West Seattle, Washington
25 Thursday
(Photo by WSB’s Patrick Sand)
Chief Sealth International High School‘s Cinco de Mayo assembly this morning included a high-profile guest: At right, that’s Washington Supreme Court Justice Steven González (with Seattle Police Officer Adrian Z. Diaz). Marta Sanchez in the Sealth office has known Justice González for years and arranged for him to speak at today’s assembly. He joined the state Supreme Court earlier this year, previously serving in King County Superior Court, where, just weeks before his move, we covered then-Judge González presiding over sentencing in a high-profile West Seattle case, that of “prolific burglar” John Novotny.
It’s spring musical season at West Seattle High School, and the WSHS Drama Club and Music Department invite you to come see “Bye Bye Birdie,” opening May 10th for six performances – 7:30 pm that night plus May 11th, 16th, 17th, 18th, and an 8 pm event on May 12th including a pre-func that’s a special benefit for the arts programs at Westside. The synopsis:
‘Bye Bye Birdie’ is one of the most captivating musical shows of our time. It is a satire done with the fondest affection, and tells the story of a rock and roll singer who is about to be inducted into the army. An English Teacher, What Did I Ever See in Him?, Put on a Happy Face, One Boy, A Lot of Livin’ to Do, Kids, Rosie and Spanish Rose are musical theatre classics. This is the tops in imagination and good old-fashioned fun.
For the five regular performances, tickets are $7 with a reservation (call 206-252-8834 or e-mail reservations@westsidedrama.com), $12/door. For the May 12th benefit – which includes a pre-show arts display, appetizers, and beverages at the St. John’s church hall next door – it’s $25 in advance, and no guarantee of space at the door, so get the specifics here.
Coming up this Saturday (May 5th), you’re invited to the Seattle Lutheran High School Football Team Fundraising Dinner for the 2012 season, 5 pm at the SLHS Gym (41st and Genesee). Per the announcement we received: “Guest speakers are both former UW Husky players: Nesby Glasgow, who also played for the Seahawks, and Deacon Demetrius Deke Devers. Emcee and hostess for the evening is Sonya Doswell. Bring a friend or two and enjoy an evening of fellowship and food while supporting the Seattle Lutheran High School Saints.” You can buy your ticket online – here’s the link.
According to a news release just in from Seattle Public Schools, another finalist has withdrawn from the superintendent search – Dr. Sandra Husk of Salem – which leaves José Banda of Anaheim (photo right). The School Board will vote on Wednesday, and, according to the news release, asked its president Michael DeBell to call Banda last night (UPDATED 11:02 AM after the news release, with more context on the 2 withdrawals; also UPDATED 11:13 AM with district clarification that the Banda decision was made before the Husk withdrawal)Read More
Our partners at The Seattle Times report that one of the three finalists for Seattle Public Schools superintendent, Steven Enoch, has dropped out. 
He was the only one who’d worked in our state previously. That leaves José Banda of Anaheim (left) and Dr. Sandra Husk of Salem (right). The Times reports that the School Board is scheduled to meet tonight to discuss them; their next open public meeting is Wednesday. (And if you’d like to talk with West Seattle’s board member Marty McLaren about this or another issue, she’s having her next community-conversation meeting at 1:15 pm today at the Admiral library branch.)
ADDED 2:11 PM: The district has sent out an official media advisory announcing that Enoch dropped out.
Steven Enoch, one of three finalists for Seattle Public Schools Superintendent, announced on Saturday night that he is withdrawing his candidacy.
A statement from School Board President Michael DeBell: “We enjoyed getting to know all three of our finalists last week and we are disappointed to learn that Mr. Enoch has withdrawn his candidacy. I want to thank Mr. Enoch for his interest in Seattle Public Schools and his commitment to public education. We know this is a two-way process and we want to find a leader who is a good fit for Seattle, and who believes Seattle is a good fit for them.”
The Seattle School Board meets tonight in closed session to continue discussions. For more information on the search process, please visit bit.ly/SuperintendentSearchSite.
The district included the full text of Enoch’s withdrawal e-mail – read on:Read More
Thanks to Jennifer Hall for sharing photos of West Seattle High School‘s YMCA Earth Service Corps club (and friends) taking advantage of the Saturday sunshine to get their new raingarden going.
You might remember the boost the project got last month — it won a $1,000 grant from Sustainable West Seattle for rounding up a crowd to learn about fighting the Tox-Ick Monster.
Jazz musicians from Chief Sealth International High School are in the Birthplace of Jazz this weekend, on the road and on a roll, according to this update from their director Marcus Pimpleton:
Congratulations are in order for the students of the Chief Sealth International Jazz Ensemble I on their outstanding performance at the Worldstrides Heritage Jazz Festival in New Orleans, LA this afternoon.
