ORIGINAL REPORT, 6:03 PM WEDNESDAY: Earlier today, a parent asked us about a secondhand report of an ICE sighting at or near Denny International Middle School today. We were unable to confirm it, and didn’t hear any other reports, but families have since received this note from Denny principal Mary Ingraham:

It was brought to our attention that a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicle was seen in the Southwest Athletic Center parking lot today.

The recent announcement regarding the removal of protected areas from immigration enforcement and the possibility of ICE entering schools to deport students is deeply troubling to our district and community.

Our school and the SPS Safety and Security team responded immediately and effectively, and our school remains entirely safe. We also followed district procedures regarding immigration. Because our 8th grade students were outdoors on the field during lunch, we brought them inside early.

Please know at no point were our students or staff at any risk. We acted proactively to ensure safety. It is confirmed that the vehicle has left the area.

I spoke directly with 8th grade students because we believe in being transparent in our leadership and with our students. I explained to them that their safety is our priority, and we acted out of an abundance of caution.

As a reminder, Seattle Public Schools (SPS) remains steadfast in our commitment to providing safe, welcoming, and inclusive learning environments for every student, regardless of race, religion, national origin, immigration status, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

We are deeply committed to the well-being of every student, family, and person in our care. Thank you for trusting us to look after your children each day.

Warmly,

Principal Mary Ingraham
Denny International Middle School

The Southwest Athletic Complex, owned by SPS, is across SW Thistle from the campus shared by Denny IMS and Chief Sealth IHS. District policy “limiting immigration enforcement” can be read here and here. Meantime, SPS has two more days of classes before schools close for spring-break week.

ADDED 2:07 PM THURSDAY: One of the agencies to which we’d sent followup inquiries, Seattle Police, responded by sending a link to this new post on their SPD Blotter website:

The Seattle Police Department would like to clear the air regarding recent rumors and false media reports that have understandably fueled community concerns about alleged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity near a school on Wednesday, April 9.

A school administrator emailed parents and community members stating an ICE vehicle had been seen near the school. This was false. The vehicle was from the Seattle Police Department as part of a commitment to prevent crime and protect students near schools where violence has become a concern.

Parents, students, and teachers can expect to see marked and unmarked police vehicles near these schools. As staffing allows, officers will be in these areas before and after school as well as around lunchtime. Officers may be wearing either the standard navy blue or a grey uniform. It is not our goal to alarm anyone with our presence as this is an effort to intervene in any issues before they escalate.

The Seattle Police Department is committed to a safe and supportive community for all people and supports the rights of undocumented people, who are often victimized and exploited. These members of our community may not feel safe coming forward when they are victims of crime. It remains the intent and commitment of the Seattle Police Department to foster trust and cooperation with all who live, work, and visit Seattle and to do all within our ability to preserve the safety and sanctity of our community.

We follow State law RCW 10.93.160 and Seattle Municipal Code 4.18.015:

The Seattle Police Department will not enforce civil federal immigration laws. The Seattle Police Department does not ask about an individual’s immigration status unless directly connected to a criminal investigation (eg. human trafficking).

You are a part of the Community:
The City is committed to helping its employees and communities, including immigrant communities, understand laws to avoid confusion and uncertainty.

You have rights:
The Seattle Office for Civil Rights (SOCR) enforces laws against illegal discrimination in housing, employment, public accommodations, and contracting.

SOCR will continue providing outreach and trainings, including know your rights workshops to educate individuals and renters, and educate businesses and housing providers about their obligations under the law. This includes information about immigration and citizenship status as a protected class.

We will protect you:
The Seattle Police Department Bias Crime Unit will continue investigating hate crimes, act as a resource to patrol and other follow-up units, engage in officer training, and maintain hate crime and incident data.

New SPD Chief Shon Barnes issued this statement in February about department policy regarding immigration-related matters.

ADDED 4:28 PM: In response to our followup inquiries with them, SPS sent us this note that Principal Ingraham sent today to the Denny community:

This message is being sent as a follow up to my letter sent about a report that a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) vehicle was spotted near our campus yesterday.

It has been confirmed it was Seattle Police Department (SPD) officers on patrol in the vehicle.

Given the sensitive time we are in, I sincerely apologize for the distress and confusion caused by sharing incorrect information.

These patrols are at the request of Seattle Public Schools (SPS), and SPD has made a commitment to the district to conduct additional patrols around some of our campuses before and after school and during lunch periods.

These patrols are not to monitor students, but to provide extra visibility into the surrounding neighborhoods.

The police are using all available resources – including unmarked vehicles with government plates – for these directed patrols. The district was not aware SPD was using unmarked patrol units until this incident.

SPD will continue to direct these patrols to schools focusing primarily on middle and high schools based on incidents and need.

SPS remains steadfast in its commitment to providing safe, welcoming, and inclusive learning environments for every student. Our school will continue to follow district protocols and procedures regarding the safety and security of our students and staff.

Please be assured I am taking steps to ensure accurate communication is shared in the future. I want to express my deep appreciation for our community—your care, support, and grace means a lot.

Sincerely,

Principal Mary Ingraham
Denny International Middle School

6:45 PM: Happening until 7:30 at the temporary home of Alki Elementary (historic Schmitz Park Elementary at 5000 SW Spokane), students’ first-ever Makers’ Market! Treats, tunes, crafts, more in the cafeteria and hallways, and a BBQ outside.

ADDED POST-EVENT: A few more photos – the student face-painters by the door were popular:

Lots of custom items for sale – personalized bracelets, for example:

And this table’s offerings included pet treats:

Musical performances were happening in the hallway. Big crowd – congratulations to all on what they’re hoping to make an annual tradition.

(WSB photos)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

It’s all about reading right now at Tilden School, an independent secular elementary in West Seattle.

