West Seattle, Washington
13 Monday
Wednesday night home games for two local girls-varsity basketball teams:
CHIEF SEALTH VS. FRANKLIN: The Seahawks defeated visiting Franklin, 53-43. Above, Lani Taylor led Sealth scoring with 14; the rest of the stats are here.
WEST SEATTLE HS VS. CLEVELAND: The Wildcats lost at home to another division-leading team, Cleveland, 61-36.
Two WSHS players tied for top scorer, both with 11 points each, Lexi Iaone and Lydia Giomi. The rest of the stats are here.
NEXT GAMES: Sealth hosts Rainier Beach Friday night; girls-varsity tipoff is at 6:15 pm. WSHS will be on the road that night at Ingraham, same start time.
FOOTNOTE: This is truly a footnote – related to the pink shoes WSHS head coach Sonya Elliott was wearing:
As explained in the WSHS online newsletter Westside Weekly, this week the school was participating in Coaches Against Cancer, collecting donations for the American Cancer Society in the stands during basketball games.
Just announced on Twitter – the vote on Seattle Public Schools transportation changes has been pushed back two weeks:
The Seattle School Board will NOT vote tonight on transportation service standards. The vote has been postponed until Feb. 5.
— Seattle Schools (@seapubschools) January 22, 2014
We reported on the proposed changes back on Monday; among other components of the proposal, bus arrival/departure schedules would change at some schools, with major changes at some local schools – Pathfinder K-8 would start almost half an hour earlier; Sanislo, already with a late start time, would see its opening bell close to 10 am. As pointed out by a commenter on our Monday story, the district has a mailbox specifically for comments on the proposed schedule changes: arrivaltimes@seattleschools.org – and now it looks like you have more time to share your thoughts.
Today we welcome a new WSB sponsor, Holy Rosary School, which has two events in the next four days for prospective families. As with all new local sponsors, they get the chance to tell you about themselves:
The steeple of Holy Rosary Church can be seen from many parts of West Seattle, and it serves as a great marker for its school. For the last century, Holy Rosary School has been proud and humbled to serve a vital role in developing the hearts and minds of some of West Seattle’s youth. As we begin our next 100 years, we strive to continue to develop respectful and responsible students who are effective communicators, have a passion for learning, and who have developed a strong spiritual life and commitment to their broader community.
Holy Rosary is a Preschool-8 Catholic school that offers a holistic education, committed to meeting the spiritual academic, social, emotional, and physical needs of the child. We are a faith-based community, integrating Gospel values into all subjects. We are committed to serving the community. Students at every grade level participate in ongoing service projects.
We offer a broad academic curriculum, including:
• Our excellent technology program that continues to expand. In addition to a fully equipped computer lab and Smartboards in every classroom, laptops and iPads are integrated into classroom instruction.
• A strong literacy program, supported by reading specialists; 90% of our student body score ‘proficient’ or ‘advanced’ on standardized reading tests.
• Our math program is aligned with the Common Core Standards and includes advanced math classes for students in grades 5-8.
• A full-time arts program, featuring Spanish, art, music, health & fitness, and library classes, as well as a wide variety of Elective courses for Jr. high students.
Our graduates are highly sought-after by our area’s high schools and go on to serve as active members in the West Seattle community and beyond.
We have an involved, supportive parent community and a strong Parents’ Club that helps coordinate fundraisers, parent-education classes and service learning opportunities. In the last 5 years, efforts from our Christmas Tree lot have raised over $35,000 for West Seattle Helpline, West Seattle Food Bank, and Hickman House.
We are currently accepting Preschool-Grade 8 applications for the 2014-2015 school year, due to the main office by Friday, January 31st, 2014. Learn more about us through our website at www.holyrosaryws.org. Holy Rosary is located in the heart of West Seattle at 4142 42nd Ave SW.
