John Stanford International School
Margie Butcher writes:
My 2nd grade class at John Stanford Elementary School will be at Whole Foods on Roosevelt this Sunday from 10:00-2:00 selling canvas bags they decorated as a part of our Action Network project to benefit homeless animals. All proceeds will go to Old Dog Haven, who will have both human and canine volunteers at the event! The bags are made from cotton scraps and recycled pop bottles, and will be sold for $20.
McDonald Elementary
The Seattle School Board has allocated $110,000 to help fund McDonald Elementary’s language immersion program for the 2012-13 school year. According to the school’s PTA website:
School Board Director Sherry Carr acknowledged the unique burdens on our community as a brand new school. Each year we grow by 75-100 students, which forces our enrolled parents to raise the money to fund a larger pool of Immersion Support staff the subsequent year. And this year we had our borders expanded by the Board, increasing next year’s burden. The Board recognized these structural challenges specifically, and they want to see this new program succeed.
Director Carr agreed to a one-time arrangement to help fund the program, and the allocation will help the school fund 2.5 Immersion Assistants (IA’s) necessary for the school’s immersion program. The school’s PTA has been focused on raising $275,000 during the school year to fund next year’s immersion program. To date, they have raised $90,000 and hope to raise the additional $75,000 during the school’s Phone-A-Thon.
B.F. Day
Congratulations to Erika Johnson Pollard, a second grade teacher at B.F. Day. Pollard was among 24 teachers in the Puget Sound region recognized as “Symetra Heroes in the Classroom” granted by Symetra Financial during a luncheon at CenturyLink Field on May 18. Teachers are nominated by their principal, district staff, student or student’s parent, and the winners are selected based on their ability to balance the core curriculum with students’ individual needs; build trust among students, parents and the community; and invest in their students’ long-term success. The teachers received a tour of the stadium, including the Seahawks locker room, where each teacher was surprised with a “customized” locker complete with nameplate.
Windermere Real Estate Co – Lakeview (1920 N. 34th St.) is holding a silent auction to benefit B.F. Day on 
Wednesday, June 6, from 4:00PM – 7:00PM. The auction features student-created Northwest-themed works of art on canvas, which have been on display in Windermere’s Lakeview office. All proceeds from the auction will go towards B.F. Day’s art program. Light appetizers and wine will be served during the event. Click on the flyer for more information.
News from the District
From SPS Communications:
The family survey will be administered starting June 5 via the district’s automated SchoolMessenger system, which will allow families to provide feedback by touch-tone phone response or an online web survey sent by e-mail.
SchoolMessenger Calendar for Family Survey
There will be two opportunities to take the survey by phone. Phone calls at 6 p.m. on:
• June 5 and June 12: Elementary schools families with children in Grades K-5*
• June 6 and June 13: Middle school families with children in Grades 6-8*
• June 7 and June 14: High school families with children in Grades 9-12
(* includes K-8 schools)
Seattle Public Schools announced yesterday the approved bell times for the 2012-13 school year. Here are the bell times for our neighborhood schools:
- Hamilton – 7:50AM – 2:20PM
- John Stanford – 9:20AM – 3:35PM
- B.F. Day – 8:55AM – 3:00PM
- McDonald – 8:50AM – 3:00PM
Others:
- Lowell – 9:25AM – 3:35PM
- Salmon Bay – 8:20AM – 2:25PM
- Roosevelt – 8:00AM – 2:30PM
- Ingraham – 7:50AM – 2:20PM
Speaking of IAs and Wallingford schools, earlier this week I attended the school board’s work session on special education. I was pleased to see Director Carr asking some tough and important questions about the department’s organizational structure and why it’s taking so long to hire a permanent director. Clearly she’s been listening to special ed parents, and I was happy to see that.
But I was a bit concerned to see common misunderstandings of autism reflected in some of the other directors’ questions and comments. Questions were raised about why certain inclusion programs (similar to the one we have at B.F. Day) require two IAs when they’re serving “just autism” and not a medically fragile student population. Some seem to be under the impression that an IA hovers above one student’s desk all day, rather than move around the building supporting multiple classrooms as they do.
