Friday Memo to the Board Schools & Continuous Improvement for the week of April 26-30, 2021 - Seattle Public ...
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Friday Memo to the Board
Schools & Continuous Improvement
for the week of April 26-30, 2021
Summer Staircase Update:
We are continuing to prepare for our summer offerings for 2021. As we are moving through our timelines to ensure that
we are adequately prepared and stakeholders are aware of the educational services we are providing this summer, we
continue to make adjustments based on capacity of staff, facilities, health and safety guidelines, course selections and
community based partners. We will provide updates via the Friday Memo until the end of the school year. The Summer
Learning landing page will also be used to provide updates to our larger community.
• We are continuing to develop Community Based Organization (CBO) partnerships for summer and have clear
guidance for building use this summer.
• Job postings for teaching and support of summer programs have been open for six weeks and we are continuing to
recruit.
• Student recruiting guidance has been sent to building leaders and three Teams information sessions are available
for building leaders to drop in and ask questions.
• We will follow our strategic plan for prioritizing students for in-person and virtual offerings.
To date, we will have the following options available:
• An interactive calendar for K-8 students to work independently on literacy, math, and Social Emotional Learning
(SEL) activities.
• A K-8 virtual program that will focus on the goals in our Strategic Plan.
• K-8 in-person options.
• 5th-6th Bridge Program-Weekly SEL lessons and live events for students transitioning from 5th -6th grade.
• High School Credit Recovery.
• Career and Technical Education courses.
Building leaders are currently referring students through PowerSchool and they have an open window until May 8th at
5:00pm. After this window, the Summer Learning Department will work with the Department of Technology Services
(DoTS) and use a Qualtrics survey (translated) to register families. Families that do not respond to the survey will receive
follow up calls, emails, and/or home visits to ensure we prioritize students in our Strategic Plan.
Family Services – McKinney Vento
Continuation of Service Support and Collaboration Update
The Family Services McKinney Vento (MKV) program staff continue their support of students and families with online
learning. Staff are available to provide specific McKinney Vento supports such as tutoring funds, financial assistance,
transportation, specific student/DoTs technology support, enrollment assistance, and consultation on needed referrals with
school staff. In the past two weeks the MKV team worked with various departments, school staff, and families to keep
students furthest from educational justice connected to school. This reporting period, the program has worked diligently
to pivot to in-person instruction by working with families and school staff to submit transportation requests. The team
met with our transportation counterparts and ensured that we had our processes in place to quickly set up transportation
for students. Due to third party transportation company driver shortages, setting up transportation has been difficult and
delayed. In the interim the MKV team has provided Mileage-in-lieu or gift cards to use for gas reimbursement for parents
that are able to transport their students to school. The program offered ORCA cards to parents/students who could use
that resource. This week the MKV program is working with Transportation to continue to address difficulties with
consistent transportation with the knowledge that additional contracts with Lyft/Uber and charter buses are in
process. The MKV team will work with our families and school staff to make students aware of these options as further
interim transportation. In addition to transportation, the MKV team set up a process to distribute P-EBT cards that DSHS
is delivering to John Stanford for our most highly mobile families. The Homeless Liaison worked with shelter partners to
identify students and plan for P-EBT drop off once they arrive. School staff will provide pick-up options at school or
mailing to a confirmed address for our students outside of shelter.Friday Memo to the Board
Operations for April 26-30, 2021
Capital Projects and Planning
• Rainier Beach High School’s Schematic Design Presentation Community Meeting: A presentation of the
schematic design for Rainier Beach High School is planned for the Rainier Beach community on May 6, from 6-
7:30 p.m. A flyer communicating this information will be sent to all student families and those living within a
one-mile radius of the school. In addition, the community meeting will be advertised in the local paper and on
social media. Translation services will be provided for this event.