We’d love to share more about our wonderful school and invite you to meet the principal, teachers, and tour the school in person:
–HRS Information Night: Thursday, January 23rd, 7 pm (parents only)
–Open House: Sunday, January 26th, 10:30 am – 1 pm (bring the whole family)
We thank Holy Rosary School for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; see our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
Two home games in the high-school spotlight Tuesday night:
At West Seattle High School, the Wildcats fell to visiting Cleveland, 69-46. Here are the stats via our partners at The Seattle Times; Ruslan Burduzha led the Wildcats’ scoring with 16, with Joe Hey right behind at 15.
And at Chief Sealth International High School – the boys’ varsity final was Franklin 84, Sealth 56.
At right in our photo is Khaleef Griffin, the Seahawks’ top scorer Tuesday night with 25 points. See the stats here.
The same matchups as above will play out tonight for the schools’ girls-basketball teams – Cleveland at WSHS, Franklin at Sealth, 5:45 pm JV, 7:30 pm varsity.
As school resumed after the holiday weekend, something new was being installed at Madison Middle School – the illuminated signboard that had been the subject of a years-long fight. The Madison PTA raised money to get it, but needed a zoning exception because the school has homes on all sides, and zoning didn’t allow this type of sign. The neighbors who will be facing the sign challenged the city ruling allowing that exception, went downtown to argue their case, then ended the fight when the city Hearing Examiner upheld the ruling last September. Claudia Ludwig, one of the neighbors who led the challenge, says it’s a “sad day.” The Hearing Examiner did formalize conditions for the sign’s operation, in hopes that would address some of the neighbors’ concerns; among those conditions, it’s only supposed to be turned on 7 am-7 pm weekdays, 10 am-4 pm weekends/school holidays/breaks.
One more event for tonight in addition to what we’ve already previewed – a topic that could make a difference for thousands of children in the years ahead:
The Madison Middle School PTSA would like to invite the West Seattle Community to join us at our PTSA General Meeting (7 pm tonight) to hear about the Civics for All initiative, which seeks to revitalize civics education in Seattle Public Schools.
Did you know that currently students receive a mere 3 weeks of civics instruction in their entire K-12 education? Sadly, Seattle has plenty of company – 75% of American teens failed the last national civics test. Come hear about what we can all do to turn this around. Read ahead at civicsforall.org
The presentation will be in the library at Madison, which is at 3429 45th SW.
Potentially major changes in school transportation are proceeding somewhat quietly down the road to a vote at this week’s Seattle School Board meeting. A local mom suggested we write about this to increase the chances people know before it’s too late to even try to comment. The proposed changes came out at the last board meeting before Christmas, and are up for a vote this Wednesday (January 22nd). They are summarized on the district website here, including these toplines:
The District is proposing to:
• End yellow bus transportation to option school students who live outside that school’s middle school attendance area
• Eliminate transportation to elementary school students who live outside that school’s attendance area
• Sunset any previous “grandfathering” of transportation that was allowed when the New Student Assignment Plan took effect in 2010 11.
• Standardize all yellow bus arrival times: 7:35 a.m., 8:25 a.m. and 9:15 a.m. Please note these are not start times for schools, but the arrival times for buses. Next fall’s school bell times will be set later this winter.
The district says these changes would save more than $3 million. For full details on the proposed changes, see this district document which color-codes exactly what’s been written into the policy and what’s been taken out. The school-by-school list of next year’s proposed bus arrival and departure times can be seen here; again, as noted above, those are not the same as the bell times; you can compare to the current list of arrival/departure times. In our area, Pathfinder K-8 stands to see the largest schedule change, since it’s one of five K-8s that would be moved to notably earlier arrival times – Pathfinder’s arrival time is proposed as 7:35 am, 25 minutes earlier than it is now.
SOMETHING TO SAY? E-mail schoolboard@seattleschools.org – contact info for West Seattle’s board rep Marty McLaren is on her page. The agenda for Wednesday’s meeting at board HQ in SODO is here.
West Seattle High School‘s basketball teams headed across Puget Sound last night, and the boys- and girls-varsity teams both won. First, this coaching-staff report on the boys’ game:
The West Seattle boys’ basketball team took a trip across the water last night to Bainbridge Island to take on the Spartans.
The Wildcats, coming off a tight contest at O’Dea the night before, played a gutty game in front of a rowdy crowd and knocked off the Bainbridge Spartans, 62-50.
