West Seattle, Washington
30 Sunday
West Seattle’s newest public school is one of the first to have its “back-to-school bash” – thanks to Robin and Kathleen for the info on today’s event for families assigned to the brand-new K-5 STEM at Boren:
Sunday, August 26th from 5 pm – 9 pm
WHERE: Lincoln Park Shelter 1 & picnic tables 1-22 are reserved
South parking lot by the zip line playgroundWHAT: Food, friends and fun including a water balloon toss, red rover, and feel free to bring things to play with (footballs, soccer balls, bubbles)
Please bring a potluck food to share and drinks, plates and utensils for just your family! If you can donate – PLEASE bring a uniform item (shirt / pants / shorts / skirt) to the back-to-school-bash. We will have a donation box there – and would love to have inventory for families before school starts!
1st day of school for Seattle Public Schools is one week from Wednesday, September 5th.
(Click image to see larger size)
Photos by WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand
Seattle Lutheran High School‘s football season starts one week from tonight.
This afternoon, the players, coaches, and cheerleaders took to the West Seattle Stadium field for a “Media Day” full of photo sessions and drills, under a perfect blue sky – SLHS blue, of course.
The invitation came from the Saints’ new head football coach, Jeff Scott, who posed with his staff:
More preparation today for the new school year that starts on September 5th, less than two weeks away: Chief Sealth International High School‘s new portable classrooms are being moved into place on the west edge of the campus. On Wednesday afternoon, we photographed the two that had just arrived (above); today, the other two are moving in.
As reported here in June, they will house 9th-grade language-arts and history classes, according to Sealth principal Chris Kinsey. He announced in June that 2012-2013 enrollment was projected to be more than 1,300, about 100 beyond last year, which was already above capacity (and according to a Seattle Public Schools report published this week, 115 students are on its waiting list [total for all grades/programs]).
Seattle Public Schools‘ 2012-2013 school year begins exactly two weeks from today. As the year gets going, new Superintendent José Banda plans “regional meetings” to meet families and commnity members – and he is offering in-person meetings one day a month, too. Details on both, ahead:Read More
West Seattle’s smallest public high school has a new home. You may recall that Middle College High School lost its longtime home at South Seattle Community College (here’s our 6/13 report), which says it needs the space; then Seattle Public Schools planned to co-house it at Boren with K-5 STEM (reported 6/15), but neither school community welcomed that, and a new solution was sought (with confirmation 8/6 that MCHS would definitely not be at Boren). Just received from SPS:
Dear South Seattle Middle College and K-5 STEM at Boren families:
As you know, our South Seattle Middle College program lost its classroom space at South Seattle Community College for the 2012-13 school year and we were planning to co-locate the program on the K-5 STEM at Boren campus.
I’m pleased to announce that we have secured classrooms for South Seattle Middle College at the High Point Center Building located at 6400 Sylvan Way SW in West Seattle. As a result, the Middle College and K-5 Stem programs will remain on separate campuses.
The space at the High Point Center is well-suited for our small Middle College Program and is conveniently located with easy bus line access for our high school students.
We appreciate the feedback from our families, and we worked very closely with the Middle College Principal, Cindy Nash, as we developed a solution we believe will benefit both our Middle College and K-STEM families.
We look forward to seeing all of you at the start of the 2012-13 school year.
Sincerely,
Carmela Dellino
Executive Director of Schools, Southwest Region
Seattle Public Schools
Story and photos by Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Three weeks from tomorrow, the sprawling Seattle Public Schools campus at 5950 Delridge Way SW will reopen as the new K-5 STEM at Boren elementary.
It’s been boarded up for two years, since the end of Chief Sealth International High School‘s two-year stay.
Now, elementary schoolers are moving in, and crews have been working to “make it a respectable place,” as project manager Jeanette Imanishi puts it.
She was our guide for a tour on Monday, along with district communications specialist Tom Redman. Outside, of course, there’s fresh paint. Even the north-side portables, which won’t be used but are staying on the site, are getting a new coat.
Inside, the floors are shining:
Read on to see the rest of our photo tour – from the classrooms to the playground, and beyond:
Roxhill Elementary‘s new principal has been announced, just three weeks after word that Carmela Dellino would move up to become Seattle Public Schools‘ new executive director of West Seattle schools. Here’s the letter from Superintendent José Banda:
Dear Roxhill Elementary community,
I am excited today to announce the appointment of Sahnica Washington as your new principal.
