Hello, hello!
Thank you to everyone who attended our Summit on Saturday and for coming together to support the success of students and families in Southeast Seattle! For those of you who were not able to make it, we are sorry we missed you. We have the handouts and PowerPoint slides available in this blog post.
The Seattle School Board is looking at renewing a contract with City of Seattle to continue three preschool classrooms (two in SE Van Asselt and Original Van Asselt) and expand to three more. They introduced the measure this past Wednesday at the board meeting. Now is an important time to reach out to school board members, all of them, and tell them you are from SE and how you feel about preschool. High quality early learning is a priority for SESEC (as voted by coalition members last year).
Community Announcements
The K-5 ELA (English Language Arts) Adoption Committee is seeking additional family/teacher applications. They are especially looking for representation from our SE region. In February, SPS initiated “an adoption process for instructional materials to support reading in grades kindergarten through 5. An adoption committee, comprising teachers, parents and community members, will be formed to begin the process in March… The new textbooks will be put into use during the 2017-18 school year.” Please see the website for more information and applications, which are located in the right column.
Do you know someone who would be a great candidate for Leadership Tomorrow? Leadership tomorrow is looking for people who display a commitment to civic engagement and a potential for community leadership. LT prepares, challenges and engages emerging and existing leaders through leadership development for the benefit of the Puget Sound region. Send them as many names as you want to enter for the chance to win a special prize! Please email your referrals by March 31 to Keiko Chu-Yamada at keiko@
Upcoming Events
Workshop #5: Building Trust between Seattle Police Department and Community Members
When: Thursday, March 10 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: Rainier Valley Cultural Center, 3515 S Alaska St, Seattle, WA 98118
What: Somali Community Services of Seattle is having its 5th Workshop of Somali Families and Police Connections (SFAPC) next Thursday, March 10 at the Rainier Valley Cultural Center. It will be from 4-6pm, with food provided. The topic of this workshop will be: Building Trust between SPD and community members. Previous workshop topics included: School Safety, Gang Prevention, and Immigrant Family Stories. We would love it if there were as many community members attending this event. There will be dialogue and education and food!
Webinar: Lessons from 500+ Cross-Sector Partnerships
When: Wednesday, March 16 from 2.00 p.m. to 3.00 p.m. EST
Where: Learn more and register online.
What: Living Cities has been actively researching what it takes to build and manage a successful cross-sector partnership. Through the Cross-Sector Partnership Assessment, a free 10 minute survey that provides immediate feedback about your cross-sector partnership, Living Cities has collected data on over 500 cross-sector partnerships.We will be presenting our findings on an upcoming webinar. The webinar will share the lessons learned from the Assessment, and go deeper through a case study onSeattle/King County’s Communities of Opportunity initiative that has benefited from Living Cities’ support. Learn more and register online.
Mayor’s Education Summit Community Conversation Hosted by El Centro de la Raza
When: Wednesday, March 16 starting at 6.00 p.m.
Where: El Centro de la Raza, 2524 16th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98144
What: This spring, Mayor Ed Murray is bringing together families, teachers, school leaders, school district leadership, and our community partners to develop a shared vision for ensuring equity and excellence for each Seattle student. The Mayor’s Education Summit will be held on April 30 at Garfield High School. Before the summit, a series of community conversations will take place across the city. These conversations will provide opportunity for teachers, families, students and community members to have a rich dialogue about what solutions they see for addressing the opportunity gap facing our students and our schools. Ultimately, these discussions will guide the focus of the Education Summit.
Introductory Peacemaking Circle Training
When: Thursday, 17 March through Saturday, 19 March from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Urban Impact, 7728 Rainier Ave S, Seattle WA
What: Attend the Peacemaking Circles workshop and learn about a process that celebrates our individual and collective experiences as a means to learn and create solutions. It has been used in several communities and companies to create an open, safe environment for making decisions, managing conflict, working through disagreements and creating a healthy work culture. Get training from an expert in the Circle Process, Saroeum Phoung. Fees: $300/person, includes lunch and refreshment. Group discount and partial scholarships are available upon applying. Space is limited. Please register here. See the attached flier for more information.
News to Follow
Last week, a new rule was proposed to address over-representation of minority students in special education. The proposal follows a 2013 report from the Government Accountability Office and will be open to public comment.
The Mayor’s Education Summit is approaching in April. Community dialogues are happening all over the city to inform the Summit and leadership guiding the Summit is coming from outside of the Seattle School District.