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Summer classes available at Jefferson CC
Category Archives: Education
Drop-in preschool this Saturday at Beacon Hill Library
Denise Louie Education Center, Rotary Club of Mercer Island, and Rainier Valley Rotary Club will present a drop-in preschool program for kids aged three to five from 10:00 am -1:00 pm this Saturday at the Beacon Hill Library, 2821 Beacon Avenue South. The program, called Playtime Plus, is free, and will help children to learn early learning activities and build their math and science skills.
This program will be ongoing (at least once a month on a Saturday) for families to come in and have their children learn early learning skills. If you have questions, please contact Tom Ulie at tulie@comcast.net, or call (206)725-9740 and ask for Hannah.
ROCKiT space offering arts and crafts classes for kids
Schools: Nova open house and BHIS Confucius classrooms
Levecke Mas writes regarding the Nova High School Open House:
Join us for exhibition night! Prospective students and families are invited to visit Nova, meet students, teachers and staff and learn more about the school’s unique program.
Nova is a small public high school in the Seattle school district.
Enrollment is open to students city wide.
The Open House starts at 6:30pm Thursday (tomorrow) night at 300 20th Avenue East.
Link corrected. Whoops! Thanks, Bridget.
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Beacon Hill International School has been selected as one of 20 Chinese language program “pioneer” schools through the Hanban-Asia Society of Confucius Classrooms Network.
The school will receive $10,000 a year for technology, possible funding for a new local Chinese teacher for next year, development of a sister-school relationship with an elementary school in China, professional development for Chinese-language teachers, and instructional materials, among other resources.
Busy times ahead at El Centro de la Raza
Graciela Gonzalez, El Centro’s Human Services Director, is teaching a class on making tamales. The class fee is $50, and students will be able to take home a dozen tamales along with the recipe. Each class is limited to six students. The class dates are Saturday, March 20, from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm, or Saturday, April 17, also from 10:00 to 12:30. Sign up at Brown Paper Tickets.
El Centro’s conversational Spanish classes will begin on Monday, April 5, and will continue on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm until June 9. Students will be able to learn Spanish with other adults in a relaxed, yet professional setting. The class fee is $300. Here is the registration form.
All proceeds from these classes go to support El Centro’s human service, child and youth, and education and skill-building programs.
As we wrote in January, United Way of King County is providing free tax preparation services to low-income taxpayers at El Centro. Tax assistance is provided in English and Spanish by volunteers who are trained and certified by the IRS. The free tax prep services will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:00 – 9:00 pm and Saturdays from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm until April 15.
Those eligible for the free service include anyone whose household made less than $50,000 in 2009, and who is filing a basic tax return only (no rental income, business taxes, or sale of property or stock).
Lastly, El Centro has joined up with Cartridges for Kids to collect used electronics. Cartridges for Kids recycles the used goods, and then gives a
small donation to El Centro. You can contribute old iPods, cell
phones, video game consoles, printer cartridges, digital cameras, DVDs, and more.
The Cartridges for Kids box is in room 304, on the top floor of the El Centro building at 2524 16th Avenue South. If you have a large amount of stuff to drop off, or if you are unable to come up to the top floor for medical reasons, please call Elliott Jones at 206-957-4652 to work out the logistics.
School levy ballots due today
If you prefer to mail yours in, you can mail it anywhere — as long as you mail it early enough to be postmarked today. Don’t forget to sign the envelope on the signature line!
Need to refresh your memory about the two Seattle school levies on today’s ballot? Here’s a link to the voters’ pamphlet.
Husky Promise at Cleveland, STEM contract approved
Tomorrow from 1 to 2pm, the University of Washington Husky Promise financial aid program will be at Cleveland High School:
Learn about the Husky Promise program – how it works, how it’s benefitted current UW students, and what it takes to qualify for the program. Meet University of Washington students who have excelled in their pursuing their passions at UW. And find how college tuition and programs like the Husky Promise may be affected by the outcomes of the current legislative session in Olympia.
More at the Husky Promise blog.
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The Seattle School Board approved the $800,000 contract for the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math program starting at Cleveland this fall. From the Seattle Times:
Under the new boundary plan, Cleveland will no longer be a neighborhood high school. Instead, it will be an “option” school, one which students must sign up to attend and with spaces assigned by lottery if necessary.
The STEM program will be phased in, starting with freshmen and sophomores this coming fall.
Read the rest in The Times.
