School Board Members Discuss Transition Plan

On Wednesday night, the Board members of Seattle Public Schools participated in a work session to discuss implementing the new student assignment plan.  While one half of the work session was devoted to the budget, the other half focused on the transition plan and covered topics pertaining to grandfathering and siblings. Here are some key areas of interest: It will take several years to complete implementation of the new student assignment plan - and so this proposed transition plan is just…

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Hamilton Construction Update

The good folks over at Seattle Public Schools’ Building Excellence III Program (BEX III) sent us a construction update for Hamilton International Middle School. If you haven’t been over to the playground recently, you should take a quick peek at the new gym. They’ve finished the backside with brick, which complements the rest of the school’s facade nicely.  Here’s an update of the work completed within the last month: As of the end of October, 2009, the main building is roofed…

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Petitions, Surveys, and Meetings, Oh My!

If you've been following reader comments underneath the call for signing petitions, surveys or meeting announcements, you can see how much Seattle Public School's new Student Assignment Plan has already impacted our neighborhood.  But many would agree that the question of sibling "grandfathering"--allowing younger siblings of children currently enrolled in school to attend the same school despite the changes in boundaries-- is the one issue that seems to be the most important.  This is true not only for Wallingford, but for…

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Greetings from a New Wallywriter

Hello, neighbors!  I thought I'd introduce myself to you as a new Wallywriter, mostly covering our neighborhood schools, though there might be a few other little tidbits I'll cover now and then. Three years ago, when we began the kindergarten enrollment process for our son, my husband and I knew next to nothing about any of the schools in our neighborhood, despite having lived here for 10 years.  As we settled into our school’s community, one of my volunteer efforts was…

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School Petition

If you've got kids, you're probably too exhausted at this point in the night to be reading this blog. But maybe you'll be up at 4 a.m. like we are with Baby Z, and you'll see it then. Either way, that would give you enough time to sign this petition that some Wallingford parents have put together asking for a change to the new school boundaries. The deadline for submitting the petition is apparently tomorrow, Friday, as they would like to…

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Neighbors Ramp-Up Efforts to Re-Open McDonald School

(Wallyhood welcomes a new writer, Margaret Steck) If you’re a parent to young children like me, you’re probably scratching your head wondering how this whole re-assignment plan from Seattle Public School is going to shake out.  I, for one, am puzzled in that the shift in school boundaries means my son will remain in his elementary school but my daughter will start Kindergarten in another.  But something tells me I’m not alone in this predicament. The New Student Assignment Plan also…

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