• Other Rainier Beach High School Meetings include a contractor outreach event hosted by Lydig Construction
on May 13 to encourage Minority/Women-owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) contractor participation in the
project and a follow-up presentation to the BEX/BTA Oversight Committee on May 14 to respond to questions
from School Board and committee members concerning Bassetti Architects/Moody-Nolan’s April 9 design
presentation.
• Kimball Elementary School’s Phase 1 Building Demolition Bid Opening: Bids were opened to demolish the
existing Kimball Elementary School. Five bids were received with Dickson Company the apparent low,
responsive, responsible bidder. The bid price received is within budget, and demolition activities are planned to
begin mid-July upon receipt of required permits. Phase 2 School Replacement will bid in July.
• Northgate Elementary School Replacement Project Bid Opening: Bids were opened to replace the existing
Northgate Elementary School and the project bid within the identified General Contractor/Construction Manager
(GC/CM) guaranteed maximum price (GMP). A board action report will be forthcoming noting the GMP amount
(previously approved by the board) and bid results. A Master Use Permit appeal was received by the City of
Seattle, and a hearing has been scheduled for June 14-15. Construction activities will commence upon receipt of
required permits.
• Wing Luke Elementary School Opening: Activation and occupancy activities concluded on April 16 at Wing
Luke Elementary School. Principal Carol Mendoza said the school had a successful opening on April 19. Staff,
students, and families are excited to occupy their new home. Minor punch list items and landscaping of the
playground and playfield remain to be completed.
Facility Operations
• Opening Playgrounds and Fields: The district’s past practice has been to make many district playgrounds
accessible to the general public outside of school hours, with some exceptions at particular schools where there
were problems with noisy after-hour activity or accumulations of litter. During the pandemic, we began restricting
access for a couple of reasons: we did not have the capacity to ensure unsafe gatherings on school property, and
we wanted to reserve the equipment in schools that were hosting childcare operators. Currently, our safety
protocols call for much more cleaning overall than is our past practice. This includes cleaning playground
equipment once daily. Given our capacity constraints, it would be difficult for custodial staff to schedule this
cleaning in such a way as to ensure it was accomplished between public use and school use. As the district settles
into a routine supporting more in-person instruction in our buildings, we’ll continue to evaluate access to
playgrounds to determine if we can make them more available.
• Cost-saving Maintenance Change: The Auto Shop now has a new laptop and licensed software to do our own
standard maintenance error code checks on our Peterbilt delivery trucks. This will save thousands of dollars per
year in dealership error code reading charges that can now be done in-house.
Nutrition Services
• Sugary Breakfast Items: Typically, Nutrition Services does not provide many sweet cereals. For breakfast, milk,
a whole grain option and a serving of fruit is provided. That is the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA) meal pattern requirement. Some sites may have used leftover cereals that were part of the seven-day
meal kits provided to students during spring break. The department has picked up the extra kits, and going
forward, those types of cereals won’t be served.Friday Memo to the Board
Office of African American Male Achievement
for the week of April 26 – May 1, 2021
This week was a productive auspicious week for the Office of African American Male
Achievement (AAMA) especially in terms of collaboration. Even though it is impossible to place
our work into 3 simple themes we will make the attempt. 1. Professional Development 2. Family
and Community Engagement and 3. Student Engagement & Development.
In terms of Professional development, King Makers of Seattle (KOS) Student and
Family advocates were engaged in professional learning community meetings with Black
educators across the West coast. Additionally, our office will be contributing to the professional
development of Racial Equity Teams and conference participants. This PD will allow our office
to engage nearly every school in the district, while simultaneously elevating the educational
experiences of Black boys and teenagers.
Community Engagement Our office continues to further cross departmental
collaborations, while nurturing external collaborations with Community Business Organizations
(CBO’s), this week’s collaborations included, The Breakfast Group, Refugee Women’s Alliance
(REWA) Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL). Internally our collaborations,
included Research and Evaluation; Equity Partnership and Engagement; Department of
Technology Services; Coordinated School Health; and Communications Dept.