WSHS was led by senior DeAndre Love, who had a game-high 19 points and added 9 rebounds. Ruslan Burduzha added 14 points and 6 rebounds. Joe Hey had 9 points and 7 rebounds.
Freshman point guard Nate Pryor was perhaps the game MVP with 18 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. He controlled the pace of the game and made great decisions down the stretch, helping his team pull out the win. This was a valuable league win for the Wildcats, who next play Cleveland on Tuesday at WSHS; game tips at 7:30 pm.
As for the Wildcat women, they defeated Bainbridge 53-31, according to this report from the Bainbridge Review. They too play Cleveland next, at home, with the games on Wednesday, 5:45 pm JV, 7:30 pm varsity. (P.S. Here’s our coverage of Friday night’s busy basketball slate, including photos/narrative from the WSHS girls’ faceoff with Holy Names.)
Saints support for Seahawks! The group photo followed a mega-event celebrating “J-Term” at Seattle Lutheran High School right before school got out for the three-day weekend. Head of school Dave Meyer was in the spirit:
As explained here, J-Term offered SLHS students a chance to take an intensive two-week course in something not part of the basic curriculum. On Friday, they showed off what they’d been working on, even some tap dancing:
It wasn’t all about performing; another group of students learned about cooking, for example, so they made lunch on Friday. Meyer said the assembly celebrated all the effort put into J-Term, which he hopes will be a new annual tradition at Lutheran. The school, by the way, has an open house coming up for prospective families later this month – 6:30 pm Thursday, January 30th.
(West Seattle’s #21, Gabby Sarver, with 10 points on the night)
For WSB: photos by Patrick Sand, text by Tracy Record
All the local high-school basketball action Friday night was on the road – topped by the marquee game, West Seattle High School‘s girls-varsity faceoff at Holy Names Academy on Capitol Hill, two division-leading teams with big win streaks going as the game began. When it was over, the Wildcats’ streak had been snapped with a 63-48 loss – but that final score didn’t reflect the intensity of the second half, as WSHS went on a comeback tear before falling back.
The Wildcats’ #10 Charli Elliott (photo above), second-leading WSHS scorer of the night with 13 points, got two of them in the first basket of the game. Then the Cougars went on a 10-point run before WSHS managed to score again – with Elliott sinking a foul shot – and they were up 18-5 at the end of the first quarter. WSHS managed to wrangle themselves plenty of shots, but didn’t convert enough of them to keep pace until late in the second quarter, and they went into halftime down 34-18.
“Whole new half!” shouted a member of the spirited Wildcats’ cheering section as the second half tipped off, and once again, Elliott was the first to score, with a basket shortly after the half began.
Seattle Public Schools has just announced that Julie Breidenbach will be principal of Fairmount Park Elementary when it reopens in West Seattle this fall. We reported yesterday that a principal announcement was likely by week’s end, and this letter from superintendent José Banda, to be sent to all elementary families in West Seattle, has just arrived:
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Julie Breidenbach as the new principal of Fairmount Park Elementary School, effective immediately.
To meet the needs of our growing enrollment, Fairmount Park Elementary is scheduled to open for the 2014-15 school year. Ms. Breidenbach will be the planning principal this year and remain principal when the school opens to students. She will begin making the necessary decisions needed for a new school, including hiring teaching team leaders. She will also be connecting with families of students slated to attend Fairmount Park next year. [A note about enrollment: Current students who are in the new school’s boundary can stay at their current school, but will also be able to change to Fairmount Park if they wish. For more enrollment information, visit our Enrollment website.]
Julie Breidenbach transfers to Fairmount Park from Thurgood Marshall Elementary, where she has been principal since 2009. Fairmount Park will have an option APP program, and Ms. Breidenbach is a strong supporter of APP education. She has extensive experience in merging an APP program with a neighborhood school and is sensitive to the social and emotional needs of all students.
She is looking forward to the opportunity to open a school and work with the entire school community to build a school where children with all types of individual and special needs will feel part of an inclusive and supportive community.
