Tag Archives: schools

The Seattle Preschool Program is award winning — and there is still plenty of room for kids around Capitol Hill and the Central District

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By Juan Jocom

Seattle is providing high-quality, accessible early learning programs but the sessions are under-enrolled including four opportunities around Capitol Hill and the Central District.

For the second year in a row, the Seattle Preschool Program has been awarded a gold medal rating by CityHealth and the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University for the system’s high quality and accessible preschool programming.

“Seattle was one of 22 cities, out of 75 rated by CityHealth, to receive a gold medal award for high-quality, accessible preschool programming this year” the Office of the Mayor reports.

Living in one of the world’s most expensive cities poses challenges, especially if raising a child is added to the equation but programs like SPP can make these challenges more manageable. It also helps prepare kids for academic success.

“High quality preschool helps all children be ready for kindergarten and sets them up for better success in school,” early learning division director Leilani Dela Cruz said in an email.

Despite this celebrated achievement, the programs around the Capitol Hill and Central District area remain under enrolled. There are currently nine programs in the Capitol Hill and Central District area and four are still enrolling for the 2023-2024 school year.

Northwest Center Kids – Chinook* 401 5th Ave, Seattle , WA

206-286-2390
First Place – Main 172 20th Ave
Hearing, Speech and Deaf Center – Main * 1625 19th Ave.

(425) 736-6665 Voice Call

(206) 829-5128 Video Phone
Launch – Miller Community Center Annex 301 20th Ave. E.

Programs like what SPP offers help to soften the blow of child care, especially in a city that is growing more expensive each day. Seattle residents with children between the age of 3 to 4 within the respective school year are eligible to apply for the program. Continue reading →

Capitol Hill’s St. Joseph School: a century in its school building — and new hopes for a playfield/parking structure

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(Image: St. Joseph School)

The kids at Capitol Hill’s St. Joseph School sometimes probably can’t wait to go home and get out of the place but they joined together recently to mark a big milestone. The school marked the 100 year anniversary of its 18th Ave building by recreating a historical photograph of the student body across the ages.

The school has continued to grow with an expansion to the campus about ten years ago and plans for a new playfield structure in the works.

The photographic celebration came on the 100th anniversary of the school building but a few years short of the present-day church structure’s centennial. They’ll mark that milestone in 2030. Continue reading →

Seattle Public Schools: No closures next year but 2025/2026 cuts still on the table

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Seattle Public Schools is putting off any decision on campus closures that might be needed due to predicted budget shortfalls, the district announced in a statement in advance of Superintendent Brent Jones’s appearance in front of the Seattle School Board Wednesday night to present his budget plan for the coming school year.

“Superintendent Jones will not be recommending any school closures or consolidations for the 2024-25 school year,” the statement reads. “SPS is working to right-size the number of schools to accommodate lower student enrollment. This may include school closures or consolidations as an option for 2025-26.”

“We know it takes time to plan and implement large-scale changes and will include our community to provide feedback as we move through the process,” the statement concludes. Continue reading →

Are you ready to rock, Montlake? School of Rock planning 24th Ave E location

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(Image: School of Rock)

The national music school franchise School of Rock is planning to open its second location in Seattle to start 2024 in a space not far from Capitol Hill’s bustling nightlife and live music scene. Are you ready to rock, Montlake?

News of the planned opening comes as a key Capitol Hill music venue where some of those Montlake kids might eventually rock faces permanent closure.

The new “School of Rock Seattle Downtown” will be offering music classes and camps for ages six and up along 24th Ave in Montlake.

“We want to be the music in the community,” says Chad Fondren, co-owner and general manager. “There’s no better way to learn an instrument through the performance-based music education program that we offer. We use rock music and rock instruments as a vehicle, so it’s gonna be a little more fun.”

There have been School of Rock performances on Capitol Hill in the past. Cafe Racer and Neumos have all hosted end-of-season performances. The new spot might mean Capitol Hill will see more of them.

But Cafe Racer may never host another young Seattle band. The 11th Ave venue has been shuttered since being forced to close earlier this month over unpaid rent. Racer’s Jeff Ramsey said he has been scrambling to change the club’s business model and find a more sustainable path forward. So far, the cafe has remained dark.

Chad and Tracy Fondren also run the School of Rock in Issaquah while planning the Montlake location. School of Rock in Issaquah grew to hire 19 instructors and teach around 250 students. They’ll also be bringing a third co-owner and music director with them, Cole Paramore, who was the first instructor hired in Issaquah. Fondren says he and his wife love Issaquah, but are excited to be in Seattle. Continue reading →

Central District’s Wood Technology Center gets ‘skilled trades careers’ boost from Lowe’s

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A WTC Student, Alumni, and Industry Partner Demonstration at the Seattle Colleges Board of Trustees last year (Image: WTC)

As budget concerns continue to ripple through education and Seattle’s city college system, a corporate gift will help the Central District’s Wood Technology Center as part of a national campaign to boost skilled trades careers.

The Lowe’s Foundation has announced a $750,000 gift to the Seattle Colleges system’s 23rd Ave facility that officials said to add staffing at the center, “particularly for student recruitment, retention and outplacement.” The funds will also support a site manager to coordinate center logistics, “which will become increasingly complex as programs grow in coming years, partly through this grant.” Continue reading →

Seattle Fire rescues injured worker after fall on roof at Garfield High

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A capture from a video of the rescue (Image: James E. Lynch, III)

Seattle Fire rescued an injured school maintenance worker from the roof of 23rd Ave’s Garfield High School Thursday afternoon.

According to Seattle Fire and radio updates, the call began around 3 PM after the worker was reported to have hit her head in a fall and was unable to navigate her way off the top of the three-floor school.

