If you have a child at Chief Sealth International High School, you might hear of an extra security measure principal Chris Kinsey decided to take this week = closing the campus (which mostly means no students leaving to have lunch or take breaks off-campus). We heard about an announcement made this morning, and asked Seattle Public Schools‘ communications team if it was a districtwide decision or just Sealth. SPS spokesperson Teresa Wippel replied that “in light of last Friday’s [Connecticut] tragedy, [Sealth’s principal] has decided to close the campus as a precautionary measure designed to keep everyone safe and accounted for this week. It will only last until this Friday and Chief Sealth will return to the school’s regular routines when school resumes in January. Students are strongly discouraged from leaving campus during school hours, including lunches, and the cafeteria staff is ready to serve all students this week.”

Seattle Public Schools‘ Lesley Rogers asked us to mention this: Sanislo Elementary‘s phone system is having trouble right now with receiving incoming calls from outside the district system, but outgoing calls and incoming district calls are working fine. They hope to have the problem fixed soon.

A news release just in from Seattle Public Schools reports that the School Board elected new officers tonight – with a bit of a fight over the presidency. According to the news release, Kay Smith-Blum was elected the new board president in a 4-3 vote – her backers were West Seattle’s board rep Marty McLaren as well as Sharon Peaslee (who, like McLaren, defeated an incumbent to win election to the board last year) and Betty Patu. The three who voted against Smith-Blum had supported Sherry Carr for president instead – outgoing president Michael DeBell, Harium Martin-Morris, and Carr herself. Also elected tonight, this time unanimously, were Patu as vice president and Peaslee as executive committee member-at-large.

Congratulations to the West Seattle High School ProStart students for their star turn at this past Saturday’s annual CookieFest – here’s how the school announced their achievement (sharing photos too):

For the second year in a row, the West Seattle High School ProStart students have amazed crowds at the Seattle Macy’s annual CookieFest celebration. In this event, consumers pay a set fee for a cookie box, and then the “mad” dash begins to get their choice dozen cookies from the banquet room full of cookie vendors.

ProStart was selected as one of only three schools in Washington to participate in this event alongside numerous bakeries around the Seattle area. Not only do the proceeds for CookieFest support the Seattle Milk Fund, but the event also gives our students the opportunity to work next to prestigious bakeries in a catering role, work toward planning and creating beautiful and consistent bakery products, and earn well-deserved community service hours.

The West Seattle High School students chose the theme this year as “Mad Hatter Holiday Tea Party.”

Thank you to those of you who supported our students as well as the Seattle Milk Fund. We hope to participate again next year!

School auctions happen often – a necessity these days, to help pay for needs large and small that aren’t handled by regular budgets. Most of the time they are organized by groups such as PTSAs – but the most recent school auction in West Seattle was in large part a teacher and student production. Thursday night in the Chief Sealth International High School Galleria, the Sealth Academy of Business hosted a fundraising auction, led by Sealth teacher DeAira Handugan. We first heard about it earlier this fall from student Tia Collins:

She had explained via e-mail, “The Academy is a series of specialized classes that aim to teach students about real-world circumstances such as finances and marketing. These classes also offer the aid of scholarships, internships, and free college classes to the students who wish to further their education, and get experience outside of the classroom.” Business is the umbrella for two Academies at Sealth – Finance and Hospitality/Tourism. Students sold tickets and served a dinner menu featuring Chicken Milano and Caesar Salad – prepared on campus. The centerpieces were student-created:

The students also had to round up donations for the silent auction – with proceeds going toward the Academy of Business class trip to New York. In addition to a variety of auction items, they had a dessert auction too:

The Academies at Chief Sealth largely involve classes taken in junior/senior years, along with internships, to provide skills to help with career pathways and other goals. This year’s courses are listed in the school catalog online.

Gatewood Elementary‘s latest successful Penny Harvest wasn’t just a collection – it was a lesson. Teacher Darren Radu shares the photo and report:

One of our guiding questions for Gatewood students is “How can we have a positive effect on the systems in our world?”. Keeping this question in mind, students jumped at the chance to continue the Penny Harvest, and worked hard to bring in as many coins as possible; this year it’s close to 300 pounds of pennies (and other coins). We’ll be sending the bags of coins to the local Penny Harvest offices next week.

