BACK TO SCHOOL: Another reminder – Seattle Public Schools’ schedule changes

Even if you don’t have kid(s) in Seattle Public Schools, you need to remember that schedules are changing when classes start on September 7th. The schedule changes will bring changes in walking, riding, and driving patterns around local SPS campuses. (If you’re new and not sure where the schools are, here’s the districtwide map.)

As we reported back in November – with one big change made public in June – some of the changes are small. More of them are not.

The biggest changes are at the four area elementaries that have had the latest starts for the past four years:

CONCORD INTERNATIONAL (ELEMENTARY)
*This year – 9:35-3:45
(previously 9:30-3:40)

LAFAYETTE ELEMENTARY
*This year – 7:55-2:05
(previously 9:30-3:40)

ROXHILL ELEMENTARY
*This year – 7:55-2:05
(previously 9:30-3:40)

SANISLO ELEMENTARY
*This year – 7:55-2:05
(previously 9:30-3:40)

The other elementaries will be starting earlier, too:

ALKI ELEMENTARY
*This year – 7:55-2:05
(previously 8:40-2:50)

ARBOR HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY (in its new building at its original site)
*This year – 7:55-2:05
(previously 8:40-2:50)

FAIRMOUNT PARK ELEMENTARY
*This year – 7:55-2:05
(previously 8:40-2:50)

GATEWOOD ELEMENTARY
*This year – 7:55-2:05
(previously 8:40-2:50)

GENESEE HILL ELEMENTARY (formerly at Schmitz Park)
*This year – 7:55-2:05
(previously 8:40-2:50)

HIGHLAND PARK ELEMENTARY
*This year – 7:55-2:05
(previously 8:40-2:50)

WEST SEATTLE ELEMENTARY
*This year – 7:55-2:05
(previously 8:40-2:50)

For the paired middle/high schools, one pair moves to an almost-one-hour-later start time, one stays almost the same:

MADISON MIDDLE SCHOOL
*This year – 8:45-3:15
(previously 7:50-2:20)

WEST SEATTLE HIGH SCHOOL
*This year – 8:45-3:15
(previously 7:50-2:20)

DENNY INTERNATIONAL MIDDLE SCHOOL
*This year – 7:55-2:25
(previously 7:50-2:20)

CHIEF SEALTH INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
*This year – 8:45-3:15
(previously 8:40-3:10)

For the K-8 option schools, it’s also a five-minute change.

LOUISA BOREN K-8 STEM
*This year – 9:35-4:05
(previously 9:30-3:40)

PATHFINDER K-8
*This year – 8:45-3:15
(previously 8:40-3:10)

Again, the first day of classes for Seattle Public Schools is Wednesday, September 7th. As mentioned in this morning’s traffic/transit coverage, we’re told that SPS school-bus drivers will be out practicing their routes starting tomorrow.

sam-c August 29, 2016 (9:39 am)

Good to know. Thanks for the posts. Aside from parent discussions/ issues related to school time changes and whether they agree with them, it is really helpful to know that the nearby schools will be starting earlier. Passing through school zones on the way to work, it looks like I need to leave earlier than last year, so i can have extra time to stop for school buses, drive 20 mph in school zones, make time for additional parent drivers on the road, and keep and eye out for kids walking to school. …. going to need to start leaving earlier…. Thanks for the heads up WSB! Hope all the kids are safe and all the drivers are calm and patient !!

sam-c August 29, 2016 (9:40 am)

(‘an eye’, not ‘and eye’)

JC August 29, 2016 (9:43 am)

What baffles me is why Madison Middle and West Seattle High are starting almost an hour later and Denny Middle and Chief Sealth is starting only 5 mins later??? 5 mins is not going to make a significant difference in a child’s sleep.

WSB August 29, 2016 (10:30 am)

This was explained last year. Denny did not want to start later because of its after-school enrichment programs. Sealth’s start was already “late” anyway. Denny and Sealth have to have a certain gap in start times anyway because of the transportation plan for the shared campus. So, the district went with Denny’s wishes, and Sealth remains where it is. Going any later for the high schools would have put a serious crimp in activities/work/etc.
- JC August 29, 2016 (2:34 pm)
  
  Oh ok. I didn’t see that. I have a son who attends Denny and he is disappointed that the start time was only 5 minutes later and not an hour later (he was hoping they would start much later). I told him way back when I was in high school, I was in the Jazz band which started before school at 7am and to suck it up. LOL!
Bonnie August 29, 2016 (12:59 pm)

I talked to the woman who was behind all of these changes (Mom from up north, we somehow ended up on jury duty together) and she said that the Denny/Sealth paperwork to build actually had a clause in it saying that they cannot start at the same time due to traffic in the neighborhood.

WSEA August 29, 2016 (11:12 am)

thanks for the start times. It helps with planning my work departure which will be 8am now.

I hope drivers watch for kids biking to school. 7:30 to 8:30 will be prime biking time.

ACG August 29, 2016 (2:53 pm)

Why does STEM appear to have a longer school day than the other elementary schools? Is it because they are a k-8 program?

Bonnie August 29, 2016 (4:32 pm)

It’s because they are a K-8. Middle school has a longer day so K-8 schools fall into that.

Mark August 29, 2016 (6:23 pm)

Drivers be aware of school zones during school hours

Concord Mom August 30, 2016 (7:51 pm)

The time for Concord International is incorrect. Their bell time is 9:35-3:45 not the earlier one above. Thanks!

WSB August 30, 2016 (8:07 pm)

Thank you, sorry, that was what was in the list we published in November but I missed the change in the crosscheck with the district’s current list. Fixing.

Sorry, comment time is over.