Survey on High School Pathways

[The survey appears to be live and running until 10/4. email communityengagement@seattleschools.org if you have any issues or think you should be invited.]

We are in the process of reviewing the Student Assignment Plan (SAP) and developing related future high school boundaries. In early November we will bring the recommended changes to the SAP to the School Board for approval and implementation in the 2018-19 school year.

The Student Assignment Plan guides student enrollment and ensures students have access to the services they need close to home. One area of the Student Assignment Plan that is under review is how we serve our high school advanced learners. Given the increase in enrollment across our district, the opening of Lincoln High School in 2019, and the upward trend in the number of students who are eligible for Advanced Learning services, we will be seeking your input on how to improve access to High School Advanced Learning opportunities. Any High School Advanced Learning changes made would not go into effect until the 2019-20 school year.

Background: Currently, eighth grade students designated as Highly Capable and who are enrolled in the middle school Highly Capable Cohort (HCC) program are automatically assigned to Garfield High School.  Given the projected enrollment, Garfield High School’s capacity challenges will continue to grow. In addition, a task force is underway, preparing a set of recommendations for new high school boundary scenarios to accommodate the opening of Lincoln High School in northwest Seattle. High school HCC pathway(s) will influence the final high school boundaries.

As we make changes to the 2018-19 Student Assignment Plan and high school boundaries, we are exploring opportunities to address both the capacity issues at Garfield and increase advanced learning opportunities at high schools across the district.

Opportunity to Share Your Views: Related to these decisions, we are seeking to better understand the values and thoughts of our families, students, and staff about high school advanced learning options and related supports. As part of this comprehensive review, we have partnered with ThoughtExchange, an online tool, to facilitate a three step process to gather feedback. The process can be completed on any computer or mobile device, however, you will be required to create an account.

Early next week, you will be receiving an invitation to participate from ThoughtExchange. We will also post a schedule of additional community meetings that will include translation and ADA supports as well as a process timeline.

Please visit the Advanced Learning page for more information about the Advanced Learning Programming or you may direct questions to advlearn@seattleschools.org.

If you have questions about this engagement, you may direct them to communityengagement@seattleschools.org.

Sincerely,

Wyeth Jessee

Chief of Student Supports

Demographics and Boundary Zones

Here's some more data and scenarios for folks to consider.  Some of the potential impacts outside of the North are a bit unexpected and if you're near Lincoln there are some wildly different possibilities. I'll add on other sources as I find them and time allows.

Demographic Projections

http://www.seattleschools.org/UserFiles/Servers/Server_543/File/District/Departments/School%20Board/17-18%20agendas/20170926/20170926_Agenda_Packet_Amended.pdf

High School Task Force Scenarios

https://www.seattleschools.org/families_communities/committees/high_school_boundary

Inside the notes for the meetings are a large variety of maps.  Here are the latest ones. As you can see there are large differences in what might happen.

Lincoln H.S. Planning Meeting now on Oct 3rd and Oct 12th

Dear Eckstein, JAMS, and McDonald Families:

I apologize that the October 3^rd Lincoln High School meeting conflicts with your schools' open house.   I appreciate your interest and enthusiasm.  

I have added a second “first meeting” to be held on October 12, 2017 at 6:30-8:00 at Hamilton

I will also hold the October 3^rd meeting. 

Lincoln High School will be (re)opening in the fall of 2019 to address growing enrollment in our city.  Boundaries for 

Lincoln have not yet been finalized, but work is starting to “build an innovation high school.”

We need YOU to help shape the Lincoln experience.

Families, students, and community are invited to help design an amazing experience for ALL students.  A school that cultivates a community of learners who are curious, connected, confident who are empowered to make measurable positive impacts in their lives, their community, the nation and the world. 

Planning is just beginning.  Please join us on October 3 at 6:30 -8:00 or October 12 at 6:30-8:00

Both meetings will be held at Hamilton International Middle School, 1610 N 41^st St.

