December 13, 2007

Photography © Susie Fitzhugh

District News

Open Enrollment for 2008-09 school year set for January 22 - February 29
All-City Kindergarten and Middle School Fair to be held January 12
South and Southeast All Grades School Fair to be held February 2
     Open Enrollment in Seattle Public Schools for the 2008-09 school year is scheduled from January 22 to February 29, 2008. This is the time when families register and apply for school for children entering kindergarten in September 2008; for students advancing from elementary to middle school or from middle to high school; for any other students who wish to change schools; or for students who will be new to the District in September. All the information that families need to register and apply – including forms, school tours and open house dates – is available at Enrollment Service Centers or on the District’s Web site at www.seattleschools.org/area/eso/story.dxml.
      In addition, an All-City Kindergarten and Middle School Fair is scheduled for January 12 from 9 a.m. to noon at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence, 2445 Third Ave. S. The South and Southeast All Grades School Fair is scheduled for February 2 from 9 a.m. to noon at Mercer Middle School, 1600 Columbian Way S. For more information on Open Enrollment and the school fairs, read the full news release or call Enrollment Services at (206) 252-0760.

News magazine ranks Garfield, Roosevelt as top performing high schools
      U.S. News and World Report, a national news magazine, awarded Garfield High School and Roosevelt High School the “silver medal” distinction for their achievement as two of the nation’s top-performing high schools. Garfield and Roosevelt were selected from a pool of more than 18,000 high schools across the country. The magazine annually ranks the top 100 “gold medal” high schools in the United States with the next 405 top-performing high schools earning “silver medals” based on their college readiness index. For more on this prestigious achievement, read the full news release.

School Board meeting highlights - December 5
     At the December 5 School Board meeting, Board members unanimously elected officers for 2008. Cheryl Chow will continue for another year as President, Michael DeBell was elected as Vice-President and Peter Maier was elected as Member-at-Large. Chow, DeBell and Maier will form the Executive Committee, which meets regularly to set agendas for board meetings and establish other board calendar items. The next School Board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 19 at the John Stanford Center.
     In other Board news:
     ■ Superintendent Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson and the Board congratulated the leaders, staff, students and families of three high schools for their outstanding achievements: Rainier Beach High School was recognized for meeting Adequate Yearly Progress for the second year in a row and coming out of the No Child Left Behind ?school improvement? status. Garfield and Roosevelt high schools were also recognized for being designated among the best high schools in the nation by U.S. News and World Report magazine.
     ■ Director DeBell provided a summary of the final report on school closure, which is available at http://www.seattleschools.org/area/06consolidation/schoolboardfinancecommreport120407.pdf. Some of the highlights include:
     ? Enrollment ? just over 50 percent of students from closed schools enrolled in the designated receiving schools. Of the remaining 366 students, 154 left the District (a quarter of these were nonresidents).
     ? Capital costs of the move will likely come in just under budget at $1.5 million, which includes $400,000 to build a teen parent program center at South Lake.
     ? Long-term capital savings are estimated at $44 million for BTA-type projects and $351 million in levy projects.
     ? General fund costs were higher than estimated at $927,000.
     ? General fund savings in the first year, originally estimated to be $2.48 million, are $1.9 million. Savings are reduced because the Marshall building remained open for one more year, and Columbia is being used as the interim site for The New School.
     ? $1 million of the $1.9 million savings was directed back to the classroom via K-2 libraries, math adoption, and an additional staff member at each of the receiving schools.

Superintendent invites District 7 residents to informal gathering
     Dr. Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson, Superintendent, is hosting an informal gathering with District 7 residents as part of her goal to meet community members and learn about each district. The Superintendent invites community members to the lunch and meeting scheduled for December 18. Lunch is available for purchase for those who RSVP by noon December 17 to Pat McKenzie at (206) 252-0200 or pmckenzie@seattleschools.org. The Superintendent has already met with residents from Districts 3, 4, 5 and 6 the past several months; she will meet with District 1 residents on January 10 at Nathan Hale High School and District 2 residents on January 15 at Hamilton International Middle School.

     District 7 Community Gathering
     Tuesday, December 18, 2007
     Noon-1:15 p.m.
     Cleveland High School, Commons Room 1201
     5511 15th Ave. S.

Student Celebrations

Dunlap Elementary fourth-grader wins first place in statewide art contest

Madison sixth-grader wins 'Follow a Leader' contest, $1,000 savings bond
     Alia Paddock, a sixth-grader at Madison Middle School, wrote the winning essay for the "Follow a Leader" contest, which allows students to job shadow local leaders. Alia attended a special luncheon on November 16 for the 26 winners of the contest, and also received a $1,000 savings bond for college. Alia wrote an essay expressing her interest in spending a day with Brenda Barnette, Chief Executive Officer, Seattle/King County branch of the Humane Society. In her essay, Alia wrote, ?Have you ever had the feeling that you would not trade a special animal for a million dollars? That is how I feel about my wonderful pets, and all animals in the world." The annual contest is sponsored by Macy's, The Seattle Times, and King 5 Television for students in Grades 4-12. Students were encouraged to enter the contest as part of Madison's Challenge Program, which offers honors-level learning to all students.

