Are there any
changes to the Advanced Learning Opportunity (ALO) program under
this plan?
Yes. ALO programs encourage schools to better
accommodate students who are working above their grade levels. We
will offer them in every elementary school, and make them available
to all students enrolled in the school. We anticipate that it will
take several years to have ALO programs in place throughout the
District.
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Is there an
application process for the ALO program?
The ALO program serves two primary student
groups: District-identified students who are academically highly
gifted/gifted and teacher-identified students who demonstrate
skills and readiness for participation in an accelerated and
rigorous curriculum that is based on Spectrum curricular
guidelines. No special application is needed for the ALO
program.
Top
If an APP or
Spectrum student enters an ALO program, do they lose their
eligibility for those programs?
APP and Spectrum eligible students participating
in an ALO program maintain their advanced learning
eligibility.
Top
Will every
school have an ALO program under this plan?
ALO programs will be offered in every elementary
school, and available to all enrolled students.
Top What is the
timeline for providing ALO programs under this
plan?
The implementation plans, including timelines, of
academic services and programs such as ALO will be addressed after
the Board’s adoption of final attendance area boundaries.
This information will be made available to families before the Open
Enrollment period, which will take place in March, so that they can
make informed decisions. We are committed to expanding advanced
learning opportunities to areas of the District that have fewer of
these programs.
Top
Are there any
changes for the Accelerated Progress Program (APP) under this
plan?
No. We recently created additional APP sites at
both the elementary and the middle school levels to create
increased access for students throughout the District. Further
changes are not contemplated at this time.
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Will the
application process for APP remain the same?
Yes. The application process will remain as is.
For more information, please click
here or visit
http://www.seattleschools.org/area/advlearning/program_app.htm.
Top
Will APP continue
to have a defined pathway?
Yes. Students accepted into APP will move up
through defined feeder patterns.
Two pathways are available: Lowell Elementary School, Hamilton
Middle School, and Garfield High School; and Thurgood Marshall
Elementary School, Washington Middle School, and Garfield High
School.
Top
How can I
determine my child’s APP feeder pathway?
Students who live north of the ship canal or in
Queen Anne/Magnolia—currently defined as the North,
Northeast, Northwest, and Queen Anne/Magnolia clusters—will
be linked (assigned) to the Lowell, Hamilton, and Garfield
pathway.
Students who live south of the ship canal except
Queen Anne/Magnolia, or in West Seattle—currently defined as
the Central, South, Southeast, West Seattle North, and West Seattle
South clusters—will be linked (assigned) to the Thurgood
Marshall, Washington, and Garfield pathway.
Top
May students
apply to a school outside their pathway to a school that offers
APP?
Students may apply for assignment to a school
offering APP that is not in their pathway. But it is important to
note that the sibling tiebreaker is applicable for assignment to a
school; it is not used as a tiebreaker for admission to a
program within a school. If a student is already assigned
to a school, has a sibling at the school, and is applying for APP,
the sibling tiebreaker will not apply for admission to APP. The
tiebreaker for assignment to APP for students applying to the
non-linked APP site is lottery.
To learn more about tiebreakers for advanced
learning programs, please click here.
Top
What about APP
students who can walk to Lowell Elementary—where will they be
assigned?
APP students who live in the Lowell walk
zone and who request Lowell as their first choice school during
Open Enrollment will be assigned to Lowell.
Top
Will a student
have to reapply to APP once admitted?
No. A student may continue through their pathway
without having to reapply.
Top
Can a student who
qualifies for APP choose to attend an attendance area
school?
If they wish to attend their attendance area
school, they may do so by applying within specified timelines
and will be assigned to the attendance area school. Please note
that this rule is applicable for students at all grade levels when
the student assignment plan is fully implemented, but cannot be
assured for non-entry grade siblings—those not in grades 6 or
9—during the plan’s transition period.
Top
Isn’t the use of APP pathways in
direct conflict with the idea of the integrated comprehensive
service delivery model?
