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Seattle Public Schools/Departments/Advanced Learning/Highly Capable and Racial Equity Services Advisory

Highly Capable and Racial Equity Services Advisory

The Superintendent’s Highly Capable and Racial Equity Services Advisory (HC/RESA) supports the development and implementation of procedures and practices for advanced Learning. The committee advises the district as they design and implement equitable access to advanced learning.

Using Advanced Learning Task Force (ALTF) recommendations, HC/RESA will meet to advise the district as the Advanced Learning (AL) Department and a diverse practitioners work group designs and implements a model or models for advanced learning identification and services. These are aligned with Seattle Excellence, the district’s five-year strategic plan, and the Advanced Learning vision, mission, and commitments.

The HC/RESA is established as a committee and will run for three years. The committee may extend due to needs and progress of the work.

Advisory Members

HC/RESA is tasked with addressing the segregated system currently in place and advising the AL Department in developing and implementing new systems, processes, and supports to align with the SPS 2019-24 strategic plan and the AL Vision, Mission, and Commitments. HC/RESA is facilitated by Fran Partridge and Marlon Brown of Racial Equity Consultants, LLC.

HC/RESA Members

  • Manuela Slye – SCPTSA President
  • Kaili David-Nsimbi – Rainier Scholars
  • Yen Baynes – Court Interpreter & Community Educator
  • Nicole Coates – DREA Advisor
  • Gail Morris – Native American Education Program Manager
  • Tina Meade – Director of Investigations & Compliance (Title IX)
  • Aneesa Roidad – Student and NAACP Youth Coalition in Seattle
  • Sariya Dunbar – Student
  • Romanita Hairston – Parent
  • Emijah Smith – Parent
  • Dominique Pavageau – Parent
  • Marc Salazar – Parent
  • Renee MacLeod – Parent
  • Christina Ellis – Parent
  • Margaret Montsaroff – Parent
  • Damon May – Parent
  • Megan Haddock – Parent
  • Radhika Nair – Parent
  • Doug Sohn – Principal at Adams Elementary
  • Rina Geoghagan – Principal at Decatur Elementary School
  • Chris Thomas – Principal at Martin Luther King Elementary
  • Paula Montgomery – Principal at Jane Addams Middle School
  • Cindy Watters – Principal at Mercer Middle School
  • James Blanton – Assistant Principal at Garfield High School
  • Aida Fraser-Hammer – Principal at Chief Sealth High School
  • Shane Baguyo – School Psychologist
  • Gabe Herbison – Teacher
  • Bobbi (Roberta) Windus – Teacher
  • Matthew Perez – Teacher
  • Deb Schaaf – Teacher
  • Shraddha Shirude – Teacher
  • Kate Poux – Teacher
  • Kelsey Benslimane – Teacher

District and Advanced Learning Staff

  • Concie Pedroza – Chief of Student Support Services
  • Deenie Berry – AL/HC Program Supervisor
  • Jackie Cable – Student Support Services Asst Program Manager
  • Sean Fisher – AL Program Specialist
  • Maki Ichikawa – AL Program Specialist
  • Nathan Wheeler – AL Program Specialist

Alternates

  • Gretchen Waschke – Parent
  • Berhanu Alemayehu – Parent
  • Christine Sanders – Parent
  • Lisa Batten – Parent, Dept. Veterans Affairs Research Specialist
  • Crystal Daniels – Parent
  • Carmen Brady – Former Parent
  • Jenny Miller – Native American Ed Program Specialist

HC/RESA Meetings

Meetings have been scheduled in collaboration with the HC/RESA Advisory.

Meetings are held from 4-7 p.m. on the dates below. You will find meeting links on the calendar below.

  • March 17, 2022, 4-7 p.m., please join us via Zoom; view agenda
  • April 21, 2022 (canceled)
  • May 19, 2022, 4-7 p.m.
  • June 16, 2022, 4-7 p.m.

Questions?

Email Deenie Berry, Program Manager, Highly Capable Services and Advanced Learning Program cvberry@seattleschools.org

Guiding Documents

Advanced Learning Task Force 2022 Vision, Mission, Commitments

Vision

Every student — particularly Black, Brown, and Indigenous students who have been traditionally furthest from educational justice — will have access to the learning services that meet their needs, so they can reach their full potential.

Teachers will have the resources and support they need to provide these services, and the school community will enthusiastically support the new service delivery model. Every student, from those who need support to work at grade level to those doing more advanced work, will receive instruction that meets their unique needs and develops their talents and strengths. 

Mission

We are changing the way we provide advanced learning services to support the brilliance of every student and consider the needs of the whole child at various levels of academic learning, particularly those furthest from educational justice.

In the Advanced Learning Department, we will:

  • Eliminate racial disproportionality in all facets of advanced learning services, from eligibility to participation to outcomes.
  • Design services and processes to reveal potential and remove barriers to accessing advanced learning offerings.
  • Apply advanced learning opportunities equitably to establish consistent practices across all schools.
  • Offer engaging and challenging curriculum delivered with high-quality, effective instruction.
  • Provide a variety of accelerated and enhanced instructional models that serve learners with atypical needs.
  • Support social-emotional needs of students.
  • Deliver high-quality professional development for relevant staff to achieve these commitments.

Foundational Recommendations to Board Policy #2190

The following Foundational Recommendations to SPS School Board Policy #2190 were approved unanimously by the ALTF on August 20, 2019.

  1. To realize the vision, mission, commitments and recommendations of the Task Force, the District must commit to establishing procedures consistent with state guidelines as well as Policy #0030, and to the prioritization of equitable access to advanced learning services, including but not limited to:
    • Using multiple sources of data to identify student needs for advanced learning services (Align to Board Policy #2080 – Assessment)
    • Delivery of an array of equitable services framed within a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) at every elementary, middle, and high school and alternative placements, as needed to meet the needs of students. (Align to Board Policy #2163 – Supports & Interventions)
    • Use of equitable assessment practices that are accessible to and evaluate the needs of all students (Align to Board Policy #2080 – Assessment and #0030 – Race/Equity)
  2. We recommend prioritizing equitable identification of low-income students and students historically underserved (Fed 7, 2E, single domain, outliers) in Seattle’s approach to advanced learning services and eliminating racial disproportionality in all facets of advanced learning services.
  3. We recommend procedures and practices designed to support and hold every school accountable for providing a consistent array of equitable advanced learning services.