The jazz ensemble received a rating of gold and trumpet player Cameron Nakatani received a Maestro Award for outstanding solo from the three-judge panel that included professors from Arizona State University, Tulane, and Loyola. The students are on the second day of a five-day trip. Tomorrow will include a Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues, followed by a full day at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. On Monday, the students will receive a clinic from the jazz-studies professor at Loyola University before heading home Tuesday night.
(Visiting teachers with Explorer West Head of School Evan Hundley, right)
You’ve heard of exchange students – how about exchange teachers? More than a dozen of them from the other side of the Pacific have just visited Explorer West Middle School (WSB sponsor), and Amy French shared photos along with this report:
Earlier this week, Explorer West Middle School hosted 14 Japanese teachers for an unique, educational exchange opportunity as part of the The Japan-U.S. Teacher Exchange Program for Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The visiting teachers participated in small-group discussions with Explorer West students and faculty about topics of sustainability and how it is taught at Explorer West.
They also learned about the school’s Outdoor Education Program. For more information about this teacher exchange program, visit www.iie.org/Programs/ESD. To learn more about Explorer West’s Sustainability Program, visit explorer-west.org/sustainability.
Thanks to Luckie for the photo and report:
Today Lafayette Elementary second-grade teacher Dano Beal led a workshop for educators at the Washington State Theatre in Our Schools conference at ACT Theatre, presented by the American Alliance for Theatre and Education. Dano gave an example of how to incorporate theater into teaching history, using creative theater games and techniques.
Several weeks ago, each student in his class was assigned the identity of an actual passenger on the Titanic. After researching the person, each student then created a character based on the historical figure and wrote and performed a first-person monologue describing their character’s connection to and experiences aboard the Titanic. To help demonstrate the assignment for the conference participants, students (l-r) Cashen Tomlinson, Claire Ellerbrook, Tennessee Herrin, and Cosmo Davis performed their classroom monologues onstage at ACT.
A bit delayed because we didn’t find the district-posted video clip till tonight, here’s the third of three Seattle Public Schools superintendent candidates who visited this week, Dr. Sandra Husk from Salem, Oregon. The video is from one of her three sessions with small groups of reporters. Here’s the Seattle Times (WSB partner) report on her interviews; here’s how Seattle Schools Community Forum covered her appearance. Our previous reports with the same three sources: José Banda here, Steven Enoch here. Send your thoughts to schoolboard@seattleschools.org. Also note that West Seattle’s board rep Marty McLaren has a community-conversation meeting this Sunday, 1:15-3 pm, at the West Seattle (Admiral) library branch.
(WSB video of the game’s first half, starting with player introductions; clip #2 here, conclusion here)
As noted here in recent weeks, the Chief Sealth International High School boys-varsity soccer team is having an outstanding year, currently ranked #4 in the state. Tonight, the #2 team, Bainbridge Island, crossed the Sound to visit Sealth, and the result was the Seahawks’ first loss of the year, 6-2. Sizable crowd for the evening game at Southwest Athletic Complex, and somebody even brought a vuvuzela!
Next week, Denny International Middle School students have a round of testing called the Measurement of Student Progress. To spur them to success – besides all the traditional methods – the Denny faculty, with the help of volunteer filmmaker Will Braden, has made another in their series of what principal Jeff Clark calls “inspirational videos.” This one is “MSP in the Morning,” a take-off on T-Pain‘s “5 O’Clock.” The original Denny video hit was “Teach Me How to Study” (51,700+ views on YouTube!), featured on WSB (and even on KING 5!) back in winter 2011, followed in May 2011 by “The Test Goes On” (which like the new video preceded the MSP). Denny’s principal explains about “MSP in the Morning,” “We know our scholars are brilliant and college-bound—staff made this video to motivate, entertain, and connect with them. A special thank you to Denny teacher Gary Lai, and Will Braden, our volunteer producer!”
Three notes this afternoon for those interested (or already enrolled!) in Seattle Public Schools‘ new K-5 STEM at Boren, opening in West Seattle this fall:
PLAYDATE THIS SUNDAY: Families of some of the 229 students already assigned to the new school are gathering this Sunday, and those who haven’t made up their minds are invited too. Here’s the announcement we received:
If you have a child attending the new K-5 Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) School, or are on the fence, please join the new STEM community for the first playdate this Sunday at noon! It’s a great opportunity for the kids and parents to get to know each other. We are taking the first steps towards organizing a PTA/PTO and need active participation to making the important initial decisions!
We will meet at the Fauntleroy Children’s Center‘s playground behind the Fauntleroy Schoolhouse (thank you FCC for supporting our new school!).