A Fairmount Park school website has been established, and Ms. Breidenbach asks that all parents in West Seattle check the school’s website regularly. Meetings will be scheduled to work with families on getting the school ready to open and information on those meetings will be posted.
Ms. Breidenbach earned a Masters of Education from the University of Washington and a Bachelors of Arts in education from Washington State University. She holds a Washington State Administrative Certificate.
Please join me in welcoming Julie Breidenbach to Fairmount Park Elementary!
Information-night dates for Fairmount Park, to be held at Alki since the school is still undergoing expansion/renovation work, are in our Thursday story.
Seven years after Seattle Public Schools closed Fairmount Park Elementary, it reopens this fall, after renovations and expansion work that’s still under way. We’ve learned that a principal has been hired and an announcement is expected soon – likely before the week is over. And there’s a schedule of events for families interested in and/or likely to attend, starting in just a few weeks. From the SPS website:
Parent Information Nights
These meetings will be held in Alki Elementary in the cafeteria: 3010 59th Ave SW
These informational meetings will be conducted by the principal and the later three dates will include teachers hired for the 2014-2015 school year
These events could be crowded so we ask that only adults attend unless you have child-care issues and need to bring your child(ren) along. Meetings will run from 6:00-8:00 p.m. on the following dates:
Thursday, Feb 6th (new date)
Wednesday, Feb 12th
Tuesday, Feb 25th
Wednesday, Feb 26th (new date)
Tuesday, March 4th
Here’s the attendance-area map with which Fairmount Park will start when it opens this fall.
You might call this a sort of lost-and-found notice – West Seattle High School‘s music program has lost some sheet music over the years, and hopes you have found it, and can return it! The announcement:
Did you ever play an instrument or sing in a school group at West Seattle High? Do you still have sheet music or music books that were taken home for practice, but never made it back? If so, the WSHS Music Department would LOVE to get these items back! (You will owe no fines and can remain anonymous if you wish.)
WSHS has an extensive music collection dating back to the school’s opening over 100 years ago, but many pieces are unusable because of missing parts. In many cases, replacement parts are either no longer in print or are expensive. Sometimes, it would take only a single returned part to make a piece playable again!
You may return your sheet music and books in one of the following ways:
— By mailing them to Mr. Ethan Thomas, Music Department, West Seattle High School, 3000 California Ave. SW, Seattle, WA 98116
— By taking them to the special box in the West Seattle High School library. (Please enter the building through the west courtyard.) Current students may take the music directly to the band room.
— By dropping them off with one of our volunteer music sorters, Toni Reineke. Email tonireineke@comcast.net to get info on location.
If you have questions, please email Mr. Thomas at etthomas1@seattleschools.org or leave a message for him at 206-252-8800.
P.S. If you or your friends or family have music that belongs to other West Seattle schools (e.g., Sealth, Madison, Denny) and want to deliver it to us, we’ll ensure that it is reunited with the appropriate school.
P.S.S. Do you have a used instrument gathering dust? WSHS also welcomes instrument donations!
The West Seattle High School varsity girls are on a roll, to say the least, with eight wins in a row. At home, they more than tripled the score of visiting Rainier Beach on Wednesday night, 63-18. As you’ll see in the stats, Lexi Ioane (top photo, #30) led the scoring with 20 points; Lydia Giomi was next up at 15 – she’s #12 in the next photo, with #10 Charli Elliott, third in scoring at 10 points:
#4 Maggie Cooper bringing the ball downcourt:
#21 Gabby Sarver:
Big challenge ahead for head coach Sonya Elliott‘s team on Friday, as they visit Holy Names, which has a 9-game winning streak going and beat Chief Sealth on Wednesday night, 72-29..
Big night of basketball at the Seattle Lutheran High School gym:
Bear Creek visited to face the Saints. The girls played first; while the game was tied at the half, 13-all, Bear Creek pulled away and picked up the victory, 42-29. But the night included a special celebration for their coach, Bruce Carlson:
Earlier this month, he got his 500th win with the Saints, in their January 7th win over Shoreline Christian. And then he notched number 501, versus Concrete. His day job is at Menashe and Sons Jewelers (WSB sponsor) but he’s been on the coaching staff since the early ’80s – almost but not quite dating back to the school’s opening.
