On Tuesday afternoon, Seattle Public Schools (SPS) released a draft of the proposed new boundaries. You can read the draft in its entirety here. Here are the proposed changes for Wallingford:
1) John Stanford International School and McDonald International Elementary School would become Option Schools beginning in 2014, with small geozone boundaries for folks living nearby (those boundaries have not been drawn yet).
2) All kids living east of Stone Way and not within the JSIS/McDonald geozones would attend Green Lake Elementary.
3) By 2017, the APP program at Lincoln would split into two different pathways (Lincoln would then be under construction for a high school by 2019):
- Wilson‐Pacific Elem> Wilson‐Pacific MS >Garfield (or to optional APP/IB at Ingraham, with guaranteed assignment).
• Olympic Hills > Jane Addams MS >Garfield (or to optional APP/IB at Ingraham,with guaranteed assignment).
Share your thoughts, comments and concerns:
• Email comments to: [email protected].
(Please put your school or topic in the subject line.)
• “Walk the Boundaries” project will be held September 18–
October 1.
•Community Meetings are scheduled for September–October:
| When | Where |
|---|---|
| September 23, 6:30–8 p.m. | Mercer Middle School Lunchroom 1600 South Columbian Way (Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese and Taglog interpreters) |
| September 24, 6:30–8 p.m. | Nathan Hale High School Commons 10750 30th Avenue NE (Spanish and Somali interpreters) |
| September 25, 6:30–8 p.m. | West Seattle High School Commons 3000 California Ave SW (Spanish, Somali, and Vietnamese interpreters) |
| September 30, 6:30–8 p.m. | Meany Building Lunchroom 300 20th Ave E (Spanish, Somali and Vietnamese interpreters) |
| October 1, 6:30–8 p.m. | Ballard High School Commons 1418 NW 65th Street (Spanish interpreter) |
To see the complete Growth Boundaries Project Timeline, click here.
Very good summary, thank you. What isn’t clear to me is how the currently cramped Hamilton building will accommodate 6th graders from three new schools (Greenwood, Green Lake and Bagley.) I assume this means that APP students will be shifted out of the building during year one of the shift. However, I could not figure out whether this is what the plan intends to do. Does anyone know?
I agree with the above comment. Really great summary of the proposal.
It would seem that Green Lake Elementary is going to be way over capacity.
It seems very strange for the boundaries to again be changed for homes in the south end of Wallingford and area west of Corliss. Why move those houses from BF Day to Green Lake? Seems like now we are shifting the problem of sibling accomodations from JSIS (where siblings will now get top priority since it will be an option school) to BF Day (where there is no such guarantee since it is a neighborhood assignment school).
Also, how can Green Lake accomodate such a large region? It seems like they are planning for most of the region’s kids to still attend JSIS and MacDonald, which may be true in the near term because of siblings, but isn’t the hope in creating it as an option school to create more equitable access? It doesn’t seem like this plan allows for room for any kids to get in out of the geozone because they are going to need to protect Green Lake from being overcrowded.
Laura, you asked “isn’t the hope in creating it as an option school to create more equitable access?”
Not always.
Here were two groups advocating for converting JSIS into an option school.
One group, which included the teachers, want an option school allow for a greater mixture of languages and economic backgrounds attend the school.
Another group, made up of a sizable proportion of the current JSIS parents, want an options school so that the district could give preference to siblings of existing children.
A third group of parents are opposed to converting JSIS to an option school because they are concerned that the social bonds which exist because it is a neighborhood school would be broken.
They also argue that it is wrong to not allow a child who lives a block away from the school go to the school. The counter argument is that only some families can afford to live close to the school.
This is a hard problem because there is no right answer. You can talk you pick as to what is more important to you:
1. Keeping siblings together
2. Having a neighborhood school
3. Having equitable access
The proposed tie breaker rules for option schools are:
1. Siblings
2. Living near the school
3. Lottery
This proposal will address the second group, i.e. putting siblings first.
In practice it also address the concerns of parents who want a neighborhood school because almost all the quota will be filled by siblings (who probably live locally) and locals.
This proposal doesn’t do anything to address diversity because once siblings and locals are enrolled there will be very few places in the lottery.
What do kids who didn’t go to an International Elementary School do at Hamilton? Do they have non-immersion tracks? Just curious as someone who’s daughter will be starting kindergarten at BF Day next year.