Also, join the online discussions and share information through the community Yahoo! group:
groups.yahoo.com/group/K5STEM/It’s not too late to apply! The district has indicated that they will add classes if they have enough additional applicants to fill them – Be the change you want to see in public education and take advantage of this unique opportunity to create the dream! (Here’s the link.)
DESIGN TEAM UPDATE: The district continues to post notes from the ongoing K-5 STEM at Boren Design Team meetings, and the report on this past Wednesday’s meeting is here; the report mentions “handouts,” regarding the curriculum discussion the team is having, and those can be seen here. The Design Team’s next meeting is at 6:15 pm May 10th at Madison Middle School.
ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT LEAVING: While not directly about the K-5 STEM at Boren school, it’s the project in which West Seattleites had seen the most of assistant superintendent for teaching and learning Dr. Cathy Thompson lately, so we’re mentioning here that she announced today she’s leaving the district. Dr. Thompson is a West Seattleite, with her district background including time as principal at Roxhill Elementary, and she had been a very visible figure at early public meetings regarding the new K-5 STEM school, as well as ongoing involvement. Click ahead to read Dr. Thompson’s announcement:Read More
According to the Denny International Middle School website, this day started with a Book Fair, and wrapped up with a Science Fair. The photo is from Denny principal Jeff Clark, who reports:
We had amazing projects and a great turn-out at the Denny International Middle School Science Fair tonight. Congratulations, Dolphins! Thank you to our terrific science teachers and volunteers!
Steven Enoch is the second of the three finalists for Seattle Public Schools superintendent to visit this week; above is the unedited SPS video of one of his three 15-minute (approximately) group media interviews. Enoch is from San Ramon, California. Interview reports: Seattle Times (WSB sponsor) reporter Brian M. Rosenthal, here; Seattle Schools Community Forum writer Melissa Westbrook, here. The Times’ profile of Enoch is here. Today, this phase of the process wraps up with the third finalist, Dr. Sandra Husk, from Salem, Oregon; here’s our Wednesday story with video and links from finalist José Banda’s interview day. To tell the School Board what you think about any of the candidates, e-mail schoolboard@seattleschools.org.
That half-minute video clip represents the first time we’ve ever seen a uniformed Seattle Police officer demonstrate jump-rope moves. (Even after 30-plus years in the news business, there still are some firsts!)
But we’re getting ahead of the story.
SPD Community Outreach Officer Tomeka Williams was one of the visitors for a special assembly at Highland Park Elementary this afternoon, teaching about pedestrian safety and helping celebrate a new grant to make it a reality:
Right before the assembly, we photographed HP principal Ben Ostrom with SAFE Kids Seattle‘s Dr. Brian Johnston from Harborview Medical Center (bet you guessed that he’s the guy in the white coat!). The check says $25,000, and that’s being added to a different $75,000 grant. Pedestrian safety is REALLY important there because, among other things, the school has multiple arterials nearby – among them, Barton and Trenton. That’s why, besides jumping rope, Officer Williams offered advice including using the “stare face” to make sure a driver sees you, before you walk into the street:
Safety is part of the HPARK slogan through which the principal led his students:
The safety skills will be practiced with “Walking School Bus” events each Wednesday morning next month.
By the way – though she’s not in our visuals and tried to stay “behind the scenes,” it must be noted that one of the people instrumental in making all this happen is Highland Park Elementary parent Rachael Wright, who’s been working on pedestrian-safety issues surrounding the school, and getting grants to address them, in connection with a wide variety of groups and agencies. Congratulations!
(Photo by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
Likely just a coincidence, but on the same morning that the Seattle City Council invited citizens to come talk with them next month about the budget process, its president was reading a storybook about financial smarts to a group of local students. Council President Sally Clark visited West Seattle Elementary this morning as part of “MoneySmart Week” (explained here) and read from “Rock, Brock and the Savings Shock,” by former FDIC Chair Sheila Blair, about twins with very different savings habits.
And this gives us a chance to mention that West Seattle Elementary has just received some noteworthy praise from Olympia. The state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction recently audited schools and visited WS Elementary, 2 years into its improvement plan, on April 12th. As a result of this visit, WSES received this “exit note”:
West Seattle Elementary has done a stellar job of transforming not only the school but the neighborhood as well. Not only has this staff and community dotted all the ‘i’s’ and crossed all the ‘t’s’ in terms of compliance, they have made a positive impact on student learning and the community at large. They have moved from compliance to commitment. Students are learning (the school moved from Level 1 to Level 3 in one year) and families are engaged in their students’ academics.
This visit was part of the Consolidated Program Review, explained here.
