The construction fence is up around the original Denny International Middle School, which will be demolished before summer’s end, to be replaced by tennis courts, a softball field, play equipment, and a big open field where another school might be built someday – Denny reopens in its new building adjacent to nearby Chief Sealth International High School this fall. The old-Denny site’s contractor BNBuilders has sent a newsletter to share with the community – detailing which buildings will go first, with a site map included; you can see it here (PDF).
(Photos and video by Christopher Boffoli for WSB)
The upcoming opening of the new Admiral Safeway loomed large at today’s work party for Lafayette Elementary‘s “Play It Forward” playground project, and not just because the store is across the street from the school. Safeway employees (including those above) joined the work party. Among them, the new store’s manager, going public for the first time in that role, though he is someone you might already know – more ahead:Read More
The big move is on for Denny International Middle School. Those truck trailers we showed you the other night – when they were parked at Boren – are now busy helping move boxes, furniture, and more out of the old Denny and into destinations including the new. More photos after the jump:Read More
No, the semi-truck trailers lined up in the parking lot at vacant Boren School on Delridge don’t mean anyone’s moving in. They’re staging for a move involving two other campuses – the big migration, starting tomorrow afternoon, from the old Denny International Middle School to the new one alongside nearby Chief Sealth International High School.
When we asked Seattle Public Schools about the truck trailers, suspecting they had something to do with the Denny move – which precedes abatement work to prepare for demolition, as explained at last week’s informational meeting – we learned something else: Boren, 2+ miles from Denny, is being used as staging because of a big sporting event at the Southwest Athletic Complex east of Denny this weekend, so that parking lot is off-limits. That’s according to SPS spokesperson Teresa Wippel, who says this notice went to Denny-area residents today:
Denny International Middle School will be relocating, beginning this Thursday, June 23rd. School District staff will be moving furniture and equipment to the new building, continuing into early next week. “No Parking” signs will be posted along the west and south sides of the building as well as along 29th AVE SW between SW Cloverdale St and SW Trenton St. and you will see moving trailers on these streets.
On Saturday, June 25, and Sunday, June 26, the Southwest Athletic Complex will be the site of the Pacific Northwest Junior Olympics Track and Field Championships. A large crowd is expected.
Information about, and the schedule for, the track/field meet is on its website.
(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.
The end of the school year for Seattle Public Schools elementaries and K-8s meant special celebrations at some schools. At Lafayette Elementary in the Admiral District, it was the last day for principal Virginia Turner after 7 years (who is moving to Coe Elementary on Queen Anne, as announced last week). WSB’er Luckie shared photos, including the special hats that 2nd graders wore in her honor, and the principal herself saying goodbye:
Luckie says Golden Acorn Award-winning volunteers Deborah Hazlegrove (below left) and Holly Grambihler (below right) were feted too – as organizers of the Play It Forward playground project, which reaches a milestone this weekend with groundbreaking for the next phase and a work party (as mentioned here).
Seattle public middle/high schools are still in session till Thursday.
With days to go in this school year for Seattle Public Schools – elementaries and K-8s are out after Tuesday, middle and high schools are out after Thursday – the focus on next school year intensifies. After publishing citywide waitlist numbers a week ago, the district is keeping its promise of weekly updates. If you haven’t watched waitlists before, you might wonder whether they’re getting shorter or longer. Read on to see what happened with last week’s five longest West Seattle waitlists:Read More
(Photos by Patrick Sand for WSB)
Their year started with a ribbon-cutting and ended with confetti-tossing – and the Chief Sealth International High School Class of 2011 is officially launched into the post-high-school world. Friday evening at Memorial Stadium downtown, sun graced the grads as their devoted cheering sections filled the stands:
These three had unique reasons to cheer:
School Board president Steve Sundquist has a Class of ’11 daughter, Rachel Sundquist (his second Sealth graduate, after Leslie in 2008); Dr. Susan Enfield is in her first round of sendoffs as acting district superintendent; principal John Boyd shepherded his first class in the much-renovated campus. Ahead, more scenes from tonight’s ceremony, the third and final commencement for West Seattle’s major high schools:Read More
West Seattle’s Denny International Middle School has won the citywide Middle School Math Olympiad for the third consecutive year, according to principal Jeff Clark, who reports: “The team got strong performances from all three grades: 8th and 7th Grade teams finished first overall in their grade levels, while the 6th grade team finished second overall. The competition was held at Campion Hall on the Seattle University campus. The sun was out and the mathematicians from all of the schools were having fun. Congratulations to our students and to Mr. Lai, our math-team coach.”