@GCP, yes, there are non-immersion tracks. My son went to B.F. Day and started 6th grade this year at Hamilton and he chose Japanese 1 as an elective.
This may have the unintended but positive impact of saving the 26. How else would kids from south of 40th get to Green Lake? Or perhaps Metro would like them to all crowd into the 16 at Stone and 40th?
@GCP – My son started Hamilton this fall also, coming from JSIS. The only class he has that is different because he was from an international school is his language class, which is taught in the immersion style. All of his other classes are taught in English.
Breadbaker, I would hope the older kids would ride bikes on the new Green Lake to Lake Union Greenway:
http://www.wallyhood.org/2013/09/tour-the-future-green-lake-to-lake-union-greenway/
Greetings – thanks for getting us a thorough report to look at. As a close neighbor to Hamilton what I noticed is that the plan is for the capacity of Hamilton to more than double – is that what we agreed to in the remodel? Double the amount of students in and around the area. Seems like a lot – does that increase the number of teachers and staff parking in our neighborhood too? Perhaps we could harness the school’s energy to garden around the school and play field garden. It has been such a disappointment when they ripped out the community garden and planted all new plants and they don’t take care of them – it is a mess with weeds taking over. Make it a school project for these kids and teachers!
There are several inconsitencies in the summary. The document doesn’t say anything about “small geozone boundaries for folks living nearby”. Nor geozones have to be small (look at the one for Thortoncreek:
http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1583136/File/Maps/boundarymaps/pdfs/GZ_ES_ThorntonCreek.pdf
Not exactly small!
Also, the document from the district clearly says that McDonald and JSIS will stay as feeding into Hamilton, to maintain the immersion pathway, with Ingraham as a high school (P5).
In response to Ben’s reasons to make them options schools, you forgot one (the district’s): capacity management. By making them option schools they can better controll enrollment. Based on the capacity at Green Lake (350, after boundary adjustments), they will necessarily have to still let most Wallingfrod kids into McDonald and JSIS; they just won’t assure that they will all get in as before (while attendance schools).
Can someone help me understand here? We’re moving to the Seattle area at the end of this year with our first grader. We’re interested in getting her in to a language immersion program and have been looking at houses zoned to JSIS and McDonald specifically because of it.
1. Does anyone know if these schools even have room? I.e. if we came mid-year and chose to live inside the current attendance zone for one of those schools, would our child be assigned to it?
2. Assuming those two schools do become option schools, would kids currently attending those schools but outside the new narrow geozones be “grandfathered” in? Or would they have to apply during open enrollment just like anyone else interested in attending? i.e. if we did come mid-year and our kid did start attending one of those schools, is it possible she’d end up being reassigned to a non-immersion school for next school year?
Thanks for any insight!
Maybe Moving – once you’re in, you’re in. Not sure how easy it would be to get a place mid year, though, but I have no experience in this area. With JSIS and McDonald both being option schools, there would be no walkable elementary school in the Wallingford neighborhood – just a whole lot of yellow buses taking kids out and bringing other kids in.
@Maybe moving – I agree with Donna, not sure about getting in mid-year, but once you are in you are in, they don’t switch you out. But you would need to get in this year – the immersion schools don’t take new kids after 1st grade unless they are heritage (native) speakers.
@WallyMom. You said
“Also, the document from the district clearly says that McDonald and JSIS will stay as feeding into Hamilton, to maintain the immersion pathway, with Ingraham as a high school (P5).”
It does not. The only reference to JSIS and McDonald on P5 says
“Continue to locate (or link to) one or more elementary or K‐8 option schools in each middle school service area:
o Aki Kurose MS – South Shore PreK‐8
o Denny MS –STEM K‐8
o Eckstein MS – Thornton Creek
o Hamilton MS – John Stanford Int’l School; McDonald Int’l School
…..”
I had to re-read this a few times myself to get it. If you take out the parenthetical “(or link to)”, the meaning is much clearer. It’s a reference to Hamilton as a geographical territory (middle school service area) and the district’s desire to place at least one Option School in every middle school service area.
In any event, Line 4 of the table on Page 6 clearly shows that JSIS and McDonald do *not* automatically feed into Hamilton anymore because they will be Option Schools.
Also, you reference “immersion pathway” which doesn’t appear as a term in this document and I see absolutely nothing about Hamilton feeding into Ingraham in this document to preserve said pathway. Can you point me to that page/line?
