Seattle Public Schools has finally proposed a permanent home for K-5 STEM at Boren – the current Schmitz Park Elementary building, once it’s replaced by a new building in 2016. A K-5 STEM parent shared this e-mail received tonight from the district:
To meet the needs of our growing enrollment, Seattle Public Schools is considering boundary changes for the 2014-15 school year. We will not change any boundaries or assignments for the upcoming 2013-14 school year.
In anticipation of these changes, we are having conversations about our current schools and programs with our stakeholders. On Wednesday, district staff will present several options to the School Board for early consideration, including moving K-5 STEM at Boren to the current Schmitz Park building in 2016-17 after Schmitz Park Elementary moves to its new building at Genesee Hill. Fairmount Park would become an attendance area elementary school opening in 2014-15, and K-5 STEM at Boren would continue as an option program.
Again, these are all preliminary conversations. We will host five community meetings this fall to consider boundary changes and get feedback from families, staff and community members. There will be plenty of time for review and community reaction. You can view the district’s initial presentation to the board here. This initial review of program placement will be presented from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 29 at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence. This will be a committee discussion. There is no public testimony at this meeting and no votes will be taken.
Our goal at Seattle Public Schools is to ensure equity, access and opportunities for all students. We are planning for the future of our district, and any changes moving forward starting in the 2014-15 school year will help meet this goal. We also want to maximize walkability and minimize disruptions by aligning new boundaries with current attendance area boundaries, when feasible. The School Board will ultimately vote on the school assignment boundary changes on November 20, 2013.
If you would like to give feedback on these early recommendations, please send an email to growthboundaries@seattleschools.org
We look forward to working with each of our school communities to make sure any changes are rolled out smoothly and to ensure we have a thoughtful, strategic and equitable plan for schools, programs and services.
This again was a message tailored for K-5 STEM families – we’re looking now for any additional information on West Seattle schools, and will add what we find.
ADDED 10:58 PM: Here’s the full PowerPoint that will be presented at tomorrow’s School Board committee meeting (thanks to the Seattle Schools Community Forum website for a link that works!) – it includes lots of information that will be of interest to families in programs including Advanced Learning, Special Education, and English Language Learning, but the only West Seattle specifics of note are mentioned in the e-mail above – the recommendations for K-5 STEM to move into Schmitz Park, and for Fairmount Park to open as a neighborhood school.
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