2012 High School Information Night, is taking place at Roosevelt on February 2, 2012. This event will give potential 9th grade families and other families new to the RHS community a chance to listen to a student panel talk about life at Roosevelt, to meet with department heads about curriculum, tour the school, and visit with club and sports representatives. The event will start at 7:00 p.m. in the Roosevelt Theatre. Contact the Counseling Office, 206-252-4827 or the Main Office, 206-252-4810, with questions.

Nathan Hale High School Informational Evening for Prospective Families:
Tuesday, February 7th 6:00 – 7:00PM

• Table Fair in the Commons area will include information about student activities and parent groups.
• Building tours will leave from the Commons area
• NHHS Presentation at 7:00 – 8:30PM, Questions & Answers in the Performing Arts Center
• Note – changes from previous years: This event is not the “Rigor and Relevance Night” format of previous years with the panel of teachers. The format this year is similar to what our day tours have been in the past – tours of the building then a presentation by Jill followed by a student panel for questions and answers.
• We will not be doing a day tour this year. With the new student assignment plan, a number of schools have moved away from scheduling day tours.

Tina Tudor, 9^th grade coordinator. Her contact info is tmtudor@seattleschools.org and 252-3706.

Ingraham High School Open House Information:

Open House 2012
February 1^st – 7:00 PM – Ingraham Auditorium

IB Information Night
February 8^th – 7:00 PM – Ingraham Library

APP Information Night
February 15^th – 7:00 PM – Ingraham Library

Daytime Tours
February 15^th – 8:15 AM – 9:45 AM
March 7^th – 8:15 AM – 9:45 AM
Daytime tours begin in the school Auditorium.

Questions? Call the Main Office #206-252-3888.
All Tours and Open Houses are for parents and students. There is no need to RSVP for tours or the night open houses.

Tours at Cleveland High School:

The January 18^th school tour has been rescheduled for February 3rd (Friday) from 8am – 10am.
There will be another school tour on February 15^th (Wednesday) from 8am – 10am.
The March 21st tour has been rescheduled for March 6^th (Tuesday) because the Open Enrollment form is due to the district on March 9, 2012.

Interested families should email Tina Camero to reserve a spot on the tour. Families must arrive by 8am and check in with the main office where a student representative will escort them to room 1201. There is a brief presentation and then proceed with a tour of both academies, School of Life Science and School of Engineering & Design. There will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions.

Chief Sealth International High School Prospective Student Open House:
Thursday, February 9, 2012
5:45 – 8:00 p.m. / main entrance
2600 SW Thistle Ave, Seattle WA 98126 / (206) 252-8550
http://chiefsealthhs.seattleschools.org/

You are officially invited to our annual open house for prospective students and families. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from administration, teachers, parents and students. Activities include:

• Entertainment by the CSIHS Marching Band
• An information session on the International Baccalaureate program
• Building tours
• Desserts and beverages provided by the PTSA and YMCA
• Surprise student performances

In addition, interested families will have the opportunity participate in a series of school-day tours.

• NEW DATE! Tuesday, February 14 - 10:00-11:30am (Madison & Pathfinder students)
• Tuesday, February 7 – 10:00-11:30am (Private schools and other middle schools)
• TBD – Denny Middle School Tours
• Shadow Day – current 8th graders can shadow a 9th grade student for the first 3 classes of the day: Monday, February 13, 8:15-11:30am. Parents of interested students should email Laura Robb at lkrobb@seattleschools.org.

STEM @ Cleveland High School, Campus Tours:

Middle school students and their families are welcome to visit Cleveland High School. We will visit classrooms to observe, to ask questions and to participate! Tours begin at 8am in the school auditorium and end at 10am. Please email Tina Camero at ticamero@seattleschools.org to reserve your tour date. Cleveland High School | 5511 15th Ave. S.| 206.252.7800

Plus receive more information on:

• School of Engineering & Design – February 15th
• School of Life Sciences – March 21^st

Other nominees this year:

Van Kantner
LauraLeigh Young
Miriam Doyle
Arlene Hing-Loh
Heather Lisagor

Here is a sample of what nominators had to say about their nominees.

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Kathy Briggs

“Kathy should be nominated the most caring business woman of the year.  She is the ombudswoman for Laurelhurst, Eckstein, and Roosevelt.

kathy has never sought even one minute of attention while doing the job of ten people.

I would say Kathy Briggs is a great role model for students and adults of what one does for community.”

“Without Kathy’s leadership, there would be no magazine sale….”

Other nominations

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Van Kantner

“Please consider Van Kantner for the Golden Acorn.  In addition to the stellar work she’s done as treasurer of PTSA, she’s also stepped up and managed the directory and all of the PTSA membership stuff.  Not to mention keeping us on the straight and narrow when it comes to PTSA rules and regulations.

She is truly deserving.”

“Van’s attention to details and knowledge of PTSA rules are invaluable assets to the Eckstein parent community.”

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LauraLeigh Young

“She is always working hard to find volunteer for a myriad of things at Eckstein.  And when she can’t find enough people to cover things like school tours or catch-up cafe, she fills in herself so it ends up seeming like she volunteers for everything.”

“The Volunteer Co-ordination machine at Eckstein runs smoothly thanks to LauraLeigh.”

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Miriam Doyle

for her efforts with the orchestra.

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Arlene Hing-Loh

orchestra parent responsible for e-mail communications.

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Heather Lisagor

She is the parent volunteer coordinating the following performance groups.

Nearly 500 students:

6 concert bands
3 jazz bands
1 vocal jazz
3 combos

All of the band meetings

All aspects of fundraising, activities, concerts, field trips, and student welfare.

She has been very professional and a great Eckstein representative.

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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

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

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