Ms. Washington has been with Seattle Public Schools since 1998, and she comes to Roxhill after serving as a STAR mentor for the past four years. She is deeply committed to helping all students excel by encouraging them to work to their highest potential. She will be a great fit for Roxhill Elementary community.
Sahnica Washington is familiar to many Roxhill families from her time as principal intern in the 2010-2011 school year. She is excited to return as principal and looks forward to continuing to work with the students, families and staff at Roxhill.
West Seattle’s smallest public high school, Middle College HS, will not be sharing the Boren Building campus in Delridge with the new K-5 STEM elementary school after all – another location for MCHS has been found instead. That’s according to an announcement by West Seattle’s school-board rep Marty McLaren, confirmed by Seattle Public Schools spokesperson Teresa Wippel, though both say the new location cannot be publicly disclosed yet.
What do the Blue Angels do before their afternoon airshows on Seafair Weekend? Here’s one answer: Community visits for Q/A and military-recruiting outreach (which after all is the team’s stated purpose). This morning, South Seattle Community College got a visit from the officer who flies Blue Angels jet #3 this year, U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Brandon Cordill, and an airframer from the enlisted support team, Sgt. Doug Green. Among the college delegation there to greet and hear from them, in a presentation that was open only to students and staff, was SSCC math teacher Heidi Lyman, who flew a ridealong during Seafair Week last year:
Cockpit video of Lyman’s flight was shown during this morning’s presentation. That’s part of the video we’re adding shortly – including Capt. Cordill’s humorous-at-times story of how he got to be a Blue Angel, as well as Sgt. Green’s story, potential inspiration for the aviation students at SSCC.
ADDED 11:20 AM: Capt. Cordill’s recounting of how he went from a not-exceptional high-school student (“I didn’t know what I wanted to do in life”) with a low SAT school, to elite Blue Angels aviator inspired by 9/11 to join the military:
Capt. Cordill, by the way, is one of two Marine Corps pilots flying the Blue Angels demonstrations this year, which is rare – they usually have one. (Plus the team that flies the support C-130 “Fat Albert” is USMC, too.) Meantime, here’s the video of Heidi Lyman’s 2011 flight, as shown today:
We’ll add video of Sgt. Green’s story and the Q/A later this afternoon – heading out to Boeing Field now to see the Blue Angels take off. (Capt. Cordill says takeoff is scheduled for 1:30 pm, just in case you were wondering.)
Five weeks from today, school starts. But there’s still a whole lot of summer left to enjoy – and today, blue sky and bright sun graced a high-profile work party at the garden on the Denny/Sealth campus. Above, new Seattle Public Schools superintendent José Banda joined Seattle Storm guard Svetlana Abrosimova in getting some plants in the garden’s raised beds. That was just one of the tasks tackled today:
And we do mean tackled. As in football. Participants included former Seahawks – like Forey Duckett:
And school leaders too – here are Sealth’s principal Chris Kinsey and vice principal Lupe Barnes with superintendent Banda:
Sustainability was the theme here – new planting beds were built from recovered cedar, for example; both schools are certified Washington Green Schools. And after a few hours, everybody was ready for a “zero-waste lunch”:
The produce was all grown in the Denny/Sealth garde and consumed with compostable utensils.As big as this was, it was actually just a prelude to an event next month, the nationwide “Green Apple Day of Service” sponsored by the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council on September 29th.
(World Water Week work party at the Denny garden last March)
Big event just announced for Denny International Middle School‘s garden this Wednesday. From Seattle Public Schools:
The Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council, Washington Green Schools, Seattle Public Schools, Seattle Mariners, Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Storm will join community volunteers and students from Denny International Middle School and Chief Sealth International High School to spruce up the Joan Allen Memorial Garden at Denny school. During the Wednesday, Aug. 1 event, work crews will build raised planting beds from recovered cedar, plant fall crop seedlings, weed existing planting areas and improve the school’s garden storage shed.
The district says new Superintendent José Banda will be there, too.
We have news of a local gold medalist – but it’s got nothing to do with the Olympics! West Seattle High School student Philip Nokeo is home from the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America national conference in Florida with the gold medal for Applied Technology. He earned the trip to nationals by winning that same medal in statewide competition. Philip and teacher Sarah Orton (with him in the photo) traveled with 20 students and staff from elsewhere in the city. Teacher says they were among 7,000 students at the conference, and of course there was time for side trips to Disney World and Universal Studios parks, as well as numerous conference events on which Philip will brief his fellow students in the WSHS chapter next school year. Congratulations!
