By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
The second informational meeting for families interested in West Seattle’s new public school, K-5 STEM at Boren, was very different from the first one 2 weeks ago (WSB coverage here).
For one, tonight’s meeting was led by Seattle Public Schools assistant superintendent for teaching and learning Dr. Cathy Thompson (at left in top photo). The crowd at the first meeting was told that Dr. Thompson had been leading the school-creation project, but was unable to be there that night because a School Board meeting was scheduled concurrently. Tonight, no board meeting, so the West Seattle-residing district official was there, bubbling over with enthusiasm, as well as a message: Yes, it will obviously be a “leap of faith” for families to enroll their elementary schoolers in this new program, and they understand if someone decides against it.
Also different, but not surprising: While more than 300 people jammed the Schmitz Park Elementary cafetorium for the first meeting, our informal count noted maybe 100 in the more-spacious Denny International Middle School galleria tonight. Here’s our video of the meeting, unedited, in its entirety:
We’ll add the key toplines soon. One important point: If you are interested in being on the school’s Design Team, which Dr. Thompson says will include six district staffers, six parents, and three community representatives, tomorrow’s the deadline for applying. Those chosen, she said, will be notified March 9th, and the team’s first meeting – which will be open to the public – will be March 14th. Meantime, the March 13th meet-and-greet with principal Dr. Shannon McKinney (about whom we learned more tonight, too) is still on, 6:30 pm at Madison Middle School. And if you missed the link in a comment thread here this afternoon – the first FAQ about the new school is now on the district website.
ADDED 7:51 AM FRIDAY: More new info from the meeting:
District reps who participated in the presentation and/or Q/A also included enrollment manager Dr. Tracy Libros, project manager Kim Van Atta – explained as the person who will lead the design team until the principal starts work April 9th – and West Seattle executive director of schools Aurora Lora, who led the last meeting but said little at this one (explaining that she wasn’t feeling well).
Questions centered around a few key areas:
MAKING THE BOREN BUILDING WORK: Dr. Thompson said she was familiar with the building because she had taught preschool there in the 1990s. She acknowledged concerns that, since it was originally built as a middle school, it wasn’t suitable for the littlest elementary schoolers; adaptations are being planned, she said, though they don’t have full details worked out. They plan to use two of the school’s three wings, though if before/after-school care was needed in the mix, the third wing is the only area that would meet the requirements, they said.
Outside, they will have two play areas, but haven’t decided exactly where on the grounds they’ll go – one key consideration is whether any or all of the 11 portables will be moved; since Boren will be a temporary home for this school (two years minimum), the portables might still be needed in the future for secondary schoolers, and moving them out and then back could cost more than a million dollars.
The building renovations are not expected to be done until shortly before the year starts; there will be an open house at the Boren campus this spring, though, probably in May. Asked why this meeting couldn’t have happened there, district reps noted it’s still technically “closed,” with the windows boarded up, etc. (And they acknowledged the graffiti problem, reported here earlier this week, and said cleanup efforts are continuing.)
CLASSES – HOW MANY AND WHAT SIZE: It’s too early in the enrollment process to say or even guess how many students have applied so far, the district reps said, but they are expecting more kindergarten classes than 1st-5th “since that’s where we’ve had the most interest so far.” The district’s class sizes for next year will be 26 for K through 2nd, 28 for 3rd through 5th. Dr. Libros cautioned that those waiting to enroll till after “open enrollment” ends in a week might be taking a gamble, since, for example, if they have one full class at a certain grade plus just a couple additional applicants extra, they will not create an additional class just to accommodate those extra applicants.
CURRICULUM: It was reiterated that if, for example, the Design Team decided they want the school to use Singapore Math (or anything else digressing from the district curriculum), they’ll need to request a waiver (a process that’s changing, with new rules coming before the School Board next week). Dr. Thompson said she realized “a few weeks ago” that she “had better start learning about Singapore Math.” Some attendees were worried the curriculum might be too rigorous for their students; it was reiterated that this is a general-education program, not advanced-learning (and in fact, it was stated that this school, for starters, will not have either of the district’s advanced-learning self-contained programs, Spectrum or APP). It will offer PE, since that’s state-mandated for first through fifth graders, but that doesn’t mean they have to have a PE specialist – it could be taught by a “classroom teacher.”
THE PRINCIPAL: Dr. Thompson elaborated on her choice, saying that just weeks earlier, Dr. McKinney had been under consideration for a management position in the district’s special-education program; though her background turned out not to be a match for that, they were so impressed, they wanted to have her in the district somehow, some way, and then this came up. Asked about reports that writing scores at her “turnaround school” in Tucson had been less than stellar, Dr. Thompson said that was the result of the Arizona district’s priorities – “her district cares about reading and math.” Dr. McKinney has been interested in working in this state for years, she added, having procured a Washington State principal credential in 2008.
THE TEACHERS: Openings for this school will be posted a few weeks before other district openings for next year. Teachers will not be required to have special credentials or other special qualifications. But the Design Team could choose to have a science specialist, for example, the district reps said.
POTENTIAL BUSINESS PARTNERS: Boeing – described as “very excited about this” – and Disney were mentioned again as companies that had expressed interest in possibly partnering with the new school. One other name, Red Dot (described as an air-conditioning company), also was mentioned; Dr. Thompson alluded to having received “five business cards” but first said she couldn’t recall who the others were from, then said she’d find out and post it online, then said she had probably better ask the companies first. What shape a partnership might take, the district managers said, would depend on what the partner suggested and what if anything the Building Leadership Team (different from the Design Team) decided to accept. Partners don’t have to be large companies; community members could offer donations of time, money, materials (Dr. Thompson mentioned that her daughter teaches at a district school that has a standing $1 million donation each year from a private source).
THE FUTURE: There were many questions the district reps said they just couldn’t answer – such as what would happen if the STEM pathway was established as this school to Madison and West Seattle High School, but a student at this school happened to live in the Denny/Sealth attendance area. And about the program’s permanent home – it would be at Boren for “a minimum of two years,” the district says, and its permanent home would depend on “whichever (district-owned) building in West Seattle makes sense.”
If you’d like to be on a mailing list to receive updates as the new school is planned, you can sign up here.
| 45 COMMENTS