Seattle Public Schools

September 5, 2008

Photography © Susie Fitzhugh

District News

Superintendent Goodloe-Johnson visits schools on opening day

     Seattle Public Schools opened its doors for the 2008-09 school year on September 3 as more than 45,000 students began their first day of school. Superintendent Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson, Ph.D., spent the day visiting students, families and staff at several of the schools.
     In the morning, the Superintendent welcomed Concord Elementary students and spoke to kindergarten families during an informal breakfast meeting.
     She then participated in a joint press conference with Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels at Denny Middle School to encourage middle school students to start thinking about college. The news conference highlighted College Bound scholarship opportunities, which provides eligible students with funding for tuition and books.
     After stopping to visit Chief Sealth High School at its interim site at the Boren building, the Superintendent joined students at Bailey Gatzert Elementary for lunch in the cafeteria. The Superintendent spent the rest of the afternoon visiting classrooms at Wedgwood Elementary, Roosevelt High School and North Beach Elementary.

Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson speaks to a student at Concord Elementary School, before classes begin for the new school year.

Renovated Garfield, South Lake high schools open to students
Garfield continues to celebrate 'Return of the Bulldogs' on September 26 and 27
     Students at Garfield and South Lake high schools walked into beautifully new learning spaces when school opened on September 3. The $107.4 million Garfield renovation began in summer 2006 and includes expanded classrooms and a state-of-the-art performing arts center. Construction on the $14.4 million South Lake project began in summer 2007. The stand-alone building includes two science labs, four classrooms, an art room, a music room, a child-care facility and a multipurpose space for community use.
     Garfield High students, staff, alumni and community members continue to celebrate the "Return of the Bulldogs" to the beautifully renovated school. On September 26 and 27, the school will host a series of festivities, including the dedication of the Quincy Jones Performing Arts Center, an auction, a series of mini-reunions, and many other activities. For additional information, please visit the Celebrate Garfield Web site.

87 percent of students in Class of 2009 pass WASL requirements
Seattle students continue to do well in comparison with state performance
     Seattle Public Schools students scored higher than the state average in 14 out of 20 WASL areas tested, and within 1 point in 16 of 20 areas tested, according to WASL results released last month. The results are notable, as most large urban school districts score below state averages. For the full news release, including a chart comparing Seattle results with state averages, click here.

School Board Update - September 3 meeting highlights
     At the September 3 meeting of the School Board, Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson provided an overview of Strategic Plan Implementation – specifically the list and status of projects. A more detailed update will be provided at the September 17 meeting. Manager of Research, Evaluation and Assessment Brad Bernatek provided an overview of 2008 WASL results, and Chief Financial and Operations Officer Don Kennedy gave a presentation on the district’s contracting practices and policies.
     The board unanimously approved Policy D41.00, Attendance/Participation and Grades; and Procedure D40.00, Attendance. The revisions to these policies were recommended by the Attendance Improvement and Truancy Reduction Subcommittee. The committee, composed of both school and central office staff, presented a report and recommendation that focus on early intervention, clarifies procedures, and provides guidelines and policies that will be adopted across the district. Specifically, the revised policies define “absence” at the secondary level – missing ten or more minutes of a class period; clarify teacher responsibility for attendance taking; and outline the consideration of attendance and participation in grading.
     The next regular board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, September 17, at 6 p.m. at the John Stanford Center.

Community meetings scheduled to plan for north end school capacity
     Two community meetings are scheduled to plan for anticipated needs for additional space in North Seattle for the 2009-10 school year. Both meetings will be held 6:30-8:30 p.m.:
• Monday, September 15 at Catharine Blaine K-8, 2550 34th Ave. W.; and
• Tuesday, September 16 at Roosevelt High School, 1410 N.E. 66th St.
     For more information, see the news release and flier.

Report: School water quality now meets and exceeds standards
     Seattle Public Schools' first annual report for the Drinking Water Quality Program shows that drinking water quality at schools continues to improve. Ninety-three percent of water sources in the 31 schools tested this year passed all requirements – up from 60 percent in 2004. Future annual reports will be issued each summer. Click here to read the full news release.

Student Celebrations

Ballard film students win in Young People's Film & Video Festival
     Three productions by students in the Ballard High School Video Production Program are among the winners of the 32nd Annual Young People’s Film & Video Festival to be held September 14 in Oregon. The winners are:
• the short drama “4th Floor” by Coburn Erskine, Sami Kubo & Nolan O’Connor;
• the documentary “Domestic Disturbance” by Justin Amorratanasuchad, Colin Colebrook & Lilah Horwitz; and
• the documentary “Ladies in Armor” by Diana Federighi, Sami Kubo & Audra McCafferty.
     This competitive festival accepts entries from students in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Alaska. Only 15 productions were chosen for the festival from more than 100 entries. Ballard topped the list of winning high schools, with three awards. The Festival Winners’ Program will be screened on Friday, September 14 at 1 p.m. at the Whitsell Auditorium of the Portland Art Museum. For more information, visit http://www.nwfilm.org/festivals/young_fest.php.