Multiple Seattle Fire units responded including aerial rigs part of the department’s “rope rescue” response. Around 3:20 PM, SFD reported the patient was being lifted down off the roof using a stokes basket on the east side of the school near the football field.

Seattle Fire said the woman was is in stable condition and was transported to a hospital for further care.

The scene was being cleared including multiple Seattle Fire vehicles as school let out for the day.

 

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Capitol Hill’s Gaffney House makes new home for Morningside Academy

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(Image: Morningside Academy)

(Image: Morningside Academy)

By Cormac Wolf, CHS Intern

A school that has found new places to live around Seattle including a stay decades ago on Capitol Hill is making its triumphant return. Morningside Academy, a private school teaching students in elementary and middle school, is celebrating their move into the historic mansion at 17th and Madison. The 1906-built mansion is a designated Seattle historical site, and prior to 2019 served as Gaffney House, an assisted living community for those with memory care issues.

Established in 1980 in a Wallingford living room, Morningside moved to Capitol Hill and was based there for its first two decades before moving to South Lake Union in 2003. Now that they’re back on the Hill after 20 years they plan to stay put for a while.

Morningside provides catch-up schooling for students struggling in traditional learning environments. The school has a student/faculty ratio of roughly 10:1, and enrolls fewer than 90 kids. Starting tuition is $23,600.

It’s the kind of school Capitol Hill and the Central District might be seeing more of in coming years.

Continue reading →

As new year begins, Seattle School Traffic Safety Committee says better systems in place but 2023/2024 problems include a slow SDOT and disappearing ticket revenue

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(Image: Seattle School Traffic Safety Committee)

Wednesday’s first day of classes for Seattle’s public school kids begins with city streets that still need important safety improvements but with a better path forward to achieve safety goals, a city report says.

The Seattle School Traffic Safety Committee report (PDF) cites the addition of a new “Safe Routes to School” coordinator funded by the city and new policies at the Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections intended to make it easier for school campuses to implement safety and traffic improvements as important changes in 2023 that should put Seattle on route for safety streets for school kids in coming years.

More immediate improvements have come through Seattle Public Schools with increased bike parking capacity and new and renovated campuses, increased and improved bike education as part of PE classes, and a much improved bussing systems under the contract with Zum, a new provider.

The 2023/2024 school year will also be the first in which all students ride free on public transportation under the new statewide program put in place last year. Continue reading →

‘Save Stevens Elementary’: Confusion around Seattle Public Schools as district meetings on ‘well-resourced’ campuses continue despite expected funding crisis — UPDATE: Rescheduled

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With reporting by Kali Herbst Minino

The meetings — ostensibly — are  about “well-resourced schools,” and what vital educational elements students and families say they want in their public campuses. But some Capitol Hill-area families are seeing the writing on the wall.

“Save Stevens Elementary” flyers have been posted to utility poles on the streets surrounding the Northern Capitol Hill school’s 19th at Galer campus.

“Seattle Public Schools plans to close schools beginning in Fall 2024,” it reads. “Stevens Elementary is on the chopping block. We need your help to save our school!”

The rallying cry is encouraging people to attend the district’s final “Well-resourced Schools” meeting Tuesday night — a final online-only session following a series of community meetings earlier this month.

UPDATE 9:30 PM: Tuesday’s meeting has been rescheduled. In a Monday afternoon announcement, SPS said it moving the meeting back “due to overwhelming community interest.”

Moving this online engagement to Tuesday, Sept. 26, after the school year has begun will allow for wider community participation. It will also help us prepare an exceptional experience for a larger number of people.

Seattle Public Schools says it isn’t closing any of its schools — yet.

CHS reported here on the “Well-resourced Schools” effort with SPS beginning its process to gather feedback from “students, families, staff, and community partners” as it starts a painful budget process it says could result in campus closures. A looming budget deficit has SPS promising no closures until 2024 but predicting serious belt-tightening as it expects a decade of lower enrollment. Changes in state funding and a forecast for a continued near-term drop in enrollment had the district scrambling to cover a $131 million budget deficit for the coming school year with continued financial shortfalls on the way.

SPS says the meetings about what every student in the system needs to thrive and grow are necessary before any talk of big cuts begins. The meetings, the district says, will inform recommendations Superintendent Brent Jones is making to the Seattle School Board in November.

At one of the community meetings held earlier this month at Garfield High School, community members sat down at large tables with pens and papers. The meeting covered three questions attendees were asked to write about and discuss with the help of a facilitator: What are your favorite things about your child’s school building? How can we make resources and services at each school stronger? What kinds of programs do you and your student value the most and why? Scribes sat around the tables taking down notes, and at the end of the exercise, the sticky notes would be posted on larger white pieces of paper. Continue reading →

With an eye on future closures, Seattle Public Schools begins series of ‘Well-resourced Schools’ community meetings

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The 2023 Garfield High School graduation ceremony at Memorial Stadium (Image: SPS)

Seattle Public Schools will begin a series of meetings Tuesday night in the Central District that it says will be used to gather feedback from “students, families, staff, and community partners” as it starts a painful budget process it says could result in campus closures.

But the “Well-resourced Schools” community meetings aren’t exactly being portrayed as such serious business. Instead, SPS is focusing the meetings on the resources students and families say they want in their public schools — many of which won’t be available or could need to be cut as a statewide funding pinch tightens.

“We are developing a shared understanding of what resources, programs, services, and learning experiences make up a well-resourced school,” the SPS invite for the sessions reads. The first meeting will be held Tuesday night at Garfield High School. Continue reading →