Two more local schools are getting much-needed new musical instruments, thanks to donations from the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, whose donation to Denny International Middle School and Chief Sealth International High School was reported here earlier this week. Daniel Rossi teaches instrumental music to students at six area elementary schools, including Highland Park and Concord International, which he says are also getting grants from the foundation: 20 flutes, clarinets, violins, violas, trumpets, and trombones for Highland Park, to “begin to build a collection of instruments for students to use,” and 13 flutes, trombones, and cellos for Concord, “to supplement our inventory.”
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.
After many years at Seaview Methodist Church, Lincoln Park Cooperative Preschool decided to seek a new home – and has just announced it has found one for next school year: The Fauntleroy Schoolhouse. The schoolhouse at 9131 California SW, you’ll recall, is in its first year of a new life as a nonprofit-owned-and-operated community facility, and is continuing to add new tenants; this is the latest one. Lincoln Park is part of the South Seattle Community College cooperative-preschool family, with a format that includes parents working in the classroom one day a week. It offers classes for ages 1-5, and has a few openings – e-mail Judy at jkatalki@aol.com.
Big news for West Seattle’s biggest elementary school: Lafayette Elementary in the Admiral District is getting a new principal. After seven years as Lafayette principal, Virginia Turner is moving to Coe Elementary in the north end. Here’s her announcement in the school newsletter, shared with us by a parent:
I wanted to let you know that I have made the decision not to return to Lafayette next year. I feel it is time for new leadership at the school, and I am looking forward to the challenge of leading a new school. I will be the Principal at Coe Elementary on Queen Anne Hill next year.
I am so grateful for the kindness and support you have given me during my tenure at Lafayette. Lafayette is a remarkable school, and I am very fortunate to have been able to work with you the past 7 years. Thank you for allowing me to work with your children. It has been so rewarding to be a part of their learning, development, and growth.
The new principal for Lafayette is an experienced principal named Jo (Lute-Ervin) who is currently the Principal at Tops K-8. Previous to that position she was principal for 9 years at Leschi Elementary. I know you will welcome her as she becomes a part of the Lafayette community.
Lute-Ervin has been principal at TOPS for two years. Lafayette’s student population has grown dramatically in the past few years, well past 500 students; a double-size portable was moved onto school grounds last winter to house some of the overflow.
(CLICK FOR FULL-SIZE VERSION: Top of the rendering is west, left is south, right is north)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
For nearby residents, a meeting last night was a chance to voice concerns and ask questions about what will happen over the next six months of demolition and construction, imminent now that Denny International Middle School‘s new building adjacent to nearby Chief Sealth International High School is almost done.
But for a few others at last night’s meeting with members of the project team for the forthcoming transformation of the current Denny site into sports facilities and park space, it was a chance to be sure that the work they had done two years earlier hadn’t somehow changed in the meantime.
Through months of meetings in 2008 and 2009, the original Design Team for the Denny site – including community members as well as school staffers and other stakeholders – had brainstormed, analyzed, and planned. What emerged in 2009, was the final “preferred plan” – see it in our story from its debut.
As you can see if you compare it to the newest graphic, atop this story, what was shown at last night’s meeting was fairly close in its details. But Mary Quackenbush and Sandra Melo, who had been there through the Design Team process, noticed a difference or two.
A bit of rain, but the packaged plastic ponchos didn’t have to come out during tonight’s West Seattle High School Class of 2011 commencement ceremony at Memorial Stadium downtown. It happened to be the first WSHS graduation for first-year principal Ruth Medsker, beaming with School Board president Steve Sundquist and assistant principals Jennifer Kniseley and Michael Kelly.
As listed in the program, the graduating class numbered almost 200 this year, including 70 Honor Roll (3.2 GPA or better) students and six valedictorians – Collrane Frivold, Hannah Matalone, Haley Peterson, Andreas Pope, Danielle Tran, and Daisy Zhen.
Collrane also was among the student speakers, in the next photo with Rojine De Las Alas, addressing “Goodbyes Are Not Forever” (photo right, seated, were the students who gave the welcome, Lauren Jeglum and Marielle Reeves).