In early 2013, we will again convene a Philanthropy Roundtable, where students from each grade will research organizations working for justice in the community, country, and world, and determine which organizations are most worthy of support. The Philanthropy Roundtable will then allocate grant funds from the pennies raised to these organizations. One of the Roundtable’s most important criteria is ‘leverage per dollar’ – the Philanthropists research and allocate funds to most effectively make a positive difference in the world. In the past three years, Gatewood students have awarded Penny Harvest grants totaling $3000 to organizations such as Oxfam Sudan Relief, Page Ahead, Child Haven, PAWS, Nature Consortium, Southwest Boys and Girls Club, and Save the Children Japan. Students weighed the impact of their decisions and made the final decisions on where to send the money.

The attached photo shows some of our many ‘harvesters’ with a few of the 30-pound bags they filled.

You can find out more about the Penny Harvest at commoncents.org/go/penny-harvest

Once again, our ‘Gator Gratitude’ goes out to our Gatewood neighbors, families, and friends, for supporting this worthwhile work!

(Photos courtesy Chief Sealth International High School)
Leadership often means leading by example – and that’s what 21 members of the student government at Chief Sealth International High School did today. They went to the White Center Food Bank to help stock and distribute food.

It served as a team-building activity as well as a gift of time and energy, according to CSIHS’s Sam Reed, who oversees student government as well as other components of student life. And the entire Sealth community, including students’ families, will get the chance to give next week, in a canned-food drive to benefit the West Seattle Food Bank. The announcement explains:

Beginning Monday, December 10th, students and family members can drop off canned and packaged food items at a number of collection stations that will be set up around the school. Items will be collected and sorted by grade level, and the competition will tie in with the fun and school spirit that surrounds spirit week. The winning class will be announced during that Friday’s all-school spirit assembly. To raise the stakes, items will be collected to “protect” that respective grade level’s Class President; because at the assembly the non-winning presidents will receive whipped-cream pie to the face.

Lots of other giving opportunities around West Seattle this season too – we have an ever-growing list on the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide.

Following up on our Wednesday morning report regarding Seattle Public Schools trying to craft a plan for dealing with school crowding before it builds new BEX IV-funded schools (assuming the levy passes), we went to the Wednesday afternoon School Board briefing/work session. Here are the toplines, including district officials saying they especially want to hear from you regarding the most controversial possibilities:

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How might Seattle Public Schools address crowding issues in the two years before BEX IV-funded projects start coming online (assuming voters approve the levy next year)? During a work session (open to the public to observe but not comment) at 4 pm today, the School Board will look at some ideas from district staff. We have a preview, via the slide deck that will be shown to the board – see it here. It details what the district sees as the trouble spots, and lists some “options,” including, for schools in West Seattle:

*Move Highland Park, Schmitz Park, and/or West Seattle Elementaries’ kindergartens to Boren
*Move Schmitz Park 5th graders to Madison Middle School
*Address Denny IMS crowding by adding portables or “reducing choice”
*Address Chief Sealth IHS crowding by adding portables or “reducing available choice seats”
*Other schools are suggested for possible combinations of portables, repurposing prep space as classrooms, etc.

The presentation also notes: “Since BEX IV planning will require boundary changes, boundary changes for 2013-14 are not recommended.” But it does suggest “(adding) West Seattle Elementary attendance area as the GeoZone for K-5 STEM at Boren.”

As we reported on October 19th during this year’s Lafayette Elementary Walk-A-Thon, the fundraising goal was $65,000 – but now the final tally’s in and parent volunteers say it was so successful, it brought in almost a third more than they had hoped – $84,293! With that announcement, they’re publicly thanking their sponsors – click ahead to see the official list:

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Since it’ll take a few years for the BEX IV levy projects to kick in – providing voters approve the measure next February – Seattle Public Schools is working on a “what to do about school crowding BEFORE then” plan. They’ve just announced a community meeting on the topic for one week from tomorrow, December 11th at district HQ in SODO:

Enrollment is growing at Seattle Public Schools, with almost 50,000 students this year. Projections show continued year-to-year increases in enrollment for the next five years, with an enrollment of more than 57,000 students by the 2021-22 school year, if current trends continue.