Two big headlines in the news shared by Community School of West Seattle founder/director Sarah Airhart: Starting in fall of next year – not this fall – her school will focus on what it considers its sweet spot. And two of its teachers, Terry Garrido and Michelle Taylor (shown above with Sarah at center) are venturing out to form a new independent school. Here’s how Sarah tells the story:
The Community School of West Seattle (CSWS) has been working on creating its Strategic Plan for the next 3 years.
CSWS currently has 3 preschool classrooms for 3 to 5 year olds and 1 classroom for Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade.
The preschool program has grown over the years and most recently participated in the WA State pilot study of the new Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). CSWS was instrumental in getting the language of an emergent and project approach curriculum imbedded as an ‘approved’ curriculum model.
And during the pilot process we received some of the highest ratings in the country on the CLASS assessment. The CLASS looks at what we believe is one of the most critical components of any program – teacher/child interaction. The WA State Department of Early Learning (DEL) recently received $60 million to implement the QRIS (now called Early Achievers) across the State and CSWS is among the first programs to participate. You can read all about Early Achievers and the Race to the Top grant here.
(We) have also been recognized by DEL as an Early Achievers Peer Mentor. This opportunity is offered to only 14 programs in King County who served in the pilot study. The Peer Mentor’s role is to provide advice and support to other Early learning programs who choose to go through the rating process.
Part of the Strategic Planning process was to really look at our strengths and passions.
(WSB photo from July 5th)
Three weeks ago, on the day after the 4th of July, we followed up a tip about that slide on the Sanislo Elementary playground, rendered unusable because someone had blown up something right in the middle of it. We’ve been checking with Seattle Public Schools and the Sanislo PTA since then, to find out what would be done about it. First, we learned that the district had removed the blown-up slide, for safety’s sake; whether it would be replaced wasn’t clear – but now, Lynette Jeung from the PTA tells us they have good news:
(Thursday) afternoon, the PTA received an email from our principal, Ernie Seevers, who shared with us that the “district metal shop will fabricate a new slide for us at no cost to the school.” Needless to say, we were thrilled to hear this news! We don’t know yet when the slide would be completed. Of course, we’d love for it to be completed in time for the start of the new school year. That is the next bit of info to find out, but certainly this news was very welcome.
Lynette says they appreciate the community’s support – for a while there, it looked like they might have to consider fundraising to replace the slide, but now it looks like that won’t be necessary.
They have paint, brushes, shovels, wheelbarrows, even a DJ at this morning’s Roxhill Elementary makeover work party featuring hundreds of volunteers from T-Mobile. And Roxhill’s outgoing principal, the district’s new Executive Director of Schools for this region, Carmela Dellino, is there too:
Back in May, Dellino led a meeting at which the school community talked about the campus’s physical challenges – poorly maintained, dilapidated buildings, portables with safety and noise problems – and while this won’t solve them all, it’ll certainly help:
The play-equipment area and nearby garden are getting some TLC too:
Work is going on indoors as well as outdoors:
T-Mobile’s “Huddle Up” community-outreach/employee-volunteerism program is behind all this, and a news release says this is one of 10 “extreme makeovers” the program’s tackling this year, in addition to more than 60 already complete around the country. In addition to painting, cleanup, and playground/garden work (among other things happening there right now), the volunteers’ efforts also will result in “a customized afterschool space stocked with furniture, school supplies, books, and games” to be dubbed the T-Mobile Huddle Up Zone.
Today we welcome WSB’s newest sponsor, The Cove School. Here’s what they want you to know:
Living an interesting, fun-filled, opportunity-stuffed life. Friendly + flexible. Curious + engaged. Following a path that makes them thrilled-to-the-tips-of-their-toes happy. Don’t we all want that life for our kids?
Well, we here at The Cove School sure want that for our kids – both now and when they’re adults. Can a preschool do all that? Ignite a life of mindfulness, creativity, and self-determined passion? We think so. Here’s why – and how – we do it:
We believe every child has a unique contribution to make to the world – and finding that contribution leads to a joyful + successful + complete life. We fill your kids with the desire to do something and the belief that they can. So we set about creating a place that would help our little ones do just that.
To do that, The Cove School combines a variety of philosophies and educational approaches. We focus on social + emotional learning and the mindfulness at our core. Of course (of course!) our students learn numbers, letters, reading, and math. But more importantly, they learn that positive thought and mindfulness is a way of being – not a solution to a problem.
Our preschool ranges from ages 2-6; preschool, pre-K, and junior kindergarten. We show our students the importance of purpose and intent, innovation and creativity. Together, we build a foundation of flexible thinking and understanding different perspectives.