In the stands, hundreds of cheering parents, relatives, and friends –
(The banner, which you can’t quite read in our photo, said CONGRATULATIONS SANTINO – there’s only one Santino in the list of graduates, so we’re guessing that was Santino Tauiliili). While spectators were mostly under the overhang, the grads were out on the open field, and there was a bit of rain – not enough, though, for the ponchos to have been deployed:
Congratulations, Class of 2011! (The rest of this week’s ceremonies are listed here; first local class to graduate was Seattle Lutheran High School last Friday – WSB coverage here.)
If the school at 8402 30th SW were to stay open one more year, it would celebrate its 60th anniversary. David T. Denny Junior High School – named after the first member of the Denny Party to arrive in Seattle – opened in the fall of 1952, with 1,030 students, according to this Seattle Public Schools document telling its story, which says its enrollment peaked at more than 1,600 a decade later, with 22 portables in use.
But now, Denny’s five buildings have only a matter of days left to house students and staff. After the last classes later this month, Denny principal Jeff Clark and his team will move into their new building barely a block east, adjacent to Chief Sealth International High School, and the old buildings comprising the original Denny campus will be torn down.
This Tuesday, an informational meeting about the demolition and ensuing sports field/park construction is planned, mostly for neighbors and other interested community members.
But for the sentimental side of a school about to be turned into rubble, a gathering this weekend packed the punch.
Community members – alums, former staffers, anyone and everyone – were invited in for “One Last Look” on Saturday morning, concluding with memories shared in the cafetorium.
Among those reminiscing – Denny’s renowned music director, Marcus Pimpleton, also a former Denny student, talking about the support he received while studying there – and the support he has worked to give while teaching there:
The “essence” of Denny, Pimpleton insisted, will move with it to its new building. And its co-location with Sealth brings many possibilities, said Aurora Lora, the district’s executive director of West Seattle-region schools:
Many concerns and questions about the Denny/Sealth site-sharing have simmered in the years since the co-location plan surfaced; the schools’ principals answered questions just last month. But as Lora said, the focus now is on the move, and a fresh start. As for the demolition/construction project, the community meeting is at 6 pm tomorrow (Tuesday, June 14) at Southwest Community Center – we have more information on that, and the schedule for the months ahead, here.
If you were at Alki today, among the surrey pedalers, the sunbathers, the volleyball players, and everyone else enjoying the afternoon, you might have noticed … pom-pom-waving cheerleaders. The young women of the Chief Sealth International High School Cheer Squad spent six hours washing cars at Alki Auto Repair. Since the clouds stayed away until late afternoon, they had perfect weather – and by the time we checked in around 2:30 pm, they had already raised $500. (Side note: Last day of school for Sealth and other public high schools in Seattle is still a week and a half away – June 23rd.)
Earlier this week, after hearing from a West Seattle parent concerned about the waitlist situation at local Seattle Public Schools, we asked the district for school-by-school waitlist information. They said they’d try to make it available by the end of the week – and they did. Here’s the current breakdown, school by school, grade by grade, district-wide. The waitlist is for students whose families asked that they be assigned to that school, though it’s not their “neighborhood” school. There’s usually a fair amount of movement on the list before (and shortly after) school starts, but for now, here are the five longest West Seattle waitlists:
Chief Sealth International High School, 9th grade waitlist – 83
Pathfinder K-8 kindergarten waitlist – 48
Gatewood Elementary kindergarten waitlist – 28
Lafayette Elementary kindergarten waitlist – 28
Schmitz Park Elementary kindergarten waitlist – 20
The Sealth 9th-grade list is the second-longest districtwide, eclipsed only by the 88 waiting for 9th grade at Garfield High School. If you have a student on a waitlist, you can check her/his status here (the district says it’s usually updated on Fridays).
Less than an hour ago, the Seattle Lutheran High School Class of 2011 entered the school gym on the north side of The Junction and took their seats for the big ceremony. This year, SLHS has 40 graduates; school spokesperson Bil Hood says all have been accepted to colleges and universities. Co-valedictorians are Jessica Mikler and Michala Watford; salutatorian is Emma Mahboub. They are three of eight seniors graduating Summa Cum Laude, with a 3.8 GPA or higher; five are graduating Magna Cum Laude, 3.5-3.79 GPA (including Fred Lisko, also recognized recently by the Seattle Times as for his athletic achievements); seven are graduating Cum Laude, 3.2-3.49 GPAs. This is the 31st class to graduate from SLHS.