While the School Board approved a list of projects that would be funded if the Building Excellence (BEX IV) levy is approved by voters in February, tax payments will not start before 2014.

In the meantime, the District is developing a Short Term Capacity Management Plan, which will outline recommended changes to schools to ensure the District has enough seats to meet enrollment next fall. This plan will likely include some minor renovations and could add portable classrooms for next year.

The District invites the public to learn about the latest recommendations at a community meeting from 7-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 11. Attendees will have an opportunity to ask questions. District leadership continues to meet with school communities in each region.

In addition, the Seattle School Board will hold a Work Session Wednesday, Dec. 5 to study both the Short Term Capacity Management Plan and the New Student Assignment Plan (NSAP) Transition Plan for the 2013-14 school year.

Both issues are scheduled to be introduced at the Jan. 9, 2013 School Board meeting, with board action on both short-term capacity management and NSAP Transition Plan scheduled for the Jan. 23, 2013 board meeting.

The district has two webpages you can check for more information on these topics: BEX IV here, Capacity Management here.

It wasn’t just a celebration of reading – but a celebration of books – for West Seattle Elementary School principal Vikki Sacco and students, including (clockwise from left) Cynia, Alejandra, Keyradin, and Layla on Tuesday morning. They welcomed visitors from Book Trust, a nonprofit that WSES has been working with since 2007. Book Trust espouses book ownership, and has helped WSES students choose and own thousands of books in the five years of their partnership. Owning books – having them at home – makes a big difference, Book Trust says, and it’s reaching out in the early years, noting that a child who isn’t reading proficiently by the end of third grade is four times more likely to become a high-school dropout. And not only do they seek to help kids own books, but also to give them a choice of books – as explained here. (Book Trust also accepts donations and volunteer help.)

If your family includes a current 8th grader planning to attend, or considering attending, West Seattle High School, here’s your invitation to an event next week:

West Seattle High School is hosting a Department Fair on December 4th for families with a current 8th grader.

6-6:30 pm: Meet department heads and review course offerings

6:40-7 pm: A 9th-grade panel discusses readiness and support and extracurricular activities

7=7:30 pm: A college and career-prep panel gives an overview of course offerings, AP and Honors classes, and requirements

Find out more on the WSHS website.

School resumes tomorrow for tens of thousands of Seattle Public Schools students after a holiday break of at least 4 days (longer for the younger students whose schools spent the week in parent/teacher-conference mode). Just before the break, more than 20 Madison Middle School students enjoyed a first-of-its-kind high-tech field trip; counselor Lauren Divina shared the photo and report:

On November 20, 2012, 21 Madison MS female 8th graders went to Microsoft as part of the IGNITE [Inspiring Girls Now In Technology Evolution] program.

Students got hands-on experience at Microsoft with the programming language “Small Basic.” Women from high-tech careers at Microsoft helped students learn to code. They also presented about their careers, followed by a Q & A session. Students had a chance to speak with the volunteers directly over lunch, which was provided. The students were accompanied by technology teacher Mr. Rockwell, and school counselor Mrs. Divina. This is the first year that Madison MS has participated in the IGNITE program, which was introduced to the middle school counselors in June 2012.

IGNITE is a Seattle Schools program, created for Seattle Schools in November 1999. Funding is provided by federal Carl Perkins dollars, which is federal funding for non-traditional education for women and minorities. IGNITE now contributes to the funding of IGNITE as well.

The program has been running in all of the 12 Seattle High schools since 2000. We have expanded to middle schools, more each year. After winning the National Best Practice from the National ACTE, Association of Career and Technical Education organization, the Directors of the National ACTE, the National Women’s law Center, and NAPE, National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity, in 2007, many other schools both nationally and internationally created IGNITE programs of their own, using the comprehensive toolkit created by the founder of IGNITE, Cathi Rodgveller M.S. Ed. Cathi has been a teacher and School Counselor for 30 years. She has taught every grade level, and doing IGNITE is her passion.

Seattle Schools now views IGNITE as a Premier program and best practice for educating young women about STEM careers. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) educators from anywhere, both nationally and internationally can contact the founder, Cathi Rodgveller, for information on how to start their own IGNITE group.

Here’s how to reach that organization.