Please refer to Lincoln High School website for information about Lincoln.

www.seattleschools.org/lincoln

Sincerely,

Ruth Medkser, Principal

Parent Proposal

[I received this write up in the mail from a parent. I thought it would be a good conversation starter.  Full confession, I have not made up my own mind completely yet and I definitely welcome other submissions with different ideas if you email them to me.]

Problem: Garfield is over capacity and cannot continue to serve all HCC students in the long term.

Neighborhood schools option: The district, as a way to reduce overcrowding has suggested sending all HCC students back to their neighborhood schools. In my opinion this option presents great challenges in serving students at all high schools. Some high schools are bound to have low enrollment in AP courses and thus those courses will be very expensive to run. In addition, it will be very difficult for students at schools with limited HCC students and limited AP courses to make their schedules. Also, what would happen to HCC taking IB/IBX at Ingraham in this scenario? Will they also have to return to neighborhood schools?


Lincoln: Some members of the district/board have mentioned placing a north end HCC pathway at Lincoln. However, some HCC parents have expressed that it will be hard to build a school that offers analogous AP classes and sections as Garfield in such a short time frame. In addition, the district is moving forward with a plan to offer the dual language immersion program at Lincoln and for it to be a neighborhood “innovation” high school. Some have suggested this means more of a “project based learning focus” and not an AP focus. This means the focus of Lincoln may not be congruent with a focus on advanced learning. In addition, as Garfield would continue to serve south end and W Seattle HCC pathway students, they will be offering a different (AP courses) advanced learning pathway program.


Roosevelt or Ballard option: It might make much more sense for parents to advocate a "north end" HCC pathway that expands AP sections at either Roosevelt or Ballard. Both schools already are established and have an array of AP courses. They would need to add more sections (like Garfield offers) to allow full access and accommodate scheduling. Under this plan, Garfield would continue to serve the South side of the district.Given the number of students, it probably makes sense to pick one of the two schools rather than both so there will still be a viable cohort and critical mass. Boundaries will also need to be drawn big enough for Lincoln to pull in enough neighborhood students to fill Lincoln.

Numbers and projections and boundary scenario’s will also have to be developed by the district to see if this option is viable and doesn't force too many neighborhood students out from Ballard & Roosevelt to Lincoln to make room for an HCC cohort at either school.


Ingraham option: Another idea is to simply send all north end HCC students to Ingraham to take IB as Ingraham will be adding additional 500 seat capacity in 2019. This could also be an attractive alternative option.

However, IB is different than AP and one or the other are often mentioned as a better fit for students. Also, would it also be inequitable for students to have different HCC pathway programs serving north versus south end, as south end would still have access to multiple AP sections at Garfield. In addition, Ingraham seems to be moving away from serving HCC pathway students with the discussed potential elimination of IBX. In addition, Ingraham has capped the number of HCC students and 40 HCC students were turned away this year.

Reminder Advanced Learning Identification Season is Almost Over

This is the last week to apply to be tested and be identified as an advanced learner this school year. (9/22)

Official Link: http://seattleschools.org/cms/one.aspx?pageId=14554

In order for your child to be tested and considered for eligibility for Seattle Public School's Advanced Learning Programs and Services you must first submit a referral form.

Referral and Test Scheduling must be completed online via the Source.  

To begin, simply login to your Parent or Guardian account on the Source, and click on the “Advanced Learning” button to start the referral process. If you do not have a Source account, please click here for registration instructions. Please contact sourcesupport@seattleschools.org if you need assistance.

Advanced Learning also has available Translated Referral Forms* in the following languages: Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, Oromo, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrigna, Vietnamese. If you are in need of one of these translated forms they are available at your child's school site (please ask the office staff) or in the John Stanford Center lobby.

*Please note: Translated forms have been checked for ADA accessibility compliance. If you  need assistance reading these forms contact Stephen Martin at sbmartin@seattleschools.org

There seem to be several improvements in the process including the testing dates are now self scheduled.

