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November 17, 2009 at 6:06 am #593038
FigowMemberOur child will be going to Kindergarten next fall (Fall of 2010) and we are wondering what people have heard or experienced regarding Pathfinder Elementary. Please share what’s going well with the school and what needs to be improved, and where we should go to get the best info. Thanks, John
November 17, 2009 at 6:36 pm #682335
carrieannMemberDo you have an email address you could provide? A friend’s daughter is in Kindergarten @ Pathfinder this year, and I’m sure she’d be happy to send you her input.
November 17, 2009 at 7:54 pm #682336
WeezieMemberMy children thrived at Pathfinder and then in middle school (Madison) and West Seattle HS. I have always considered the Pathfinder community and that part of their being and becoming to be a blessing for our family, although I did not always agree with everything that was going on and the disorganization at times made me c r a z y. Our oldest is now in third year at the U. Youngest a HS Sr. That being said, it is not for every child. Choosing a school is all about getting the right fit for your individual child’s learning needs. You are wise to be doing your research.
November 18, 2009 at 5:44 am #682337
FigowMemberNovember 18, 2009 at 5:45 am #682338
FigowMemberWeezie,
What kind of children in your opinion tend to benefit from Pathfinders approach? What kinds should flee? Thanks, John
November 18, 2009 at 6:46 am #682339
addParticipantHi – actually, Pathfinder is a K-8 so that right there makes it different than the other elementary schools in WS. I have had at 1 or 2 kids at Pathfinder since 2000 and I really love that school. My kids are very different socially and have differing learning styles yet they both thrived/are thriving there. I love how the school takes a “whole child” approach to learning and teaching, the amazingly talented and dedicated staff, the emphasis on expeditionary learning, and the community of families. It’s just a creative and welcoming place.
Sounds like it’s been a while since Weezie was at PF, so I don’t know if things have changed, but I can honestly say that I don’t feel it’s more “disorganized” than any other place might be (and I consider myself a fairly organized person).
As others have said – best idea is to go visit the school (principal & staff are very open), talk to families with kids there (or perhaps had kids there and then made a change) and really get a feel for the culture and environment and see whether or not it’s a good fit for you and your child.
Good luck!
November 18, 2009 at 6:04 pm #682340
WeezieMemberWeezie here. Yes, it has been several years since my children were at Pathfinder. My comment about disorganization stemmed from my own education where everything was regimented and neat-as-a-pin was the rule of the day! Pathfinder was hands-on, whole child, and a great learning environment for them. (My son raised chickens from eggs as a school project.) It was very casual (i.e. calling teachers by their first name). There were not grades given at that time. It was not a traditional experience, which both my husband and I had. However, my children learned well and it created in them a love of learning. They are adept at public speaking since they had to learn how to do that from K on. They are, however, not good at taking tests. Children who might struggle are those who need more structure, or those who do not have involved parents or some structure at home. IMO
November 18, 2009 at 6:08 pm #682341
WeezieMemberPS, in terms of being K-8, my children begged to go off to middle school when the time came. They were ready to move on to the larger environment of Madison. (And moving to Madison was a huge culture shock for them. Not insurmountable, but a shock nonetheless. Very regimented, by comparison. I found the new boundaries/expectations helpful at that time in their adolescence.)
November 19, 2009 at 9:12 am #682342
jellyfishMemberWe are also a prospective Pathfinder family for kindergarten 2010. I have joined the Pathfinder yahoo group & am on the PTSA email list, so that I can get a feel for their issues and culture. Thus far, I really dig it. You can join the list by going through their website to contact the volunteer coordinator.
They have a diverse population of families, including openly gay parents, foreign-born parents, the range of socioeconomic levels, and children with disabilities. All diversity only strengthens the school, in my opinion. A few families in my neighborhood have happy younger children at Pathfinder, but a couple of the middle schoolers seem a bit troubled to me (I’m hoping this is not a reflection of the school). One middle schooler has obvious academic challenges and is a poor learner, while another feels unhappy at Pathfinder and reports being bullied (but his parents tell me that he’s just finding middle school to be a social challenge, period, and would regardless of location; he went to & loved Sanislo for K-5). A third middle schooler I know is thriving there.
Pathfinder has an idealistic mission statement, which I’ve been told by one family isn’t fully realized. There are curricular restrictions that temper educational creativity and independence in teaching methods, since the school must still implement the WASL and use guidelines mandated by the Seattle School System. In my opinion, the expeditionary model could only benefit the kids by making the material “come alive” in a way that is personally relevant to the kids. This MUST be more effective and enjoyable than an endless day of rote memorization, repetition, and regurgitation of meaningless facts.
