Eckstein’s families are our most valuable partners.  We are committed to providing opportunitites for staff and families to work together to educate our children.  We welcome active family involvement in classrooms, at extracurricular activities, at special events, and in decision-making.

Eckstein will be having tours for prospective new students for the 2009/2010 school on the following dates:

Thursday, January 29, 2009, February 5, 2009 and February 12, 2009 from 9:00a.m. until 10:45a.m.; with an additional evening informational time on Thursday, February 5, 2009 from 6:30p.m. until 7:30p.m.  No reservations needed; just report to the lunchroom.

“Too much of the conversation in our world seems to be framed by a bi-polar mentality…everything is yes/no, right/wrong, democratic/republican, black/white, either/or. But in the world of education, we cannot afford to allow an either/or model to prevail. We can’t settle for either acquisition of content knowledge and skills or development of citizenship abilities. We must provide our students with BOTH. We believe the best way to do this is to create schools and classrooms that operate AS democracy, not FOR democracy.” (L. Quinn & C. Coe)

Dear Parents,

The other day two students were walking into Eckstein the morning after the final Presidential Debate and discussing the merits of both of the major party candidates for president. While they clearly had a preference of which candidate they hoped would win, when asked, they were also able to talk about the debate and the strengths of each candidate’s arguments and positions. Regardless of your party preference, the 2008 Presidential Election has made an impact on our students. On Monday, November 3, 2008 we will have a Day of Democracy at Eckstein. We will honor and recognize Veteran’s at our annual Veteran’s Day Assembly and all classes will have democracy themed lessons throughout the day.

Why do a day of democracy? The simple answer is because democracy matters. Our students have opinions about the U.S. government and politics. People all over the world have opinions about their own government and politics. What’s unique about a Democracy, however, is that those opinions shape government and society. In the overview to Appreciating Democracy: A Lesson Plan for High School Teachers of Civics, Government and U.S. History, authors Alan Rosenthal and Greer Buroughs write, “Democracy is not easy to appreciate. Nor should it be. It is filled with conflict, it is extremely human and it is very messy. That is the way it ought to be.” We want our students to leave Eckstein as engaged members of a democratic community knowing that their opinions, whatever they may be, matter. It is through the regular and, yes, messy exchange of these opinions that our country is what it is.

As a school community, we’ve chosen to spend a day considering, conversing and experiencing democracy. Like Rosenthal and Buroughs indicate, our day will most likely be human and a little messy. This is OK. It is important to remember to keep students at the center of the day and allow them to engage in discourse that elevates their understanding of what it really means to live in a democratic society.

Sincerely,

Kim Whitworth, Principal

Think Snow! Have you noticed the chill in the air? Well the snow’s starting to fly so start thinking about joining the Eckstein Snow Sports program. Skiers and boarders can start signing up for the program bus that goes up to the Summit for six ,winter, fun-filled, Friday nights. Spaces are limited, sign up soon! More information can be found on the Snow Sports page: http://ecksteineagles.org/snowsports/ and application flier can be found at http://ecksteineagles.org/snowsports/forms/

Editor’s note: the following is a message from the Seattle School District regarding asbestos inspections that were done throughout the district.  It does not state whether anything was found at Eckstein.  For more information, contact Troy White at 206-252-0528.

Seattle Public Schools Annual Asbestos Notification - 2008

In accordance with the federal Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA), the Seattle Public Schools is required to notify parents, teachers, and other employees each year of the availability of Asbestos Management Plans and actions the District is taking to maintain asbestos containing materials in its buildings.

The District conducted an initial inspection of all school buildings for the purpose of identifying asbestos containing building material in 1988 and a management plan detailing the findings of the inspection was developed for each building.  Since then, appropriate actions have been taken to ensure that asbestos containing materials are removed, repaired, encapsulated, or enclosed as necessary. 

A periodic surveillance of each school building has occurred every six months since the original inspection and a complete reinspection of each school building is completed every three years.  The most recent reinspection was completed in 2007.

The Asbestos Management Plan includes the results of each periodic surveillance and the most recent reinspection as well as documentation of asbestos related activities.  The Asbestos Management Plan is maintained and available for review in the administrative office of each school or at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence located at 2445 3^rd Ave South. 

If you would like additional information regarding the District’s Asbestos Program contact Troy White at 206-252-0528.

The school was just informed today that the after school busses for OST will not be starting until Monday, October 6^th.  However, we will have OST classes next week but there will be no transportation provided, there will be Metro bus tokens available.  We apologize for the inconvenience.

Curriculum Night is for parents and guardians only.  This is a wonderful chance to meet the team of teachers working with your student.  This is not a time for individual conferencing.  Please report to the Auditorium at 7:00p.m. and you will be dismissed to classes from there.

Enjoy your evening! 

Click here to download the Curriculum Night invitation (pdf)

The Washington State Healthy Youth Survey is given to students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12 every two years.  The data collected from this survey helps Eckstein and other schools to apply for state grants, such as the one that funds our underage drinking prevention efforts, and to plan health-related programs in our communities.

Eckstein will administer the survey to 6th and 8th grade students on Monday, October 13.  More information is available from the hys-parent-notice.

Contact Inga Manskopf at 252-5010 or inmanskopf@seattleschools.org if you would like more information.

The application for the Fall 2008 session of Out of School Time is now available. Please turn in the application to the main office. The Fall session will run from September 29, 2008 to December 18, 2008. Unless otherwise noted, sessions will begin at 2:30pm and end at 4:30pm.

• OST Application
• OST Description- descriptions of activities offered.
• OST Grid - schedule of activities offered.

Parents,

Please join us for 6th Grade Night at Eckstein! You will have the opportunity to meet some of the people who work with your student every day, learn how the “systems” operate, be introduced to The Source and discover ways to become involved in the Eckstein community!

WHAT: 6th Grade Night at Eckstein
WHEN: Wednesday, September 10, 2008, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
WHERE: Eckstein Auditorium
QUESTIONS: Please contact Cindy Watters (6th Grade House Administrator) cjwatters@seattleschools.org

While we love having students at Eckstein during the school day, the primary purpose of this event is to help parents become acquainted with our school community. Please note that child care will not be provided.