High School Pathway Changes

In response to the capacity issues at Garfield  the staff is proposing to eliminate the HCC high school pathway and to meet student needs at their reference High Schools by next year.  This will be discussed at the board retreat tomorrow 9/9.

Recommendations and Next Steps 

• Engage stakeholder groups in exploring HCC services and AP/IB course offerings at the high school level
• Study the AP/IB offerings and participation rates at all comprehensive high schools
• Develop an action plan that would detail the required steps to meeting a shared vision for advanced learning opportunities at all SPS high schools
• Integrate changes into 2018-19 SAP in sync with new high school boundaries

link: Board Agenda

I'm looking for more details but to shift the Ballard and Roosevelt students in 2018-2019 to their reference area schools before Lincoln H.S. opens would be a capacity disaster of its own regardless of any programmatic considerations.

Some more thoughts

Currently 3 high schools Roosevelt, Garfield and Ballard are beyond their capacity and straining to handle their student bodies.  [We need this year's data to fully quantify the situation]  By 2019 Lincoln H.S. will come online as well as the 500 student addition at Ingraham which should relieve a lot of this pressure. As currently framed in the slides it sounds like the staff is attempting to make changes a year earlier.  A permanent solution to the 1 year gap would be poor planning since it would shift the capacity problems from Garfield to Ballard/Roosevelt. [We lack this year's data but I assume we're talking 40-60 students ]

Assuming that none of the permanent changes will occur until 2019 when there is more space to make adjustments I still have doubts about this plan. The internal logic of the slides is that advanced learning is in conflict with racial equity. The effect of using reference area schools would only be to further segregation in the districts not improve it. 

At the same time the atmosphere at Garfield has ranged from neglect to active hostility towards HCC. Last year the honors classes were effectively removed in 9th grade English and Social Studies. This year there are accounts of failure to schedule core math classes like AP Calculus. 

There has also been a steady drumbeat of articles like this latest one below:

http://kuow.org/post/i-wasn-t-comfortable-being-student-color-garfield-highs-advanced-classes 

I also don't believe the current options of AP/IB/Running Start are a great fit for all Advanced Learners and I think there is plenty of space for brainstorming better curriculum.

Ultimately, I think something needs to be done specifically at Garfield to improve the situation. But I'm not sure dissolving the pathway is the best way forward.  Among the issues with this idea are

• The difficulty of monitoring a program at 10 different sites. Given the realities of site based management a coherent, consistent experience is harder to maintain every time we add schools.
• The vastly different cohort sizes between schools. The low number sites will have trouble scheduling sufficient classes and they will likely be smaller. i.e. more expensive.  This scenario is very different if you go to Roosevelt versus Nathan Hale for example.
• The monkey wrench this throws into the capacity decisions in the north end. As I last understood Lincoln actually needs imported HCC students to fill the building. In fact, using the voluntary movement of AL parents out of their reference zones is one of the best tools for relieving pressure and filling under utilized buildings.

Alternatives:

The most obvious one is to stay the course. Hold out in all 3 buildings one more year and let the new space come online in 2019. The split of the north end students to Lincoln should relieve Garfield which is the immediate impetus for this change.   If Garfield really can't accommodate students next year, we already have a wait list for Ingraham and some space there for portables. It would make a lot of sense to grow the cohort in advance of its new wing especially if its a one time change. 

September '17 Open Thread

Welcome back to a new year.

Math Video

Watch AoPS founder, Richard Rusczyk, deliver an engaging talk about the importance of problem solving at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology!
Posted by Art of Problem Solving on Friday, September 8, 2017

This looks like it would be of interest to many here. 

National Merit Semi-Finalists Announced

"For the third year in a row, Bellevue’s Interlake High School had the most National Merit Scholarship program semifinalists of any school in the state, with 27 students who will compete for academic scholarships next spring.

Skyline High School in Sammamish was second, with 18 semifinalists, followed by Seattle’s Lakeside School, with 16.

