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1. SpeakLoud
   Member Profile

   ....if they are on a Seattle Public School waiting list and you are NOT attending that school. There are many of us in AGONY over being wait listed-so do us a favor, call the enrollment center 252-0760 and have your child removed from the wait list if you know you are not attending-ESPECIALLY CHIEF SEALTH......thank you kind and thoughtful West Seattle Citizens!

   Posted 11 months ago #         

2. wowyouhaveyourhandsfull
   Member Profile

   Also keep in mind that many of us HAVE removed our children (via phone, email, letter etc.) and SPS is so horribly mismanaged that they can't figure it out. Just my personal experience. So hopefully, for you, that is a good sign...some of us who have withdrawn are still on the list despite our best intentions :) They should have it straightened out at some point.

   Posted 11 months ago #         

3. SpeakLoud
   Member Profile

   Oh that gives me hope-thank you. To add to it I did the trip planner with metro and to get to WS High will take 2 buses and over an hour. To get to Sealth I can drop her off on my way to work! Or 1 bus and 20 minutes-you tell me, which one is my 'neighborhood' school?

   Posted 11 months ago #         

4. SpeakLoud
   Member Profile

   http://district.seattleschools.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?sessionid=74fa2ee488f416cd038f6e79e6e9926b&pageid=177438&sessionid&sessionid=74fa2ee488f416cd038f6e79e6e9926b
   I hate to nag but PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE remove your child from your designated school or waitlist if you have committed to anohter school. THANK YOU.

   Posted 11 months ago #         

5. singularname
   Member Profile

   Welcome to SPS. Get some valium and settle down for a looooooong ride.

   Posted 11 months ago #         

6. Cait
   Member Profile

   

   Taking your name off the waiting list does not mean that the slot opens up to the next person on the list - that's not how it works.

   Posted 11 months ago #         

7. Bonnie
   Member Profile

   No, I don't think it is obsessive. I have a friend who called daily a few years ago to see if her son got into Alki. (he did not because he was #10) I'm sure if those people who were in Alki but really planning on going to private school just took their name off the waiting list would have moved faster. I also have a friend whose daughter was assigned to Lafayette but they knew they were going to Holy Rosary. She didn't bother taking the name off until after the first day of school. I'm sure those on the waitlist would have appreciated knowing sooner.

   It's not obsessive to be a good planner with your child's education. I think it is a priority.

   Posted 11 months ago #         

8. SpeakLoud
   Member Profile

   How is it obssessive? It's neighbourly and good manners.
   Obssessive is when I buy a house 4 blocks from my current house because that house is in the neighborhood of the school that will work best for my childs needs.
   And it is how the wait list works-if a space opens up they call you from the wait list-not sure how else you imagine it working....

   Posted 11 months ago #         

9. chrisma
   Member Profile

   

   I expect this will produce gales of laughter among those who have previously dealt with Seattle Public Schools (I haven't, yet), but since they actually have the list, couldn't they take the proactive step of calling or emailing those people to inquire what their plans are?

   Rather than people having to resort to impassioned pleas on the WSB forums.

   Posted 11 months ago #         

10. Bonnie
    Member Profile

    Gales of laughter. LOL! Sorry Chrisma, but the SPS doesn't work that way. LOL! Wish they did.

    Posted 11 months ago #         

11. Cait
    Member Profile

    

    You could do what I did and actually ask someone who works there about the process... because there is one. Too direct?

    Posted 11 months ago #         

12. wowyouhaveyourhandsfull
    Member Profile

    How else would a waiting list work?

    If you haven't dealt with SPS, count your blessings. Call them today and get one answer, call them tomorrow and get another. Frankly I think posting on the WSB is going to get more accomplished than calling SPS...just speaking from experience. The OP is just concerned about her kid.

    Posted 11 months ago #         

13. Cait
    Member Profile

    

    I hate to point out the obvious but, I don't know how much it's going to do seeing the responses it's gotten here. I'm just tired of seeing people posting thinly veiled "rants". Posting under the guise that you are just seeking other opinions or asking for some sort of help is a nice loophole, I guess but it's obnoxious.

    SPS is a cluster. It's been discussed ad nauseum on these boards. The OP didn't get anywhere with the original post and bumped it and something about the tone bugs me to no explainable end. I just don't get it.

