Jim and Janet Sinegal Center for Science and Innovation (Image: Seattle University)
12th Ave’s Seattle University announced it has divested from fossil fuel marking a first for Washington State.
The school is also reportedly the first Jesuit school in the nation to end its fossil fuel investment holdings.
“Though the university is at the end of the five-year divestment process, it is just one part of Seattle University’s ongoing efforts toward building a sustainable community that supports human and ecological health, social justice and economic well-being through Socially Responsible Investing,” the school said in a statement. Continue reading →
At the Burke (Image: Capitol Hill Cooperative Preschool)
There’s an alumni party coming up on Capitol Hill for generations of Seattle city kids.
After 70 years of helping little ones grow up into Seattle big kids, Capitol Hill Cooperative Preschool is closing its doors at the end of this school year due to low enrollment numbers. Its closure will be a challenge for some families but it is also a sign that things have changed when it comes to early childhood education in Seattle. Some of the older models like Seattle’s one-time robust community of co-op preschools are falling by the wayside.
“We are not alone in this struggle, as several other co-ops in the greater Seattle area are unfortunately closing for similar reasons,” Shannon King, CHCP chair said.
King says low enrollment numbers “have made it challenging for CHCP to continue operating.”
Those involved with the 10th Ave E school that shares a building with the Harbor Anglican Church just a short walk from Volunteer Park say the expansion of the Seattle Preschool Program through Seattle Public Schools and other community-based providers along with the expansion of Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program and Head Start has drastically increased childhood care and learning opportunities.
But they say families might also miss out on the co-op experience. The cooperative preschools model allows for kids to learn social, emotional and intellectual skills and for parents to improve their parenting skills, be involved in their children’s education, and form a community, co-op families say.
“It’s a great way to form a community really early on in your child’s life and receive a lot of support for the teachers and the parent educators,” teacher Elizabeth de Forest said. Continue reading →
SPD says it is looking for information to help identify the two teen suspects in the Garfield parking lot shooting — SPD reports the teens “had a verbal altercation prior to the shooting incident. The male in the orange hoodie entered a white sedan type vehicle and fired multiple shots from the car. The male in the black hoodie ran after the suspect vehicle and pointed a gun at it before running towards the baseball field.” Call the SPD Violent Crimes Tip Line at (206) 233-5000 if you have information.
The Seattle Police Department is asking for the community’s assistance in identifying two teen gunmen who police say opened fire in a late afternoon shooting that left a third teen injured Thursday, May 18th in the Garfield High School parking lot and the campus Teen Life Center.
SPD released the photos Wednesday following a Monday night campus safety meeting attended by Chief Adrian Diaz organized by school families and officials over ongoing gun violence in the area. The East Precinct says it has boosted patrols in the area of the school.
Arrests were not a major focus of Monday’s meeting as officials tried to answer questions about improving safety and providing community and after school resources for teens as well as resources to help organize volunteer safety walks around the school. Garfield principal Tarance Hart also discussed existing security resources working inside the school’s buildings as well as new Seattle Public Schools-provided security patrols taking place on campus. Continue reading →
Garfield High School students are back in classrooms Monday with increase Seattle Police presence in the area after a one-day shift to virtual instruction due to concerns about ongoing gun violence around the 23rd Ave school.
Friday, Garfield held classes via online systems, a shift back to the virtual learning of the pandemic, after a threat at Garfield and a shooting a mile and a half away from the school prompted officials to close the campus and send students home early on Thursday.
The school’s PTSA has called for a meeting on campus safety that will take place Monday night.
Friday afternoon, SPD announced it would increase officer presence in the area of Garfield with “a patrol emphasis in the area.”
The Seattle Police Department has been diligent in working closely with the Seattle School District to identify and address the ongoing disputes resulting in violence around Garfield High School. The department will be starting a patrol emphasis in the area to provide police presence to assist in protecting public safety in the community, deter possible criminal activity, prevent violence, and address suspicious behavior seen and or reported.
