Seattle Public Schools released their draft school assignment boundaries tonight. The big news: All Pinehurst families would be guaranteed a spot in Eckstein Middle School and Nathan Hale High School. And, depending on where your family lives, you would be guaranteed a spot for elementary school at Olympic Hills, Olympic View or Sacajawea. Northgate Elementary would no longer be a neighborhood elementary school. AS #1 (K-8), Thornton Creek (K-5) and Jane Addams (K-8) will still be option schools for all in Pinehurst.
Read more in the Seattle Times, Seattlepi.com, Save Seattle Schools Blog and at the Seattle Public Schools website.
If you like these changes, please let the School Board and Seattle Public Schools know. The boundaries are in draft format and are not final. Public meetings and written comments will be taken over the next month. Your voice in this process is essential.
For a complete list of meeting dates and times, please click here. You can also comment by e-mail, and postal mail. To take a survey and submit your comments, please click here.
Proposed middle and elementary school attendance areas (click to enlarge):
I have to work on Saturday and cannot attend the meeting. I hope some folks from Pinehurst can go!!! Thank you for representing us!! Karla
There are many more sessions (I think 20 in total). If you have children and you care about this issue, please show up to at least one of these meetings.
You can also write Peter Maier (peter.maier@seattleschools.org) and Sherry Carr (sherry.carr@seattleschools.org), the school board members who have been so generous in listening to the concerns of our neighborhood over the past year an more.
The full meeting list is here: http://www.seattleschools.org/area/newassign/communitymeetings.html
Renee,
I understand that you are happy and excited that the SAP changes are going in a direction that you like. But please remember that the children and families on the west side of I-5 are people to and deserve the same sort of programs and access that you are so excited about. Some of your comments here and other places sound like you could not be happier to be rid of Northgate Elem as a neighborhood school for your neighborhood. I hope I am reading your comments incorrectly. Northgate is not good enough for your neighborhood, but it ok for the families west of I-5? Same with Ingrham, you seem quite concerned that the west of I-5 people might somehow come your way? Worse yet, your kids might have to go to school with them?
I am not trying to pick a fight, just asking that you remember that all families deserve decent safe schools. Not just the ones in your neighborhood.
BTW, I am on the West side of I-5, I have one child at an alt middle school and another going into K next year. I don't love Northgate Elem either, but am not willing to demonize it.
Anonymous –
My concern is not about the quality of Northgate Elementary or of Ingraham (most of my friends who grew up in Seattle attended Ingraham). My concern is that kids in Pinehurst have been going to many schools and this has had a negative impact on our sense of community. And, the lack of ability to predict where kids would attend school has caused many families to leave. I-5 is a clear physical boundary.
And, all families I have talked with who would attend Olympic View instead of Northgate are very happy. Many who would have moved of chosen private schools are talking about staying. These are involved parents who we want in Seattle Schools and who I want to keep in Pinehurst.
(For the record I am in the Olympic Hills area.)
My child was a student at Olympic View for THREE years and we had many negative experiences there. I would highly recommend that parents for who this is a neighborhood school highly research your options, and consider sending your child elsewhere. My daughter has attended John Rogers for the last two years and is happy AND flourishing.