Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Seattle school closure list announced

Seattle school district superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson has released a list of schools and programs for closure and relocation in her final recommendation to the School Board in an attempt to help clsoe a $37 million budge gap.

A full article is on http://www.komonews.com/news/local/37170589.html.

Arbor Heights is not on the list.

Technorati tag:

January chats with Steve Sundquist

School Board representative for West Seattle, Steve Sundquist, will be available to meet with interested parents, guardians and community members at two locations this month.

Wednesday January 21st @ 9:00 AM
Coffee To A Tea With Sugar
4541 California SW, Seattle

Saturday, January 24th @ 1:00 - 2:30
Delridge branch of the Seattle Public Library
5423 Delridge Way SW Seattle

All are welcome to come and share insights and concerns about education in Seattle.

NOTE: there is usually a very small group and this is a great opportunity for 'one on one' conversation.

Technorati tag:

Save Seattle Schools Rally

There is a Save Seattle Schools Rally on Wednesday, January 7th, at 5 pm at the John Stanford Center. Join parents, educators and students for a better vision of the Seattle Schools. For more information, contact Vicky Jambor.

Technorati tag:

Anti-school closure petition gaining steam

The Seattle P-I also wrote a brief article able a group who is pushing for school closures only as a last resort. http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/schoolzone/archives/158391.asp

The article says:

A new group called "Educators Students & Parents for a Better Vision of Seattle Schools" (ESP Vision) has started an online petition, criticizing the preliminary plans to close some Seattle schools and urging the Seattle School Board to consider closures "strictly as a last resort."

An excerpt:
"We, the parents, teachers, students and concerned members of the Seattle Public Schools community, oppose the capacity management proposal put forth by School Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson, which would close as many as seven school buildings and discontinue (or dramatically alter) as many as 14 programs, directly impacting over 4,000 children citywide and negatively affecting many more through class-size increases and other unintended consequences."

Grass roots momentum to minimize school closures is growing.

Technorati tag:

Seattle PI Article - School closure fight goes online; Parents, others turn to Web sites, blogs, Facebook

Mark Ahlness proudly represented Arbor Heights in an interview with Jessica Blanchard - Seattle P-I reporter. The Tuesday Seattle P-I article starts out with:

Tech-savvy Arbor Heights Elementary teacher Mark Ahlness had a hunch his school would be targeted in the latest round of Seattle school closures. So he bought a domain name for $10, and waited.

It paid off: Hours before the formal announcement that his program would be discontinued in the fall, Ahlness launched "Save Arbor Heights," a blog touting the school's value to the community.

"I figured, well, if we're not on the recommended closure list, that's $10 for the domain name, and that's all," Ahlness said. "That's $10 well spent."

Others quickly followed suit....

The full Seattle P-I article can be read at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/394886_schools06.html.

Thank you, Mark for taking the lead. Arbor Heights is very lucky to have such a technology pioneer!

Technorati tag: