Tag Archives: stevens

Open letter: Stevens Elementary supporters ask board to spare Capitol Hill school as district prepares 5-campus cut list

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The families of Capitol Hill’s Stevens Elementary are not sitting idly while they wait for Seattle Public Schools to announce what campuses it will close.

The district responded to public outcry last month by slicing the planned number of campuses to be closed from more than 20 to five.

Kris Myllenbeck, a Stevens supporter and founder of the designer inflatable pool company Mylle, has shared a letter to the school board with CHS and says that more than 170 people from Capitol Hill have signed on, with 130 providing testimonials about why the North Capitol Hill school should not be shut down.

Families fear Stevens will be on the cut list when the district names its five closures, an announcement they’re expecting next week. Continue reading →

‘Loud and clear’: Capitol Hill’s Stevens Elementary off the list — for now — as district has new plan to close fewer campuses

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(Image: Seattle Public Schools)

Capitol Hill’s Stevens Elementary might have the opportunity to change its name, afterall.

The North Capitol Hill campus is off the list — for now — as Seattle Public Schools has changed its plans from cuts that would have sliced more than 20 campuses to a cutback that will shut down five following public outcry over the district’s efforts to overcome a looming budget deficit.

Superintendent Brent Jones announced the new, less aggressive plan for cutbacks Tuesday, saying his office heard complaints about the initial planned closure of up to 21 elementary school campuses “loud and clear.”

“We know we need the support of our students, families, and staff to uplift a large-scale change such as this,” Jones said in the announcement. “My hope is that we can work together to re-establish a level of trust that allows us to move forward in a way that honors our school communities.” Continue reading →

After outcry, Seattle Public Schools puts campus closures plans on hold — UPDATE

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Families and city leaders attended a “Save TOPS” meeting at the Eastlake school earlier this month. Thanks to a CHS reader for the picture.

The district is backing off its proposals to close schools across Seattle but it is not clear what its next steps will be to address a $131 million budget deficit for the current school year with continued financial shortfalls on the way.

Seattle Public Schools has canceled a series of community meetings to discuss the proposals and the planned closure of up to 21 elementary school campuses just as the meetings were to begin. The district’s first session was to take place Tuesday night.

“I am taking more time to reflect on plans to bring a consolidation recommendation this October. As a result, I am canceling the upcoming community meetings. A new schedule of engagement sessions will be released soon,” SPS Superintendent Brent Jones wrote in the message to families. “I understand the closure of schools is a very serious topic. After receiving thoughtful feedback from many of you, it is clear we need more time to carefully consider our next steps.”

The zigzag comes after strong pushback from families and skepticism from the Seattle School Board that they could support the district proposals. Continue reading →

Option A or Option B — Seattle district unveils plans to close up to 21 schools including Capitol Hill’s Stevens Elementary

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(Image: Seattle Public Schools)

Capitol Hill-area amilies working a year ago to “Save Stevens Elementary” amid the confusion of early Seattle Public Schools planning to cut campuses to address a looming budget hole were right to be concerned.

The northern Capitol Hill elementary just blocks from Volunteer Park is one of the few schools in the system to be on the chopping block in both options now being proposed by the district to cut multiple campuses and save some $30 million a year.

  • Proposed Option A: Operates 52 attendance-area elementary schools. This option closes 21 elementary and K-8 schools.
  • Proposed Option B: Operates 56 schools, including attendance-area elementary and one K-8 school per region. This option closes 17 schools.

The cut would impact hundreds of Capitol Hill-area families and the surrounding area around the 18th Ave E school known to many as the Stevens neighborhood.

SPS says its Option A would closed five elementary campuses in the Central Seattle area including Stevens: Continue reading →

CHS Pics | Enjoy the blossoms of the Akebono Cherry trees of 21st Ave E

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Far from the crowds wandering the quad at the University of Washington is a Capitol Hill street that also blooms beautifully in spring.

21st Ave E — just north of Aloha and south of Prospect — is home to one of Capitol Hill’s best blooms of cherry blossoms. The old trees line a couple blocks and draw small crowds of their own to swirl feet through the pink and white drifts and take pictures. Continue reading →

Red Cedar Elementary — The long path to rename a Capitol Hill school has families and staff closer to achieving their goal

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Gen. Isaac I. Stevens died at the age of 44 leading Union troops at the Battle of Chantilly

For decades, families and staff at Stevens Elementary School have talked about hopes of detaching the North Capitol Hill school from a figure with a fading place in the state’s history and to give respect back to Duwamish and Indigenous Peoples.

Now, some 167 years after Isaac Ingalls Stevens finished his term as the Governor of the newly formed Washington Territory, organizers at the school feel 2024 is the year to finally make change.

“When people finally realize that their school and the name ‘Stevens’ is actually Isaac Stevens, and as kids learn in history about Isaac Stevens, they would question why they are named after this person,” Michelle Martine, a first grade teacher at the school, tells CHS. “There has always been a push to change the name, but it has never felt as right as it does right now.”

Martine said renaming has been a conversation with children and families who come through the school. A petition was launched earlier this month and currently has a total just under 100 signatures in favor of a proposed name change to Red Cedar Elementary.

The organizers spent much time, effort and thoughtfulness researching, listening to and learning from Indigenous Peoples to uncover the perfect name. Continue reading →

Police investigating new Seattle hit and run attacks after homeless man run over while sleeping on North Capitol Hill sidewalk — UPDATE

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A homeless man who survived being run over while sleeping on the sidewalk along Capitol Hill’s 19th Ave E appears to have been intentionally targeted.

Seattle Police say they are investigating two similar attacks that took place within hours across Seattle early last Saturday morning that sent two people to the hospital after a driver drove onto sidewalks and struck them.

In the Capitol Hill attack, a 39-year-old man suffered lower body injuries and was rushed to Harborview after being run over while sleeping near 19th and Prospect in front of a stretch of businesses including the neighborhood’s Windermere real estate office on the block mixed with single family-style homes and a small business strip.

“The victim was asleep on the sidewalk when he was struck by a vehicle,” SPD’s brief on the February 17th, 3:50 AM incident reads. “The suspect vehicle ran over the victim’s legs and then fled the scene.” Continue reading →

Happy 25th birthday to Capitol Hill’s Monsoon, the center of a Seattle food and drink family

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(Image: Monsoon)

Not every classic of Capitol HIll food and drink is fading away. Monsoon and its family of Vietnamese food and drink are marking 25 years in the neighborhood with a celebration — and a roast pig — on 19th Ave E. The business has been about family from the start.

“Monsoon would not be here today if our mother, siblings and spouses didn’t step up to help us with everything from permits to construction, to cooking to running the front of house,” co-founder Eric Banh said. “After three months of being open we could finally afford to hire people to work in the restaurant and business really started to take off. We feel so blessed by the Monsoon community and the incredible guests we’ve had the pleasure of knowing throughout the last 25 years.”

Monsoon still prides itself on reinventing Vietnamese in Seattle: Continue reading →

Bounty Kitchen exits Capitol Hill — UPDATE

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Even a patio like this couldn’t save Bounty Kitchen on Capitol Hill (Image: Bounty Kitchen)

Originally designed as a Linda’s joint, changes in the restaurant space on the southeast corner of 19th and Mercer will continue.

The Capitol Hill location of the Bounty Kitchen is shutting down to make way for a new food and drink project.

Bounty Kitchen customers of the 19th Ave E location are finding out about the closure but the next food and drink venture lined up for the space remains a mystery.

UPDATE: Bounty Kitchen’s final day of service on Capitol Hill will be Saturday, December 23rd.

Born into challenging times, Bounty Kitchen never really took off on Capitol Hill. Continue reading →

The Capitol Hill Wishing Tree is rising again

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The Wishing Tree in happier days when CHS visited in 2016

(Image: CHS)

Jane Hamel, friend and “owner” of Capitol Hill’s wishing tree, woke up on a July night to crashing and chaos outside. The neighborhood landmark — an E Galer tree not far from the Volunteer and Interlaken Parks that held the wishes and hopes of the community and passersby — had been vandalized and the wishes, destroyed.

With the old wishing tree sign stolen and the wishing bench shattered, Hamel is now growing plans for the tree’s revival with new hopes powered by the community.

It has only been a few weeks without the wishing tree but it can feel longer when you think about why somebody would want to to do damage to something so simply good. Hamel doesn’t think that way.

“Instead of focusing on 20 minutes of bad behavior — I made some stupid decisions when I was 18 or 20 — I’d rather focus on the eight years we’ve had, so much love down there,” Hamel said.

“I want to let the community be more involved because it is their tree. It wouldn’t be here if all these individual people had not spent all that time,” Hamel said.

The community wants to be involved, too. Continue reading →