In any event even without a link/feed into HIMS the immersion pathway is preserved regardless for the Wallingford kids in JSIS and McDonald, because the existing boundaries for those schools are both in the HIMS service area. And presumably given the goal stated on P4, the other Option kids will have pathways in their attendance areas.
@Wally Mom, No, the document doesn’t specify the geozone being large or small. When I wrote “small” I meant that in comparison to where the boundaries are now in the neighborhood. Fact is, no one knows right now how large or small the geozones will be yet. JSIS put together an excellent FAQ on the subject: http://stanfordes.seattleschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1708850/File/Announcement%20Page/Option%20School%20FAQ%200513.docx?sessionid=4f60efa586b452de39e80f9274a1421c
A few thoughts to add to the discussion:
Yes, capacity was also a major factor in support of option for both JSIS and McDonald. The capacity published in the document for JSIS is about 2 homerooms lower than what is currently stuffed into the school, which could allow the school to get back it’s computer lab, music room, and/or art room. Definitely not something to be overlooked.
Ben’s summary of groups leaves out a key group. In 2012, the international schools’ principals (including JSIS and McDonald principals) and Karen Kodama proposed changes to the attendance area model, in hopes of securing more heritage speakers for the program. Their proposal was much closer to an option model than the current attendance area model. (http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1583136/File/Departmental%20Content/school%20board/12-13%20agendas/121912agenda/20121219_Presentation_InternationalEducation.pdf)
I sincerely doubt that scores of yellow buses will be running amok through Wallingford. I see two scenarios resulting in some buses: 1) All of the area students will get in via geozone priority. If spaces are still left over, lottery will kick in, which may bring in some students by bus from within the Hamilton bus zone, or perhaps students outside of the bus zone who receive family/alternate transport.
2) If there aren’t enough spaces at JSIS & McDonald for all geozone families in any given year, then a few buses will swoop through designated bus stops to get those kids to Green Lake elementary. There are already buses in the neighborhood for APP, Salmon Bay, locations as close as 45th, etc., and SPS has stated they are committed to using current buses as efficiently as possible.
While I think the idea that tons of kids will be busing in and out at the same time is not realistic, I think that as part of this change, SPS and neighborhoods should be looking at ways to make traffic around our schools more controlled and safer. For instance, at JSIS, why not make the streets around the school clearly marked one-way streets?
Finally, @Maybe Moving, I’d suggest emailing your question to the Growth Boundaries group or working directly with Enrollment. And be sure to get your answers in writing! With so much up in the air right now, I wouldn’t be certain about anything.
DB, the proposed tiebreakers will not make a difference to the proportion of heritage speakers because most of children accepted will be siblings and locals. Heritage speakers will be treated like everyone else in the lottery for the few remaining places. If heritage speakers are important they should be given priority in the the tiebreakers.
My understanding of the proposed option school status for JSIS (not sure about McDonald) is that there will be FOUR levels of prioritization for assessing student applications to the school.
Those four levels of prioritization are:
– Native language speakers (highest priority – I believe the proposed target is set at 20% of students. These students are not required to live inside the geo-zone.)
– Siblings (not required to live inside the geo-zone)
– Geo-Zone eligible families
– Open Lottery
My information is not from the Growth Boundaries document, but from the other documents that specifically addressed the JSIS option school proposal (I believe you can access these documents via the JSIS website.)
Having read the JSIS teachers’ letter to the superintendent to support option school status at JSIS, it appears that their number one priority for this shift to option status is to get more heritage speakers in the classrooms – not overcrowding (which could have been addressed without going to option status.)
Presently, I have two children in the school, one has about 20% native speakers in the class. The other has about 10% native speakers.
I would assume that JSIS will have problems finding 20% of native speakers within the boundaries of its reduced-size geo-zone. This means that the number one admittance priority will be comprised of many students from outside the JSIS geo-zone (and that their siblings, in turn, will have first priority at entrance to the school in the future -as they meet both native speaker and sibling criteria.
@Ben, I mentioned the international proposal to show that there are more facets of pressure behind SPS’s consideration of the option model than just the two groups you mentioned. The inclusion of heritage speakers is noted (although not with a concrete plan) on slide 19: “Explore ways to increase assignments for speakers of target languages through tiebreakers or other assignment strategies”.
