March 5, 2015
       
School Beat
The newsletter for
our
families
and communities
Message from the Superintendent

Dear Seattle Public Schools families & community:

Every week, I spend some time in our schools to learn more about the teaching and learning happening there. I continue to be impressed with the incredible work going on in our schools and the accomplishments of our students and staff. School Beat is an opportunity to celebrate and recognize the many successes in Seattle Public Schools. This publication is also an important vehicle to provide updates to our families around the major initiatives and current events occurring in Seattle Public Schools.

This edition highlights some particularly important topics for your consideration. The Smarter Balanced Assessments will be implemented in our district and statewide on March 10 for third graders. As with any change, there are questions for students, staff and families. We've included some helpful links as resources for your information to help you better understand the assessments and how they will help teachers gauge what your students are learning.

In addition, the work of the District's Bell Times Advisory Task Force has started and will conduct outreach efforts this spring to engage families and community members on the issue of school start and end times. Efforts include implementing a grass-roots Neighbor2Neighbor program in which community members are trained to facilitate and host meetings in their neighborhood as well as staff and parent surveys.

Finally, I'd like to provide a brief update on our progress implementing my 100 Day Plan on Customer Service. In January, we launched a new web feature, "How Do I...", to assist visitors with finding information regarding some of the most frequently asked questions.  On February 9, a customer service training was conducted for frontline central office staff members, and we plan to initiate additional training during March as part of Service Awareness Month (SAM). Our final milestone is slated for April 15 when we design and implement a listening strategy to be more responsive to our stakeholders.

I appreciate your continued support and we look forward to improving our service to our students, staff, and community.

Sincerely,

Dr. Larry Nyland
Superintendent
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AROUND THE SCHOOLS
The State Basketball Tournament is on - and four SPS Teams are there.



Four Seattle high schools are at the state basketball championships this weekend, March 5-7: Garfield and Rainier Beach boys teams and West Seattle and Cleveland girls teams. Give them a shout-out on our Facebook page!

Game times, brackets and more are at the WIAA's 2015 Hardwood Classic Tournament Central page.
Award-winning artwork from Seattle high school students
"You Have Your Mother's Eyes" by Ava Code-Williams.
Artwork submitted by two Seattle Public Schools high school students were named Regional Award Winners, and three additional students received awards for their artwork in the Regional High School Art Show, an annual event hosted by the Puget Sound Educational Service District.

Regional Award Winners Ava Code-Williams from Garfield High School and Huo Xian Wu from Franklin High School will advance to the 42nd Annual State High School Art Show in Olympia. Read more.
Teaching students "number sense"
Musical Math Montage
Mr. G's third grade class at Arbor Heights learns about fractions. (This video contains edited excerpts from a class; it does not represent a single lesson in its entirety.)

Small group discussions, hands-on objects, computer-based visuals. Teaching math has changed a lot. See what's happening in one Seattle classroom to incorporate new academic standards into teaching third-graders about fractions.

The new academic standards that will be assessed with the state-mandated Smarter Balanced tests this spring emphasize "number sense." Teachers help students understand what numbers truly represent and how to apply them to real-world problems.
DISTRICT NEWS
New state assessments coming this spring
Spring state assessment time is right around the corner, and we have an updated web page packed with information about the new Smarter Balanced assessments. These new assessments help us measure student progress toward our new academic goals, which are standards designed to better prepare students for college and 21st century life.

Students in grades 3-8, 10 and 11 will take the state-mandated assessments. Look for a schedule to come from your child's school, and visit our web page to find links to practice tests, information about structure and scoring, and more.
Open Enrollment for School Choice ends March 6
If you want to request a school or program outside of your regularly assigned neighborhood school, now is the time to do it. Our new Assignment Look-Up Tool will help you identify your student's assigned school for the coming year. Read more.

Advanced Learning: Please note that because of the record number of tests being administered for Advanced Learning this year, families should submit a School Choice Form by March 6, even if they haven't yet been notified of Highly Capable or other eligibility. Read more.
Rainier Beach performance at School Board meeting
Rainier Beach School Board meeting March 4, 2015
Rainier Beach School Board meeting March 4, 2015

Rainier Beach Students created the piece, "A Bright Day of Justice," performed for the School Board on March 5. Drama teacher Julie Olsen said: Our piece includes five student-written monologues, songs, a spoken word piece and excerpts from MLK's "I Have A Dream Speech." It was generated by the students in response to the events in Ferguson, MO and New York City.
Seattle Public Schools examines school start and end times (bell schedule)
The Seattle School Board adopted a resolution last spring directing the Superintendent to analyze district systems to determine the feasibility and impacts of later start times for adolescents.

School schedules are interdependent on numerous systemwide factors involving transportation, before and after school programs, staff contracts and family schedules. SPS is engaging stakeholders - teachers, students, principals, community partners and others - in order to determine the full benefits and consequences of changing start and end times.

To learn more about this initiative, please visit the Bell Times Advisory Task Force web page at belltimes.www.seattleschools.org
Let us know what you think should be in our new websites - by March 9!
Big changes are coming for our district and school websites. As we prepare to design a new and improved site, we'd love your input. Please take a few moments to share your insight and feedback here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SPSwebsite2015 (also available in Chinese, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese.) The survey closes March 9, 2015. Thank you!
SPS a state leader in College Bound Scholarship sign-ups
In a letter from Governor Jay Inslee, Seattle Public Schools was given a 2014 Gold Star Award for "exemplary" performance in getting students signed up for the College Bound Scholarship Program. Seattle Public Schools signed up 100 percent of eligible eighth-graders.

The program is a state effort that commits scholarship money for college to low-income middle school students who graduate from high school and apply for college aid. Read more.
In remembrance of Von Paul Patu
Von Paul Patu, who passed away Feb. 24, served as the South Pacific Islander community liaison for Seattle Public Schools for 30 years, building relationships in the community to support Seattle's South Pacific Islander students staying in school. Our condolences go out to Seattle School Board Director Betty Patu, Von Paul Patu's wife, and to the community Mr. Patu served so well.
SHARE YOUR STORIES
The communications office is always looking for stories on interesting classroom projects, inspirational people and big events in our schools to share with the greater Seattle community. If you have a story to share, please send your ideas to [email protected].
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