School fundraiser season isn’t over yet – we have word of one happening this Friday on behalf of the PTA at Sanislo Elementary, “the small school with big ideas.” Matt shared this invitation:
Sanislo Elementary is a small, culturally diverse West Seattle public school that likes to have a good time. This Friday we will be hosting a Benefit Bash at the Highland Park Improvement Club.
*Admission is free (any donations will be gratefully accepted), and doors are open to the public (21 and over).
*Live music by Seattle’s own Roy Kay Trio
*Doors open at 6:30, music starts around 8:30
*There will be a very small silent auction, games and prizes, a 50-50 raffle, and a wine raffle.
*Proceeds will support education enrichment programs at Sanislo.
HPIC is at 12th/Holden.
The three finalists for Seattle Public Schools superintendent are visiting this week, each one in the spotlight for a day, including group media interviews. The first spotlight came on Tuesday, for José Banda, from Anaheim, California. Above, unedited SPS video of one of his 3 quarter-hour-long group interviews (partly conducted in Spanish, in which he is fluent); here are reports from two of the participants in today’s interviews, Seattle Times (WSB sponsor) reporter Brian M. Rosenthal, here; Seattle Schools Community Forum writer Melissa Westbrook, here. (The Times also profiled Banda, here.) Today, finalist Steven Enoch, from San Ramon, California, will go through the same routine, and we hope to have video and links here again late tonight or early tomorrow. To tell the School Board what you think about any of the candidates, you’re invited to e-mail schoolboard@seattleschools.org.
(Photo by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
After a 2-0 win over Ingraham at home this afternoon, the Chief Sealth International High School boys-varsity soccer team remains undefeated, with a record of 11-0-1, two-thirds of the way through the regular season. Their next game is also at home, this Friday vs. Bainbridge Island.
This time of year, the term ‘waitlist’ is a source of angst for hundreds of families around the city, once they discover that a spot wasn’t immediately available at the school of their choice. Today, WSB’er Kathleen pointed out that information on the length of waitlists around the city is finally available online. And the waitlist for West Seattle’s newest public school is NOT what it seems, it’s been pointed out to us. More on that in a moment. First, we’re not going to list all the waitlist numbers from West Seattle schools (you can see that here), but here are the ones with double-digit wait lists:
67 for 9th grade at Chief Sealth International High School
46 for kindergarten at Pathfinder K-8
26 for kindergarten at Alki Elementary
23 for kindergarten at Schmitz Park Elementary
20 for 6th grade at Denny International Middle School
17 for 10th grade at Chief Sealth
17 for kindergarten at Gatewood Elementary
11 for 1st grade at Gatewood Elementary
11 for 11th grade at Chief Sealth
11 for kindergarten at Highland Park Elementary
10 for 3rd grade at Pathfinder K-8
10 for 2nd grade Spectrum at Lafayette Elementary
10 for 3rd grade Spectrum at Lafayette Elementary
(Longest waitlist in the city is for Franklin High School 9th grade – 104.) Then there are waitlists that are unlike any others – the ones for the new K-5 STEM at Boren. Today we heard from two parents who both said, if you are even contemplating enrolling your child in the new science/tech/math/engineering school for this fall, PLEASE get on the list now – because (as we reported last week) the district has said that it could add extra classes IF there are enough kids to fill them. Right now, according to that same district data set, there are 8 waiting for kindergarten, two each for 1st and 3rd. Enrollment information is here.
(Photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand)
When we saw South Seattle Community College president Gary Oertli at the West Seattle Chamber of Commerce Westside Awards breakfast back on Wednesday (WSB coverage here), we asked if anything big was coming up. He mentioned that the SSCC Business Club would be out on 16th SW this morning in front of the campus for an Earth Day cleanup. He didn’t mention he’d be there too!
But there was the college president (black cap, both photos), ready to pitch in along with students from the Business Club and some faculty members. We caught them in the late-morning sunshine, post-donuts, pre-cleanup. A big thanks to them and everyone else who spent part of this Earth Day weekend taking care of the community!
Parade season already! Denny International Middle School principal Jeff Clark sends news (and the photo) from the marching Dolphins’ big event today:
I am very pleased to share that the Denny All Star Band did a great job marching in the Tacoma Junior Daffodil Parade today! Our All Star Band includes students from our local elementary schools who have been a part of our Spring Break Music Camp with Mr. Pimpleton and Mr. Morales. Congratulations to the students and a special thank you to all of the volunteers who have helped this week!
1:34 PM P.S. Turns out – some of those musicians were headed here to the Gathering of Neighbors (in the Sealth/Denny Galleria), where we’ve been since mid-morning, for an encore performance. We recorded part of it on video and we’ll add that here later. Here’s the video:
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