The night was wrapped up by the Lutheran boys’ varsity game
Bear Creek won that one too, 76-52. Top scorer for the Saints was Abijah Smith, with 23. Next up – Mt. Rainier Lutheran visits SLHS to play the boys at 1 pm Saturday, while the girls are on the road that day vs. Auburn Adventist.
Family Literacy Night tonight at Roxhill Elementary, and it was about more than books – it was also about reading, and how to make it more fun and inviting. What you see above are examples of what you can use to make a comfy place to read to and with children – blankets, stuffed animals, etc., made available tonight to Roxhill scholars and their families.
Among the families at the school tonight – dad Adolfo, mom Regna, third-grader José and kindergartener Francisco with, at right, Roxhill fifth-grade teacher Christopher Robert. The night’s lineup for all included a pizza dinner and a literacy skit, with visits to “literacy stations” inbetween. At one of them, families were presented with the books that, as Robert explained, are part of the Seattle Public Library collaboration with Roxhill and Sanislo. Roxhill is between librarians, so two teachers presented the books along with Nathalie Wargo, children’s librarian from High Point Branch Library.
Before looking ahead to this week’s sports schedules for local high schools, weekend notes: The weekend began with Chief Sealth International High School winning a swim meet vs. – Trisha Montemayor shared the results: “Chief Sealth beat Eastside Catholic 161 to 132, with the boys winning easily 87-60 and the girls pulling out a win by 2 points, 74-72.” The team scores are here; individual results, here.
In Friday basketball, the West Seattle High School girls-varsity team had its second win of the week, WSHS 66, Franklin 34, and the Seattle Lutheran High School girls lost to Crosspoint Academy, 44-36. Friday’s boys-varsity basketball scores were SLHS 67, Crosspoint 60; Nathan Hale 69, Chief Sealth 54; and Franklin 71, West Seattle 38.
For the week ahead:
*The Chief Sealth International High School sports schedule is listed on the school’s Metro League page; competition at home includes a wrestling match tonight against Ingraham, boys’ basketball vs. O’Dea Tuesday night, girls’ basketball vs. Holy Names on Wednesday night; on Friday, it’s varsity swimming vs. Cleveland on Friday (Southwest Pool) and girls-varsity gymnastics vs. Ingraham and Nathan Hale.
*The Seattle Lutheran High School sports schedule is listed day by day on the school calendar here. This week’s home games are on Wednesday – girls’ and boys’ basketball vs. The Bear Creek School.
*The West Seattle High School sports schedule is listed in full in the school’s online newsletter Westside Weekly (see this week’s WSHS WW here). Home games include boys’ basketball vs. Rainier Beach on Tuesday night, girls basketball vs. RB on Wednesday night, and boys C/frosh team vs. Kennedy next Saturday afternoon.
For the first time ever, South Seattle Community College (WSB sponsor) is sending a team to the national Aerospace Maintenance Competition,coming up in Las Vegas this March. The team’s members are all women, points out CrystalRose Hudelson, who thinks it’s particularly exciting as interest in STEM studies and professions grows among women and girls:
Hudelson spoke with us at the team’s first meeting on Thursday. She is vice president and founder of the SSCC chapter of the Association for Women in Aviation Maintenance; her teammates are Jennifer Lesher, Melissa Wang, Sarah McKenna, and Agnes Choung, and their coach is SSCC instructor Mary Hadley – Hudelson says they’re all donating their time and energy to make this happen. The school’s two-year Aviation Maintenance Technology program has more than a half-century of history – read about it here – and it’s hoped this will attract more female students, who currently comprise four percent of the project’s 200+ enrollment.
The Vegas competition, by the way, isn’t just for students – it includes professional categories too, and features 16 scheduled events, each allotting up to 20 minutes for completion. We’ll check back with the SSCC team as the competition draws closer!
Close one last night for West Seattle High School, whose athletics staff shares this summary:
The West Seattle HS boys basketball team traveled across town to play Seattle Prep, the #10-ranked team in the state, on Tuesday night.
