A Welcome to Eckstein letter was sent home to all Eckstein families the week of August 9th.  If you didn’t receive one, click on the link below to download a copy.  The letter contains important dates, including the First Day of School information.

http://ecksteineagles.org/files/2010/08/Opening-school-info-2010-11.pdf

All Students:

 One 2-3” heavy duty three-ring notebook (no expanding folders or trapper keepers)

 Notebook dividers (5 tab minimum)

 Pencil pouch

 Writing supplies: one dozen sharpened pencils; 8 pens (black or blue ink); highlighter; colored pencils

 Pencil sharpener with receptacle

 Erasers

 8 ½” x 11” notebook paper (College rule, preferred)

 Flash (thumb) Drive

 Box of tissue for homeroom/study hall

 Standard/metric ruler

 4 operation calculator

 Protractor

 1 ream of 8 ½ x 11 copy paper

 Hole reinforcements

For 8th Grade: Five Mead composition notebooks, 80-100 pages (wide- rule, if possible);

For 7th Grade: Five Mead composition notebooks, one of the five notebooks should be with graph paper;

For 6th Grade: One, 1 ½” three-ring binder; Four Mead composition notebooks;

(Donations of any of these supplies are greatly appreciated and can be dropped off in the Main Office. Thank you.)

PERMANENT MARKERS (Sharpies) ARE NOT ALLOWED

Sept 8:  First Day of School for Students

Nov 25-26: Thanksgiving Holiday

Dec 20-31:  Winter Break

Feb 22-25, 2011:  Mid-Winter Break

Apr 18-22, 2011:  Spring Break

June 21, 2011:  Last Day for Students

Tours for prospective students and their parents/guardians will be on Thursdays, February 4, 11 and 25 from 9:00-11:00 a.m.  NO RESERVATIONS ARE NECESSARY.  Eckstein will also have an evening presentation for parents/guardians only on Tuesday, February 9 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the auditorium.    On Thursday, February 25th, after the regular tour (which includes inclusion rooms), there will be about a 30 minute meeting for parents/guardians who would like to know more about Eckstein’s Inclusion program. No reservations needed.

Dear Eckstein families:

I am writing to let you know about an important step that Seattle Public Schools is taking towards our goal of ensuring an excellent education for every student.

During the first four to six weeks of the school year,  your child will take tests called Measures of Academic Progress™ (MAP). We give students MAP tests to determine your child’s instructional level; to measure academic growth throughout the school year; and to measure growth from year to year in the areas of reading and mathematics.  Results from MAP are available immediately and so will support our teachers in knowing what students have learned and the progress they are making. Teachers will use this information as they consider how to adjust instruction to help each student succeed.

The tests will be taken using a computer, and your child will spend a total of about two hours completing these tests. MAP tests are unique in that they adapt to be appropriate for your child’s level of learning. As a result, each student has the same opportunity to succeed and maintain a positive attitude toward testing.  And with MAP tests, we can administer shorter tests and use less class time while still receiving detailed, accurate information about your child’s growth.

Each school year, students in grades Kindergarten – Ninth Grade take the tests in September/October, January and April/May. This year, teachers will share information about MAP results during parent-teacher conferences in November.

We are truly excited to have a new tool available to our teachers and students that will help us focus on every child’s individual growth and achievement.  Consistently tracking student progress and using that data to help improve student achievement is a key strategy of Seattle Public Schools’ strategic plan, Excellence for All.

Thank you for partnering with us as we work together to ensure an excellent education for your child. For more information about MAP, including resources for parents and guardians, you may download the Parent Toolkit at www.nwea.org >> Students & Parents.  Please also feel free to ask me, or your child’s teacher, about MAP.

Sincerely

Kim Whitworth,

Principal

Families,
Eckstein students will be dismissed at 12:35 on the following days this school year for teacher Professional Development.
September 29, 30
October 27, 28
February 2, 3
March 2, 3
May 19

Eckstein Families,

Bus assignments should be sent out around the week of August 17, 2009.  If you have not received any information from the District’sTransportation Department about a bus assignment, that means your child is NOT assigned to a school bus.   Please contact Transportation at (206) 252-0900, rather than Eckstein.  They can fill out a Space Available form, but last year Transportation did not look at the requests until the beginning of October.

Bus cards are not needed to get onto a bus if you are assigned to a bus.  So, if your student is assigned to a bus, just have them at the pickup location and the bus driver will have a list of students for that bus route.  If your student is assigned to Metro, we should have those passes available the first day of school, but not before.  We will inform those students assigned to Metro when they can get their pass.  If you have any questions about transportation, please call the District’s Transportation Department directly at (206) 252-0900.

Update: the survey is now closed.  Thank you to everyone who participated.

Seattle Public Schools has created a survey about the district’s web site and would appreciate feedback from the public.  The survey will take you about 10 minutes to complete.

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.

This is the new home of the Eckstein Middle School web site.

Please check back for updates.