With open enrollment approaching, and an information/input meeting next week about West Seattle’s new elementary school (to be known – for now – as K-5 STEM at Boren), you won’t be surprised to hear that West Seattle’s school-board rep Marty McLaren was asked about it today during her community-conversation meeting at High Point Library. Bottom line – no specifics yet, but go to the meeting. Today’s well-attended gathering touched on a few other topics too:
More than 20 people were in attendance for McLaren’s fourth community-conversation meeting since taking office, a full house in the small meeting room at the library. Here are the toplines:
K-5 STEM AT BOREN: Since the district’s official announcement had just come out an hour earlier, McLaren read it aloud. About a third of the attendees said they were interested in the new program and would like specifics. McLaren cautioned that she didn’t have any yet either, so they should definitely make plans to be at the February 15th (7 pm, Schmitz Park Elementary) informational/input meeting that was mentioned in the announcement. About half an hour into McLaren’s meeting, the district’s executive director of West Seattle schools, Aurora Lora, walked in; she too was asked about STEM specifics, and she too replied, come to the meeting for answers. Lora explained that she had helped start a STEM-focused school in Portland and is using much of what she learned there to get this off the ground; first, of course, they need to line up a principal and staff.
ARBOR HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY: Two issues came up. The first one is the condition of the building. McLaren reassured AH parents that the school is a likely candidate to be on the list for improvements in the BEX IV levy, as well as Schmitz Park and Roxhill Elementaries. Meantime, some meeting attendees wanted to talk about concerns regarding the Spectrum advanced-learning program at Arbor Heights. This is the second year for the program, and concerns included a belief that the Spectrum teachers need better training.
SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH: Toward the end of the meeting, McLaren was asked about the serach for a new superintendnet to succeed Dr. Susan Enfield, who announced she didn’t want the permanent job. McLaren replied that the board remains committed to having someone in place immediately after Dr. Enfield’s departure, and has hired a search firm, as well as placing ads starting today in several education-industry publications. Though the final decision is up to the board, she noted that an advisory group will be reviewing the candidates.
NEXT COMMUNITY-CONVERSATION MEETING: Next month, you are welcome to meet and talk with McLaren at High Point Library on March 17th at 11:15 am (that’s a Saturday).
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