The Wildcats played hard throughout the game and were prime for the upset on the road, but a few late turnovers cost them the game, falling 60-56.
The Wildcats took the lead in the early stages of the fourth quarter and held that lead until the five-minute mark, but empty possessions let Prep jump ahead for good.
WSHS senior DeAndre Love was game-high scorer with 30 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds and added 5 blocks. Freshman point guard Nate Pryor and sophomore guards Andre Moore and Carter Golgart also played well for the Wildcats.
WSHS travels to Franklin on Friday to play the Quakers in a grudge match after WSHS beat the then-#4 -ranked Franklin team a year ago. Varsity tips Friday at 8 pm.
The WSHS girls face Prep tonight.
As reported here very early today, another local student has reported encountering a “flasher.” Her mother e-mailed us late last night, reporting that it happened while her daughter was walking from Denny International Middle School on Monday afternoon when it happened a few blocks west. Denny principal Jeff Clark just shared this letter he and adjoining Chief Sealth International Middle School principal Aida Fraser-Hammer are sending to families:
January 7, 2014
Dear Denny International Middle School and Chief Sealth International High School Students and Families,
We are writing with an important safety update regarding walking to and from school.
An incident occurred yesterday, Monday, January 6: A Denny student was walking home between the times of 2:30 and 2:45 PM when a man in a car exposed himself to her. This lewd incident occurred near the intersection of 30th Avenue Southwest and Kenyon.
Our student did a great job by running away and calling her mother, who quickly informed the police, who are now actively investigating the incident. Today, Seattle Public Schools security staff will be in that same area after school during both Denny and Sealth dismissal times.
We would like to encourage all of our families to discuss personal safety walking to and from school with your child. Notifying parents, school staff, and the police right away is very important and is very much appreciated any time anything of concern happens. We are all here to help with whatever the situation might be. Thank you for all that you do in support of our students.
Sincerely,
Jeff Clark, Denny International Middle School Principal
Aida Fraser-Hammer, Chief Sealth International School Principal
So far, as noted in our first story, there is no description of the man.
Current or future preschooler(s) in the house? One week from tonight, you’re invited to the fifth annual West Seattle Preschool Fair, announced by WS Preschool Association president Renee Metty:
The 5th Annual Preschool Fair hosted by the West Seattle Preschool Association is planned for Monday, January 13th, from 5:30-7:30 pm, at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, 3050 California SW.
For families visiting the fair, admission is free and children are welcome. There is an elevator to accommodate strollers. Please check our website frequently as information will be added as we receive it and (added) schools attending will be listed.
For schools still interested in participating, we have a couple spots still available; Please call 206-923-2683 or e-mail info@westseattlepreschoolassociation.com.
The participant list so far numbers more than 15 preschools, including WSB sponsors Westside School and West Seattle Montessori School.
Greeting Madison Middle School students returning today after the two-week holiday break – luminarias! Thanks to Al for sharing the photo. (Last time we featured a luminarias-at-Madison photo, it was BEFORE the break, two years ago.)
(Photo by Luke Garlock)
Two students from Chief Sealth International High School were among students from around the city honored at a Seattle Center ceremony today, according to Sealth PTSA president Ted Reed:
Every year, Chief Sealth participates in the national Reflections Program, a National PTA and WSPTA cultural arts competition.
The purpose is to provide an opportunity for students to use their creative talents by expressing themselves through their own original works.
Believe, Dream, Inspire, is the 2013-14 Reflections program theme.
Nine students from CSIHS submitted photographs and for the first time ever, a Sealth student has advanced to the state level of competition.
Congratulations to Lucas Garlock for placing as a finalist with ‘Geographic Girl.’ (top photo)
Also: Allison Steele has been recognized with an honorable mention for her photograph, ‘Reflecting on Reflections.’ (below)
Congrats to Lucas, Allison, and all the students who participated.
Heartfelt thanks to Sarah Martin, Art/CTE Teacher and Lori Douglas, Dean of Students, for promoting and advocating for our students.
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