Cleveland changes apparent at STEM open house
Charlie Mas (a Beacon Hill neighbor) attended the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) option program open house at Cleveland High School on Saturday, and has posted his experience there at the Seattle Public Schools community blog.
He discusses the potential changes in the student demographics and some of the challenges the STEM students may face, including budget cuts, transportation issues, and a staff that will probably need to adjust to the school’s changes themselves. According to Mas, staff members at the open house at times seemed unprepared for the possibility that many of the STEM students will be working at or beyond grade level and will want to take advanced courses in subjects such as world languages.
However, Mas also describes what he sees as positive aspects of this new program on Beacon Hill:
“My daughter is looking for a small school, and I am convinced that STEM will be small. She is looking for project-based learning and they are definitely going to have that. She wants to escape the ‘Discovery’ math, and it looks like STEM will offer an escape from it. She is looking for a lot of science, and oh boy will she have that.”
The Seattle Times (BHB partners) also reported about STEM yesterday, focusing on concerns about budget issues and whether the District will be able to support the program.
To set up the STEM program, the District may spend $800,000 for curriculum and training from the New Technology Network, a network of schools with a STEM focus. Some, including School Board President Michael DeBell, are not certain this expenditure is necessary in a time of tight budgets.
The Times quotes Cleveland principal Princess Shareef, who feels the New Technology Network support is vital: “If we want to do this correctly, we’re going to need the professional development that the New Technology Network affords. I hope, hope, hope that the board approves it.”
Starting in Fall 2010, Cleveland will not be a neighborhood “comprehensive” high school, but instead an “option” school, open to everyone in the District. The STEM program will be phased in for freshmen and sophomores in the classes of 2013 and 2014, while juniors and seniors will be enrolled in a College Readiness Academy.
Education roundup: Time for levies and open houses
Among other things, the capital levy includes funds for ADA/life safety systems installment at Mercer Middle School, along with renovations districtwide. Beacon Hill schools would also see funds for academic improvement, including Early Learning classrooms at Kimball and the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) option program at Cleveland, and funds for improving athletic fields and making their lighting more energy-efficient.
You can read more about the levies or watch an informational video by Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson at the SPS website.
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It’s open house season at local schools. We posted about a few recently.
Maple Elementary School is having an Open House and Math/Science Night on Thursday, February 11 from 6:30-8:30 pm at the school, 4925 Corson Avenue South. (Hat tip to neighbor JvA for the heads-up!)
Rainier Valley Cooperative Preschool is also holding an open house on Thursday, January 28 from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm at the preschool’s home, Beacon Lutheran Church, 1720 South Forest Street (across Beacon from the library). They say, “Come meet our families and learn about our preschool: We encourage the whole family to come to the open house and check out the space and meet the teachers and community.” For more information, email rvcpinfo@yahoo.com or call 206-723-3115.
Education roundup: Open houses and more
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Jerrod Gonzales, the Director of Childcare at Jefferson Community Center, shares:
[O]ur After-School program was lucky enough to receive a $3,000 grant from School’s Out Washington for quality improvement. We are very excited for the opportunity to add new reading and homework materials to our site to help our kids succeed!
The community center currently has openings in their after-school program — contact Jerrod if you’d like more information.
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Romina Rivera, Volunteer Coordinator for Youth Programs for Neighborhood House, writes:
WANTED: Mentors for Middle School Students
January is National Mentoring Month. To celebrate, Neighborhood House is launching the Recruit-A-Mentor Challenge. We’re trying to double the number of our CASASTART volunteer mentors for our middle school students.
Mentors are an important component of CASASTART. Each month, mentors join our students in various activities during after-school hours. These activities range from educational to simply hanging out. By being present each month, mentors become positive adult role models to our students which they may not otherwise have if it were not for the CASASTART program. The time commitment is two hours per month with the students plus some planning time with the other mentors. We ask that mentors commit at least six months to the program.
If you (or anyone you know) are interested in becoming a mentor, please e-mail RominaR@nhwa.org for more information on how to get started as a mentor.
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Lissa Munger, a teacher at Van Asselt Elementary, writes concerning an Open House there on Thursday, January 28th from 6:30-8:30pm:
We want to welcome community members, not just current Van Asselt families. At the open house, neighbors can:
- Learn more about the Student Assignment Plan
- Find out which schools your family is assigned to
- See our facilities
- Meet current Van Asselt staff and families (and district officials)
- Hear about Van Asselt’s programs
- Participate in a parent meeting
Please plan to join us!