Tuesday, November 25, 2008
City School Closure Rumor of the Day
Posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 12:08 PM
The Seattle School District will announce its preliminary closure plan at a school board meeting tonight (6 pm at district headquarters) and there appear to be a few big surprises on the agenda:
According to sources in the district—who asked not to be named—the district will recommend closing TT Minor Elementary, Alternative School # 1, the African American Academy and Lowell Elementary, which currently houses the district's Advanced Placement Program.
The district will also apparently move Thornton Creek Elementary to the Jane Adams building—which currently houses the Summit K-12 program—and move Summit's program to Rainier Beach.
Seattle Public Schools spokesman David Tucker would not confirm any of these changes before tonight's board meeting, but staff at several schools have already been told about the district's plan.
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3
Hmmm... why then, is the Sup coming to my school today after school to talk to staff, who have been instructed not to talk about the meeting until 6pm? Is this the axe for an un-named north end middle school?
6
What bonehead thought up the name Alternative School #1? That's reason for closing it right there.
8
Closing Lowell Elementary doesn't make a lot of sense. It has an established and successful APP program and is centrally located for city wide enrollment. Where's the alternative proposal to house APP students?
11
Yeah good luck on closing Lowell down. White affluent parents would make so much noise that John Stanford would come back from the dead.
12
The Arbor Heights Elementary community says the school's been told it's on the list. They've already set up a "Save Arbor Heights" website. Their school was one of the first schools in the country to HAVE a website, way back in the '90s. Here's our post:
http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=12128
http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=12128
13
If this is true, and I can hardly believe it, then it is the stupidest scheme imaginable.
Moving Summit to Rainier Beach will do nothing for Summit. It doesn't help the school to move it from the extreme north edge of the district to the extreme south edge of the district. That is also an abysmal location for an all-city draw. Moreover, nearly all of the students at Summit live in the north-end. Is the District going to bus them all to the south-end? How does that save money? Or is the plan to get them to quit the school? Summit has to leave Jane Addams because they can't fill it. Rainier Beach is an even BIGGER building. There's no way that - oh, no, they couldn't - they couldn't expect Summit K-12 to SHARE the building with Rainier Beach High School? That's INSANE. Who would want their kindergartener to go to Rainier Beach High School? Who would want their seventh grader to go to school with that group of students?
Clearly, the District is trying to kill the school.
And if they do, they will defeat their own purpose. If the students leave the school they will enroll in the very same north-end schools that are so overcrowded.
And closing Lowell? Where are they going to find seats for the 500 APP students - many of whom live in the overcrowded areas of the north-end, Queen Anne, and Magnolia.
This rumor can't be right. Not even Seattle Public Schools is this stupid and self-destructive.
Moving Summit to Rainier Beach will do nothing for Summit. It doesn't help the school to move it from the extreme north edge of the district to the extreme south edge of the district. That is also an abysmal location for an all-city draw. Moreover, nearly all of the students at Summit live in the north-end. Is the District going to bus them all to the south-end? How does that save money? Or is the plan to get them to quit the school? Summit has to leave Jane Addams because they can't fill it. Rainier Beach is an even BIGGER building. There's no way that - oh, no, they couldn't - they couldn't expect Summit K-12 to SHARE the building with Rainier Beach High School? That's INSANE. Who would want their kindergartener to go to Rainier Beach High School? Who would want their seventh grader to go to school with that group of students?
Clearly, the District is trying to kill the school.
And if they do, they will defeat their own purpose. If the students leave the school they will enroll in the very same north-end schools that are so overcrowded.
And closing Lowell? Where are they going to find seats for the 500 APP students - many of whom live in the overcrowded areas of the north-end, Queen Anne, and Magnolia.
This rumor can't be right. Not even Seattle Public Schools is this stupid and self-destructive.
14
Don't we need more schools and more teachers. I would hate to be a kid today. I think when I went to elementary school there were about 20 students per teacher. Now it must be 50 per teacher.
15
#13 - Spoken like a true Whitey from north of the Ship Canal. Comments like yours make me want to see the school district do exactly what they propose with Summit. Hey, clear out Stanford and bring it to the 'hood too.
16
To Charlie Mas: Parents of Summit already send their beloved Kindergarteners to school with high schoolers. Why does putting them with Rainier Beach high schoolers sound so much worst? Black flags are raised!
17
Hey #11 -- Lowell is more socioeconimically diverse than my kid's non-AP school was. And we didn't spend a dime to get our kid into the program. Low income families have smart kids, too.