The state’s semifinalists had the highest scores on the 2016 PSAT, which 1.6 million juniors took this past year. Each state’s number of semifinalists is proportional to the state’s percentage of the graduating seniors from across the nation."

Congratulations to all the SPS recipients:

Ingraham H.S.: 4
Garfield H.S: 4
Center School: 1

• Seattle Times Article Link
• Last Years Data: http://discussapp.blogspot.com/2016/09/2016-national-merit-semifinaists.html
• Semifinalists are the highest-scoring program entrants in each state and represent the top 0.5% percent per state. 

Garfield restricts PSAT to juniors.
Its being reported   http://garfieldptsa.org/psat-for-11th-graders-only-at-garfield-on-wednesday-oct-11  by the PTSA that Garfield is only allowing Juniors to take the PSAT this year.

High School Research Opportunity

Are you a US high school student interested in doing research in math or computer science/computational biology before you get to college? Check out MIT PRIMES (Program for Research in Mathematics, Engineering, and Science), and put in an application today. Both in-person (http://math.mit.edu/research/highschool/primes/program/), and remote programs (http://math.mit.edu/research/highschool/primes/usa) are available

Director Meetings 9/30

Dir. Geary   1:00 - 2:30
Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney Place, 6951 62nd Avenue NE  

Dir. Patu  9:00 - 11:00
Raconteur, 5041 Wilson Ave S.

Dir Burke 1:30-3:00
Greenwood Branch Library, 8016 Greenwood Ave. N

August '17 Open Thread

Only 1 month until school starts up again. What's on your minds?

July '17 Open Thread

Summer time and the living is easy ...

SENG webinar

"Social and Emotional Development of Twice-Exceptional Students: What does the Research Say?"

July 6th, 2017 4:30pm - 6:00pm (PDT)Cost: $40.00

Presenter: Megan Foley-Nicpon

High ability students with disabilities may have unique social and emotional profiles in comparison to their peers. In this webinar, Foley-Nicpon will review the research regarding common social and emotional difficulties twice-exceptional students may face. She will also discuss the psychosocial components of talent development and how these domains may manifest differently among high ability students with disabilities. Research-based strategies and interventions also will be discussed.

Foley-Nicpon is the highly respected Associate Director of the Belin-Blank Center.

https://www.cysalesteam.com/seng/event/social-and-emotional-development-of-twice-exceptional-students-what-does-the-research-say

Suggestion Box

I'll generally post for-profit events like above  if they seem topical.  There are limits to how much I can vet however. What do folks think?   On broader lines, is there anything else you'd like to see in the upcoming year? 

What's on your minds?

Accomplishments

Its the end of the year and I thought would open a  space to reflect on personal accomplishments for the year. This could be a formal award or as personal breakthrough. What interesting things have happened in your building?

June '17 Open Thread

Its finally the last month of the school year.

There's a thread on the Honors For All presentation over @
http://saveseattleschools.blogspot.com/2017/06/garfield-honors-for-all-update.html   Once again this highlights the difficult in objectively evaluating a program or curriculum.

Personally, after three years this will be the last two weeks I run the 4th/5th grade math club. Although I look forward to volunteering at the Middle School level (Talk to me if you want to join a Math club at JAMS)  I'm finding the end to be bittersweet.

Invent Washington Contest and Teacher Training
http://prodigynw.org/celebration-of-talent/

"Prodigy Northwest launched “Invent Washington” in 2013 with its first state competition held in Spokane, Washington at St George’s School on June 2nd, its second state competition held at Gonzaga University on May 17, 2014, its third competition on May 30, 2015, its fourth state competition on May 14, 2016 and it fifth competition on May 13, 2017. A total of over 240 dynamic inventions created by students in grades one through eight were on display for each of those competitions. The 2018 Paul G. Allen Invention Convention state competition has been scheduled for Saturday, March 24th, 2018."

