Video: ‘Sneak peek’ inside renovated Chief Sealth

| Denny-Sealth | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools

(Photos by Cliff DesPeaux)
One week from tonight, Chief Sealth International High School students and staff – and their respective families! – will be resting up after the first day of classes inside the newly renovated school. Tonight, CSIHS principal John Boyd showed off his school’s shiny new digs to those who signed up for a “sneak peek” behind-the-scenes tour, benefiting the Friends of Sealth scholarship fund:

Photojournalist Cliff DesPeaux covered the tour for WSB, to capture the sights and sounds as the tour wound its way through areas including the spiffed-up gym:

He’s working on video right now that we’ll add when it’s ready, with an expanded look at what tourgoers saw.

You can read more about the two-year renovation project on the Seattle Public Schools website here – and our coverage archive, newest to oldest, is here. (The new Denny International Middle School, sharing the Sealth campus, remains under construction, with that move planned next year.)

Here is Cliff’s video:

westseattledood September 2, 2010 (8:10 am)

I had an opportunity yesterday to see one of the music instruction spaces. Fabulous!

Rob Drew September 2, 2010 (9:09 am)

I was disappointed to see that the people leading the sneak preview tour were not mentioned. Bassetti Architects are the architects responsible for the design. The tour was led by Ross Parker of Bassetti, Don Gillmore of Seattle Public Schools, and Principal John Boyd of Chief Sealth.

Silly Goose September 2, 2010 (10:28 am)

Beautiful new school now I cross my fingers and hope that the students appreciate all the funding and hard work that went into it and take care of it.

Dailycommuter September 2, 2010 (11:12 am)

Amen to that, Silly Goose. Before the renovation I visited Sealth at the end of the school day and the hallway floors were heavily littered by a blizzard of papers just dumped there by young people who couldn’t be bothered to take the most basic care of the facility. Do you think there’ll be a change of attitude toward their beautifully and expensively renovated school? I’m really hoping they’re going to surprise me . . .

Silly Goose September 2, 2010 (12:00 pm)

@Daily commuter, what comes to mind is the old saying you can take the kid outta the ghetto but you can’t take the ghetto outta the kid…let’s hope and pray they have some pride in ownership and will treat this facility with some respect.

d September 2, 2010 (12:11 pm)

Whoa.
Silly Goose. Dailycommuter.

You really mean to make such sweeping generalizations about an incredibly diverse group of kids who come from incredibly diverse backgrounds and do it in public no less?

Careful there. That might not go over well in some circles.

GenHillOne September 2, 2010 (3:17 pm)

“Ghetto?” You’ve got to be kidding.
–
From what I’m hearing over the past couple of days, the students are proud and excited about the new space, especially after being in the smaller Boren building for two years.

Dailycommuter September 2, 2010 (3:26 pm)

I made no sweeping generalizations; I was stating a fact. At the end of the school day a significant number of young people attending Sealth pawed through their lockers and notebooks, dropped anything they considered garbage on the hall floors and walked away. Nothing “ghetto” about that — just plain disrespect for themselves and others. Will appreciation for the hard work and tax dollars invested in this beautifully renovated facility inspire sufficient self-pride and peer pressure to bring this behavior to a halt? If so, I’ll be somewhat surprised but greatly pleased. The work and dollars will have been worth it.

Melissa Westbrok September 2, 2010 (3:37 pm)

Just to be clear, the finish work at the building is not done and will not be done even when the school opens. This was stated at a BEX Oversight Committee meeting (overseeing capital building for the district) recently. The principal wanted to open the school on time and made the decision to have finish work continue even if the building is open. Several committee members questioned the wisdom of this but the district said the decision was made.

So if you see more going on at Sealth, that’s the reason.

k September 2, 2010 (4:21 pm)

