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

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.

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)