Student Development Student Leadership Council (SLC) has been gearing up for a
partnership with leadership to further develop Black Studies. The kings shared specific elements
of a classroom they would love enjoyable, engaging, and most of all educational! We discussed
specific content that should be covered in this class, like cooperative economics, African
kingship, and Black Excellence here in Seattle! One of the kings was adamant about learning
about more local heroes. “We learn about everybody from everywhere else, but I want to learn
about Black Excellence here!”
Amidst financial literacy month- Rising Sons Extended (RSE) KINGS had an
empowering week. Monday introduced a guest speaker (a Brother who is a professional in
financial literacy) who talked about the importance of generational wealth. Tuesday and
Wednesday had an enriching focus on Black History and culture. Brother Luther Adams, a
Professor at the U of W Tacoma, stopped by as the guest speaker. The meeting highlighted the
unfortunate reality of how little our Kings are exposed to vastness and richness of their Black
History early in life. One of the 4th grade Kings said, “…our school really doesn't do Black
History Month and if they talk about black history, they only talk about Dr. King and Rosa
Parks”. Another 5th grade King said, “…it is very important to know where you family is from
because we need to understand who we are”. Early immersion to cultural identity is critical.Friday Memo to the Board
Teaching and Learning Division
Essential Information for the week of April 26-30, 2021
CURRICULUM, ASSESSMENT, & INSTRUCTION (CAI)
Spring Smarter Balanced Assessments Update: The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(OSPI) has determined that Smarter Balanced Assessments and the Washington Comprehensive
Assessment of Science will not be administered to students this spring. Instead, the state summative
assessment window for the 2020-21 school year will be this fall, which fulfills the guidance provided by
the Department of Education to satisfy federal testing requirements. While these state tests will not be
administered this spring, schools will be asked to determine and administer locally determined assessments,
which will only be used to help measure student learning, provide information to families, and determine
academic areas in which students are in need of extension and/or supports. This news has been shared
broadly with families, including via School Beat, on the District website, and on social media:
https://www.seattleschools.org/district/calendars/news/what_s_new/smarter_balanced_assessment_spring_
2021
Spring School-Based Assessments Update: Pursuant to the district’s reopening plan submitted to OSPI
and HB 1368, SPS is required to assess student learning this year. The primary purpose of these
assessments is to give students an opportunity to show their learning of priority standards and provide
information on this learning to students and families. In accordance with state requirements, SEA and SPS
have worked together to develop a menu of assessment options in ELA and Math in grades 3-9. Grade level
teams for ELA and Math at each school need to work with their school leaders to determine and share what
assessment options they will be using to assess student progress in grades 3-9 in ELA and Math. If a school
already has a plan for providing these assessments, the grade level teams should follow that plan. If all
members of a grade level team wish to administer an assessment not provided on this menu of assessment
options, their school leader will confirm that the proposed assessment aligns with the grade level/content
area priority standards. In support of family engagement, a family letter template will be provided to
schools to send home to families. This letter will share with families information on the assessments being
given and student learning of priority standards and additional space for comments. Trainings for staff will
be provided. For more information, please contact Caleb Perkins and Audrey Roach.
Grades 6-12 Attendance: We are thrilled to have welcomed students in grades 6-12 back to in-person
learning on Monday, April 19. As expected, many things will look differently from remote learning,
including how attendance is taken, particularly given the requirements from the Governor’s 3/12
Proclamation. Attendance will now be taken twice every day for each period – once in the morning and
once in the afternoon. Students will be marked absent if they do not participate during afternoon
instruction. On Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Fri, teachers are expected to provide live, remote instruction to all of
their students in the morning for 30-45 minutes for each scheduled period, and then follow up with these
same students in the afternoon for 60-75 minutes with small group and individual instructional support.
