Seattle Public Schools recently sent the following letter to families at several Northeast cluster schools.
Dear Seattle Public Schools families of John Rogers, Olympic Hills, Olympic View and Sacajawea Elementary Schools:
Seattle Public Schools is growing. This means we need to plan for more students in the next decade. Seattle voters approved the Building Excellence IV (BEX IV) capital levy in February which will allow us to increase our capacity and help meet the demands of our growing enrollment.
The northeast region of the District will benefit by the addition of new buildings over the next several years, including a new elementary on the Thornton Creek (Decatur) site, a home for the Jane Addams K-8 program on the Pinehurst site, a new building at Olympic Hills and new elementary and middle school buildings at the Wilson Pacific site.
Another important step to address growing enrollment is the creation of a comprehensive middle school at the existing Jane Addams building, which is scheduled to begin receiving students in September 2014.
We are in the process of selecting a planning principal for the Jane Addams Middle School program. The planning principal will be responsible for collaboratively working with the Jane Addams Middle School community to develop the educational program. The comprehensive middle school will be opening in September 2014.
A school design advisory team for the Jane Addams Middle School will be selected. The team will include school and District staff, the architect and community members – led by the planning principal. We will notify the community and send out applications for design team membership at a later date.
The Jane Addams building is a BEX IV project and will be repurposed to address the educational needs for the Jane Addams Middle School students and staff. The remodeling work will be done in phases over upcoming summer breaks from 2013-2017, even though the Jane Addams Middle School will open in the 2014-15 school year.
The Jane Addams K-8 program will eventually move to a new building on the Pinehurst site, but will remain in the Jane Addams building for now. We are in the process of planning for our enrollment growth over the next 2-4 years, which will help us determine whether it may be necessary for the Jane Addams K-8 program to move to an interim site until the Pinehurst site is ready in September 2016.
Boundaries will need to be aligned with the new BEX IV building projects – and with enrollment growth in mind. Equitable access to services and programs will also play an important role in boundary revisions. The initial focus of boundary revisions will be at the elementary, middle and K-8 schools levels, with high school revisions to be addressed at a later time. This September, we will hold growth boundaries community meetings to share information and ask for public input and feedback before the Board adopts changes for the 2014-15 school year and beyond. It’s important to note that there will be no boundary changes for the 2013-2014 school year.
In the meantime, we are continuing planning for enrollment growth and developing Jane Addams comprehensive Middle School enrollment information. Updates will soon be available at http://bit.ly/SPSBEX.
Best Regards,
Michael Tolley,
Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning
Seattle Public Schools.
