Based on nominations from Eckstein parents, the Golden Acorn committee has chosen Kathy Briggs as the 2010 Eckstein
PTSA Golden Acorn Award winner. Congratulations, and thanks to Kathy  for her nearly decade-long contributions to Eckstein!

Other nominees this year:

(more…)

The 2010/11 Early Release Calendar 2010-2011 (pdf).

don’t establish the
boundaries
first,
the squares, triangles,
boxes
of preconceived
possibility,
and then
pour
life into them, trimming
off left-over edges,
ending potential:

A.R. Ammons

Dear Colleagues and Families~

Closings are always bittersweet and today I write with great affection for you and our community.   The work we have done this year was single mindedly focused on our children and it makes me proud to be a part of this community.

It is in the midst of a tinge of sadness that we send you off with the hope of a joy filled summer. Please take time to rejuvenate yourselves.  I know for some of you this means being with friends and family, while for others it will be climbing mountains and biking through Europe.  The time will fly.

I would like to take just a moment before we all depart for the summer to both reflect on this year and look forward to the fall.

The work we did this year provided opportunities to increase the support and collaboration we have among our staff members.  Our Professional Learning Communities (PLC’s) provide us a framework for looking at four essential questions of teaching and learning:

• What do we want kids to know and be able to do?
• How will we know if they’ve learned it?
• What do we do if they haven’t learned it?
• What do we do with students who already know it?

Our focus next year will be to continue to learn more about the processes for strong professional learning communities and specifically, common formative assessments and our response to interventions.  We are a staff who looks at kids and responds to their needs.  We don’t put them in preconceived squares and triangles. We should all be proud of how far we’ve come in such a short amount of time.

To facilitate our continued work in professional learning communities for next year we agreed on Schedule option “B”.  From now on we’ll just call it the 2010-2011 professional development calendar.  This provides one two-hour early release day a month.  Every other Wednesday we will devote our meeting time to working in PLC’s.  I am attaching a copy of the calendar so you can have it for your planning.

The other decision we had to make for next year was the bell schedule.  Providing students and teachers with two fifty-minute blocks of Homeroom time this year opened up a number of opportunities.  Students were able to use the time to make up assignments and labs as well as get additional help from their teachers.  More importantly, we were able to continue our Cohort homeroom for 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade students.  We just started to scratch the surface of more interventions for students.  The Math Mentor Program is only one example of this.  I know that by continuing to provide time we will develop more interventions for students who are struggling in school. With this in mind, we will continue to offer two, fifty-minute study hall periods on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  The bell schedule for next year is included below.

BELL SCHEDULE AND HOMEROOM/STUDY HALL:

2010-2011 Bell Schedule

Classes on Monday, Wednesday and Fridays are 55 minutes long.  Classes on Tuesday and Thursdays are 45 minutes long.  The study halls are 50 minutes each. The study hall time will be used for cohort, the math mentoring program, silent sustained reading, ASB, assemblies and activities.  We will also be able to have grade level lunches on Tuesday and Thursday.

We will continue to evaluate schedules and calendars in the upcoming months.  All changes will have opportunities and challenges and it’s up to us to evaluate and maximize the strengths. What I am sure of is that we will work together to make things work for our kids.

We will have some staffing changes for next year and this means the loss of some wonderful teachers and friends.  Below are the staff members who are moving on:

Carl Chew – Science

Orleen Baugh – LA

Kimberly Reagan – LA

Dianne Siasoco – SS

Kristie Fowler – LA

Paul Cavendar – LA

Clayton Townley – Music

We have had the opportunity to hire two teachers for next year.  Please join me in welcoming Sara Hoofnagle and Al George to Eckstein.  Ms. Hoofnagle will be joining the 6^th grade science team.  Al George will be a new PE/Health teacher at Eckstein.  Both were teachers at Summit K-12 and are excited to be at Eckstein next year.

We will keep you updated on any additional hiring that occurs this summer.

Have a wonderful summer and we’ll see you in the fall.

Best,

KW

May 25, 2010

Dear Eckstein Middle School students and families:

I am writing to you today with important information about how Eckstein places student and staff safety as our top priority, and how we ensure a safe learning environment.

There have been reports in the media related to student offenders who attend schools across the State of Washington. It has been reported that one student sex offender attends our school.  That information is correct.

Seattle Public Schools complies with all laws and statutes that govern the enrollment of student offenders, including laws related to notification.