18
#17 -- Last year only 6.8% of Lowell's enrollment qualified for free and reduced lunch program; only 3.3% were African American and 3.9% hispanic. I'm just saying. . .
19
I think it's a good idea to close Lowell. The school houses TWO programs, a self contained program as well as the Spectrum program. The kids in both programs would benefit from exposure to "normal" kids. Plus the building is in bad shape. Moving Summit to Rainier Beach is a bad idea, too far away and the school isn't designed to handle 5 and 6 year olds. They need everything at a lower level. There is no playground and how would they handle lunch? Orca is already in the south end and they are struggling as it is. Why bring another alternative school to an area that doesn't really support alternative education? Jonah didn't mention Meany, but it's gone as well. Gonna repurpose the building. I think NOVA is going into the Meany building. Who knows, it's still early, but the District is a lot more aggressive in their time line. I can't imagine the district being able to pull off all of these changes in 7 months. They aren't organized enough for this big of a project.
20
@11 is right.
What you south of the ship canal don't get is we're willing to use all available means to keep our schools, including public and private extortion if need be.
Is it fair? No.
Does it work? Damned straight.
Scott @11 for the win.
What you south of the ship canal don't get is we're willing to use all available means to keep our schools, including public and private extortion if need be.
Is it fair? No.
Does it work? Damned straight.
Scott @11 for the win.
21
I think it's absolutely ridiculous that they're trying to put little 5 and 6 year old's into the same school with huge rough 18 year old's with gangs. It's a completely unsafe environment. If I were a parent I would never let my young child go to school in Rainer Beach! One of the school board members made the argument that "they're already going to school with high school students". True, but with students who are their siblings and have grown up in that school are a protective of the young ones. They're currently going to school with high school students who don't have gangs and don't shoot each other.
As for Lowell, what they're trying to do is split it up into a North side school and a South side school. It'll be combined with another school. Dr. Vaughn (head of the APP program) said that he thinks it would be a good idea because you can compare how the different programs fair and compare their techniques. I agree with him on that. It's also better because it'll take less busing time (which I remember was really annoying when I went to Lowell). I think will be better for the special ed kids because if they are on the verge of being able to be in a regular classroom, then they could do that. There's obviously no way they could graduate from special ed to the highly gifted program, so if Lowell stayed the way it is now they would have to take classes with kids 2 years younger than them. We'll see how the division of the teachers works out, but I hope that they'll be able to teach closer to where they live and not have a super long commute. I also hope that Julie Breidenbach (the Lowell principal, who also taught me math in 5th grade :-)) will be able to keep her position, because she's a great principal, and math teacher.
No doubt the division of Lowell will lead to the eventual division of Washington Middle School, but we'll worry about that when it arises.
Just so you know #19, Lowell houses APP (Accelerated Progress Program) not Spectrum.
More...
As for Lowell, what they're trying to do is split it up into a North side school and a South side school. It'll be combined with another school. Dr. Vaughn (head of the APP program) said that he thinks it would be a good idea because you can compare how the different programs fair and compare their techniques. I agree with him on that. It's also better because it'll take less busing time (which I remember was really annoying when I went to Lowell). I think will be better for the special ed kids because if they are on the verge of being able to be in a regular classroom, then they could do that. There's obviously no way they could graduate from special ed to the highly gifted program, so if Lowell stayed the way it is now they would have to take classes with kids 2 years younger than them. We'll see how the division of the teachers works out, but I hope that they'll be able to teach closer to where they live and not have a super long commute. I also hope that Julie Breidenbach (the Lowell principal, who also taught me math in 5th grade :-)) will be able to keep her position, because she's a great principal, and math teacher.
No doubt the division of Lowell will lead to the eventual division of Washington Middle School, but we'll worry about that when it arises.
Just so you know #19, Lowell houses APP (Accelerated Progress Program) not Spectrum.
22
At the November 25th school closure recommendation meeting I was appalled to hear the lack of planning for how to make transitions smooth for families that could be affected. They
hadn't even thought about how they are planning on integrating a co-ed
APP program into Thurgood Marshall, a school where the classes are
gender separated. In fact, it is my opinion that the majority of their
"fixes" are ledger based, and have little or no thought for how the
communities will be affected. A "We'll just send 'em somewhere else
and worry about it later", attitude was pervasive throughout the
recommendation meeting. In particular, there is a tremendous amount of
upheaval in the Central cluster at all levels. As for our having a
great elementary school program it's just not happening. TT Minor has
all of the right pieces in place to become a great local school and an
all city draw. In moving the Montessori program, dispersing the
traditional program, breaking up the current staff, volunteers, and
other excellent programs such as our chess club, it will be "start all
over again" again. If history is any guide, it will be a long time
before the Central Area has another shot at having an excellent
elementary school.