Student poets compete in Seattle SCORES Poetry Slams!
     Nearly 160 Seattle Public Schools elementary school poet-athletes, 20 school teachers and a host of other talented and committed community supporters participated in the 2007 Seattle SCORES Poetry Slams! from November 6-8. Third- through fifth-grade poet athletes from Dunlap, Emerson, Highland Park, Maple, Roxhill and Van Asselt elementary schools competed in writing, performances and original choreography. Chief Sealth High School hosted the event on November 6 and Rainier Beach High School hosted the event on November 8. The students were joined by celebrities and entertainers who included Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist David Horsey, Geologic of the Blue Scholars, HBO Def Poet Laura ?Piece? Kelly, Jake and the Slam Band, and the Senzala Capoeira Dance Troupe. For more information and pictures go to www.seattlescores.org.

Staff Celebrations

Around the schools

Writer Rachel Kessler helps, inspires Ballard High's language arts students
     Ninth-grade students in Taryn Coe’s and Brian Reardon’s language arts classes are getting the opportunity to work with Seattle poet and writer Rachel Kessler. Kessler is working with students this school year to create, present, and receive feedback on their creative writing. At the end of the semester, students will have the chance to present their stories, poems, and memoirs to the school community in the form of an anthology, reading, or special project. Kessler is a co-founder of the Typing Explosion, a performance and poetry troupe that entertains audiences with its unique style of automatic interactive poetry. Kessler also has published three books, and written and performed in five shows. Her work at Ballard is supported through Writers in the Schools, an award-winning program of Seattle Arts & Lectures that focuses on improving students’ writing skills.

Multicultural and Family Night provides resources for Sealth students
     Chief Sealth High School held its first Multicultural Family Night on November 29 to celebrate the diversity at Chief Sealth and to provide information about school and community resources. Eight student clubs performed, including the Polynesian Club, Mariachi Club, Cambodian Club, Poetry Club, Filipino Club, MeCH/LA club, Habasha Dance Team and Vietnamese Club. Twenty representatives from school programs and various community agencies also set up information booths in the Commons area. About 340 students and family members enjoyed a night of free food, entertainment, information gathering, and connection to Chief Sealth staff. A series of Family Engagement Nights will be held throughout the year.

Maple Elementary students learn to SOAR and write
     Two raptors ? Bob, a Great Horned Owl, and Cooley, an American Kestrel, both from the Woodland Park Zoo ? recently visited Maple Elementary to help inspire fourth-grade student writers. The raptor presentations, part of the zoo?s Save Our Amazing Raptors (SOAR) program, focused on food chains, ecology and the role of raptors in ecological systems. Following the visit, the 70 students, led by local poet Fredda Jaffe, wrote about their favorite raptor, drew a picture of the bird of prey, and wrote answers to her questions. Jaffe, who is working with Maple students through the 2007-08 school year, is sponsored by the Writer?s in the Schools program through Seattle Arts & Lectures.

Upcoming Events

Green Lake Elementary holds Holiday Tree Sale through December 22
     Looking for great holiday tree while also supporting students? Green Lake Elementary's PTA is holding its 22nd Annual Holiday Tree Sale. Featuring high quality holiday trees of all sorts and sizes, gorgeous wreaths and swags, the tree sale will run through Saturday, December 22. The Holiday Tree Sale has grown each year, largely due to the commitment of many volunteers.

     Green Lake Holiday Tree Sale
     Through Saturday, December 22
     Hours: Monday-Friday: 4-8 p.m.
               Saturday: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
               Sunday: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
     Green Lake Elementary School
     2400 N. 65th St.

School and District Events Calendar

If you would like to know about current special school events, fund-raisers or other district events, go online to the District Events Calendar where you can see what?s going on monthly at Seattle Public Schools or search for specific events by date, school and event type.

We Need Your Ideas

The Communications Office is always looking for stories on interesting classroom projects, inspirational people, or events in our schools to share with the greater Seattle community. We often highlight stories submitted by school staff for potential media coverage as well as district and community publications. For examples of stories we have published in the past, please visit this link. We would like to hear from you. If you have a unique story to share please send your ideas directly to goodnews@seattleschools.org. The deadline for submissions is January 7 for the January 10 issue of School Beat.

In the News

For a sampling of this week?s local newspaper stories on Seattle Public Schools, please click here.

SCHOOL BEAT is an electronic newsletter covering District and school-based news and is published twice a month for the employees of Seattle Public Schools.