Budget Allocation
2010-2011

Eckstein Middle School

New text books for Japanese, French and eighth grade social studies are being reviewed.  The finalists have been selected and are available for review from February 22nd through March 5th in the Eckstein library.

• The books are on display above the reference collection on the East side of the library (in front of the blue curtained windows to the workroom)
• The library opens at 7:30am and closes at 3:00pm
• Parents who come during school hours will need to sign in at the main office.
• There are paper review forms to fill out and leave with the library

On Line Viewing

The Social Studies candidates are can be seen on line here: http://www.directedmediainc.com/

Just scroll down to below the cover for Washington: A State of Contrasts Second Edition and you’ll see links to the texts.

If you review the books on-line and wish to provide feedback please email your comments to textbooks@ecksteineagles.org.

See the “Public Review Form” below to see what kinds of information the school district is particularly interested in.

Additional Information

The school district letter to parents is here.  (Somal, Spanish, Vietnamese)

The Adoption Process is described here.

The selection criteria are here.

Public Review Form

You can find local information about H1N1, including where to get vaccinated here:

www.kingcounty.gov/health/h1n1

Hello Eckstein Jazz Fans!

We’ve begun our first fundraiser to support the Eckstein Senior Jazz Band and Vocal Jazz in their quest to get to Reno.  Increasing costs and shrinking family resources create a challenge to get all our students to Reno.  We hope you can help!

Barnes & Noble will host a Book Fair to support the Eckstein Jazz Program beginning November 14^th and ending November 21st.

No need to write an extra check, no need to sell anything – all you need to do is shop for purchases you would normally make AND encourage your friends and family to do the same.  When a purchase is made, use the voucher below (click on the “Voucher” link) and Barnes & Noble will credit our account.  We will receive in cash a percentage of the total sales – the more the sales the greater the percentage – up to 25%!  The voucher is good at any Barnes & Noble in the United States!

Voucher

The Eckstein Orchestra is in the middle of their 2009 ”Holiday Greenery” Fundraiser.

This is one of the Orchestra’s most important fundraising activities of the year and all Orchestra students participate to support their program.

Our items and prices are:

25ft cedar garland  #200    $30.00

Noble Mini Charm #302      $12.00

Door Swag  #330                $14.00

Mixed Noble Wreath #102  $22.00

Table Wreath #404             $15.00

Noble Swag #303               $21.00

Here is a copy of the flyer (.pdf) with colored pictures of all the items we are selling and an order form(prices above) you can fill out and turn into the school office by Nov 18th, or bring to the Nov 19th orchestra concert. Please enclose the order form and your check made out to “Eckstein Orchestra” in an envelope att. Mr Smith. All orders must be picked up at the school on Thursday Dec 3rd  in the  cafeteria, we will be there with your ordered product from 2pm till 7pm. We do not have the resources to deliver product to you unless you order from an orchestra student.

Any questions can be directed to Bill Trettenero @ trett56@gmail.com

Start the festive holiday season with lovely miniature poinsettia plants, specialty flavored candy canes and luscious Seattle Fudge!  Your generous orders will benefit the band students as they enter competitions and festivals in the area and region.  Please return the order form and check to the Band Room Mailbox by November 30.  We will have your orders ready for pickup at the Winter Concert on December 10.  Feel free to contact us if you need alternate arrangements, however.  We are also offering a lovely gift basket for teachers!  Questions?  Contact Sylvia Sargeant at chezsarge@comcast.net.

The order form is here (pdf).

Full Inclusion Committee

October 26, 2009

Purpose: The purpose of the Full Inclusion Committee is to review research and data regarding full inclusion and to make a recommendation to Eckstein staff and families for the ‘10’11 school year.  This movement would only affect Language Arts and Social Studies; Math would continue to offer Honors classes.

Attending: Kara Golgert, Liora Minkin, Kathy Sherman, Eric Miller, Ruthann Allan, Josh Hanson, Kim Whitworth, Miriam Hart, Stacey Norman, Jodi Gedansky, Terry Elrand

Summary of Meeting: At this meeting we read an article out of Education Leadership that outlined the rational to replace tracking with heterogeneous grouping in schools.  This helped us identify benefits and challenges to this model.

• Benefits:
  • High expectations for all students
  • Differentiated instruction that meets the needs of all students, including advanced learners
  • Our science and elective classes are already heterogeneously grouped
  • Acknowledgement that students come with multiple intelligences that are not identified in our current advanced placement testing
  • Students who didn’t get into Spectrum but are highly capable would be better served
  • This addresses working on 21^st Century skills
  • Many of our students are already coming from a full inclusion model
  • This model moves us closer to fulfilling the Districts philosophy of social justice as well as Eckstein’s philosophy of inclusion for all

• Challenges:
  • There would be more pressure for teachers to articulate how they are meeting the needs of all students
  • We would need to provide ongoing professional development for teachers in the areas of differentiation and rigor
  • We would need to ensure that the classes are balanced in terms of the program ratios
  • Parents will want to have their children in a pull out Spectrum model regardless of our assurances that we will meet the needs of students in a heterogeneous model

• Next Steps:
  • Gather feedback from the full inclusion pilot we’re doing at Eckstein
  • Look at more research on heterogeneous grouping
  • Gather input from Language Arts and Social Studies teachers
  • Get information out to families via, PTSA meetings, website and listserv

• Calendar:
  • November 9 – Share our work with PTSA in an open meeting
  • November 23 – Full Inclusion Committee meets to share information on benefits and challenges
  • December 14 – PTSA Parent Forum
  • Parent and Staff survey during this process

Supporting Documents

The Case for Untracking (.pdf)

Tracking and Ability Grouping in Middle Level and High Schools (.doc)

The candidate’s night forum saw good turnout from the community and from candidates.   One parent’s recap of the evening, including questions asked and candidate responses, can be found here.

David Doerr is the Eckstein family communicator for the Student Assignment Plan.  He will be gathering feedback and sending it to a contact at Seattle Schools.

Seattle Public Schools is committed to providing an excellent education for every student.  The new student assignment plan is an important step we must take to ensure that each school is an excellent school.  The plan will be implemented in phases beginning in the 2010-2011 school year.

The proposed boundary maps have been released and are available on the SPS website. Through the month of October and November there will be Community Feedback Meetings through Seattle, you are encouraged to come and make suggestions as minor revisions to the Boundary Map can happen prior to the proposed map going to vote at the School Board on November 18.

You can view the latest news and upcoming meetings at http://www.seattleschools.org/area/newassign/index.html.

Note: There is a meeting at Eckstein on October 10 (Saturday) from 10:00am to noon.

In the meantime, if you have any questions or concerns, you can send them to David Doerr at drddrd@yahoo.com with the subject line “New Student Reassignment” and every Sunday night he will be consolidating all questions and concerns and sending  them to a contact at the Seattle Schools.

You can find information about the new student assignment plan and meeting to discuss the same here.