We work with you and your child to instill a love of learning and a knowledge that life is what you make it. In fact, we discourage use of the word can’t at our school. Instead, we say “How can I?” That opens a world of possibilities.
Help your child live a totally fulfilled life. Pop in for a visit or drop us a line to arrange a tour – contact information is at www.thecoveschool.com. We can’t wait to meet you!
We thank The Cove School for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
FIRST REPORT, 11:56 AM: Just forwarded to us:
Dear Roxhill Elementary School families:
It is with deeply mixed emotions that I am writing to let you know I have decided to accept the position of Executive Director of Schools for Seattle Public Schools’ Southwest Region. I will be replacing Aurora Lora, who has taken a job in Texas.
My years at Roxhill have been filled with incredible joy. Roxhill is a vibrant, positive school that celebrates our diverse community and is committed to every student’s success. The staff is truly the best group of educators with whom I have ever had the honor of working. I am proud and grateful to have been the principal of Roxhill. I look forward to watching the continued progress of our students and celebrating the many successes that I am confident lie ahead.
I am also very excited about this new opportunity to lead our principals and staff in service to families in the Southwest Region, which includes Roxhill. While I will miss the opportunity to interact with you on a daily basis, I will be in Roxhill on a regular basis with your new principal. As one of the six regional Executive Directors of Schools, I will support principals’ instructional leadership in order to increase student achievement and close opportunity gaps. This includes using data to monitor school progress, coordinating professional development, one-on-one coaching, principal evaluations and conducting frequent learning walks through school buildings.
Please be assured that my highest immediate priority in the next few weeks is to work with Roxhill staff and parents to select the next leader for our school. Please do not hesitate to contact me to share the qualities and characteristics you would like to see in your next principal. You can reach me at cddellino@seattleschools.org.
You will be able to meet your new principal at the Welcome Back BBQ on Thursday, Aug. 30 from 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. at Roxhill. Looking forward to seeing you all there!
Sincerely,
Carmela Dellino, Principal
Roxhill Elementary School
ADDED 1:03 PM: The district has since sent a news release announcing Dellino’s appointment, as well as an executive director for another region of the district, in a letter from new Superintendent José Banda – read it ahead:Read More
(Photos by Nick Adams for WSB)
South Seattle Community College‘s hangar at Boeing Field was the setting this afternoon for an education-and-jobs roundtable featuring visiting Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden. Aviation Maintenance Technology students work and learn at the hangar, making it the perfect setting for roundtable’s topic: “Community Colleges and Jobs” – one that’s close to Dr. Biden’s heart, since she is a community-college teacher and advocate (here’s her bio). Among the participants, Boeing employee and graduate Jason DeBuys (next to Dr. Biden, center right) was among those who took a turn with the mike:
While the discussion proceeded, Dr. Biden’s husband, Vice President Joe Biden, was a few miles north at the Westin Hotel downtown, helping raise campaign cash for U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, who herself visited SSCC’s West Seattle campus last October (with fellow U.S. Sen. Patty Murray) to announce a job-training program (WSB coverage here).
At right in that photo is Vatrone Vann from Vaupell, a commercial-aerospace supplier (also listed in the program as representing corporate training at North Seattle Community College). More from today’s event, ahead:Read More
(PHOTO UPDATE: Dr. Biden with SSCC president Gary Oertli; photo by Nick Adams for WSB)
FIRST REPORT, 4:01 PM: As noted here this morning, Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden are in Seattle this afternoon/evening for events – he’s headlining a fundraiser downtown for U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell; she’s participating in an education roundtable hosted by South Seattle Community College at their Boeing Field aviation facility. That’s why you’re seeing helicopter(s) over eastern West Seattle (thanks for the texts). And the motorcade is temporarily closing I-5 – you can expect that in the other direction around 7 pm, according to SPD.
4:28 PM UPDATE: The event with Dr. Biden is under way; we’ve substituted a new photo atop this update. More coverage to come!
6:59 PM UPDATE: One more round of eastbound bridge backup as the vice president heads back to the airport (thanks to Neil for the photo). We’ll have a separate story with more on the SSCC-hosted event in a bit.
Two additions to the 4th of July aftermath:
That slide at Sanislo Elementary is cordoned off today, unusable by the kids who are attending day camp on the campus at 18th and Myrtle. It was seriously damaged overnight, apparently by fireworks (or something explosive/incendiary):
According to a day-camp staffer, the district was expected to come out and take a look.
