by Wednesday, Jan. 6, please contact us at advlearn@seattleschool.org.

No changes are planned for the Appeals Process during the current testing cycle. We have heard that some families are confused because updates have been proposed to the Superintendent Procedures 2190, Highly Capable Services and Advanced Learning Programs. If finalized, these changes were intended to take effect during next year's testing cycle - not this one. Regardless, for now the action has been postponed to allow new board members time to transition. The updates had been scheduled for presentation at the Dec. 14 Curriculum & Instruction Policy Committee meeting, but we now anticipate reintroducing the updates in February.

School Tours

I also received this update from the HCS Advisory group:

Below is a list of information about Highly Capable Cohort sites/pathway schools for 2016. This list includes the information we have so far. Please consult the individual schools or websites for additional information. (Sorry some dates have already passed by)

Thurgood Marshall Elementary 

Principal Katie May and the Thurgood Marshall PTA will be hosting school information sessions and tours on the following days.  Except where noted below, they will begin with an information session with Principal May, followed by tours guided by PTA volunteers.  Tours will conclude at 10 am with a brief group Q&A session.

Please check in at the Main Office when you arrive and proceed to the Library on the second floor.  No RSVP is necessary. 

Tuesday, January 13, 9:15 am - Tour Only

Thursday, February 12, 8:45 am

Monday, February 23, 5:30 pm HCC Information Session, 6:30 School Tour (classroom observation not available), 7-7:30 General Information Session

Thursday, March 5, 8:45 am

Wednesday, May 20, 8:45 am

Washington Middle School

Evening Information Sessions:
Thursday, December 3, 6:30-8:00 pm OR
Thursday, February 11, 6:30-8:00 pm

Location:  Washington Middle School's Cafeteria

School Day Tours:
Friday, December 11, 7:45-9:15 am OR

Friday, February 19, 7:45-9:15 am

Location:  Meet in Washington Middle School's Cafeteria

Tours and Info Sessions are open to all 4th and 5th grade parents and students. Please contact Bridget Backschies (thetriplebee@gmail.com) or Tasha Irvine (tashasirvine@gmail.com) with any questions.

Jane Addams Middle School

Tour for prospective parents and student

February 11, 6:30 pm

Garfield High School

Tuesday, January 26 and Thursday, January 28, 2016: 9:00-9:45 meet in the QJA (preferably) or the Gym (if necessary); 

9:45-10:30 – building tours

Thursday, February 11, 2016: 6:00-8:00 – presentation in the Commons followed by self-guided tours with ASB/Link Leader support (department heads and program staff)

Ingraham High School

Shadow Visits will begin on Dec 1st - until February 25th, we will shadow on Tuesday, Weds and Thursdays from 7:50 AM - 11:55 AM. Parents can call to register their student for a shadow visit beginning on Nov 23rd - 206-252-3889 - Maria Medina

Ingraham Open House 2016 for incoming students 
February 3rd – 7:00 PM – Ingraham Auditorium
This is a general information night open to everyone - Mr. Floe/Principal and the Ingraham Staff will answer any questions about academics, sports, clubs and student life at Ingraham. 

Ingraham High School IB Information Night 
February 10th – 7:00 PM – Ingraham Library
This is an information night for parents and students going into the IB Program. 

Ingraham High School Day Time Tours 
February 3rd – 8:00 AM – 9:30AM
Tour begins in the school Auditorium - parents must accompany students on the tour

Ingraham High School Day Time Tours 
February 10th 8:00 AM – 9:30 AM
Tour begins in the school Auditorium - parents must accompany students on the tour

Questions? Call the Main Office #206-252-3889. All tours are for parents and students. No need to RSVP for tours or the night open houses. 

KUOW in the process of writing a piece on minorities and AL programs

I'm looking for families of color who have considered - or enrolled in - gifted/highly capable programs in Seattle Public Schools. I'm working on a story for KUOW Public Radio about the reasons behind the lack of diversity in the district's gifted classes, and I'd like to hear your experiences. Email adornfeld@kuow.org - and feel free to share this request with anyone you know! Thanks so much