    Posted 11 months ago #         

14. maplesyrup
    Member Profile

    

    While I think being in AGONY is a little over the top, the OP has a legitimate point. We've seen it at Lafayette; people who know their kids are not going to attend but don't remove their names from the list until a day or so before school starts. It's rather rude.

    But there's still time; school hasn't even ended and a lot of people haven't made their decisions yet. I know we haven't decided on Middle School yet (but we will soon and we'll let the school we decline know ASAP).

    Posted 11 months ago #         

15. Justsayin
    Member Profile

    I completed paperwork to remove my child from school district 2 months ago by taking paperwork to District HQ. Figured they had processed child and removed from all consideration. Imagine my surprise to get SPS school assignment letter, and being number 40 on wait list for our first choice. Was concerned paperwork was incomplete, so called new school district. They quickly replied all transfer items were complete. Left message with SPS on Wed., got call today asking if I had used website to remove child from waitlist. Um...no, no one mentioned another step in the process. Made bad assumption that removing child from the district would remove child from all lists, 2 months ago. Integrated database anyone?

    Posted 11 months ago #         

16. SpeakLoud
    Member Profile

    Cait why are you even responding to this issue since you obviously have everything figured out and it all seems to be working perfectly for you. The request is not a 'thinly veiled rant'. I am simply asking people to be good neighbors and remove their child from the wait list.
    If you have some magical solution or know something the rest of us apparently don't why don't you share that nugget?

    Posted 11 months ago #         

17. Cait
    Member Profile

    

    Because if this wasn't a thinly veiled rant you would have just done it yourself in the first place. Call and ask to speak to the Enrollment Planning department.

    Posted 11 months ago #         

18. SpeakLoud
    Member Profile

    @Cait-I'm not sitting on my ass hoping that you all will make this happen for me. I have called and called and called again-but I'm not going to hold my breath since they registered my 9th grader for 7th grade and I faxed and mailed in my registration papers. I'm not sure why you are picking on me since given todays front page blog there are MANY of us in this boat and MANY of us that want this to change. This is clearly a West Seattle issue bigger than the two of us. Plus I'm pretty sure I followed the protocal by going directly to the source with my concerns and should now be free to RANT if that is what it takes.
    I know my daughter will be 'fine' in any school but I had hoped better for her than I had for myself-I was 'fine' in public school. There is nothing to be ashamed of for wanting 'better'.

    Posted 11 months ago #         

19. Cait
    Member Profile

    

    Then you should take DBurns commentary to heart. There's not a whole lot more that can be said that he hasn't said already and many people feel that way. This seems like a pretty bourgie thing to browbeat people over.

    Posted 11 months ago #         

20. WSB
    Member Profile

    

    Guys, this was flagged to me for a different reason but I have to say, given what we've been covering, it's a legitimate concern and not a rant and you all need to be a little kinder to each other. I've seen more compassion here for people dealing with pet and garden issues than people dealing with educational issues regarding their children, this one included. We put a school-discussion section in by request. If you think some of the issues are ridiculous, don't engage.

    The issue of being close to one school yet mapped for another as your "neighborhood" school - SPS's new assignment plan philosophy - has happened to many in West Seattle. In Westwood, the western boundary for Roxhill Elementary is literally RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET. Regarding Sealth/WSHS, we too live moments away from Sealth, and in the first round of map-drawing last year, we were in its district - then there was a redraw before a final vote, and we were suddenly in WSHS's district. Our son was going into 9th grade. There was more room for "choice" seats at Sealth this year so we sought and got one.

    I have been covering the school crowding/assignment plan issue again recently and requested the waitlist totals from the district; they were published yesterday and Sealth has the second-longest waitlist in the district - 83 students for 9th grade (only Garfield, with 88 students hoping for a 9th grade seat, has a longer list).

    If the OP's child winds up in West Seattle HS, I am sure she/he will get a good education too, but in the meantime, I would imagine the OP is hoping things will work out.

    That said, bumping to repeat a request - once is enough, one more time would be overkill, so I would request that the OP not do that. Sounds like I may need to do a sidebar for the news section on how waitlists work. Once some years back, we were #1 on one ... and even knowing that meant we were highly likely to get a spot, the wait was agonizing.

    Posted 11 months ago #         

21. Cait
    Member Profile

    

    In the interest of full disclosure I know some GREAT people who work in enrollment at SPS who are passionate about students and I don't think a lot of these posts are fair to them and the hard work that they do. That's all. Good luck, SpeakLoud.

    Posted 11 months ago #         

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