Anna Miller, a senior at Garfield High School, is interviewed by Aspen's Plum TV, left photo, during the Aspen Ideas Festival June 29-July 4. Miller, right photo, was joined by Gretchen Wilkinson, dean of students at Garfield High, who was selected as an educator scholar for the festival.

Garfield student attends Aspen Ideas Festival as Bezos Scholar
Anna Miller, a student at Garfield High School, received the prestigious national scholarship - Bezos Scholars Program @ the Aspen Institute – one of only 12 students nationwide to receive the award. Miller attended the Days at the Aspen Ideas Festival as a Bezos scholar from June 29 to July 4. She attended plenary sessions and special events, hiked at Maroon Bells, had breakfast with U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and met with inventor Dean Kamen, physicist Brian Greene, and U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.
Miller was selected based on academic merit, demonstrated leadership and community engagement. Gretchen Wilkinson, dean of students at Garfield High, was selected as an educator scholar and attended the Aspen Ideas Festival with Miller.

Staff Celebrations

Sanislo, Roxhill teachers present at China conference      Two Seattle elementary school teachers – Shannon Crowley from Sanislo and Chris Robert from Roxhill – traveled to China for three weeks in July as part of a quartet representing the University of Washington’s College of Education. The quartet was invited by Virginia-based Education & Science Society/Supporting Education in Rural China to give presentations at two conferences for rural Chinese teachers.
     Crowley and Robert did a PowerPoint presentation on instruction in reading, writing, and science in the intermediate grades, “Teaching and Learning: Two Teachers’ Perspectives.” They presented twice to rural teachers in the Hainan province (Haikou City) and twice in the Hubei province (Wuhan City). The other team members were Karen Harris and Shelley Cowan from the UW's College of Education, whose presentation was on ways the university supports first-year teachers.
     You can check their trip blog at http://uwcoechina08.blogspot.com/.

Chris Robert, left, and Shannon Crowley, right.

Around the Schools

Denny Middle School recognized as certified AVID school
The AVID Center has informed Denny Middle School that it has been recognized as a certified AVID school. The AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program is a fourth- through twelfth-grade system that prepares students for four-year college eligibility. AVID places academically average students in advaced classes. It also supports minority, rural, low-income and other students without a college-going tradition in their familes. For more information on the AVID program at Denny, visit the school’s Web site.


Dawn Rubstello	Sara Hoofnagle

Summit, Garfield science teachers spend part of summer at Fred Hutchinson
     Two science teachers – Sara Hoofnagle from Summit K-12 and Dawn Rubstello from Garfield High School – were among about 30 science teachers from Washington, Singapore and Australia who spent part of their vacation at “summer school,” working alongside scientists in research laboratories at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and several other partner sites.
     The goal of the summer workshop, which ran July 14-30, was for teachers to bring back what they learn over the summer to help jump-start their students’ knowledge of bioscience and research and to kindle their interest in jobs or careers in science. Working in labs at the Hutchinson Center and partnering local academic-research institutions and biotechnology firms, the teachers updated and honed their lab techniques and teaching strategies in life sciences, particularly genetics and molecular biology. For the full news release from Fred Hutchinson, click here.

Upcoming Events

Homeschool Resource Center to celebrate 10-year anniversary on September 13
     The Homeschool Resource Center, a support center for families choosing to educate their children at home, will celebrate its milestone 10-year anniversary on Saturday, September 13 with a reunion party. The public is invited to celebrate at the Northgate Community Center with a chance to talk with teachers and staff, reconnect with friends, and catch up with other Homeschool Resource families. For information or questions, contact Martha Ramos at (206) 252-4715, mbramos@seattleschools.org or Wendy Kennedy at (206) 252-4718, wckennedy@seattleschools.org.

     Homeschool Resource Center 10-year anniversary reunion
     Saturday, September 13
     11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
     Northgate Community Center
     10510 5th Ave. N.E.

North Beach Elementary to celebrate 50th anniversary on September 20
     North Beach Elementary will be celebrating its 50th anniversary on September 20 with activities to include school tours, student performances, tours of the newly remodeled school, outdoor activities, music, food and much more. The school is still looking for historic photographs of North Beach Elementary and its students. If you have photos you would like to share, please e-mail to jrdnorthbeach@gmail.com.

     North Beach Elementary 50th anniversary
     Saturday, September 20
     11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
     9018 24th Ave. N.W.

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 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. Deadline for submissions is September 15 for the September 18 issue.

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 staff and community of Seattle Public Schools. Community members can unsubscribe to this e-newsletter by clicking here and typing in "unsubscribe" in the subject heading.