Garfield High School (Image: Seattle Public Schools)
Concerns around an afternoon shooting in a reported First Hill street robbery a mile and a half away from the Central District campus appear to have been behind the closure of Garfield High in the middle of the school day Thursday as officials are on edge after a series of recent shootings around the school.
Officials say they will hold a campus safety meeting with families next week.
Seattle Public Schools says its officials decided to close the 23rd Ave campus and send students home Thursday at 2 PM and keep the school closed Friday “out of an abundance of caution” and were “investigating a threat to the area that could affect the school’s standard dismissal time.”
“Today, we closed school early due to threats that appeared to be related to dismissal time and after school. Seattle Police Department and SPS Security were on campus and in the neighborhood during our early dismissal,” a message to families from Garfield principal Tarance Hart reads. “No incidents were seen or reported.”
The closure came after what Seattle Police said was a reported street robbery attempt that left a man shot in the leg outside a First Hill Key Bank around 12:40 PM — an incident more than a mile away from the school. According to East Precinct radio updates, the shooting prompted a series of school lockdowns in the immediate area including at Seattle University and also generated at least one rumor of a school shooting at a nearby private school campus. Police investigated and found that rumor unwarranted.
At Garfield, students reported police had already been on the campus earlier Thursday before the First Hill shooting for an unknown investigation.
After the gunfire on First Hill, the decision was made to close the Central District school where gun violence concerns have been heightened after a series of shootings near the Garfield campus. Continue reading →
Tuesday’s student rally for the school’s music program (Image: Friends of Washington Music)
The Seattle Public School system’s experiment co-operating a STEM-focused campus with the nonprofit Technology Access Foundation at Washington Middle School is coming to an abrupt end as the district is planning some of its most drastic budget cuts at the Central District campus.
While the TAF cut will change a recent core focus for the school, Washington families are hoping to preserve a longtime part of the campus. Tuesday, students rallied to preserve the popular music program which is also on the chopping block as Seattle Public Schools faces a massive budget deficit.
CHS reported here on changes in state funding and a forecast for a continued near-term drop in enrollment that has Seattle Public Schools scrambling to cover a $131 million budget deficit for the coming school year — with larger financial challenges looming. None of the district’s campuses will be closed immediately but “consolidation” is on the table for the 2024/2025 school year, district officials say. Continue reading →
A view from the 8th floor of the under construction Heartwood development, an affordable mass-timber apartment building from Community Roots Housing at 14th and Union (Image: atelierjones)
The mass timber Heartwood’s central stairs (Image: atelierjones)
Housing, and how to make more of it across the state, has been the driving theme in Olympia’s 2023 session. While some proposals fell flat, others including what amounts to an end to single-family zoning, pushed through and look likely to become law. There were, of course, dozens of other laws passed this session, and a budget is still pending.
The Legislature is set to adjourn April 23. In a budget year, like this one, whether or not a given bill is dead is tougher to pin down. There are a number of cutoff dates built into the system, and in theory, a bill needs to meet those dates, which typically involve being passed by either the senate or house. If it doesn’t meet the date, it won’t become law. However, if a bill has budget implications, then it can be revived even if it missed the dates. And since virtually everything has some budget implication, virtually everything can be brought back.
With that in mind, these are where many efforts stand as of the writing of this story, but, some things that seem dead make yet be revived, we won’t know for sure until adjournment. For details about any of the bills in the story, go here, and enter the bill number.
Keep in mind the session is not over. If you see something up in the air that you find compelling, now is the time to contact your legislators, state Reps. Nicole Macri and Frank Chopp, and state Sen. Jamie Pedersen.
(Image: seattle.gov)
HOUSING Washington needs about 1 million new homes by 2044, according to the state Dept. of Commerce. To open up options for more housing, the Legislature has decided to, essentially, end single-family zoning as we know it across much of the state with HB 1110. Cities with populations more than 25,000 will need to allow for at least duplexes on every lot. Cities with populations of greater than 75,000 will need to allow at least four houses on every lot. Some of the space is to be set aside for affordable housing. There are some exceptions and fine print surrounding environmentally critical areas and other specially designated areas. Cities will also be required to allow at least six of nine so-called middle housing types. These are all varieties of more density than single-family, without going full blown apartment building. The state defines them as: duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, fiveplexes, sixplexes, townhouses, stacked flats, courtyard apartments, and cottage housing. All this adds up to lots of potential infill development in the coming years.
