Wallybits: Seattle Public Schools edition

Margaret 9 Comments

Here’s some news we’ve accumulated regarding our neighborhood’s public schools:

Hamilton earns “Schools of Distinction” honor

Hamilton International Middle School was one of five schools named “2011 Schools of Distinction.” The schools are chosen for outstanding academic improvements in math and reading and have been ranked in the top 5% of highest-improving schools in the state. This is the second year in a row that Hamilton earned this distinction.

Early Kindergarten enrollment for fall 2012, in-person Monday, Oct. 24

If you’ve got a little one who’s turning 5 on or before August 31, 2012, guess what? It’s time to think about enrollment for Kindergarten next fall. Seattle Public Schools is holding special early enrollment opportunities, including one that’s relatively close by, at the Green Lake Library (7364 E. Green Lake Drive N.) on Monday, October 24 from 5:30-7pm. You will need to bring the following paperwork with you to enroll:

  • ·         Certificate of Immunization Status (CIS)
  • ·         Photo ID of the parent/guardian registering the student
  • ·         Address verification documents
  • ·         Birth certificate (or similar document such as a passport)
For the record, early enrollment does not guarantee you a spot at a school other than your assigned neighborhood school. For more information, visit the Seattle Public Schools website.

 

Choosing a permanent Superintendent

 

The Seattle School Board, along with the Seattle Council PTSA, is seeking feedback from families about whether or not the district should appoint Dr. Susan Enfield as a permanent Superintendent, or if they should begin the process to conduct a national search. The Seattle Council PTSA will hold a meeting at Roosevelt High School (1410 N.E. 66th St.) on Monday, November 14, from 7pm-8:30pm to accept comments. Childcare and light snacks will be available beginning at 6:30. If you can’t make the November 14 meeting, click on the Seattle Public Schools website here to view additional meeting dates and times.


B.F. Day Elementary receives grant for new playground; seeks input, volunteers

The PTSA for B.F. Day Elementary has just received a neighborhood grant to improve the school’s playground. A committee is about to begin the redesign process, and is seeking input from B.F. Day families and neighbors. The first student input meeting will be held during the school’s Peace Assembly on Tuesday, November 15 at 9:15 am and all are welcome to attend. More information can be found on this flier.

9 Comments

  1. Kimberly C
    October 22, 2011 at 10:30 am

    If you can’t make it to a meeting but you would like to ask that Dr. Enfield be hired without a national search, you can sign this petition:
    http://www.petitiononline.com/sesuper/?mid=50

  2. Nancy M
    October 22, 2011 at 11:08 am

    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016575845_pledge22m.html

    Here is an article from today’s Seattle Times regarding the daily reciting (or not) of the 1958 version of the Pledge of Allegiance at John Stanford starting Monday.

  3. Fruitbat
    October 22, 2011 at 4:48 pm

    Is there a petition to bag Dr. Enfield and find a superintendent who favors solid, effective curricula? ‘Cause I would sure sign that.

  4. buster g.
    October 22, 2011 at 5:48 pm

    I am pained to read about the effort to impose the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance on the children of the John Stanford school (see Nancy M comment above). Why is it necessary for us to demand obeisance from young kids who can hardly understand what they are reciting? Are we afraid they are likely to turn into little terrorists if they do not pledge – with great regularity, perhaps daily? Apparently we have to get them in line before they can think for themselves.

  5. Nancy M
    October 22, 2011 at 6:07 pm

    whoops, typo, it is the 1954 version . . .
    Pledge of Allegiance
    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    Official versions
    1892
    “I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
    1892 to 1923
    “I pledge allegiance to my flag andto the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
    1923 to 1924
    “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States and to the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
    1924 to 1954
    “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,and to the republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”
    1954 to Present
    “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God,indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

    The Pledge of Allegiance of the United States is an oath of loyalty to the federal flag and the Republic of theUnited States of America, originally composed by Francis Bellamy in 1892 and formally adopted by Congress as the pledge in 1942. The Pledge has been modified four times since its composition, with the most recent change adding the words “under God” in 1954.

  6. Kimberly C
    October 22, 2011 at 8:11 pm

    @Fruitbat…Will you elaborate? I would love to know what you have learned of Dr. Enfield and her views on anything. Thanks!

  7. buster g.
    October 22, 2011 at 10:15 pm

    Re comment #5:

    I guess the 1954 version of the Pledge of Allegiance was a back-door effort to sneak prayer into the schools after the courts decided such prayer is unconstitutional. As I recall that was the height of McCarthism terrorism and the Pledge modification may have been one of the legacies of that era.

  8. Fruitbat
    October 23, 2011 at 5:41 pm

    Kimberly–Susan Enfield was Chief Academic Officer of SPS when the high school math adoption (of the “Discovering” series) went through. This was the adoption (voted against by 3 out of 7 school board members) that King County Superior Court Judge Julie Spector ruled “arbitrary and capricious” because there was no data to support the decision. The state had found the curriculum “mathematically unsound” but who pushed it? CAO Susan Enfield! Who has NOT supported any actual use of the SPS-approved Singapore math (containing actual numbers?) in elementary schools? Who has no idea why the two elementary school that do not use Everyday Math do so well in math?

    I don’t know what input Enfield has had in choosing science curricula, and there is not yet a push for universal reading or writing curriula, but it should be enough to know that Enfield heartily supports fuzzy math.

  9. Kimberly C
    October 23, 2011 at 9:47 pm

    Thanks Fruitbat. That’s really helpful to know. We HATE Everyday Math at our house!

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