tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.comments2018-04-24T06:12:17.881-07:00Save Arbor HeightsMark Ahlnesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17272987393319865752noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-66453901616779792392009-03-19T18:44:00.000-07:002009-03-19T18:44:00.000-07:00Yes Tracy, Charlie has brought this up more than o...Yes Tracy, Charlie has brought this up more than once. He first mentioned it <A HREF="http://saveseattleschools.blogspot.com/2009/02/enrollment-guides-now-available.html" REL="nofollow">here</A>. - MarkMark Ahlnesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17272987393319865752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-39112912967347238862009-03-19T13:43:00.000-07:002009-03-19T13:43:00.000-07:00I'm in transit at the moment and can't get the exa...I'm in transit at the moment and can't get the exact link but if you graze the always-great saveseattleschools.blogspot.com, Charlie Mas has written there about making the formal suggestion/proposal for Spectrum @ AH, and not hearing back ...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-85928649960649486052009-03-19T12:04:00.000-07:002009-03-19T12:04:00.000-07:00The proposed school assignment plan states 'Spectr...The proposed school assignment plan states 'Spectrum will be available at one or more attendance area elementary schools in each middle school attendance (service) area.' If the new assignment plan continues the north/south clusters in West Seattle a Spectrum program would need to be placed at a South Cluster school. Sounds like a good time to start petitioning for Arbor Hts as a good fit for the Spectrum program.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-15472658912677662132009-01-04T10:17:00.000-08:002009-01-04T10:17:00.000-08:00I just read your blog post about the possible clos...I just read your blog post about the possible closure of Arbor Heights. I wanted to let you know that your school, your students and you have been an educational technology beacon for me and the teachers and students that I work with for a number of years. I was fortunate to come across Arbor Heights' website in one of the first years that our school division provided internet access in our schools and have been inspired ever since! Through the work of you and your students I was able to get two of the schools where I have worked to participate in the Earth Day Grocery Bag project. The Seatle Seahawks newsletter has been an inspiration for several groups of students at my schools as we have worked at creating our own newsletters. I have referred to your school website over the years as I have worked at designing the websites at a number of schools. Most recently, I have referred teachers and students to your classblogmeister site and I have appreciated your comments in the the support listserv for blogmeister. Your work has made a difference!<BR/><BR/>I have some idea of the struggle that you are going through as our own school division looks at closures and program changes and cancellations in these next couple of years. I will be thinking of you.<BR/><BR/>Rhonda Wills<BR/>Teacher-librarian<BR/>McLurg Elementary School<BR/>Regina, SaskatchewanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-35424421416658252612008-12-21T19:23:00.000-08:002008-12-21T19:23:00.000-08:00I am a fifth grade teacher at a 500-student Pre-K ...I am a fifth grade teacher at a 500-student Pre-K through 8th grade school in Fort Myers, Florida. Like Mark, I am always looking for ways to integrate technology into the core curriculum. Technology is wrapped up in almost everything people do on a day-to-day basis; why not use it in education, too?<BR/><BR/>The way Arbor Heights has done this over the years, and the fact that I, and others, have "found" Arbor Heights and its online contributions via the Internet, speaks volumes about the way Mark and the other educators at this fine school are using technology to communicate your school's mission. In addition, the students of Arbor Heights are getting a still-somewhat-unique opportunity to be on the cutting edge of technology use.<BR/><BR/>I hope Arbor Heights, which is uniquely situated to carry on a tradition of excellence in educational leadership, can continue to operate as a community-based school (another endangered species) for a long time to come!<BR/><BR/>Paul Schwan<BR/>fifth grade teacher<BR/>Fort Myers, FloridaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-45591923626517907532008-12-16T05:09:00.000-08:002008-12-16T05:09:00.000-08:00I have been aware of the Arbor Heights website sin...I have been aware of the Arbor Heights website since around 1995. It inspired me to help my own elementary school (at the time) to create a web presence. In the meantime I have followed the Earth Day Groceries Project and read what students have been doing with the XO laptops on their blog. <BR/><BR/>Arbor Heights has been a leader in online communication and an inspiration to others.