Most concerning of all was Director DeBell’s concern with special ed spending. He has asked for more detailed analysis of how special ed dollars are spent in this district as compared to other districts and implied that once these numbers are available, perhaps certain items may need to be cut.
My fear is that the board will utlimately decide to cut special ed IAs in our inclusion programs.
I know Wallingford parents understand the importance of IAs. Not only are they a key component of successful foreign language immersion programs, but they are absolutely essential for succesful special ed inclusion programs. You can try to place an autistic or ADHD student in a regular classroom with one teacher and some resource room minutes, but unless that child is extremely high-functioning and the teacher is extremely skilled with good parent volunteers to help out, it’s not going to go very smoothly. It’s not fair to anyone in that situation — not fair to the teacher, not fair to the students, and especially not fair to the special ed student and his/her family.
We moved my son from TOPS to B.F. Day last year because we couldn’t get the district to provide even one full-time IA for all of TOPS K-2 special ed. The difference at B.F. Day is like night and day. We no longer have major behavior issues or disruptions. When he’s having a bad day, he and his teacher have extra support and his classmates can go on learning uninterrupted. Best of all, he’s made huge academic strides this year. And I’ve noticed the other special education students at B.F. Day have, too.
Our school board is made up of kind and dedicated volunteers, and I don’t doubt that they want the best for our children. I follow school district matters pretty closely and I’ve noticed that the board does listen when parents speak up calmly and with respect.
So I’m asking all of you who agree about the importance of special ed IAs to please join me in following this matter closely and speaking up when you have the opportunity. When special ed succeeds, things are better for everyone.
I’d also to add how well the inclusion model works for the other kids in the class. One of my kids is in a classroom with a few kids who need the support of an IA, and it’s been great. The IA’s are incredibly insightful and patient with -all- the kids, not just their official charges. My kid really likes the kids who can now be in the classroom, in part because there’s the support to keep any difficult moments from disrupting the learning environment. But as positive as it’s been, I think without the IA it would have been a much more challenging situation for everyone.
So many issues presented in jd’s letter.
I am an educator in Seattle. As was said above, without IA’s to support kids with ADHD or autism in the classroom, the student may not have a good experience. Nor the other students nor the teacher. however everyday there are classes all over Seattle with kids so affected with 30 minutes of resource time and the rest of time in regular class.. and not always functioning in a way which is helpful for the class or themselves and sometimes very distracting.
Some people like the inclusion model. Others find that it still opens doors for distraction, refusal to do normal student learning activities, yelling, pounding on tables and sometimes the IAs are elsewhere. There is no easy solution.
Parents need to look at what seems to be good for their children around this issue- both parents of children who need the help and parents whose children will be affected either with or without inclusion programs.
@ well — If you’re an educator in Seattle in the public school system, then you probably already know that inclusion is here to stay even if parents sometimes don’t want it for their kids. It’s supposedly cheaper, and it’s the law.
Also important to know…There’s not one inclusion model in Seattle. There’s the new and rather unpopular ICS (Integrated Comprehensive Services) model, with an 18:1:1 ratio — 18 kids with special needs (not sure whether or how they actually keep it to 18) who have one classroom teacher and one resource room teacher. Works great for some kids, not ideal for many others.
At B.F. Day, Salmon Bay middle school, and other schools around Seattle, there are inclusion models that have a higher ratio of adults to children. More IAs, more than one special ed teacher to share the caseload, etc. In my experience, and I believe in my son’s classmates’ experience too, these inclusion models work a lot better for everyone.
But I don’t think the school board understands that, or even that there is a difference between models and all “inclusion” is not created equal in this district. And I worry that they’re just going to slash special ed IAs to save money because there’s no law saying they can’t. In fact, I worry they’ll do it in the name of “least restrictive means.”
That’s why I’m hoping we Wallingford parents, who have already successfully gotten the board to understand the importance of IAs in immersion programs, can work to save our special ed IAs too.