This morning, we received and published the call for a host family for the new Chinese teacher arriving to work with students at Chief Sealth International High School and Denny International Middle School. This afternoon, the principals of West Seattle High School and Madison Middle School say theirs needs one too:
Host a College Board Chinese teacher and help support the Chinese-language program at West Seattle High and Madison Middle School. In addition to making Chinese language accessible to students, it will also give your family the opportunity to experience firsthand the Chinese culture. The home stay commitment will run ideally from late August and last thru late June; shorter stays may be possible. The home stay would consist of providing a room, meals and access to laundry. The schools will pick up lunch and possibly breakfast during the school year. Our guest teacher, Zhao (Cathy) Ping, will be in her second year working at Madison and will begin her first year at West Seattle High. Cathy is an easy house mate, she is independent, has a great personality, and is outgoing.
For more information, please contact West Seattle at 252-8800 or Madison at 252-9200. You may also e-mail the principals directly.
Henterson Carlisle hscarlisle@seattleschools.org
Ruth Medsker rmedsker@seattleschools.org
(WSB photo from April 2010 Confucius Institute celebration at Sealth/Denny)
From Chief Sealth International High School principal John Boyd:
As you may know, Chief Sealth and Denny have hosted Chinese Guest Teachers through an exchange program with the College Board for the last three and a half years. This has been a great experience for both of our schools, led to the creation of a K-12 Mandarin Chinese program in SPS, and helped us make the connections that resulted in our schools hosting the Confucius Institute for the State of Washington.
Our current Guest Teacher, Mr. Yang Dawei, is returning to China this year after two years of service to us. We are very excited to be welcoming Ms. Xilong Zeng, who also uses the English name of Celine. Ms. Zeng has been teaching English to Chinese secondary students since 1998.
We are in need of a host family for Ms. Zeng to stay with starting on July 28. Ms. Zeng would stay with the host family for all of the 2011-2012 school year. This is a great opportunity to learn about Chinese culture and pick up some Mandarin Chinese, while doing a great service for our schools. Hosting the Guest Teacher is much like hosting an exchange student, families are responsible for providing the teachers with a room of their own, including the teachers in family meals, and providing them access to things like a washer and dryer. The teacher will receive a modest salary through the Chinese Ministry of Education and the Confucius Institute, and will be provided a insured car from the schools as transportation.
If you are interested in serving as a host family, or know of someone in West Seattle who would be interested, please have them contact the Chief Sealth Main Office at 252-8850.
The day after Marty McLaren received the 34th District Democrats‘ endorsement for West Seattle’s seat on the Seattle Public Schools board, over incumbent Steve Sundquist, two more challengers filed to run against him. Today is the final day for candidate filings in the August 16th primary races, and Joy Anderson and Charita Dumas have joined McLaren and Sundquist in the race for the District 6 seat. Both are West Seattleites who were involved in the legal fight to stop the closure of Cooper Elementary School (here’s a story from two years ago). Three other school-board seats are on the ballot this year, and each incumbent in those races has at least two challengers so far.
(Photos courtesy Denny/Sealth music programs)
The “Happiest Place on Earth” must have been the “Most Melodic Place on Earth” last weekend – and student musicians from Denny International Middle School and Chief Sealth International High School were part of it. Denny’s principal Jeff Clark forwarded this detailed report about their big trip to Southern California:
Congratulations are in order for the students of the Chief Sealth International High School Concert- Marching Band and Sealth Jazz II as well as the Denny International Middle School Marching Band, Jazz Band, and Orchestra, who traveled to Anaheim, California, this past weekend to participate in the Disney Magic Music Days and Music in the Parks Festivals.
At the Saturday Music in the Parks competition, the Sealth Concert Band earned a rating of Superior, the highest rating possible, and the 1st place trophy in the high school band AA division. The band had perfect scores in rhythm and technique and a near-perfect score in tone quality. One judge commented, “Fine reputation of school and community.” The Denny String Orchestra, Denny Marching Band, and Denny jazz ensembles earned ratings of Excellent, as well as the 1st place trophies in their respective divisions.
On Sunday morning, the Denny Orchestra participated in a Soundtrack recording session at the Disney Magic Music Days sound studio in which they recorded music to Disney animation. Still later day the Denny marching band kicked off the afternoon Disney Main St. Parade with a pre-parade march through the park, followed by Sealth being similarly honored as the featured band for kicking off the evening Main Street Parade.
Read on as the report continues – and you’ll also find out about instrument donations for the student musicians:Read More
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