School scoop
Lots happening at WS schools. (Let us know any time about big doings at yours — public, private, parochial, whatever.) A few highlights:
SANISLO ELEMENTARY TODAY: City councilmember Jan Drago, a former teacher, is joining the Walk-To-School Month assembly this afternoon.
WEST SEATTLE HS: Look for extra-exuberant school spirit with the homecoming dance tonight, homecoming football game (vs. Rainier Beach) tomorrow night.
CHIEF SEALTH HS: This is the first year for its prestigious International Baccalaureate program; an IB information night is coming up October 18th. And CSHS is throwing itself a 50th birthday party on October 13th.
COOPER ELEMENTARY: Its EARTH Project just got a $53,000 grant, half from the state and the rest from the Northwest Environmental Education Council, the Nature Consortium, and Camp Long. A school district press release describes the EARTH Project as “a new magnet environmental focus at Cooper Elementary School. It includes the planning and planting of an on-site habitat by students as well as integration of art and technology linked to the environmental projects teachers are developing.”
MADISON MIDDLE SCHOOL: Its next PTSA meeting (Wednesday, October 10th) features a high-profile guest — new Seattle Public Schools superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson.
LAFAYETTE ELEMENTARY: Families are rounding up pledges for its annual walk-a-thon, coming up October 19th. (Press release here.)
Denny/Sealth project: District suddenly sets an update meeting
Just got word from the Westwood Neighborhood Council that Seattle Public Schools has scheduled a community update meeting next week about the impending Chief Sealth High School/Denny Middle School campus consolidation construction project. The neighborhood group itself called the last update meeting, in June, after learning details about the project that previously hadn’t gotten much public airing. (We covered that meeting in-depth; here’s the link.) The district’s flyer (which touts a weblink, buildingexcellence.org, that as of this writing goes only to a “parking page”) says the meeting at 6:30 pm next Tuesday (10/9) in the Chief Sealth HS theater will include updates on the schedule and design for the project, and take Q/A. Here’s the flyer:Read More
New way to find out what’s coming up
Just launched: Version 1.0 of our brand-new Events page, stocked with a variety of events coming up in West Seattle (and a select few elsewhere, but of WS relevance) over the next three months. If you are involved with an event of public interest and you don’t see it there yet, please send e-mail to tell us about it. One of the events on the page already is the October fundraising dinner/auction for West Seattle’s only private high school, Seattle Lutheran HS; WSB readers sent us full details too, including a call for more auction donations:Read More
Brevity can equal levity
This reminds us that Seattle Public Schools had sent around a press release recently mentioning that just-retired assistant principal Nels Enquist from Chief Sealth HS will be honored as a “Distinguished Principal” at next month’s Association of Washington School Principals conference. But CSHS might want to add a letter or two to this tribute spotted on the school’s marquee this morning:
New West Seattle trees, with Nobel cachet
The WSB photo/video crew is just back from the tree planting at Pelly Place held today in connection with Earth Summit II at Chief Sealth HS. First photo shows Nobel Peace Prize recipient Wangari Maathai assisting students with the tree planting:
The photo below shows Gatewood Elementary students who read a poem at the event. Others in attendance included King County Councilmember Dow Constantine; no mayor sightings — he is in Eastern Washington today. We will post video from the Pelly Place event later.
2 for tomorrow
TOMORROW NIGHT: What should the city do with millions of your $ earmarked for transportation projects? Don’t wait till you read here that crews are on their way to (fill in the blank) and then say “Hey! Why don’t they (whatever) instead?” — stop by tomorrow night’s city Transportation Department open house at Youngstown Arts Center between 5 and 8 pm, look at what’s under consideration, register your preference. Or – if you absolutely can’t make it in person – the city has set up a webpage where you can see what’s on the potential project list and rank your preferences – click here, then choose South Sector; with 29 WS locations on the list, one just might be near you. Make your choices by September 27th.
ALL DAY TOMORROW: Chief Sealth HS hosts Seattle Earth Summit II 9:30 am-3 pm with an impressive guest list, including the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, Wangari Maathai, as well as West Seattle’s world-famous photographer Art Wolfe. Also part of the agenda: a ceremonial tree-planting @ 11:30 am at Pelly Place Ravine, which Wolfe and local students are working together to revitalize as part of Project Earth Care.
Final faceoff
Also speaking of schools – the primary election results have just been certified, and the Final Two for West Seattle’s school board seat are now official: Steve Sundquist (photo left) got 53.4% of the primary vote (5,624 votes), while Maria Ramirez (photo right) got 23.4% (2,467 votes). Although school board members represent certain districts, in the general election the entire city votes on all seats, so Sundquist and Ramirez (as well as the candidates in the other districts) will have to campaign citywide. Election Day: November 6th.
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While things are quiet: Looking ahead
Many big things coming up this month in WS. Here are a few we haven’t mentioned yet …
WEDNESDAY — First day of school for Seattle Public Schools (and many private schools too). Note that Cleveland HS is no longer in the Boren building on Delridge; its own new building is done. However, South Lake HS continues its temporary stay in the old Hughes building; and Fairmount Park Elementary will be empty after closing in June.
