Schools. Desire input from teachers and parents.

[rootbound]

Mom2soren,

I agree that checking out the respective websites helps some but I too am always looking for parental feedback. It seems to be harder to find that one would hope. We have managed to find the hidden jewels of West Seattle all by word of mouth.

We are also alums of both Tilden and Explorer West. We tried the Public schools…Lafayette for Kindergarten and were so traumatized we never looked back. Tilden is a powerful, dynamic, nurturing community with AMAZING teachers that have been there FOREVER. So many of the parents volunteer in and around the school, in the classroom, after school,carnivals, field day!…don’t even get me started on FIELD DAY. Some of the parents who are there everyday have children who graduated from Tilden YEARS ago. They just can’t stop coming in to help. Artists, Photographers, musicians…picture your first grader learning to sing Carl Orff’s O’ Fortuna and then SINGING it along WITH the Seattle’s OPUS 7 chorus..(the Director of the school is a member) Lou Magor, the music teacher is a treasure. Terrific Science, Art, Writing and so on. Explorer West is almost an extension of Tilden. The Tilden Science teacher is the 7th grade Biology teacher at EW. Many Tilden Kids go on to EW. Great Community, Engaged thoughtful Teachers, Parents involved in every aspect. The powerful outdoor education program is integrated into the whole curriculum. Environmental Science, Sustainability, Community Service: Middle Schoolers learning to care about themselves and their fellow human beings. Amazing Music, Art, Drama. Three years of Latin, Art History, Civics, and Roman History topped off with a week long class trip to Rome as 8th Graders. It doesn’t get any better.

Now if I could only find a similar high school….

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[Lena]

It’s not in West Seattle, but my son goes to an amazing school called Puget Sound Community School http://www.pscs.org/in the international district. It’s a ten minute drive from West Seattle.

My son loved going to Pathfinder through 3rd grade but by 5th we had decided that he needed something different.

PSCS is a very small school of 32 students, grades 6-12. It is based on the Sudbury valley school idea of independent democratic education. http://www.sudval.org/. The teachers at this school are amazing. The students grow to love learning and going to school. Instead of just pressing a standard curriculum, they teach the kids to be independent thinkers and creators who have a lifetime love of learning and know how to use the resources available to achieve anything they desire.

The students and teachers design the curriculum based on what the students are interested in. They have a huge volunteer support staff and most classes are 3-7 students.

My son has gone from disliking school to being excited not just about school but about independent learning outside of school. He comes home with a curiosity to learn more and actually wants to do his homework because he understands why he is doing it.

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[Lena]

Oops I messed up on the link to PSCS. It is http://www.pscs.org/

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[Totally_Anonymous]

Hi,

We’ve been very happy with Shorewood Christian School.

The tuition is VERY reasonable and our child is happy there!

http://www.shorewoodchristianschool.org

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[Turtle]

We have been very happy with West Seattle Montessori School. Preschool thru 8th grade. They also offer afterschool care. They are a sponcor of the W.S. blog, so click to see the web site. I am a huge beliver of Montessori education.

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[Maryann Horsley]

hi – i am a west seattle teacher at sanislo. it is a great school and has many creative and efficient features. it has 2 of each grade level, K-5, and the 2 classes at each grade level team-teach many subjects. it also has a quality community environment and there are parents helping in the school. we are all involved in many ways, but mostly, i feel that there is a great connection between teachers, students and parents. it is also very diverse demographically and has a great program of after-school clubs. i would definitely say that it is a school to visit and check-out.

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[Author]

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