Teachers will gather data on who attends in the morning and who attends in the afternoon through
Microsoft Teams and record this information formally by 4:45 p.m. If students do not participate in
instruction or instructional support, either in-person or remotely, at all during these scheduled blocks in the
afternoon, they will be marked absent.
There is no truancy during the 2020-21 school year. We will continue to communicate that attendance
alone should not determine students’ grades, but rather student grades and credit attainment should bebased on the work they submit that demonstrates their progress towards meeting required standards in a content area. We will provide accommodations to students who cannot participate in afternoon activities if they have obligations that they will not be able to change during the last nine weeks of the school year, such as caring for a sibling or a family member, so that their attendance and grades are not negatively impacted. Attendance guidance has been provided to school leaders and educators via the SLC and School Beat, and this attendance policy has been shared with families on the district website, via School Beat, and on social media. https://www.seattleschools.org/district/calendars/news/what_s_new/attendance For additional information, please contact Dr. Keisha Scarlett at kdscarlett@seattleschools.org.
Friday Memo to the Board
Equity, Partnerships & Engagement (EPE)
For the Week of April 26-30, 2021
Dept. of Racial Equity Advancement (DREA)
• On May 1st, 2021, DREA is hosting the second annual Racial Equity Team Institute titled "Racial
Justice Approaches to Organizing For School Change." Both school-based and central office
staff are invited to this event.
School & Community Partnerships (SCP)
• In partnership with Facilities, Schools and Continuous Improvement, and Curriculum,
Assessment, and Instruction, the School and Community Partnerships Department developed an
approach for community-based organization access to school buildings this summer. This access
will be limited to current school partners, including those operating under the Community
Alignment Initiative, and will support greater student access to in-person learning opportunities
this summer.
Stakeholder Engagement (SE)
• Columbus City School District | On Thursday, 4/22, the Housing & Education Manager, SCP’s
Partnerships Systems Manager, and a representative from Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) met
with Columbus City School District representatives. The group of district leaders from
Columbus, Ohio, represented their Department of Engagement. As a new department, they
wanted to learn about SPS's longstanding partnership with SHA and our data management system
at the District. After this initial conversation, we agreed to meet again in a month to continue
learning from each other.
• Strategic Goals 4 and 5 | On Wednesday, 4/21, the HS Transition Success Project Manager,
partnered in planning with the Dept. of College and Career Readiness (CCR) on House Bill (HB)
1599, Multiple Pathways to Graduation. The Project Manager will begin working with African
American students to discuss the requirements and quality instruction across core academic areas
that affect African American Youth.
• Stakeholder Engagement Landscape Mapping | Week of 4/26, the Community Engagement
Manager continued work on a district-wide mapping of 2020-2021 community engagement work
that divisions have been doing throughout the year. They plan to engage in informational follow-
ups with departments and divisions that need further support to get started. This work will
establish a framework to collect and organize the data as it arrives—expanding the engagement
request from division-by-division to a more refined focus department-by-department.
• Parent Survey Support | Week of 4/7, the Family Partnerships Student and Family Advocate
worked with Seattle World School on Parents Survey and safe return to in-person learning. The
school only had a 22% response rate after four days. Teachers and other staff started phone calls
in different languages to the parents and asked them to complete the survey. Within two days,
participation had increased to 95%. A persistent observation remains that the best way of
communication with diverse populations, particularly ELL families, continues to be by phone.Friday Memo to the Board
Department of Technology Services
for the week of April 26 – 30, 2021
Attestation – Health Screening and Dashboard Updates
In keeping with Health and safety standards for back to in-person instruction, Qualtrics, the Daily
Health Screening platform, sends out over 56,000 emails and about 23,000 texts to families/students
and staff daily. The response rate to the Screening has been over 31,000/day.
In partnership with Coordinated School Health, this tool has been evolving to improve the Screening
and Dashboard's user experience. Over 1,500 Dashboard authorized users can now view the
information they need to check in students and staff. We have recently put in
place additional customizations as part of this improvement:
• Staff "Approved" notification now has a "retake" link to allow updates to their
Screening.