PSA

School budgets are being set right now and it really helps to have accurate enrollment counts. If you know you're not going to attend next year please contact the office/registrar and let them know.

Lakeside announces its new micro school location in LQA:
https://www.lakesideschool.org/news-details/~post/micro-school-to-be-near-seattle-center-20170605

Article: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/how-america-turned-against-smart-kids/  This comes from a fairly conservation political viewpoint and I don't agree with everything here but this quote at the end stuck out at me:

"The accelerated-math community is abandoning public schools and turning to private enrichment camps, creating, as a recent report in The Atlantic described it, “a new pedagogical ecosystem—almost entirely extracurricular—that has developed online and in the country’s rich coastal cities and tech meccas.”"

What's on your minds?

Northwest Gifted Child Associate Legislative Alert

LEGISLATIVE ALERT

I apologize in advance for the length of this message but the issue calls for a deep explanation. It is imperative that the community of people supporting highly capable education Insist that legislators include appropriate funding for highly capable programs in the current budget being negotiated. While we do not want to be alarmist, it is possible that any funding done this year will serve as the floor for funding for the next several decades. This deserves your immediate attention and action. What follows is support information you will need to make an effective appeal to your legislator, and other key legislators if you are willing to take the extra effort.

A child's educational program must be appropriately ambitious and every child should have the chance to meet challenging objectives. That is one of the main purposes of the Highly Capable Program.   The Legislature has not yet begun serious negotiations on the next budget. However, the McCleary Work Group is supposed to be meeting at least weekly to prepare the education portion of the budget. They have before them all the research conducted when they were the Education Funding Task Force plus the 3 budget proposals this year, and they are reportedly at a stalemate. There are persistent rumors that the budget will not be ready until late June!   The proposed 2017-2018 funding levels for highly capable programs in all three budgets won't even allow districts to continue the services they offer today.    Neither the Governor's, the House, nor Senate budget proposals address the persistent and pervasive underfunding of gifted education, and all will do harm to our state's gifted learners.    Both House and Senate proposals continue to limit services to 2.314% of our state's enrollment, or about 25,530 students. The Governor's proposal raises the percentage slightly but not significantly.    But - in 2015-2016, districts identified and served 63,551 gifted students. All of these students deserve their appropriate, fully funded basic education. They have been waiting since 2009.   The cost for educating most of the 38,000 students above the state limit is paid for from local levy funds. Local levy funds are not to be used for basic education, and HCP IS BASIC EDUCATION.   At a minimum, the state needs to allocate an amount that covers the actual costs of providing services to our 63,500 plus identified gifted learners. To provide for improvements in the program that are essential to address issues of equity will require more. Providing the professional development necessary to build teacher capacity in the identification and service of gifted students costs money. Making changes to our referral and identification processes also has a cost.   What you need to do today!! Please contact your Legislators today and ask them to contact the members of 1) the McCleary group and 2) the budget negotiators (listed below). Tell them that the Legislature needs to fund the recommendations of the 2010 Highly Capable Program Technical Work Group. The recommendations immediately below include all the issues outlined in the above paragraph. *Fund 5% of enrollment *Fund 6.5 hours per week in grades K-6 *Fund 3.1 hours per week in grades 7-12   If you have contacted your Legislators before on this topic, please do so again. If you have not yet done so, please do so now while your input can still have an effect.   