Reading is always big at the small-but-mighty Home of the Owls, but right now there are two bonus reasons, both open to community participation: The annual Read-a-Thon, and a Book Fair. More on those later in this story.

Overseeing it all is Tilden’s first-year head of school, Andrew Gustav, himself a Tilden alum, “graduating” in 2002. He’s also the son of a teacher who was at Tilden for 15 years. Tilden educators tend to go by their first names, so former students might remember her as Fran. Gustav says he’s still trying to get used to going by his first name, though “Mr. G” works too.

Gustav’s mom retired just before the pandemic, an event from which many schools’ enrollment has not yet fully recovered, Tilden included. It has 67 students now and room for 33 more.

Asked for the one-line description of his school, Gustav offers, “We are the liberal-arts college of elementary schools in West Seattle.” Tilden’s roots go back 40 years to founder Whitney Tjerandsen wanting to start the kind of school she wanted her child to attend. “It’s really a service community,” suggests Gustav, teaching kindness as well as academics. Specialties include science, art, history, social skills, and music (which Tjerandsen, despite having technically retired four years ago, leads every Thursday).

Tilden students’ art was shown during last week’s West Seattle Art Walk (as reported here). It also adorns the Tilden hallways (their building north of The Junction is co-housed, but not affiliated, with First Lutheran Church of West Seattle).

The hallway displays are one of the things Gustav says he loves about the school – “walking down the halls covered in art, covered in stories. We encourage students to express themselves, to be who they are … to understand that individuals have differences and there’s value in that.”

Writing can celebrate that, and so can reading. March is National Reading Month, Gustav notes, adding, “Tilden has always had a strong culture of reading,” and that’s why the Read-a-Thon is their biggest fundraiser of the year. “Students commit to a certain number of pages, and sponsors support that reading” – in a variety of ways, as shown here. “Knowledge is the one thing that can’t be taken from you.” But reading doesn’t just apply to words, Gustav adds – “if they just want to read graphic novels, that’s OK too.” He sees it all as “creating a better tomorrow.”

And that’s what he’s hoping to do for Tilden itself – after 40 years, “maintaining some of our traditions and adding to them, improving them.” Traditions include a Thursday morning gathering where he offers a prompt for the students to use as writing inspiration. The week before our interview, he had suggested they write “about something they were celebrating, an achievement or victory or accomplishment.” The inspirations varied – a martial-arts tournament, a game on the playground; “We’re asking students to be a little vulnerable and talk about their own lives a bit … a good writer is a good communicator. (That is) one of the most important skills we have,” no matter what career you eventually take on.

In addition to program improvements, Gustav’s goals for Tilden School (a WSB sponsor) also include an expanded community presence – they’ll likely be involved with the Kids’ Zone at West Seattle Summer Fest again this year, for example – and pursuing accreditation through the Northwest Association of Independent Schools (a regional organization whose headquarters happen to be in West Seattle). That’s a major move requiring the school to examine its practices, policies, and financial plan, among other things. They’re also evaluating community needs and trying to “remove barriers to entry … working on an endowment so we can offer families financial aid,” which will help with the goal to “find ways to diversify our school and expand enrollment.” Participation in NWAIS, he adds, will enable more networking.

Before we wrapped up our conversation, we asked for more about Gustav’s background. He came from the Eastside – the Lake Washington schooldistrict, where he taught middle-school history for seven years before becoming Dean of Students at Timberline Middle School. His administrative experience there helped him learn “how to best address students’ needs” while helping them work on behavior that’s best “for society” as well as for them. That experience dovetails with social- and life-skills work at Tilden, among other things: “How can we build capacity for making a mistake and learning from it? How can we build their resilience (by stressing) ‘you are going to mess up, make a mistake, that’s where the growth happens …”

And then there’s the fun stuff about leading a school. When we talked, he was still mulling ideas for additional Read-a-Thon rewards – maybe a pie in the face for him, if they hit a certain page goal. But the job itself is fun, as it brings him “full circle” from his Tilden student days: “We’re excited about what the future holds.”

For prospective families, know that most of their current openings are in the higher grades; kindergarten and 1st grade are “pretty much full.” (A side note about the lower grades at Tilden: “We don’t believe in one-to-one screens before third grade. We’re teaching students to respect the computer, and then do things away from it.”

Operations administrator Jennifer Trise adds, “We greet the kids every morning and they’re running into the building! I think that’s a testament that we’re doing something right.” She says that includes the change at the top: “We’re delighted to have Andrew – the energy shift is massive.”

P.S. You can support Tilden’s Read-a-Thon here, or contact Gustav at andrewg@tildenschool.org to “set up becoming a grade-level or day sponsor, committing to specific donations for total pages read.” (The goal is 23,200 pages – about a thousand more than last year’s total!) And if you’re planning on buying a book soon for your own reading needs, a Book Fair is happening right now – through Sunday (March 23) – at Paper Boat Booksellers (4522 California SW); just mention Tilden when making a purchase.

Seattle Public Schools will be launching another superintendent search. Dr. Brent Jones announced this morning that he is leaving in early September. His announcement says highlights of his tenure include that “recent research has found that we have achieved accelerated academic recovery from pandemic declines at a significantly faster rate than Washington state as a whole or compared to similar districts in the state”; not mentioned, a key lowlight – last year’s scrapped school-closure plan.

Dr. Jones has been running the district for almost four years, since starting work as interim superintendent in 2021. At the time, he was only expected to fill that role for 14 months, but he became “permanent” superintendent instead. His announcement today says that “Further details on the superintendent search process will be announced in the coming weeks.” The announcement follows the Seattle Schools Community Forum website reporting Sunday that Dr. Jones might be leaving as his wife had accepted an out-of-state job.