It is evident to me that for some reason, someone has an agenda to
shut down this historied, perfectly located, and very special school.
Over the last six to eight years there have been multiple attempts at
shutdown, and over an even greater period the building has been
neglected while other facilities have received improvement. I don't
know why. It doesn't make sense to me as a parent and community
member. However, after listening to last nights meeting it's apparent
that the people who actually care about our schools, our communities,
and our children are us, the families who live here, and the families
who choose to send their children here from other areas.
Clearly the folks from the Center for Educational Excellence, with
their "Excellence for All" motto have a bureaucratic need to make
bureaucratic choices. We the people however have family and community
needs to make family and community choices. We really need to think
about what is best for our kids and our neighborhoods. And we have to
make a choice. Do we take the crap that is continually fed to us in
the Central Area, or do we do something about it. I for one am up for
doing something about it.
Together, if we want it, we can be heard. And we can demand that our
tax dollars provide our children with quality educational programs
that honor our communities and our institutions.
More...
hadn't even thought about how they are planning on integrating a co-ed
APP program into Thurgood Marshall, a school where the classes are
gender separated. In fact, it is my opinion that the majority of their
"fixes" are ledger based, and have little or no thought for how the
communities will be affected. A "We'll just send 'em somewhere else
and worry about it later", attitude was pervasive throughout the
recommendation meeting. In particular, there is a tremendous amount of
upheaval in the Central cluster at all levels. As for our having a
great elementary school program it's just not happening. TT Minor has
all of the right pieces in place to become a great local school and an
all city draw. In moving the Montessori program, dispersing the
traditional program, breaking up the current staff, volunteers, and
other excellent programs such as our chess club, it will be "start all
over again" again. If history is any guide, it will be a long time
before the Central Area has another shot at having an excellent
elementary school.
It is evident to me that for some reason, someone has an agenda to
shut down this historied, perfectly located, and very special school.
Over the last six to eight years there have been multiple attempts at
shutdown, and over an even greater period the building has been
neglected while other facilities have received improvement. I don't
know why. It doesn't make sense to me as a parent and community
member. However, after listening to last nights meeting it's apparent
that the people who actually care about our schools, our communities,
and our children are us, the families who live here, and the families
who choose to send their children here from other areas.
Clearly the folks from the Center for Educational Excellence, with
their "Excellence for All" motto have a bureaucratic need to make
bureaucratic choices. We the people however have family and community
needs to make family and community choices. We really need to think
about what is best for our kids and our neighborhoods. And we have to
make a choice. Do we take the crap that is continually fed to us in
the Central Area, or do we do something about it. I for one am up for
doing something about it.
Together, if we want it, we can be heard. And we can demand that our
tax dollars provide our children with quality educational programs
that honor our communities and our institutions.
23
Maybe I haven't been reading closely enough, but has anybody here proposed a possible SOLUTION to the school district's budget problems, or even criticized the way Seattle's public schools are financed? I think it is important to remember that that is the root of the issue here, and until we find a better way to fund education then issues like school closures will continue to arise. I also wonder to what extent people are actually familiar or informed about the schools upon which they are commenting. I'd suggest getting a little background information about the district, its schools, and its students before making such ignorant comments as I have heard.
#13: "There's no way that - oh, no, they couldn't - they couldn't expect Summit K-12 to SHARE the building with Rainier Beach High School? That's INSANE. Who would want their kindergartener to go to Rainier Beach High School? Who would want their seventh grader to go to school with that group of students?"
No body is talking about what is happening at Sealth with middle schoolers moving in there. Why doesn't anyone care about that? Because "they" are so similar? Check your racist attitudes.
#13: "There's no way that - oh, no, they couldn't - they couldn't expect Summit K-12 to SHARE the building with Rainier Beach High School? That's INSANE. Who would want their kindergartener to go to Rainier Beach High School? Who would want their seventh grader to go to school with that group of students?"
No body is talking about what is happening at Sealth with middle schoolers moving in there. Why doesn't anyone care about that? Because "they" are so similar? Check your racist attitudes.