Unsure of your message? May we suggest:   Districts serve 63,551 highly capable students. The state funds only ~25,530. It is the state's responsibility to fully fund gifted education as part of basic education. Adopt and fund the Recommendations of the Highly Capable Program Technical Work Group of 2010. The current funding allocation of 2.314% of a school district's population is a FATAL FLAW that assures a lack of equity in highly capable education for the unforeseen future. Do not embed this FATAL FLAW into current budget language, thus dooming under-represented populations who desperately need to be identified and served. Districts serve 63,551 highly capable students. The state funds only ~25,530. It is the state's responsibility to fully fund gifted education as part of basic education. Adopt and fund the Recommendations of the Highly Capable Program Technical Work Group of 2010. The current funding allocation of 2.314% of a school district's population is a FATAL FLAW that assures a lack of equity in highly capable education for the unforeseen future. Do not embed this FATAL FLAW into current budget language, thus dooming under-represented populations to a lack of services. These are students who desperately need to be identified and served. * Fund 5% of enrollment * Fund 6.5 hours per week in grades K-6 * Fund 3.1 hours per week in grades 7-12" Please contact the members of the McCleary Work Group and the budget negotiators and urge them to implement these recommendations.   You can find and email your Legislator using the District finder at http://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder, or you can use the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000. Hot Line operators will write down your message and transmit it to your Legislator(s) so plan out in advance what you want to say, write it down, and then read it to the operator to be sure it says exactly what you want it to say.   Most Legislators are currently at home in their districts. Some have district offices. If they do, for House members, they will be listed at  http://leg.wa.gov/House/Pages/DistrictOffices.aspx and for Senators  http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/Senators/Pages/default.aspx. Both sites are in (mostly) alphabetical order; scroll down to yours to see if there is a district office. Try to make an appointment to meet with your legislator(s) as soon as possible.   Thank you for taking action to gain full, ample, and equitable funding for highly capable services. 63,551+ gifted students in Washington are counting on you!   ✍️                ✍️                ✍️                ✍️                  Key Legislators your Legislators need to contact are listed below. If you are feeling especially energetic and motivated, after you contact your Legislators, you can contact the key legislators directly yourself. Email addresses are Firstname.Surname@leg.wa.gov.   McCleary Work Group   Rep. Pat Sullivan Rep. Kristine Lytton Rep. Paul Harris Rep. David Taylor Sen. Ann Rivers Sen. Christine Rolfes  Sen. Andy Billig Sen. John Braun   Budget Negotiators   Rep. Timm Ormsby, Chair, House Appropriations Committee Rep. June Robinson, Vice Chair, House Appropriations Committee Rep. Bruce Chandler, Ranking, House Appropriations Committee   Rep. Frank Chopp, Speaker of the House  Rep. Pat Sullivan, Majority Leader Rep. Dan Kristianson, House Republican Caucus leader   Sen. John Braun, Chair, Senate Ways and Means Committee Sen. Dino Rossi,  Vice Chair Senate Ways and Means Committee Sen. Kevin Ranker, Ranking, Senate Ways and Means Committee Sen. Christine Rolfes, Assistant Ranking, Senate Ways and Means Committee   Sen.  Mark Schoesler, Senate Republican Caucus leader Sen. Sharon Nelson, Senate Democratic Caucus leader

6/3 Board Retreat

I was sent an email from Dir. Peters about tomorrow's Board of Directors Retreat.

Board Special Meeting
School Board Retreat
June 3, 2017 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Auditorium, John Stanford Center
2445 3 rd Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98134

Agenda

• 10:00 am WELCOME
• 10:00-10:30 am TEAM BUILDING / ICE BREAKERS
• 10:30-12:00 pm RACIAL EQUITY TRAINING: STEREOTYPE THREAT AND IDENTITY SAFETY 
• 12:00-12:30 pm BREAK & LUNCH
• 12:30-1:00 pm BOARD COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT GOAL REPORTS
• 1:00-2:00 pm STRATEGIC PLAN: PLANNING PROCESS OPTIONS
• 2:00-3:00 pm EQUITY IN HIGHLY CAPABLE PROGRAMS (Austina De Bonte)
• 3:00 pm ADJOURN

Both of the talks look interesting especially if you're interested in equity.

