School reports for Seattle Public Schools are released every year in December for the prior year. People focus on kids meeting standards, but that’s really just a reflection of demographics plus how much the school is focused on drilling kids just below standard on their test taking skills.

A good school works to meet every student where they’re at and puts them on learning tracks to succeed in life, it doesn’t treat every student as a widget to be stamped out as “meeting standard”. Worse still, schools with a high level of need can get stuck with a sub par …

Bette wants to thank Wallingford for helping out through the Caroling Party fundraiser:

The response to the Caroling Party fundraiser for Patty and Joe of the Holiday House was an astounding success! As of Christmas Eve, we have raised $2855.26. (The 26 cents was from a toddler who asked her Mommy it she could give her own money too.) I got a cashiers check made out to Patty for the amount raised so far and wrapped it inside the beautiful book of photos assembled by neighbor, Helen. A representative group of neighbors, children and dogs delivered the gift from a …

In kid sports there’s no tangible benefit to winning and no technical skills that will lead to a paycheck some day, so how much should a kid push themselves to practice and focus? Are kid sports about having fun and getting outside, or are they about teaching grit and how to win as a team?

Coach Convery of the Woodland Panthers offers his thoughts and describes how their season wrapped up in the Washington State Rec Cup:

As the head coach of the U-14 boys Panthers, I wanted to write up some end of the season thoughts about youth soccer …

As Interconnection is to computers, Ballard Reuse is to houses. Some items from the Bittman Estate are available there now, including a Murphy Bed and doors (pictured below).

James Taylor of Ballard Reuse says that the historic estate itself is being well cared for- this is not a gutting or tear down situation, just a few items that didn’t fit in the house anymore as it is being cleaned up with modern electrical and plumbing.

Ballard Reuse is closed until after Christmas, but if you’re interested then pop over on the 26th. The items are in a separate area of …

A new development is popping up in Lower Wallingford, replacing 2 bungalows with 7 town homes. The bungalows there now look great and it is too bad they will be demolished:

This will be the new view of the site:

Getting building materials for the project will be simple, the location is 1 block from Dunn Lumber:

All the new units include parking and roof top decks- looks like standard modern box architecture. Unfortunately, some of the 7 town homes don’t face the street or have front yards. It is good that the large tree on the property will be …

Wine World is currently closed and is stating that it’s a temporary liquor license issue due to ownership transfer paperwork complications, but there are fiscal complications on top of that. Being closed at Christmas will of course not help.

Not only has there been trouble keeping the shelves stocked lately, but they’ve gone on record looking to sublet part of their space. I reached out to Brian Smith of the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board to get details on the license issue, who writes:

Wine World and Spirits, LLC applied for an application to assume a spirits retailer license …

As seen by Eric Matza on Woodlawn off 45th:

Soon to be replaced by:

For project details, see here. For prior coverage, see here.…