24
Maria Goodloe-Johnson needs to be re-located right out of her job. Parents, teachers, students, communities, it may just be time to demand her resignation.
25
We just looked up the location of Marshall and Hawthorne, the proposed sites for splitting up Lowell's APP program into. Both are located far south of the current (central) location and the sites are close together. How does this make any kind of economic sense? Are they going to issue metro passes to kindergartners?
The APP program is an all city draw and it's central location, while a long bus ride for many of our children, is at least equitable. If there must be a split, one program should be in the north and one in the south to afford equal access.
My child is too old to be directly impacted by these changes. As supporters of public education who turned down the opportunity to attend a good private school (on scholarship) in favor of Lowell, we are saddened to see the hard work of so many parents and educators, dismantled for what appear to us primarily political reasons.
If I were a Summit or Lowell parent living in the north today, or a parent at TT Minor in the Central District, I would be exploring my many options for a) scholarships to private schools, b)online homeschooling (including gifted ed through cty and epgy) c) the possibility of forming a co-op or charter school.
I hope that all of the school communities affected by the proposed changes will continue to fight and to push for equity and complete disclosure. You are the community that makes for a great school.
The APP program is an all city draw and it's central location, while a long bus ride for many of our children, is at least equitable. If there must be a split, one program should be in the north and one in the south to afford equal access.
My child is too old to be directly impacted by these changes. As supporters of public education who turned down the opportunity to attend a good private school (on scholarship) in favor of Lowell, we are saddened to see the hard work of so many parents and educators, dismantled for what appear to us primarily political reasons.
If I were a Summit or Lowell parent living in the north today, or a parent at TT Minor in the Central District, I would be exploring my many options for a) scholarships to private schools, b)online homeschooling (including gifted ed through cty and epgy) c) the possibility of forming a co-op or charter school.
I hope that all of the school communities affected by the proposed changes will continue to fight and to push for equity and complete disclosure. You are the community that makes for a great school.
26
MEANY MIDDLE SCHOOL IS CLOSING (OR BEING DISCONTINUTED)
My daughter attends this school. She is doing very well and and is being served by a public school in a way that I feel is very sufficient. If she is forced to change schools it would be difficult (Meany is within walking distance) but we would manage. We are concerned parents!! She will be O.K.!!! What I am worried about and highly committed to is serving those who are underserved. Middle school (Junior High) is a tough time for kids. We are VERY WELL AWARE of what is GOING ON with AT-RISK-YOUTH currently!!!! (GANGS=DEAD KIDS!!!!!) Meany serves these KIDS!!! They Need structure, they need positive reinforcement!!! This is what Meany provides. It is small & focused. (under enrolled). It has low test scores. (at-risk-youth, bogus tests) DO NOT DISPERSE THESE KIDS!!!! They need the Attention and Focus this school provides. And to make it clear!!!!!!! this is not a school for poor, violent, deviants. My daughter tested into the APP Program. My daughter tested into the Spectrum Program. We chose to keep her in an average, inclusive, public institution. She is THRIVING!!!!! SUPPORT PUBLIC EDUCATION. FUCK PRIVATE SCHOOLS. SUPPORT MEANY MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!!! DO NOT DISPERSE THESE KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My daughter attends this school. She is doing very well and and is being served by a public school in a way that I feel is very sufficient. If she is forced to change schools it would be difficult (Meany is within walking distance) but we would manage. We are concerned parents!! She will be O.K.!!! What I am worried about and highly committed to is serving those who are underserved. Middle school (Junior High) is a tough time for kids. We are VERY WELL AWARE of what is GOING ON with AT-RISK-YOUTH currently!!!! (GANGS=DEAD KIDS!!!!!) Meany serves these KIDS!!! They Need structure, they need positive reinforcement!!! This is what Meany provides. It is small & focused. (under enrolled). It has low test scores. (at-risk-youth, bogus tests) DO NOT DISPERSE THESE KIDS!!!! They need the Attention and Focus this school provides. And to make it clear!!!!!!! this is not a school for poor, violent, deviants. My daughter tested into the APP Program. My daughter tested into the Spectrum Program. We chose to keep her in an average, inclusive, public institution. She is THRIVING!!!!! SUPPORT PUBLIC EDUCATION. FUCK PRIVATE SCHOOLS. SUPPORT MEANY MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!!! DO NOT DISPERSE THESE KIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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