It is possible that SPS will launch the option model at the international schools without immediately including a heritage set aside, but then add it in after they’ve had more time to draw up a well-considered program (when some of these larger BEX decisions are past them). The option model presents flexibility for SPS. Members of SPS and Enrollment who desire more flexibility in growing the popular international program are likely another group that supports and advocates for this change.
jsis parent, I don’t know which document you are looking at. There was a proposal from a group of parents which proposed the tiebreakers you describe however this is not the proposal under consideration by the district.
In the proposed from the district the tie breakers are:
“Tiebreakers for assignment to option schools are (1) sibling, (2) geographic zone (GeoZone), and (3) lottery. These tiebreakers will apply to all option schools including international schools.”
See item A. 8.14.13. in http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?pageid=297189
As DB points out there is a desire among many for more heritage speakers in the international schools however that has not been included in the district’s proposal. Of course it could be added later, but why not now, given that this was a known desire among teachers, principals, international school advocates and many parents?
I’m still pretty unclear on the clamoring of people moving in for language immersion, and a PTSA raising $125k/yr so their school could have it as well to satisfy the disgruntled parents on the wrong side of a boundary.
Did the district produce a report that I missed showing these kids do better, achieve more? Did the parents that moved here for this program find some other studies I can’t surface on language immersion past the age of 6?
I would hate to think that our neighborhood is becoming even less diverse because people continue to drive up house prices just so they can brag their 6 yr old takes Japanese, and/or pay that premium on their house to avoid getting involved with their attendance area school to make it just as good.
If you’re coming for the test scores, t’s not the immersion, it’s not the teachers, it’s the education and discretional time of the families that can afford to live here that makes these schools good. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. Take away the immersion program and the needle won’t move on the test scores. Kids do well when their parents get involved and make sure they’re learning. That can happen anywhere.
This presentation which was part of the same session is my source to say that McDonald and JSIS students will continue to feed into Hamilton
http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1583136/File/Departmental%20Content/enrollment%20planning/Sept%2017%20meeting/Presentation%20Board%20Work%20Session%20Sept%2017_FINAL.pdf?sessionid=3657817820e98178119602301d6d3131
Regarding the bus comment – I went to a magnet (option) high school in Dallas located downtown. They had 20+ schools feeding into it. I can tell you that there were not a fleet of 20+ buses running through the front yard – there were five buses servicing five regions. My bus would stop at six different schools to pick up/drop off students going downtown. It was rather like riding the city bus, but with far fewer stops.
Thanks Wally Mom. So here’s my conjecture looking at contradictory sources (lol). Looking at the slides themselves and comparing with the pdf, I think we’re both right. They are going to complete what they had started (Slide 19 the pathway you mentioned) then make JSIS and McDonald option schools (but since 80-90% of those kids are local the pathway is still preserved for existing students simply because they live within the HIMS zone. Down the road they want to “Align option schools with appropriate middle school service areas as boundaries are developed.” That could very well mean explicit link to HIMS again, but they also want immersion in attendance area schools along with english track (PDF P4-B) so my guess is all middle schools with immersion elementary schools will eventually have this and if there are kids living outside the service area their option school is in, they will be allowed to “align” with the middle school whose service area their option school is in if the program doesn’t exist in their own middle school attendance areas. The last bit is conjecture on my part, but explains the use of wiggle words “align” when they explicitly say they won’t “link”.
Confused? I’ve created summaries in pdf and ppt which contradict each other. 🙂
@ben – thanks for the reference regarding “tie-breakers” – very helpful.
I am the first to acknowledge that I find this process confusing and that their appears to be inconsistency between the many documents/presentations that have circulated over the past 6 months (the latest of which is the boundary plan.)
My information regarding a prioritization of native/heritage speakers is found via earlier Wallyhood post http://www.wallyhood.org/2013/06/john-stanford-option-school/
In that post, the author writes:
In other words, the proposal is that JSIS and McDonald become “option schools”: children from all of the city become eligible to attend the school. A certain number of spots would be designated for native or heritage speakers of Spanish and Japanese, and then the remaining spots would be distributed by lottery, but with preference going to siblings of existing students (which has intrinsic benefits to the efficacy of language immersion programs), and students who live within a geographic zone surrounding the school.
My interpretation of “designated spots for native or heritage speakers of Spanish and Japanese” is that they will have first preference – as desks will be saved for them.