The WASL scores are not great, especially in 8th grade science, but it is debatable that a standardized test is an indication of meaningful learning. Pathfinder parents seem to reject or minimize the value of the WASL. I suppose if you want your child to have the same kind of education as our generation, a more traditional style could be found at other schools in West Seattle; a few have higher WASL scores, such as Lafayette. If you prefer a newer model of education that addresses the “whole child”, potentially at the risk of having a lesser ability to perform at standardized tests (or even less solid grasp of the basics, though hopefully not), then Pathfinder seems to be a better choice. It seems to come down to what is important to you, the parent, in addition to the preferred learning style of your kiddo.
In my opinion, at what other time in life is someone able to fully explore and discover their own talents and interests while also having room for mistakes, than childhood? This is grade school, after all. I don’t want my child to robotically go through the academic motions and never have a chance to really figure out who he is. I could drill my child to read and do math at an advanced level, perform on an IQ test & other standardized tests, strive for Spectrum or APP, and become an academic drone so that his sole worth is based on my idea of success (something I’ve seen *many* parents do w/ their children), or I could choose a more creative and relaxed environment so that he can fully explore himself and enjoy the process. But I’m a bit of a hippy at heart.
November 19, 2009 at 5:12 pm #682343
GenHillOneParticipantI am copying my post from a thread 5 months ago, because the WASL score issue for prospective parents always comes up and I did not learn this tidbit until my student was around 2nd grade when I started working a few kindergarten fairs.
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“Beware of putting too much weight on those WASL test scores…take with a grain of salt and ask questions. Someone correct me if things have changed, but when we were in grade school, only the overall scores were reported. That means that schools with significant Spectrum students’ scores were ‘compared’ to those with significant ESL students’ scores. Guess which one looks like they’re doing a better job on paper. As an example, how are the non-Spectrum students doing at Lafayette? Those numbers really should be broken down to give better information to parents. You should be able to compare Spectrum, ESL, native-English-speaking-non-Spectrum, etc. scores at various schools so that you can apply that to your own student when trying to make a choice. To my knowledge, this information isn’t available.”
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Well, it’s not available easily, but another comment showed how you can extract the information using 7th grad math, lol. Original thread here (for context, remember this was before the new assignment plan was rolled out):
November 21, 2009 at 5:03 pm #682344
WSACMemberI have a daughter in 2nd grade at Pathfinder and I can honestly say this is a wonderful school where children love learning. The whole child is nurtured here and they get to work with fabulous teachers who have a dedication to their work that I have not seen in other schools. Each child is valued and respected and they are always learning whether they know it or not. I haven’t seen any of the disorganization that Weezie experienced, in fact I’d say that the school is very organized. There are a lot of well planned activities by the PTSA and the school. There is a wide range of extra-curricular programs which are well attended. The on-site after school care program is great too, it’s fun and has the same feeling of community as the rest of the school. The new facility is absolutely beautiful and nicely nested into the forest preserve where more hands-on learning takes place. As for what children should avoid this school, I just can’t imagine, maybe ones who really like sitting at their desks for long periods. Have a look, Figow, and see what you think. Try to imagine your child at the various local schools and I think you’ll know when you find the right one. Good luck with your search!
November 21, 2009 at 5:04 pm #682345
WSACMemberIf you want opinions, greatschools,com is a pretty interesting website. They base all of their rankings on WASL scores *ugh* but the parent comment section is worth a read.
January 21, 2010 at 10:33 pm #682346
WSMMemberPathfinder seems interesting, but one thing that confuses me is their reference to “we teach the whole child”. As opposed to what? What do the other public schools teach? I’d like to consider Pathfinder as well as our “neighborhood” school – do they give out grades now? What about homework in K5.
January 22, 2010 at 5:21 pm #682347
addParticipantHi WSM, I’ll chime in here with my opinions from a PF perspective. I have one child at PF now (in 6th grade) and another who attended K-5. To me, “whole child” means that the social-emotional element is equally important as academics. PF really does appreciate each child’s unique learning style and attends to their social/emotional needs and development. I have experienced this first hand as my two kids were (are) very different yet somehow the environment and the instruction they received seemed to fit each perfectly.
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Grades are given to middle school students. K-5 students receive a progress report with an evaluation of how each child is meeting standards (as set by the Seattle School District, or maybe it’s statewide). So instead of a grade or number, your child is marked as “proficient” or “developing” for each standard. The best part, however, is that the teachers provide a short written narrative for each child for each main academic area as well as social/emotional development. It is a very personalized touch that I am so grateful for.
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I’ll let someone with younger kids answer the K-5 homework question. My experience was that there were weekly homework packets but it was not ridiculous in terms of time required.
Hope this helps. There is an open house scheduled next Thursday and another in February. School visits are scheduled throughout February and March. Best advice – go visit, ask questions, watch the interactions, etc. Good luck!
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