Comments on: How to achieve high-school enrollment equity? WSHS PTSA dives in

By: Marcus Pimpleton

Marcus Pimpleton — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 05:56:03 +0000

Ann -

I would agree with you if Denny and Sealth were not co-located. But it seems to me that with the two schools being as they are, they should be treated in a similar fashion as elementary students attending a K-8. At the end of 5th grade, those kids parents have the option to keep their children at the K-8 they have been at all along. Shouldn’t middle school students attending a co-located middle and high school, some of which have classes on the high school side, have the option of remaining with their cohort?

As far as the risk one takes in choosing a non reference school, that is legitimate but couldn’t the same thing be said of those who choose a non-reference school for middle school? Correct me if I am wrong in my observation but isn’t the reason that students attending Denny are unable to enroll at Sealth that families who opted out of Denny are all of a sudden wanting to come back to the neighborhood for high school? Wouldn’t it be more fair to give folks an option to enter a middle to high school pathway at the beginning of sixth grade and prioritizing those students at the middle school moving along to the high school that is on their path rather than referring back to the elementary boundary and snatching them out of the cohort they have been in for the previous three years?

The problem as I see it is the district’s one size fit all approach to school assignment. The same assignment plan that works for the north end may not work for the south end. The same plan that works for the Central District may not work for West Seattle. Doing what’s best for kids requires more thought than just drawing some arbitrary lines on a map until you get the same number of kids at one school as another. Perhaps the best approach would be to move to an entirely choice based model for West Seattle.

By: StringCheese

StringCheese — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 03:46:33 +0000

I just want to echo what wsmama3 stated. Making Madison and WSHS the STEM pathway solves multiple issues. Allowing the K-5 STEM 5th grade to move to middle school – and HS – as a cohort (rather than based on address) would not only boost enrollment, it would necessitate adding AP math and science courses that would also attract/retain West Seattle families who have been disappointed in the academic offerings in the north end. The Int’l schools have a pathway. APP has a pathway. STEM has always been promised a pathway.
So many birds with such a simple stone…

By: Nwmama

Nwmama — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 20:32:01 +0000

Agree w WSmama and WSParent. Beef up wshs academic offerings for AP etc and more will come. If you check out rankings of Seattle schools, sealth is 3rd after Roosevelt and Garfield. THATs why people want their kids to go there. The teenagers I know in west Seattle go to those three schools (or private). Face it Seattle school board- we have smart kids (and parents) in west Seattle and we need higher offerings for our schools!

By: Ann

Ann — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 19:35:27 +0000

Denny and Sealth are refernce schools right and not choice right?

The priority seats go to reference areas right?

Sealth is already over crowded so no guarantees. Should not be suprises to student’s not in refence area who are able to get into Denny, but not Sealth. It is a risk.

It is almost impossible for elementary student’s outside of the Lafayette and Schmitz Park to attend those schools. So why should it be any different for the south end West Seattle schools?

Redo the boundaries. WSH turned down the IB program, so maybe that should be revisited.

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 15:16:37 +0000

Observer, I already know the map. I would not want AH to go to WS because that would just be stupid. Why does Gatewood even go to WS? Why isn’t West Seattle going to WS?

By: Marcus Pimpleton

Marcus Pimpleton — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 07:04:52 +0000

SWWS – It’s funny that you bring that up. There actually already are a large number of students each year that attend Denny but can’t get into Sealth. It seems like with all the advertised benefits of a co-located campus they could have at least ensured that once at Denny a student would be able to continue on that co-located campus through high school.

By: SWWS

SWWS — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 06:17:58 +0000

They district sold the Denny/Sealth co-location on the premise of an articulated 6-12 pathway. To honor that promise, the Denny and Sealth boundaries match. How unfair would it be to attend Denny right next to Sealth and then get sent across the peninsula for high school? The answer is putting more elementary schools in the Madison area as they are built/created (new school at GH, Fairmont Park) rather than trying to redraw the existing Denny/Sealth boundaries to push students to WSHS.

By: Observer

Observer — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 02:40:17 +0000

Bonnie- Check out the map. WSHS already draws Gatewood Elementary that has boundaries that go all the way to the ferry dock. How much further South should they go?

By: Ann

Ann — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 17:49:12 +0000

FYI…Chris Kinsey, Principal at Chief Sealth was V.P. at Cleveland Highschool and was very involved in the start up of the STEM program there.

By: sw

sw — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:49:57 +0000

Would have been so much better if the line had been drawn at Morgan Street, per the original neighborhood assignment plan. There would have been many more kids assigned to WSHS, and the demographics would have been more balanced for both schools.

By: wsmama3

wsmama3 — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:41:21 +0000

Make WSH have more STEM options and send the STEM cohort (and kids with Singapore Math elementary schools) there. Advanced classes needed!

By: WsEd

WsEd — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 15:58:08 +0000

I love it. A few years ago most people West of 35th ave wouldn’t have crossed east unless they were leaving WS. Now Chief Sealth has new gear and is stacked with students. It’s only a matter of time until the shine fades and people return to business as usual. Also love how the enrollment boundaries are drawn smack dab on top of economic boundaries. Notice how the WS high area follows the view properties.

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:45:10 +0000

I guess this is a stupid question but why can’t one of the Sealth elementary schools just be assigned north?

By: WSparent

WSparent — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 14:32:03 +0000

Solving this problem is not about redrawing the lines. It’s about offering equitable programs. When West Seattle High rejected the IB program (because they didn’t want to adjust the period schedule) and Sealth embraced it, the die was cast. The number of advanced programs at WSHS is tiny compared to the number offered at Sealth, and not just for the kids in IB. Just check out the the course catalogs posted on the school websites to see for yourself. If WSHS started offering more advanced classes,and beefed up the music and language programs, more families would send their kids there. It’s about the offerings, not the district lines.

By: Observer

Observer — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 07:59:22 +0000

It seems funny that Sealth lived in WSHS’s shadow for years, only fully emerging once they moved back to the remodeled building. Sealth’s draw is from a much more economically and racially diverse area of town…and now it seems the show is firmly on the other foot.
Just a few years ago some at Gatewood were clamoring to be included in the WS draw area in a swap that saw WS Elementary sent South. Will WSHS be asking for Arbor Heights next?
Fair choice for WS residents is really what will level the field. Unfortunately, the district does not want to appear weak in any issue involving attendance and school assignment.