<BR/><BR/>Janice Friesen<BR/>Campus Technology Coordinator<BR/>Barton Creek Elementary School<BR/>Austin, TXAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-41428961677189623552008-12-15T18:32:00.000-08:002008-12-15T18:32:00.000-08:00Please count me among those who have great gratitu...Please count me among those who have great gratitude for the pioneering work that has emanated from Arbor Heights. When I first became involved with the Internet in education, there was precious little there for K12. At this time, the world wide web had not even been invented yet. However, you were there with us as we built what was needed, and when the web did become available, you and your students pointed the way to what could be achieved. Technology changes so rapidly, that the idea of impermanence must always be at hand. <BR/><BR/>However, what does persist is unwavering creativity, imagination, ingenuity and dedication. I hope that in making difficult decisions about resource allocation that those deciding take into account the value of honoring the longstanding contributions coming from this school, and allowing the roots of innovation to continue to spread and deepen. Some aspects of life in the digital age must change in a flash, but this makes it equally important that we maintain connection with the "real life" parts, that people can experience with the fullness of their being. A school is much more than a building, it is a purposeful place, and the purposes that you, your colleagues and your students have followed have had great influence on many of us all over the world.<BR/><BR/>I wish you continued success and growing support in your quest to save your school, and secure the opportunity to continue your work with each new entering class of students.<BR/><BR/>Ferdi Serim<BR/>Santa Fe, NM 87508<BR/><BR/>ISTE Board Member (at-large)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-89246716826513681032008-12-15T18:18:00.000-08:002008-12-15T18:18:00.000-08:00Wow... I read the story about Arbor Heights the ot...Wow... I read the story about Arbor Heights the other day and was flabbergasted.<BR/><BR/>I hope you don't mind a bit of a trip down memory lane... Many years ago, I was spending some time out teaching and being a principal, yet was still involved in education. I had done some early work on the importance of computers for education and had done some post graduate work on a project called, "Telecommunications and the Online Educator" - a paper long since gone from my archives.<BR/><BR/>When the web started to weave its way into my life, I was immediately struck by how 'websites' might be engaging for the members of a school community. That was when I discovered the Arbor Heights site. It was downright fascinating and I visited it often over the years.<BR/><BR/>In 1999 I returned to education as a teacher/principal in a small school in Langdale, British Columbia. One of the first things I did was to create a web page for the school. I modeled it a bit after the Arbor Heights school pages, including little square icons and image maps. My how things have changed. <BR/><BR/>I recall that our school site was one of the ones listed on About.com ... one of some 700 or so school sites in the world that they recognized! There were four elementary school sites in British Columbia on that list.<BR/><BR/>Over the years I have followed the progress of Arbor Heights ... always wanting to get a chance to visit, but never doing so. <BR/><BR/>I am so sorry to hear of the upset in your community. We, too, are not immune to changes and our school district is seeking public input into changes that may be made in the future, the top two right now being to change two of our elementary schools into middle schools and moving the grade K-6 students to other schools. I've heard the message from those parents as well as I am currently responsible for our school district website and the feedback on many issues that comes my way as webmaster to be forwarded on to the board office.<BR/><BR/>So, I wish you and the students well in your journey ahead. <BR/><BR/>Cheers from BC. <BR/>Bob Cotter<BR/>Manager of Data & Technology<BR/>School District #46 (Sunshine Coast)<BR/>Gibsons, B.C. CanadaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-77923514990431153472008-12-05T14:06:00.000-08:002008-12-05T14:06:00.000-08:00In addition to reporting on last night's workshop ...In addition to reporting on last night's workshop <A HREF="http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=12374" REL="nofollow">here</A> (WSB co-publisher Patrick Sand, was at Stanford Center to report on it - we are both veteran journalists and on nights like this, both of us are out covering stories for WSB), I also published an update on the holiday bazaar while it was happening, with photos - <A HREF="http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=12364" REL="nofollow">that link is here</A>, just in case you missed it since it was such a busy night!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-23954876844650938132008-12-05T12:41:00.000-08:002008-12-05T12:41:00.000-08:00On the http://WestSeattleBlog/blog/, they have a g...On the http://WestSeattleBlog/blog/, they have a great recap of the Thursday Evening workshop: <BR/><BR/>School-closure fight: Arbor Heights parents at district "workshop"Tammy Wooley https://www.blogger.com/profile/15987108813603048378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-71232164260144001862008-12-04T14:00:00.000-08:002008-12-04T14:00:00.000-08:00We posted our followup very early today (in additi...We posted our followup very early today (in addition to the in-progress post that is linked here already) with video of each of your six speakers from last night, in their entirety, in six individual clips (<A HREF="http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=12347" REL="nofollow">click here</A>) - Tracy at West Seattle BlogWShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06932627099385203863noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-68436829111892483942008-12-04T10:57:00.000-08:002008-12-04T10:57:00.000-08:00Closing a school and dismantling its community is ...Closing a school and dismantling its community is a heart wrenching process. So impressed with your commitment and especially impressed with how you have used social networking tools to connect and support your school, students and parents. Best of luck.