When the juvenile rehabilitation system has determined it is time for a student offender to continue his or her education within a school setting, then Seattle Public Schools develops a comprehensive plan to ensure a safe learning environment for all students.

SPS works very closely with the justice system, probation officers, the student, the school and parents/guardians to create an educational and safety plan including a behavioral contract. The behavior contract includes a commitment to attendance, academic and behavior goals. It could include restrictions that students must follow and is closely monitored. If the student is out of compliance, we work with family members, the student, probation officers and other community supports to correct the issue.

As the school leader, I also want to share with you that state laws determine who should and can be notified when a student offender enrolls in a school. In general, notification is prohibited. The exception is that principals have discretion to inform certain staff within the school for safety purposes. The extent of notification is established in the law. That means SPS is specifically prohibited by law from notifying other students, family or community members.

I am very proud that Eckstein has a safe and welcoming environment focused on student learning.  That environment has been created due to the dedication and commitment of everyone in our community.  Thank you for your on-going involvement in and support for Eckstein and for our students.

Please let me know if you wish to discuss this matter further.

Sincerely,

Kim Whitworth, Principal

The Eckstein PTSA cordially invites you to our first Annual Parents Gala Night. Wine, dine, dance and socialize with fellow parents and teachers. Play games, grab the microphone and show off your talents, win door prizes and show your support for our school community. We guarantee an evening of fun and relaxation!

Incoming 6th grade parents: come and get the Eckstein inside scoop!

When: May 22, 2010

Time: 6:30-11 PM

Tickets: $30/person, $50/couple

Venue: Laurelhurst Community Center,
4554 NE 41st Street
Seattle, WA 98105

To reserve spots, please send email to siva@shakthi.net and mail check (payable to Eckstein PTSA) to:

Eckstein Middle School PTSA
3003 NE 75th Street
Seattle, WA 98115

Space is limited. No guests under 21, please.

For more info, contact Siva Bala Narayanan. siva@shakthi.net (206) 963-1841

Eckstein Gala Night web flyer

The proposed PTSA budget for 2010-2011 is here. The budget was discussed at the April meeting and will be voted on at the May 10 meeting.  Please use this post for comments and questions!

You can find Kim Whitworth’s take on the 2010-2011 school budget here.

The kids sometimes don’t relish it, but the Catch-Up Cafe is helping them cut the mustard.

Bad puns aside, the Cafe is one tool used at Eckstein to help all students succeed.  The idea came from a conference attended last fall be several staff members.  Another school at the conference reported great success with the idea.

The problem being addressed is the number of students, especially 8th graders and second semester 7th graders, doing poorly in class simply because of missing work.  Students are getting worse grades than they otherwise would, not because they don’t understand the material but because they’re not completing work.

The Cafe’s goal is to improve student achievement by providing a place, during school hours, for students to do homework and other missing assignments.  The Cafe also emphasizes to students that homework is important and that all students are expected to complete their work.

Students who are missing work are referred to the Cafe by their teachers.  The Cafe takes place during lunch and students are required to attend and continue to attend until they are caught up.

When the Catch-Up Cafe was first implemented over a quarter of the student population, 318, were referred.  The numbers quickly fell as soon as students realized they were giving up lunch time socializing because of missing homework.  Now about 170 students a week are in the Cafe.

It appears that the Cafe is helping students shore up their grades.  For example, students who were on the border between a B and a C are now getting a solid B.

Another benefit of the program is identifying students who were not turning in homework because they didn’t understand the material.  These students are now referred to an after school homework program where they can get more intensive tutoring.

The Catch-Up Cafe has also caused teachers to start having conversations about the purposes and importance of homework.  Over time and in conjunction with conversations about grading practices this will lead to more consistent grading policies across the school.

Eckstein is committed to seeing all of its students cut the mustard.  The Catch-Up Cafe is one tool being used to help them succeed.

Comments below are welcome.

The Eckstein budget for the 2010-2011 school year has been approved by staff.  The documents below show the 2009-2010 (this year’s) budget and the 2010-2011 budget.  Some highlights:

Note: I-728 money was used to pay for just over 2 teachers.

Projected student population breakout at the time of budgeting (actual enrollment varies slightly)

2009-2010 Budget, page 1 (.jpg)
2009-2010 Budget, page 2 (.jpg)
2009-2010 Budget, page 1 (.pdf)