THURSDAY — Shoppers go wild! It’s the Fall Fashion Affair in The Junction, 7-10 pm at Sweetie, Edie’s, Clementine, and Carmilia’s.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16TH — The Northwest Hope & Healing Breast Cancer Half Marathon, with an added 5K Walk/Run if the half-m is a bit much. Sign up now at Capers in The Junction or get the registration form online and send it in.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18TH — First-ever fundraising breakfast for Southwest Youth & Family Services, 7:30 am @ Salty’s on Alki. Read more at the SWYFS website about all the people their programs help.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22ND — Annual dinner & auction to raise $ for the Log House Museum, 5 pm @ Alki Masonic Hall in The Junction. Call the LHM for tickets (938-5293).
Reader recommendation request: WS preschools
The Instant Hausfrau cc’d us on correspondence with someone who is moving back to West Seattle soon after some years away and now has a 4-year-old. Our excellent local network of co-op preschools already has been recommended, but the parents aren’t sure they can make the co-op time commitment. Any other recommendations from WSB-land?
It’s a tough job, and some of them are gonna do it
It was about 15 minutes before the end of tonight’s school-board candidates forum on the lawn at Pathfinder K-8 when our internet-attuned ears really perked up.
First, Dan Dempsey (photo left), one of 4 contenders for the West Seattle-centered District 6 seat that Irene Stewart is giving up, declared he has multiple blogs on his campaign website, but isn’t getting much feedback yet. (Reviewing his site, it appears he’s put up more discussion boards than blogs, but nice gesture anyway!)
Then, answering the same audience question about ways the board could improve communication with the public, District 1 candidate Peter Maier (photo right) offered his observation that the official Seattle Public Schools website just isn’t particularly easy to use — tough to access documents, etc.
Understatement of the night, from our quarters (and not just us; a fair amount of those in attendance laughed knowingly). But as she rose next to answer the same communication question, District 2 incumbent Darlene Flynn (photo left) was clearly not amused, retorting sharply, “That website didn’t even HAVE documents on it four years ago.”
Not surprisingly, given the rocky year the school board has had, Flynn and the other incumbent in attendance, Sally Soriano (photo right), spent a lot of their time defending and detailing what they believe to be their key first-term accomplishments. But that was really a small part of a fascinating evening that probably helped clarify a lot of August 21 (and beyond) decisions … much more after the click:Read More
You’ve seen the signs, now see (and hear) the people
Political signs are multiplying along every busy stretch of road in WS (and elsewhere in the city). This is because the primary election, earliest ever, is less than 3 weeks away. The hottest Seattle races are for School Board (including the WS district, whose rep, Irene Stewart, is not re-running) and City Council; we are now just a few days away from your chance to see/hear the School Board candidates in person, at an outdoor forum, Pathfinder K-8 School lawn (Genesee Hill), Monday night, bring a picnic dinner, enjoy free ice-cream treats courtesy of the Pathfinder PTSA –picnicking and mingling with the candidates starts @ 5:30, speeches @ 6:30. One PS on the August 21st election: Two King County ballot measures will be decided, both tax levies — Proposition 1 for regional/rural parks, Proposition 2 for parks, trails, and Woodland Park Zoo.
A moving sight
We happened onto this scene today at Fairmount Park Elementary, one of the buildings closed by Seattle Public Schools at the end of this past school year to save $. While the building is being taken out of commission, Fairmount Park’s people and programs are “merging” with High Point Elementary one mile southeast; tomorrow night (Wednesday) the School Board is set to vote on the proposal to give the “merged” schools a fresh start by renaming HP “West Seattle Elementary.” (Also on the board agenda, the introduction of the proposed contract for architect and engineering services on the Denny/Sealth project. More on that in the morning; we’re discovering too many nested documents linked from the agenda to coherently summarize it all tonight!)
Mixing politics and treats
If only more political events were set up this way: Two weeks from tonight, as the Aug. 21 primary election approaches, at least 10 Seattle School Board candidates (including 2 incumbents) will be at Pathfinder K-8 for an ice-cream social and moderated forum the evening of Aug. 6 — no, not in the cafeteria, but on the school’s front lawn, atop lovely Genesee Hill. Picnic dinners encouraged. Free ice-cream bars served. So far, forum organizer Eric Baer of the Pathfinder PTSA (co-sponsoring with counterpart PTSAs from 3 other WS elementaries: Alki, Arbor Heights, Sanislo) tells us the confirmed attendees include 4 of the 5 candidates in the WS-centered District 6 race, as well as candidates from the 3 other districts to be decided this year. Don’t just wade frantically through your voters’ pamphlet at the last minute; hear and see candidates in person. Aug. 6; see you there.
City cash for two WS projects
The folks working on Ercolini Park on SW Alaska just west of The Junction are in line for a $90,000 Neighborhood Matching Fund Award from the city — this isn’t a giveaway, but a hard-fought win that’s only possible when community members commit time and money to projects, enough to impress city leaders to chip in. Ercolini Park organizer Bill Barna says they have a little more fundraising to do — $6K worth — you can go to the Ercolini Park website to find out how to contact them to chip in $ (or anything else the project needs). Congratulations also are in order to Gatewood Elementary School; the next phase of its playground project also is in line for a $90K matching-fund grant. (Full list of matching-fund projects citywide, including a South Park skatepark, is readable here.)
As the new school year starts its second day, 
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