(Photos by Ellen Cedergreen for WSB)
One more last-day-of-elementary-school West Seattle story: Arbor Heights Elementary celebrated a new artwork this morning, just before its end-of-year assembly – a mural for its playcourt. AH teacher Mark Ahlness tells WSB, “It is the culmination of months of work by all students, under the direction of artist-in-residence Jihyun Andersen.” He has a Flickr gallery up. The artist was there when WSB contributor Ellen Cedergreen stopped by:

Jihyun is also an Arbor Heights mom, with a son finishing his kindergarten year. She thought the playcourt looked rather stark, so the mural idea was born, and has been under way since May. It depicts the Fauntleroy Creek ecosystem when salmon are released – a Salmon in the Classroom activity in which AH participates.

Ellen reports that the 5th graders did a lot of the free-hand drawing and the kindergarteners used bug stamps to populate the creek. The 1st-4th graders worked on the plants and birds.

Jihyun told Ellen she plans to add a few trees, then seal the mural with varnish to protect it.

A new principal has been announced for Arbor Heights Elementary School, less than one month after current principal Dr. Carol Coram announced she’s moving to an assistant-principal job at Denny International Middle School. From the letter going home with AH students today, from West Seattle’s executive director of schools Aurora Lora:

I am excited today to announce the appointment of Christy Collins as your new principal, effective July 1. Ms. Collins comes to Seattle Public Schools from the Lake Washington School District and brings more than 29 years of experience leading faculty and students. She is an instructional leader and has made a lifetime commitment to quality education. She is well-known for her work in building partnerships with the community and I know she will be a great fit for the Arbor Heights families, students and staff.

Ms. Collins served as principal of (McAuliffe) Elementary in Sammamish from 1999-2006 and was principal of Rockwell Elementary in Redmond from 1993-1999. Most recently, she served as Special Education Coordinator for the Lake Washington School District for the past four years. In this role, she guided and directed all aspects of administration of special education programs for the district.

She started her career as an elementary special education and general education teacher, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in K-8 education from Western Washington University and a Master of Education in Education Administration and Principal Certification from Western Washington University.

Ms. Collins was selected after a hiring process that included input from staff and families in the Arbor Heights community. The selection team committee was impressed with her curriculum expertise, special education background, and experience with Reader’s and Writer’s Workshop. Please join me in welcoming Christy to Arbor Heights and Seattle Public Schools!

According to the AH PTSA website, Collins will be at the school tomorrow morning to meet parents. Also changing principals for next school year is Lafayette Elementary, as reported here yesterday.

Yes, there’s a carnival in town today. It’s a fundraiser on the sun-splashed playground at Arbor Heights Elementary, 3-6 pm, and the bouncy “rides” are all set up and ready to go, according to the photo we just received from AH teacher Mark Ahlness. From the carnival announcement on the AH PTSA site: “… lots of fun bouncy rides and slides, games, prizes, face painting, dunk tank, cotton candy, good food and a huge amount of fun. Wristbands are $15 and include unlimited rides and 5 game coupons. You can also purchase single 50-cent tickets for rides (takes 2-4 tickets each) and games (1 ticket each). Cash, Check, Visa or Mastercard accepted.” Arbor Heights is at 3701 SW 104th (map).

Arbor Heights Elementary‘s principal Dr. Carol Coram is leaving to become assistant principal at Denny International Middle School, as reported here Thursday afternoon, after her letter to the school community was circulated. Thursday night, her departure was discussed at the Arbor Heights PTSA meeting, along with what happens next; Katie Meyer was there for WSB:

She reports that Dr. Coram received a bouquet after PTSA president John Christensen read a statement thanking her for “10-plus incredible years as our principal.” (He tells WSB there will be a more-official farewell/thank-you event toward the end of the school year.) Later in the meeting, the Seattle Public Schools official who manages West Seattle schools, Aurora Lora, talked to the PTSA about the “open hiring process” for new principals. She says the pool of candidate includes some “already in the district, some outside the district who’ve been principals in other districts and are hoping to move to Seattle.” Lora said they hope to make the hire before this school year ends, and laid out a timetable including a “paper screening” of applications next Monday, resulting in a list of five or six people to come to AH to meet the Interview Team. They’ll be called May 24th and invited for interviews the following week with a team including four parents and four staff members. That will winnow the field to three finalists, who will meet with interim Superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield as well as Lora.

