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News & ArtsWednesday, November 26, 2008
City Proposed School Closures Announced
Posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 12:06 PM
As I hinted at yesterday, the Seattle School District has recommended some surprising closures and program relocations, which were announced last night at district headquarters.
Under the current proposal, the district would close six elementary schools: Genesee Hill—which houses Pathfinder—Mann, TT Minor, AS#1, Van Asselt and Lowell. Van Asselt would take over the African American Academy's building, TT Minor's K-3 Montessori program would move to Leschi and Lowell's advanced placement programs would be relocated to Hawthorne and Thurgood Marshall elementary
NOVA High School and the Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center would move to the Meany Middle School building on Capitol Hill, Pathfinder K-8 would move to Arbor Heights, Thornton Creek Elementary would move into the Jane Addams building—currently occupied by Summit K-12—while Summit would move to Rainier Beach.
Last time the district tried to shut down schools in North Seattle, parents freaked the fuck out ad the district had to come up with a new plan. Feel free to place your bets on which school closures don't actually go through in the comments.
4
I think you mean Graham Hill, dear. I don't believe there is a Genesee Hill. But I've been wrong before.
If it is Graham Hill, that's a great example of what is wrong with the Seattle Public Schools. It wasn't five years ago that they added onto it (a remarkably ugly addition, by the way) why is it suddenly needing to be closed?
btw, I'd hate to see Van Asselt go. That's a mod building.
If it is Graham Hill, that's a great example of what is wrong with the Seattle Public Schools. It wasn't five years ago that they added onto it (a remarkably ugly addition, by the way) why is it suddenly needing to be closed?
btw, I'd hate to see Van Asselt go. That's a mod building.
5
Wasn't TT Minor supposed to be one of those model schools for public/private partnerships? If so, what happened?
7
We get to bet, huh? Any prizes for the closest call?
I bet that Lowell does not move. And, I bet that Summit does not move to Rainier Beach.
I bet that Lowell does not move. And, I bet that Summit does not move to Rainier Beach.
8
There is indeed a Genesee Hill, and the elementary school that bears its name sits on top of it.
I agree with the above poster there is no way Summit is moving to Rainier Beach.
I agree with the above poster there is no way Summit is moving to Rainier Beach.
10
Lowell will be split, but not to the two proposed sites. One of them will be north of the Montlake cut, instead of this half-assed proposal to send every APP student in the northern half of the city to T Marshall.
Ditto that no way Summit is moving to Rainier Beach.
Ditto that no way Summit is moving to Rainier Beach.
11
The reason you don't know about Genesee Hill is because it lies in fog-shrouded mystery in the far reaches of West Seattle, outside the pale of pseudo-intellectual mainland Seattle. Speaking of pseudo-intellectual, no way the neo-hippies of Summit dare set foot below the ship canal. Or the spoiled prima donna Goths of NOVA share space with students who live outside of their comfort zone.
13
i would love to see lowell split into north/south APP programs. that school is a long fucking way from a lot of places.
14
Thing thing about the schools in North Seattle is those zones are where the number of school age kids is actually increasing and where the schools actually have larger class size per teacher because of increasing crowding. I found it preposterous how the local media didn't really cover that angle of the problem--and how the district still doesn't have a rational plan for dealing with the increasing enrollment expected in North Seattle in the next 5 years.
15
#14, it isn't that there are more students in the North End, it's that the school district has responded to North End parent whining over the decades to the detriment of South End schools, so that parents who can't afford private school in the South End send their kids north. If "choice" were abolished and students went to their neighborhood school, Rainier Beach would have 1200 students instead of 350.
17
@15: Get your facts straight. There are more students in the north end. Overcrowding in the north end isn't the result of school choice. And doing the right thing by your kid isn't whining--it's responsible parenting.
18
What was I thinking? I must have driven by Genesee Hill a million times. That's a cool looking school as well. They should keep it.
19
I work in a school in the North end and we have students who are bused from the Central District, West Seattle and First Hill. I think there are one or two kids who come from the I.D. as well. Schools in the north part of the city are full, but a lot of the kids aren't living in the area where they attend school. If these kids went to a "neighborhood" school maybe things would be different. I don't understand why the district wants to expand Thorton Creek, an alternative school while they are closing AS#1. There are 1,200 students at Eckstein, a traditional middle school, they need to do something to alleviate the problems at the middle school/high school level as well.
My bet-No way in hell Summit moves to Beach.
My bet-No way in hell Summit moves to Beach.
20
#17, as of 2007/2008, almost 20k live in the North End (including QA/Madrona cluster), almost 24k in the South End (including Central cluster). Ten-year projection shows the differential closing but not changed.
21
Unless you fight with no holds barred, you'll lose.
And that's why they don't mess with North Seattle for the most part - if it's north of the ship canal, we'll fight them tooth and nail and even make sure they never work in this city ever again if they mess with our schools.
On a sad note, my son went to kindergarten at Lowell ... darn.
And that's why they don't mess with North Seattle for the most part - if it's north of the ship canal, we'll fight them tooth and nail and even make sure they never work in this city ever again if they mess with our schools.
On a sad note, my son went to kindergarten at Lowell ... darn.
22
@20: Since when is QA/Magnolia (not Madrona) north? We are definitely south of the ship canal and don't even have a high school: ours was turned into luxury condos. Even under your accounting, with 20K in "north," there are 23 elementary schools (1 elementary school per 869 total K-12 students) and with 24K in "south," there are 30 elementary schools (1 elementary school per 800 total K-12 students). That means the "north" is already more crowded per school. And it's getting worse. School Board member Michael DeBell admitted in public that the District basically manages crises and due to turnover at the Superintendent and Board level is incapable of engaging in basic strategic planning. The north end is being completely screwed (read about "capacity management" on the District's web site; i.e., portables on the way!), and the District's solution is to export Summit and APP to the south end. Who in their right mind is going to put their gifted first-grader on a one-hour bus ride? I always opposed charter schools but I am ready to sign up tomorrow.
23
It's too bad about AAA, but they didn't make the grade and Van Asselt deserves a modern building.
24
We (due to unfortunate circumstances of various sorts) live way up north in the forgotten margins of Seattle. We were hoping to send our child to Lowell next year, but as No. 22 points out, I'm not going to make my first grader ride the bus for 2+ hours to get back and forth from school every day. I'm very disappointed to hear that the school is closing, although I don't care if the program is split--at least move half of it north so people in different parts of the city can have access to it. Maybe the school board's secret strategy is to encourage any students that can afford to move to private schools to do so? Doesn't Seattle already have one of the highest ratios of private to public school students in the country? Does that sound like a vote of confidence?
25
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!
26
I used to go to nova and this really disappoints me. Nova is an excellent school and i cant think of any other school in the district that makes you feel like you've found a second home the way Nova does. I don't think that Nova will be able to merge with the bilingual program and still keep that same feel. I think some of the reasons i heard for the Mann building closing was because of the state of disrepair. I don't think that the district has done anything to repair the Nova project that they weren't legally obligated to. It's also going to be sad to see Nova leave the Central District. The school has a lot of roots in the community and I'm sure local business will suffer because of the move. I know it's inevitable but i really wish the district wouldn't do this.
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