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-42971310419181785362008-12-04T08:51:00.000-08:002008-12-04T08:51:00.000-08:00I'll be there.I'll be there.Tim Haywoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14423889023718509986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-1503978802925378352008-12-04T08:23:00.000-08:002008-12-04T08:23:00.000-08:00Who is planning to attend this workshop? It would...Who is planning to attend this workshop? <BR/><BR/>It would be nice to get a count of the number of folks who plan to attend.Tammy Wooley https://www.blogger.com/profile/15987108813603048378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-77120337296244048722008-12-03T22:00:00.000-08:002008-12-03T22:00:00.000-08:00I want to Thank all of those who got all the facts...I want to Thank all of those who got all the facts and recomendations together for tonights meeting. Also, for all the Arbor Heights speakers "Excellent JOB".<BR/><BR/>Arbor Heights Parents ROCK!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-43458256484114476612008-12-03T21:30:00.000-08:002008-12-03T21:30:00.000-08:00The speakers and parents who went to the district ...The speakers and parents who went to the district meeting tonight from Arbor Heights really demonstrated wonderfully the strength of our community. Great job and thank you for standing up for the Seattle children and community.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-65550929008057604522008-12-03T21:16:00.000-08:002008-12-03T21:16:00.000-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Tammy Wooley https://www.blogger.com/profile/15987108813603048378noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-41594201826763389382008-11-27T11:15:00.000-08:002008-11-27T11:15:00.000-08:00We posted live from the coffee meeting as it happe...We posted live from the coffee meeting as it happened<BR/><A HREF="http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=12147" REL="nofollow">click here</A><BR/> and will be continuing to cover information and developments 7 days a week, as often as there is new information to share - please let us know everything you are up to, before/during/after (and of course we will monitor this site).<BR/><BR/>We have set up a special coverage category for all WSB reports related to this round of proposed school closures and changes<BR/><A HREF="http://westseattleblog.com/blog/?cat=94" REL="nofollow">westseattleblog.com/blog/?cat=94</A><BR/>so everything we have done (dating back a couple months to the first hint school closures were looming) is archived there, newest to oldest.<BR/><BR/>For anyone who uses RSS readers, you can subscribe to that category by clicking the "rss" next to "West Seattle school closure" in the category list on the right sidebar of WSB.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-82909390170009705532008-11-26T21:07:00.000-08:002008-11-26T21:07:00.000-08:00As I have stated on other blogs....My biggest conc...As I have stated on other blogs....My biggest concern after reading the recommendations are that they are forcing my children to be “reassigned” not because they are closing Arbor Heights but because they discontinuing their program? So they will have a school there just not the current one??? I am not quite sure how that seems fair to those of us in this neighborhood and I am also not quite sure why Arbor Heights was chosen to be discontinued and "other" schools in the south cluster were not looked at for discontinuation or closure as they had been previously, especially since enrollment at such schools is down yet again. I now understand why more and more people have lost faith in the Seattle Public School system and why more are turning to private schools. The choice they are making here is difficult for even me to understand so how do I explain to my children that their school is still open but they are not able to go there any longer? <BR/><BR/>I hope they know that their recommendations will not go forth without a battle. My children’s grandmother went to Arbor Heights as did my husband and I. We live in this neighborhood for many reasons and this school is one of them. This is a neighborhood school in the truest sense and they are robbing us the opportunity to give that experience to our children. I will not allow them to choose where my children will go to school. That is a choice we as parents have made and it is not something they are going to get to do now or ever. <BR/><BR/>I fear these concerns will fall upon deaf ears as they have done so on so many other issues and that saddens me. They ask parents to get involved and to voice our opinions and concerns yet in so many instances it seems their decisions are made regardless of our input. <BR/><BR/>We need