A message from the Superintendent

Oct. 10, 2011

(Joint message with Lauren McGuire, President, Seattle Council PTSA)

Dear Seattle Public Schools families,

This year, the District is focusing on four pillars of success: great principals, great teachers, families connected to schools and a central office serving schools and students.

Together, the District and the Seattle Council PTSA are concentrating on that third pillar – families connected to schools. We know that in order for our students to be successful, families must be engaged with teachers and school leaders. There must be open and transparent communication.

On Monday, Oct. 17, we are jointly hosting an SCPTSA Fall General Meeting from 7-8:30 p.m. at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence, 2445 3rd Avenue South, to talk about how to best ensure all of our families are truly engaged and connected to our schools. Have you ever wondered about how to get involved or what role you can play in your school’s decision-making process? Join us next Monday, Oct. 17 and get your questions answered.
 
We will be there, along with School Board Vice President Michael DeBell and members of the District leadership team, to discuss and answer questions about the School Board's policies on School Governance. All school communities and family members are welcome, whether or not your school has a PTSA.

As part of our work together, we want to remind families how important it is to get involved in your school. Research shows that children perform better academically when they see their parents volunteering at school. Participating in school leadership is one way to be involved. Every school has a joint teacher-family leadership team, called the Building Leadership Team, Site Council, Governance Team or other similar body. As created by School Board policy, these teams may play a role of advising, consulting, communicating, implementing, monitoring, evaluating and decision-making. For more information, please see Board Policies F20.00-F21.00, at http://bit.ly/SPS_F20. We encourage you to get involved in your school, and to learn more about your building’s school governance leadership team. For more information, contact your building principal and PTSA or parent organization leader.

At Seattle Public Schools, our motto for this year is AGREE: Attacking Gaps/Raising Expectations Everywhere. We are working hard to attack our achievement and opportunity gaps, while also making sure we increase expectations for all students and staff. We ask families to join this pledge of raising expectations. Together, we can make a difference and ensure that all of our students graduate from Seattle Public Schools ready for college, career and life.

We look forward to seeing you on Monday, Oct. 17.

Sincerely,


Susan Enfield, Ed.D.
Interim Superintendent
Seattle Public Schools

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