I am reconciled to the fact that this is a dynamic (read… … confusing) process and that the final decisions will not be decided until November. Personally, I am pleased that the school district is taking steps to plan for capacity in an integrated, District-wide fashion. Unfortunately, I think there will be major disruption over the coming three years.
So if a person lived at say, 42nd and 2nd, would they be assuredly in the alleged geo zone? And what other criteria (aside from native speakers) would be considered when choosing students?
How about if I moved my family into a double-wide trailer, under the I-5 right next to JSIS? Does anyone know if I would for sure, be in the geo-zone? Would I need a street address? Where would squatters rank in the tie-breaker?
Chris,
There is plenty of room for a family in that cave that’s hollowed out of the clay at the topmost slope of the north supports. I think cave-dwelling could be considered immersive curriculum in and of itself.
Perfect! Now if I can just get our mail delivered there, it should work. 🙂 btw: I think you’re on to something with outdoor immersion. Sure to be the next wave of this trend in the Pac NW.
@Ben
Regarding creating a pathway for native/heritage speakers – the slide show on the growth boundary site mentions that they will “Explore ways to increase assignments for speakers of target languages through tiebreakers or other assignment strategies” (slide 19). Thus, though they haven’t added language to the tiebreaker at this point (and they may never do so)…it is something that they are considering.
Oh gosh, Maybe Moving, it doesn’t seem like a good idea the way the boundaries keep changing and the way the District keeps changing in general. If foreign language immersion is super-important to you and you want to be guaranteed a spot, I would look for a private foreign language immersion school instead. (Such a thing exists, right? Because if it doesn’t, somebody should found one, like, now. Chaaa-ching!)
LOL, Chris! Get ready for a tent city of JSIS hopefuls….
I’m confused by point 2) All kids living east of Stone Way and not within the JSIS/McDonald geozones would attend Green Lake Elementary.
Does this mean that children closer to both McDonald and JSIS will have to go FURTHER north to get to Greenlake? That doesn’t make sense at all. Also, on the map these boundaries are not apparent – what is the zone that qualifies as “east” but not in the McD and JSIS zones?
@wallyneighbor – the JSIS zone is not yet established, but is anticipated to be small. I expect it will extend west to about Sunnyside and North to 45th.
All houses West of Sunnyside to Stoneway AND south of 45th will be outside of the JSIS and McDonald geo-zones. These houses will be assigned to Greenlake Elementary. For most house in this area, that distance will be between 2-2.5 miles.
Chris,
You don’t need mail delivery — homeless enrollment at your school of choice allows not having a permanent address.
The funniest part is is imagining how long the district will take to resolve your disputed attendance! Fully considered that cave when my kids decided they wanted to learn Japanese, but we got lucky and found an RV, in unzoned parking, in the current geozone!! 😉
This sounds like a solid plan. I’m concerned about overcrowding at Green Lake Elementary but it’s closer, and currently a better school, than BF Day. I hope this plan passes and becomes law for the next 3-5 years.
All that being said, what Wallingford needs is an actual neighborhood elementary school again. Enough with shipping our kids to Fremont or Green Lake or Timbuktu.
Maybe take “Wallingford Center” back – the district still owns it? – and restore it to its original function. Round up some period classroom desks, black chalkboards and stuff and have a “back to basics” focus program.
If we could get a new school on Stone that would also prevent the pot industry from moving in. I hope I haven’t unleashed the wrath of pro-pot proponents now. I’m okay with pot legalization but I don’t want it in my backyard.
*Stoned Way
(Fixed that for you)
SPS had a community meeting today which was not too informative but they did distribute a handout that cleared up the Middle school question. As option schools JSIS and McDonald will continue to feed into Hamilton.
Also lots of comments asking for spaces for native speakers
These public school boundary gerrymanders are infuriating. I’ve lived at the same address for 6 years and have been in 3 different elementary school boundaries during that time. For some reason, my little section of Wallingford, east of stone way, is in BF Day now. This uncertainty undoes the neighborhood feel tremendously.
It is bizarre isn’t it Carrie? They talk about how they wanted to minimize disruption by maintaining the boundaries for 80% of their schools. But then the region that has been most disrupted – one of the only ones they changed 2 years ago – is now being disrupted again. If you are now in BF Day, I suspect you are in the small area that was JSIS-McDonald-BFDay. There is an even larger area of Wallingford that is JSIS-BFDay-Green Lake. It is really bizarre to me that they drew people out of BF Day and into Green Lake but then drew new people into BF Day.