to use all our energy to fight to keep our neighborhood school, our extended family open and thriving as it has done for so many years. Arbor Heights matters to us that live here that is why we are here, why we stayed, and why so many come back. <BR/><BR/>Lisa McFarlaneRanting Parenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02507483781648760825noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-25722738407176905072008-11-26T10:45:00.000-08:002008-11-26T10:45:00.000-08:00I attended the board meeting last night. I feel th...I attended the board meeting last night. I feel that there may be hope, there seems to be people on the board who value the ideals of community schools and suggested that Cooper may be a viable choice for Pathfinder. But we must make our case strong by attending all the meetings and being a strong presence. -Victoria Hollerbach<BR/>http://www.seattleschools.org/area/capacity/timeline.pdfVictoria H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12598284498527090380noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-85936377537106547652008-11-26T00:18:00.000-08:002008-11-26T00:18:00.000-08:00I went to the School Board meeting tonight to hear...I went to the School Board meeting tonight to hear WHY they put Arbor Heights on the closure list. But the only answer they gave was they wanted the property for another school. As a parent, a taxpayer, and a voter – I find their explanation lame and insufficient for the amount of disruption their scheme would cause. If approved, it would crush an excellent neighborhood school and scatter the kids. What did we do to deserve this? We did everything right, as far as I can tell. Parent involvement. Parent involvement. Parent involvement. That’s what ALL the education experts say is key to well functioning schools. Parent involvement is off the charts at Arbor Heights and the school district must hear this. They need to hear how much this community values its neighborhood school.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-66983209910840823092008-11-25T21:47:00.000-08:002008-11-25T21:47:00.000-08:00The value that Arbor Heights Elementary gives to m...The value that Arbor Heights Elementary gives to my family is a strong sense of community. I have 2 kids in AH. When we walk in the neighborhood, my kids point out our fiends’ homes, friends that we met at AH. I’ve always felt that AH is the community, neighborhood school. It has created a small town feel in the middle of a large metropolitan city. This is what I want for my kids. My kids know their neighbors and they know us because of this school. Also, my kids have created strong relationships with their teachers that have been very special to them. The teachers they have had really cared about their education. To send our children from AH to other schools would mean the end of this community and the relationships build with in it. It isn’t simply closing a building.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-42172737142983170312008-11-25T16:41:00.000-08:002008-11-25T16:41:00.000-08:00Are we talking about buildings or kids? I thought...Are we talking about buildings or kids? I thought it was the kids that we're important? Arbor heights great school and has really good special ed program. If the district can't provide for the special ed students then maybe a law suit will make them rethink! Not to mention the city just put in new sidewalks in front of the school. What a waste if they close it now...Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01803372037047672955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-53553540349647802362008-11-25T16:18:00.000-08:002008-11-25T16:18:00.000-08:00Some of the reasoning for picking schools to close...Some of the reasoning for picking schools to close is based on geographic need and building condition. Neither of which any school community has any control over. You are situated where you are and maintained as the district sees fit.<BR/><BR/>All schools being closed need to make this point. <BR/><BR/>It is important because the State Auditor did not just say SPS has too many buildings for too few students. He also said that we have too many staff at headquarters proportional to our district AND that the district needs to be doing more basic maintenance.<BR/><BR/>We are drowning in backlogged maintenance and to me, that is driving part of this closure issue. They simply want to get rid of buildings that Facilities has no desire to keep maintaining especially if the academic side doesn't believe the school is performing well. <BR/><BR/>The district has not put forth any other cost-saving measures than closure and everyone should be pressing them, loudly, as to why not.Melissa Westbrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12588239576000641336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4434755601682155439.post-85899735071960390152008-11-25T15:27:00.000-08:002008-11-25T15:27:00.000-08:00Hi all. We have just reported this on West Seattle...Hi all. We have just reported this on West Seattle Blog. I will be at the SPS meeting tonight (brown-haired, glasses-wearing woman banging furiously on white Macbook laptop) and would love to talk with any or all of you on video during/after the meeting. Or feel free to e-mail us too - Tracy at WSBWShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06932627099385203863noreply@blogger.com