As we reported earlier this week, Seattle Public Schools has finally announced what will happen to the Roxhill Elementary building after the school moves to renovated EC Hughes a mile and a half north: It’ll house special-education and alternative-high-school programs. Last night, district reps invited community members to hear details and ask questions. Here are the new details we learned:

(From left, SPS’s Sherri Kokx and Trish Campbell, Interagency Academy principal Kaaren Andrews and assistant principal Melissa Rysemus)

Special Education programs, moving from the “original Van Asselt” campus on Beacon Hill:
-Two sections of BRIDGES, up to 20 students total, up to age 21, learning independent-living and vocational skills. Some are expected to work at local businesses
-Two classes of In Tandem, up to 14 students total. These students are in their “middle years,” according to the district, with “unique social and learning needs.” They are “super strictly supervised (by) highly trained staff.”

High-school program moving from Youngstown Cultural Arts Center:
-This is one of about a dozen locations of the Interagency Academy program around the city. It averages about 50 students but could go as high as 70.

Logistics:
-The Interagency schedule is roughly 9 am-3 pm; the special-education programs vary, but mid-morning is a common arrival time.
-The two groups – special education and high school – will use different entrances and different sections of the building. They’ll share the gym and lunchroom.
-Interagency has a citywide principal; the special-education programs won’t have an on-site principal, but there’ll be a program manager on site and an administrative person in the main office.
-Transportation for the special-education students, from buses to private cars, will arrive on the main entrance (30th SW) side of the school. The high-school students are expected to mostly walk or take Metro.

Other notes:
-Though the Roxhill Elementary name will go with the elementary program to EC Hughes, the signage won’t change at this building.
-The special-ed programs could add classes/sections if the need arises.
-This is a permanent move, not temporary or interim, TFN; Roxhill is not currently on a levy list for rebuild (as we noted during the district’s BEX V planning meeting).

Some of the students will be starting at the Roxhill building sooner rather than later, with summer school, and that’s why some necessary maintenance is being done now, such as painting.