Second, an incident we had asked Seattle Police about earlier is now on SPD Blotter. We’d also asked if there were any arrests on Alki last night. Both are addressed in this SPD report:
Two armed men were arrested in separate incidents during yesterday’s 4th of July festivities on Alki Beach.
Around 8pm, police received a flurry of phone calls about a man brandishing a handgun on an apartment balcony near 55th Avenue SW and Alki Avenue SW.
SWAT, patrol officers, and gang detectives arrived and talked to witnesses, who reported that a man had used a skateboard to smash the windows of an Oldsmobile Cutlass parked behind the building. After smashing the cars’ windows, the suspect ran up to his third floor apartment where he’d flashed a gun.
When owner of the Cutlass ran up to the suspect’s third floor apartment to confront him, the suspect pulled a gun on the man. The suspect then went back inside his apartment.Officers tried to call the suspect, but he refused to answer his phone. He eventually came out of his apartment and spoke with officers, who then took him into custody. Officers found a knife on the suspect and recovered a loaded .40 caliber handgun, pepper spray, and a skateboard from the suspect’s apartment.
The suspect, who was intoxicated, was apparently angry that the owner of the Cutlass had parked his car in the suspect’s parking space behind the apartment building. The owner of the Cutlass refused to give officers a statement about what had happened.
In another incident on Alki, gang detectives arrested a a 21-year-old felon near Alki Avenue SW and Beach Drive SW, after they received a tip that the man was carrying a gun.
Detectives contacted the man—who, as a convicted felon, is not allowed to have access to guns—and found a 9mm handgun on him. Detectives then booked the man into the King County Jail.
This afternoon, we’re welcoming Little Rascals Preschool of West Seattle as a new WSB sponsor; here’s what they would like you to know about their school:
Little Rascals Preschool kicks off their inaugural year full of energy, excitement and adventures for the little rascals in your life.
We are thrilled to be able to offer a preschool program where kids can explore, grow and learn right here in West Seattle! West Seattle is a wonderful place to live, and we look forward to enhancing the community by assisting families in the task of providing a strong foundation for the child’s future development and having fun while doing so.
We are looking for Little Rascals in West Seattle who are between 2 ½ and 5 years of age. We are enrolling now – (206) 932-2936, or www.littlerascalsofwestseattle.com.
Little Rascals is part of the West Seattle Preschool Association.
P.S. Little Rascals has an open house next Sunday, July 8th, 1-4 pm at 4125 51st SW.
We thank Little Rascals Preschool for sponsoring independent, community-collaborative neighborhood news via WSB; find our current sponsor team listed in directory format here, and find info on joining the team by going here.
Go see a Mariners game while helping the West Seattle High School baseball team! They play in the annual High School Baseball Classic at Safeco Field every spring, and part of the deal is for WSHS to help sell tickets to an M’s game. This year, they’re selling tickets to a second game to meet their quota, and offering you the chance to buy in: The game is Saturday, September 22, vs. the Texas Rangers. You can get what would be an $20 ticket for $8 (***that’s the corrected amount – we had the numbers transposed previously**). If you’re interested, call Gina at 206-779-9793.
Since last night’s road-closing delivery of a two-classroom portable to Lafayette Elementary, and the sighting of another one on its way to West Seattle Elementary today (above), we checked with Seattle Public Schools to see which other schools will – and won’t – get portables. The district confirms, for starters, what a commenter said after we mentioned which schools had city permits pending for portables: Gatewood Elementary and Pathfinder K-8 are NOT getting them after all. SPS spokesperson Tom Redman tells WSB, “Processing and review of permits takes 6 to 8 weeks. Thus, SPS filed for permits prior to the completion of the open enrollment period. Actual 2012-13 enrollment data indicated that portables are not needed at Gatewood and Pathfinder.” With that, and with the deliveries last night and today, our area has two more to go, as listed by Redman:
Schmitz Park Elementary
2 single portables = 2 classrooms
Tentative Schedule:
-1st portable (in halves on two trailers) scheduled to arrive 6/28 Thursday early morning and the 2nd portable (in halves on two trailers) scheduled to arrive 6/28 Thursday late morning/early afternoonChief Sealth International HS
2 double portables = 4 classrooms
Waiting to be moved from the south side of Thistle Street (now at SW Sports Complex) onto the campus
Time and date of move to be determined by SDOT – will schedule with contractor
Sealth principal Chris Kinsey told us earlier this month that 9th-grade language-arts and history teachers will work in their portable classrooms.
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