The term Integrated Comprehensive
Services refers specifically to special education services. We
do have students who are “twice exceptional,” that is,
who qualify for both Advanced Learning and Special Education
services, but our primary focus with Integrated Comprehensive
Services is providing Special Education services that are as
comprehensive as possible in schools that are close to
home.
Top
Do
Washington Middle School students have priority for Garfield
placement?
The locations of middle school and high school
buildings in Seattle make feeder patterns impractical. But even if
the middle and high school buildings were located in alignment with
each other, high school students often have many different academic
and extracurricular interests. As a result, some students may want
to attend a program at a school outside their attendance area; the
opportunity to participate in a particular academy offered at a
school is a good example. Also, since most high school students get
a bus pass to take Metro transportation, any student can get to any
high school.
Under the new student assignment plan, each
attendance area high school will have Open Choice seats available
for students from other attendance areas who are applying for
assignment to that school. Participation in select courses or
programs is not included as an assignment tiebreaker; once
assigned, students would go through the school’s regular
processes for selection to participate in curricular or
extra-curricular opportunities. Tiebreakers for the Open Choice
seats are sibling and lottery, giving more equitable access to
students throughout the district to attendance area high
schools.
Open Choice seats enable students to apply to a
high school with a program that interests them. The seats
identified as Open Choice seats are built in to an attendance area.
In other words, the attendance area boundary does not fill the
school, assuring availability of Open Choice seats. However,
it’s important to note that getting a seat in a school does
not automatically mean a student gets into a program. This
is true for students in the school’s attendance area as well
– they are assigned to a school, but do not have a guarantee
of selection for a particular course, program, or
activity.
For APP students, their advanced learning
pathways are: Lowell Elementary School, Hamilton Middle School, and
Garfield High School; and Thurgood Marshall Elementary School,
Washington Middle School, and Garfield High School.
Top
The
students who went to school at Stevens and
Washington went to different schools so that the APP cohort was
allowed to stay together. If there is program parity, why is the
APP cohort more important than any other?
Under the new student assignment plan, when fully
implemented, students within the Garfield boundary will receive an
initial assignment to that school; APP feeder patterns will remain
in place; and Open Choice seats will be available to those students
seeking choices other than their attendance area high
schools.
Top
How will the new
plan affect the Spectrum program?
The program will be offered at one or more
elementary attendance
area schools and/or K-8 schools in each service area. It
will also be offered at each attendance area middle
school.
Top
How will you
determine the schools where the Spectrum program will be
located?
Decisions about the location of advanced learning
services will continue to be addressed through the program
placement process. The number of students living in an attendance
area and service
area who are eligible for the Spectrum program will be one of
the factors taken into consideration.
Top
Will the
application process for the Spectrum program remain the
same?
Yes. The application process will remain as is.
For more information, please click
here or visit
http://www.seattleschools.org/area/advlearning/program_spectrum.htm.
Please note that assignment to a Spectrum program is not
guaranteed, nor is it automatic, even for students attending a
school that offers Spectrum.
Top
Will a student have
to reapply to the Spectrum program once admitted?
No. A student may continue in the program through
the highest grade level served at their school as long as the
services the student needs are available at that school.
Top
Does a middle
school student still need to submit an application to a Spectrum
program if it is located at their attendance area middle
school?
Yes. The application process remains the same as
today.
Top
May students apply
to a school outside their attendance area that offers the Spectrum
program?
Yes.
Top
Will every
service area have a Spectrum program under this
plan?
Yes.
Top
What schools
will have Spectrum programs under this plan?
The implementation plans, including timelines, of
academic services and programs such as Spectrum will be addressed
after the Board’s adoption of final attendance area
boundaries. This information will be made available to families
before the Open Enrollment period, which will take place in March,
so that they can make informed decisions.
Top If a student is
currently enrolled in a Spectrum program at a school outside their
attendance area, will they keep their school and program
assignments?
Yes.
Top If a school loses its
Spectrum program under this plan, what will happen to the students
currently enrolled at that school and in that
program?
This situation will be addressed in the
transition plan. We anticipate that we will phase out the Spectrum
program over time so that its closure will not affect current
students.
Top
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