Copy of Austina De Bonte's previous talk
http://www.nwgca.org/uploads/1/2/0/1/12018395/peeling_the_onion_-_equity_in_hicap_final.pdf

6th Grade Math Placement

Yesterday math placement letters went out from JAMS.  All the details are still a bit unclear ut

• It appears that The 5th grade teachers uniformly declined to recommend anyone for Algebra on philosophical grounds.
• The letters were sent prior to this year's math SBAC being administered.
• The placement test will be administered Wednesday, June 14th from 4:00-5:00pm or Tuesday, June 27th from 8:00-9:00am at JAMS.

So I assume those wishing to opt up will have to take the placement test at the school during one of the two exams. There seems to have been a process breakdown here between the schools.  This is one of those situations where communicating more openly would be useful.  In particular, the 5th grade teachers could have handled this much more transparently and either communicated directly to JAMS their discomfort   prior to this point allowing a less reactive solution or to the parents to explain what was going to happen.

8th Grade Math Standards: http://www.corestandards.org/Math/Content/8/introduction/

"In Grade 8, instructional time should focus on three critical areas: (1) formulating and reasoning about expressions and equations, including modeling an association in bivariate data with a linear equation, and solving linear equations and systems of linear equations; (2) grasping the concept of a function and using functions to describe quantitative relationships; (3) analyzing two- and three-dimensional space and figures using distance, angle, similarity, and congruence, and understanding and applying the Pythagorean Theorem."

Home Assessment

The AoPS algebra readiness test is fairly solid and could be used to identify gaps: https://data.artofproblemsolving.com//products/diagnostics/intro-algebra-pretest.pdf  I

Hopefully there will be some more clarifying email from the MS side and this will be done more cleanly next year..

Feel free to add on anything more you learn for JAMS or for the placement process at the other middle school sites.

[Disclaimer: next year I will be on the JAMS BLT]

If you could interview the school board candidates...

What questions would you like answered? I'd like to come up with a set of questions that I could email to the various candidates and see if we can get responses. Anything school board related is fair game but I'd especially like questions relevant to Advanced Learning.

Full Disclosure

I'm trying something new next year and joining the BLT (Building Leadership Team) at Jane Addams Middle School.   This is my first official PTSA position and I'm fairly excited to see what can be done in the role.   On consideration, I do not think this will interfere in anyway with this blog.  I always try my best to maintain an official editorial tone and I will note any specific posts about JAMS with a disclaimer about my involvement there. Likewise, I don't intend to comment on any non-public information that I might happen to hear while involved with the school.

In the meantime, this seems like a good opportunity to ask if anyone is interested in becoming another co-moderator. Its always good to have more people involved.

Music NorthWest Youth Camp 8/15-19

This was a late notice from a reader

"http://musicnorthwest.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2017-MNW-Youth-Camp-flyer.pdf

18th Annual Youth Chamber Music Camp Five days of inspired chamber music rehearsals and classes for music students—with outstanding Northwest coaches August 15-19, 2017

Although it says "auditions "are over, it's absolutely possible for a child to sign up, simply a matter of sending along a quickie tape or video clip to ask the student to comparable players.

This is an outstanding Summer Camp for instrumental orchestra, the really neat thing is that it's chamber, so individual efforts really shine brightly.

Plus, the legendary Marcus Tsutakawa  is faculty, he of Garfield fame! "

Middle School Math Adoption Materials

Seattle Public Schools invites all families, staff, and community members to review the instructional materials under consideration for use in grades 6-8. This will be the first of two rounds of public review. The input you provide will help the middle school math textbook adoption committee narrow the choice of materials for the second round of review and a classroom pilot.

Give Us Your Feedback Between May 3 and May 23

Materials are available for review in two ways:

1. To view the materials in person, visit the professional library of the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence at 2445 3rd Ave. S, Seattle, WA 98134 and fill out the feedback form.
2. To view and evaluate the materials online, visit this page for instructions. After you review the materials, use this feedback form to provide your review. The feedback form is also available in Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Chinese and Amharic.

What Kind of Feedback Can I Give?

