We mentioned last week the school closure plan for Seattle Schools, and our nearby schools are definitely taking a hit. A recap: Lowell Elementary closed and the advanced program split up and moved south, T.T. Minor Elementary closed, Meany Middle School closed, NOVA Alternative and Bilingual Orientation Center moved to Meany. This leaves Stevens Elementary. SSD summary is here.
The school district message is that 1) we have no money, 2) school buildings are totally falling apart due to no money, 2) we’re going to start bussing kids south because north-side schools are overfull and south-side schools are under-enrolled and, that’s right, we don’t have money for schools where the kids actually live. This is not going to get better any time soon. (Side note to Gates Foundation – any interest in sponsoring a local school? We’ll even call it We Love Bill and Melinda Elementary.)
Chatter on the mommy networks is that Seattle schools are a mess, but no one likes the changes. There is pretty big push back on the T.T. Minor and Lowell closings, with save our schools efforts underway. Sounds like private school applications will be up in the next few years. We’re big public school fans, but we get that it’s a huge bummer when your kid moves from one falling apart school to a falling apart school further away. Start converting in line with your religious school of choice now.
I haven’t heard much of an uproar about the Meany closure. Which probably only means that middle school kids are not as cute as elementary kids. It’s the same reason we care about saving the cutie pie baby polar bears but aren’t so interested in the endangered local mud slug.
So the take away is that even though one of the no brainers about living in a dense urban neighborhood is that your kid could walk to a local school, it’s not going to happen. Or that’s going to be quite a walk. And fancy pants parents, you aren’t getting your kid into Stevens. Accept it now. The classes are almost filled by siblings of kids that are already there. At least with home schooling your kiddo can win a spelling bee.
Public hearings on the closures are Dec. 15 for T.T. Minor and Dec. 18 for Lowell.
Move APP kids from Lowell to Meany.
Leave NOVA near Garfield.
Every parent I actually know in the fancy pants section (or close to it) has gotten their kid and then kids into Stevens. I don’t think it’s quite as problematic as you make it out.
When I moved to the neighborhood 10 years ago, I couldn’t get one of my kids into Stevens, and he finally he ended up at McGilvra, which is not within walking distance but a good school. The next year, we moved his sister there, too. Yeah, we’re just one family, but that was our experience living a block away from Stevens.
I also agree that NOVA should stay near Garfield. My understanding is that the schools team up on some things and NOVA students have access to some Garfield classes. It sounds like a good relationship that will be hurt by moving NOVA away.
See Joannie’s comment below, jcricket. I’ve heard stories like this more than once. There are many other stories out there in the big wide world. Keep an open mind.
We are in the Stevens reference area and my daughter got her SEVENTH choice of schools for kindergarten…until mid-August, when she got into Stevens. All’s well that ends well, right? Not really. The moral of the story is that if you don’t get into your school of choice, you have very little choice at all, and also no information for planning since you have precious little control. I wonder how this will all play into the school assignment changes, which might at least make things more predictable.
And everyone on the waiting list got in. So if your kid is just starting school you are ok. Lowell starts at 1st grade. I don’t know any parent that wants their kid to go to TT Minor anyway. Just saying.