• Added Elementary and Secondary Schools Student Check-in pages to their Dashboard
to streamline the process.
• Enabled Guardian Permission page to view parents/guardians who have responded to
the approval question.
• Made available Dashboard Tips for users to access information regarding the Screening
and Dashboard quickly.
Given this is a new process, our technical staff are fielding about 200 support questions per
day; we have increased our internal support to accommodate for this influx.Friday Memo to the Board
Office of Public Affairs
Essential Information for the week of 04/23/21 - 04/30/2021
Goal 1: Media Relations
• KING 5 - Homeless encampment on North Seattle school property draws concern from neighbors
https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/homeless-encampment-near-broadview-thomson-school-bitter-lake-
seattle/281-9affac37-d961-43ba-a3e0-b79bd9c8645a
• KIRO 7 – Seattle Police still searching for gunman who shot and killed 16 year old at front door of Rainier Beach
home https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/seattle-police-still-searching-gunman-who-shot-killed-16-year-old-front-
door-rainier-beach-home/FQ3BWM6UAZFBFGP3LBQNSX4O3U/
• KOMO tv – Parents worry as homeless camp keeps growing behind Seattle school
https://komonews.com/news/local/parents-worry-as-homeless-camp-keeps-growing-behind-seattle-school
• Seattle Times – Seahawks' Russell Wilson and performer Ciara surprise West Seattle students with savings
accounts https://www.seattletimes.com/education-lab/seattle-seahawks-team-up-with-goalsetter-app-to-surprise-
students-with-savings-accounts/
Goal 2&3: District Messaging – Outbound Communications, Customer Service
• Feature Story: Occupational Therapy Month
https://www.seattleschools.org/district/calendars/news/what_s_new/occupational_therapy_month
• Feature Story: Head Start Preschool Enrollment
https://www.seattleschools.org/district/calendars/news/what_s_new/head_start_preschool_enrollment
• Feature Story: School Volunteer Week
https://www.seattleschools.org/district/calendars/news/what_s_new/school_volunteer_week
• Feature Story: Student Portal https://www.seattleschools.org/student_portal
• Feature Story: Sexual Assault Awareness Month
https://www.seattleschools.org/district/calendars/news/what_s_new/sexual_assault_awareness_month
• Feature Story: Graduation Dates
https://www.seattleschools.org/district/calendars/news/what_s_new/graduation_dates_and_locations
• Feature Story: Attendance https://www.seattleschools.org/district/calendars/news/what_s_new/attendance
• Feature Story: Health and Safety Protocols
https://www.seattleschools.org/district/calendars/news/what_s_new/health_and_safety_protocols
• Feature Story: Metro Tips for Students
https://www.seattleschools.org/district/calendars/news/what_s_new/metro_tips_for_students
• Feature Story: Uses of Physical Intervention Community Sessions
• https://www.seattleschools.org/district/calendars/news/what_s_new/uses_of_physical_intervention_community_s
essions
• The web team:
o CMS and redesign project preparation continues, public district and school websites content preparation
for migration
o Refining new website design and CMS configuration
o Reached out to schools to confirm their primary and secondary colors for the new templates
o Is researching options for website form solutions
o Collaborated with curriculum team to recruit educators for user experience research and discovery for
website redesign project.
• Customer Service Team
o This month, SPS has received an average of 95 Let's Talk dialogues a day, which is more than double the
daily average this time last year.
o The Features Let's Talk Landing Page of the week is Advanced Learning. Check it out to see how this
department is using Let's Talk to support equitable access to opportunities and resources.
o What people are saying about Let's Talk...
o "I got a response to my text within about a minute of sending it! Super helpful! And super friendly!"
o "It is nice to speak to someone and not feel like your email is lost in cyberspace. Thank you"You can also read