Even if math was not your strongest subject in school, you can still provide valuable feedback. The feedback form will ask six general questions like “will the resources provided help me support my student” or “does this book contain racist or sexist content?” It’s not necessary to be an expert in math to help review the materials. There is also an open comment section where you can provide additional thoughts for the adoption committee to consider.

Materials Review Open House with Translators

On Thursday, May 11, Seattle Public Schools will hold an open house from 5-7 p.m. at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence for families, staff, and community members to learn more about the instructional materials that are being considered for adoption.

The open house will display materials that have been submitted as potential middle school math curriculum. Families, staff, and the community will have the opportunity to examine the teacher and student materials and provide feedback. This feedback is essential to the process of selecting the best materials to recommend for the second round of the review and field test process.

By policy, publishers will not be in attendance; however, there will be SPS staff along with translators available to support participants in the process.

For more information about the middle school math adoption, please visit the adoption webpage.

New Initiatives out of the AL Office

There was some interesting news out of the HCS AC meeting tonight.

• The referral window for the program will open on May 15th this year. Current teachers will be invited to submit students.
• The teacher rating scale has been simplified.
• Parents can schedule their own date, time and location for testing in the fall. Sites will include Thurgood Marshall, Whitman, Decatur, Pathfind and Muir.

• Universal Testing of 2nd grader students in Title 1 schools (29% or higher) is going on this week.
• No summer testing will be needed and the students will be tested on site in their schools

• Data (presumably SBAC or MAP) will be analyzed and letters sent out to families in under represented groups inviting them to test to enter the program.

[Update: I now have copies of the handouts]

• Updates Advanced Learning Task Force Recommendations
• New Initiatives

May '17 Open Thread

Article

https://eduissues.com/2017/04/29/its-ap-exscam-time-again/    What is the underlying value of AP tests?

"If we look at the 2008 scores for Calculus AB and BC, we see that the minimum passing score for AB is 39/108 or 36%. 48% correct awarded students a 4, and 63% was the minimum for the top grade of 5! In most normal classes, 63% would be considered a D!"

Two Tier Scheduling

Although its hard to find an official link yet on the SPS web site, the city of Seattle has come up with the missing funds to move to a two tier bus system.

http://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/seattle-schools-seek-to-change-start-times-mayor-offers-millions-for-more-buses/

"Pending the review board’s approval, the start times for the 2017-18 school year will instead be 9 a.m. for all middle and high schools. Most K-8 schools would join that later schedule, with the exception of Broadview-Thomson, Madrona and South Shore PK-8 starting at 8 a.m. All but four elementary schools would start at 8 a.m. Concord International, Decatur, Lowell and Loyal Heights would start at 9 a.m."

Parent Question about Ballard H.S.

"Can you please start a thread to learn how HCC kids have found Ballard high school? My child is interested in robotics and they have a pre-engineering pathway. However, have no clue how well these courses align coming from HCC. I am aware the Biotech program does not align as they would have completed Bio already in 8th."

I hope another reader has some feedback to share.

Workshop

“Putting Together the Puzzle of the Gifted Family: 
Assessing Gifted Intensities,
Addressing Ongoing Conflicts, Applying Creative Strategies”

Come join us for an interactive and inspiring workshop where you will learn key tools to help your gifted family thrive. This one-day workshop will apply SENG concepts at a deeper level focusing on the whole family. Specific tools include: 1) measuring certain gifted traits in family members, 2) examining how different patterns can cause ongoing conflicts and misunderstandings and 3) identifying some strategies to help address those challenges. Participants will leave with uniquely crafted strategies to help their family live together in a more cohesive and harmonious manner.

Date: Saturday, October 8, 2016

Time: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Location: The Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Avenue North, Room 202, Seattle, WA 98103

Cost: $175 for 1 parent, $245 for both parents

                                                

Presenters: Anne van Roden and Gloria Sandford – both experienced parents of gifted children and licensed mental health professionals who specialize in  working with gifted families in the Seattle area.

Space is Limited to 40 Adults!

REGISTER HERE!

How are things going at your school?