This does not mean, however, the bulldozers are going to start rumbling toward the big old houses in North Capitol Hill, let alone the rest of the city. Just because a type of building is allowed does not mean it is required. Homeowners can continue to live in their existing houses. They can tear down an existing house and replace it with another single family house if they so desire. This simply mean they would have the option of tearing down the single-family house, and replacing it with more units. In land use circles, the general expectation is that over time, most properties are eventually are built out to the highest density levels permitted and practical, though it can take a generation of more before it actually happens. Continue reading →
AFT Seattle Local 1789 says faculty at Capitol Hill’s Seattle Central College are walking out Tuesday as part of a “day of action” calling for higher wages, better support for part-time instructors, and more counseling and support for students as enrollment trends continue to plunge for community colleges.
The faculty union says the Broadway campus “teach-out” will take place from 10 AM to noon. Continue reading →
Stevens Elementary has stood on Capitol Hill since 1906 (Image: Seattle Public Schools)
Changes in state funding and a forecast for a continued near-term drop in enrollment has Seattle Public Schools scrambling to cover a $131 million budget deficit for the coming school year with continued financial shortfalls on the way.
None of the district’s campuses will be closed immediately but “consolidation” is on the table for the 2024/2025 school year, district officials told families this week.
According to the district, officials have started planning for a system of “well-resourced schools” with SPS cutting its lowest enrolled, most challenged campuses, “developing a system of schools with sufficient enrollment to have a broad spectrum of resource and educational choices.”
The closure process will focus on “inclusionary practices and services” and “be guided by Racial Equity Analysis Tool to assess impacts,” the district says.
To address the more immediate deficit, SuperintendentBrent Jones is preparing for layoffs including a reduction in the number of assistant principals in the district. Continue reading →
Seattle Public Schools plans to renovate and expand Montlake Elementary School are pressing forward, over the objections of some neighbors who say the new school will be too big for the site and for the neighborhood.
The city’s Department of Neighborhoods has completed a review of the proposal, and has passed its recommendation along to the Department of Construction and Inspections, which will make the final ruling.
The existing 22,000-square-foot historic school along 22nd Ave E would be maintained, while being renovated and modernized. The existing six portables, cafeteria and small greenhouse would be removed. In their place, the district plans to build a new, 80,500-square-foot building along E Calhoun, stretching the length of the block, and wrapping around 20th Ave E. Additionally, a new gym will be constructed at 20th and E McGraw.
The end result will give a roughly C-shaped campus, with a courtyard used as an outdoor play area. Additional outdoor space will be available on the roof of the gym, and in a mezzanine-like called a “learning terrace” coming off the new building with room for many more students.
The dramatic potential enrollment increase is a big part of what’s upsetting many neighbors. After the renovations and expansion, the school will be able to serve 500 students. In the current, 2022-23 school year, the school has an enrollment of 184. That’s down from a recent high of 268 students in the 2017-18 school year.
The all-time high for enrollment at Montlake was 487 students was back in 1935-36, when the school housed grades K-8. It’s now K-5.
Not all neighbors are upset about the proposal, of course. In public comments filed with the city’s Department of Neighborhoods, some gave the project unequivocal support.
An aerial rendering of the project
Those that were upset look at the potential enrollment and say it will play havoc with the neighborhood’s character. They note the school is a small campus (second smallest in the city) in an area with narrow streets and has no dedicated parking. They generally say the root of the problem is fitting too big a school onto too small a site.
“Shoehorning the buildings–proposed for 500 students– to cover most of what vies for the smallest school lot in the city, would be about a tripling of current school, staff, and student body size. This though even Seattle School District’s website indicates little to no growth in number of households in the Montlake community in the next five years,” wrote Montlake resident Arthur Dorros in a comment to the Department of Neighborhoods.
Additionally, parents and neighbors point to district projections which call for falling enrollment across the district for the next 10 years. Continue reading →