Arbor Heights Elementary‘s principal Dr. Carol Coram is leaving her job at the end of the school year, according to a letter she has sent to members of the school community. Dr. Coram cites health reasons as deciding to take a different job, that of assistant principal at Denny International Middle School. No word on her replacement at AH. Read on for full text of her message (thanks to those who tipped us on this):Read More

Story and photos by Stephanie Chacharon
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Arbor Heights Elementary was a sea of lavender today as students, teachers, and volunteers gathered for their annual Young Authors Day. Students proudly wore this year’s event t-shirt, featuring vote-winning student designs (one from each grade level) on the front and a chaotic array of friends’ signatures on the back.

The day kicked off with a performance of “Henry’s Freedom Box” by Seattle’s Book-It Repertory Theatre. From there, students were assigned to small groups scattered throughout the school to read the book they’d authored. One student shared her creation with WSB — the story of an exciting taxi ride through New York City. The ultimate destination? Mary Poppins on Broadway. It was an excellent read.

(Ahead, the story continues – and you’re invited to an event tonight…)Read More

At Arbor Heights Elementary, they don’t call it an assembly – they call it the “Monday Morning Meeting.” And this morning – after celebrations of recent classroom achievements (including preparations for the upcoming Young Authors Day as well as this week’s birthdays) – the meeting included a bonus celebration. Arbor Heights principal Dr. Carol Coram mused for a moment on the nature of “community service” before bringing up a guest who was there to thank AH students who, along with the PTSA, reached out to help Mary’s Place, a program for homeless and “formerly homeless” women and children. Take two minutes to watch our edited video highlights of the presentation that led to several hearty rounds of applause. (P.S. Mary’s Place needs non-monetary help too – donated health care, in particular.)

GOT THE NEED TO READ? Sanislo Elementary has a Used Book Sale coming up in just a week and a half – 10 am-2 pm on Saturday, March 19th, at the school (1812 SW Myrtle). Used books for both kids and grownups – “most priced below $2,” organizers note.

Heading south – big news in Arbor Heights:

BECU GRANT BUYS A-V CART FOR ARBOR HEIGHTS: In the parent-contributed photo above, that’s Sarah Lyons from BECU at Roxbury Safeway at left, with Robert and Meri Patton of the PTSA, Arbor Heights Elementary principal Dr. Carol Coram at center, and students, at the school assembly that kicked off this week with something big to celebrate: BECU granted Arbor Heights’ PTSA-parent-written-grant request to fund an A-V cart, which includes a projector and sound system, plus the cart to transport them around. We’re told Arbor Heights has never had a cart like this; it will be used for student and staff audio/visual needs, including showing videos and online media in a wide range of subject areas, and helping launch the online Study Island program. It also means teachers will be able to access closed captioning, which is not currently possible with many of the TVs in the school. The BECU grant is for $2,289.88, and Sarah from BECU presented it with the whole school on hand!

It’s time for the Seattle Public Library‘s Global Reading Challenge for 4th and 5th graders – call it the Battle of the Books. Last Friday, SPL librarians were at Arbor Heights Elementary School for the big event there. School librarian Jeanette Hagen reports that the “Awesome People” team got a perfect score! In the photo, shared by Kacy, the team members (from Ms. Sato’s and Ms. Boitano’s rooms) are: Chase, Ruby, Sophie-Briere, Daisy, Fathi, Sean, and Natalie, with (back room left) Mrs. Hagen and (back row right) principal Dr. Carol Coram. The “Awesome People” were one of eight teams in the competition at Arbor Heights; they’ll go downtown for the semifinals at the Central Library on March 16th.

Arbor Heights Elementary third-grade teacher Mark Ahlness is not only an online pioneer – he continuously leads his young students out onto the technological cutting edge of exploration. Latest way that’s happening: The laptops the kids are holding in our top photo are XO’s, which Ahlness describes on his website as a “unique piece of hardware that kick-started the competitive innovations leading to the netbook, the Kindle, and yes, even the iPad.” You might remember hearing about them a few years back – the idea was, you buy two and donate one – here’s a promotional video that explained them:

As soon as Ahlness let the word out that he was interested in having his students work with them, that word got around in a way that now has 28 XO’s taking up residence in his room. As he writes online, the students weren’t short on technology, but this is a wholly different kind of technology, which has sparked them into more exploration, and collaboration, since the computers are networked.

He’s not stopping at one XO laptop per student – he’s hoping to get more donations, enough to create a lending library, among other goals (listed here).