Okay. Seriously. dailycommuter. I cannot even begin to state what was wrong with your comment, but obviously I have to try. I am a student at Chief Sealth and was in the building before it was renovated as a freshman. I dont know when you were at the building, because throughout my freshman year the floors were constantly swept and garbage (and recycle!) was picked up off the floor. I am unaware of ANY student that would have “pawed” through their lockers and dumped trash on the floor. Also, I can assure you, what you were stating was not a fact. I do not think that making ridiculous accusations in a public forum is a smart idea. Not to mention that it is extremely immature. On another note you do not need to do further damage to the reputation of a school. Chief Sealth has a undeserved reputation for being ‘ghetto’ when it is in fact not. No one has any right to call any school ghetto. No matter where it is, who goes there, or for whatever excuse one comes up with to call a school ghetto. Chief Sealth is simply a unique school with unique programs not offered in many other schools. For example proyecto saber, global leadership class, academy of hospitality and tourism, academy of finance, sports medicine, and several other programs and classes. It is a school with teachers that teach because they care. The administrators and everyone else I have not mentioned care as well. It is a school with tremendous heart, exceptional talent, and unusual diversity. It is not only diverse in regards to ethnicity but also diverse in personality, hobbies, and beliefs. I am proud to call myself a Chief Sealth Seahawk.

Gina September 2, 2010 (4:33 pm)

You should have seen the litter kids left on the floor and grounds of West Seattle High in the late 1970s. And the trails of cigarette butts in the bathrooms and in the student smoking areas.

westseattledood September 2, 2010 (5:33 pm)

No kidding Gina. I went to a PRIVATE school and kids did that crap. It doesn’t have squat to do with “ghetto”. Some of these commenters should go sit in the corner with the dunce cap.

Honestly.

And, k, you go! We love and are proud of Chief Sealth and are so excited for everybody! Don’t you worry about some of the sillier people who write before they think on these comments. As you’ve observed, they are kind of clueless. But way to stand up and show your pride.

Silly Goose September 2, 2010 (6:23 pm)

Hum let’s see armed guards in front of the school most of the day, garbage scattered all over the parking lot and street graffitti, a shooting your right my 11 year old daughter just corrected me it’s not the ghetto it’s the HOOD!!

k September 2, 2010 (7:13 pm)

Since when is there armed guards in front of Chief Sealth? Oh that’s right not in the last four years that I went there. The parking lot, since I was last in it four hours ago, is completely clean. As for street graffiti, what street doesn’t have it? Take the junction for example. There is graffiti there, so is the junction “the HOOD”? The way to stop prejudice –such as some of these comments– and stereotyping is to teach the next generation to value each person as an individual and a human being. To not use asinine words such as ghetto and hood. Teach the next generation not to label and judge people, schools, neighborhoods, etc. by what they hear from others but to learn about places and form opinions from their own experiences, to not just accept and believe what their parents have told them. But we are all entitled to our own opinions, no matter what they are, so thank you for this enlightening conversation. This is something I will remember, maybe not for life, but I will think about it as I right my college essays. Who knows, I might just write my admissions essay on the lessons I learned from this discussion.

Thanks westseattledood. I just saw the ignorant comments and had to say something.

nc September 2, 2010 (7:41 pm)

@Silly Goose, oh my, you really are embarrasing yourself. As a Sealth parent, I am proud of “k”, I sure hope I know you!!!

GenHillOne September 2, 2010 (8:35 pm)

Also proud of you, k – very well said! Today I sat in the (trash-free) parking lot, next to the (unarmed) security staff that was greeting and directing the first-time visitors into a new parking/driveway configuration. Students were smiling and enthusiastic. I saw the cross country team returning from practice…carrying trash, including a hubcap, that they had picked up on their run around the neighborhood. Looked like a real bunch of hoodlums to me and obviously, totally irresponsible and careless.

nc September 3, 2010 (8:50 am)

The school is beautiful, the students are proud and happy to be home again. They treated the Boren site and Delridge community with respect and living near by, I will miss seeing thier happy faces and hearing the wonderful ukelele music and song!

Congratulation staff and students, you make the West Seattle community a better place and I’m so glad we chose you and not West Seattle High!!!!

Alumni September 3, 2010 (4:51 pm)

I remember how I felt going to Chief Sealth as a new school. We had no history, no alumni. We were there as students in a new school in a place and time. I looked longingly at West Seattle living on the “wrong” side of the defining line but all of us played it to the hilt, we fought hard and created a learning environment from which amazing people were “launched.” Perhaps it is time to look back and identify those who have graduated from Chief Sealth and the contributions so many have made across this great nation of ours. I am proud to be who I am and that includes being an alumni of Chief Sealth no matter what terms are used to describe our school…

… and the term ghetto has never been as ignorant as this contributor who has so labeled the school. If your definition includes diverse and under privileged perhaps it is a better place to gain real opportunity.

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