My primary purpose in starting this blog is to provide information to parents and community members, and to answer the question: what are Seattle’s Alternative Schools? I have met many parents who never considered an Alternative School simply because they didn't know what it meant. I would like to change this.
The short answer is that Alternative Schools in Seattle generally practice progressive, child-centered education. The short answer is inadequate both because you are still probably wondering what I mean, and because each school does this in a distinct way.
My knowledge is limited to Seattle Public Schools; I welcome postings about any schools you think should be highlighted here. In the Seattle Public School district, however, this is a very interesting time for alternative education. With the new student assignment plan in progress, we have been re-categorized as "option" schools, meaning we may, in many cases, become your one and only alternative (small a, no pun intended) if your neighborhood school doesn't fit your family as well as you'd like it to.
So, what better time to introduce ourselves! And of course, we're excited to have a chance to tell you about all the great things our wonderful children do in their wonderful schools!
This time in the district is not all happiness for us. There are two other audiences we need to communicate to: the district staff and the board.
ReplyDeleteThe actions of the district staff in 2009 (closing two alternative schools and attempting to close a third, moving one and attempting to moving another) signal that they think we are failing, unimportant, expendable. Of course, we disagree. To their credit, the district has commissioned an audit of alternative schools for next fall, perhaps in order to understand us better. I would like this blog to be a place for us to tell our own stories, and share ideas while we build our documentation, ahead of the audit.
On the other hand, members of the school board tell us we're not that different from the rest of the Seattle public schools. While it is true that some teachers in some neighborhood schools have adopted more child-centered practices over the years, we believe that this view comes from very superficial observation (e.g. kindergarten tours) of schools in both categories. I will also admit that the differences can be subtle, although many are not. I hope we can tease them out with our stories.
Alternative Schools are the breeding ground for tomorrow's "Best Practices" in mainstream education. Eliminating any of the alternative schools prior to the audit of them is extremely short-sighted on the District's part, and bodes ill for growth in education in Seattle. I am very hopeful that good solutions to this can be found and implemented before too much damage is done!
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