A Message from Ben Shuldiner

Dear Seattle Public Schools Community,

I hope this newsletter finds you well. I can’t believe that it has been almost a month since I last wrote to you. I have missed communicating with you all. Like our last iteration, this message will be a bit longer than usual because of the summer cadence.

In the intervening weeks, we have been hard at work running summer school and preparing for next year. We have been hiring new teachers, principals, and staff. We have been building buildings, mowing lawns, updating technology, and leading professional development.

And we are getting ready to open the new Alki Elementary School. I can’t wait to walk the halls of this beautiful new facility and watch as students, families, and staff get to learn and laugh in the environment they deserve. I might even walk down 59th Ave. to see the water if I can. I have been here for almost half a year, and I am still in awe of Elliott Bay and the natural beauty of Seattle.

However, the most important work we have been doing from a central office perspective is slowly but surely restructuring our district to better serve our students.

As you might’ve seen in the papers this week, we formally announced our new Executive Directors (EDs). As a reminder, I feel very strongly that the best district structure is one in which all the high schools are under one supervisor (Chris Carter), all the K-8s (Justin Hendrickson), all the middle schools (Dr. Katrina Hunt) and all the alternative education schools (Lynn Herink). And since we have so many elementary schools, we need to have three elementary EDs.

But even in this grouping, all our HC elementary schools will be under one Executive Director (Dr. Rena Deese), all our Dual Language/Immersion schools under a different Executive Director (Dr. Jessica Conte), and all our option elementary schools under a third Executive Director (Dr. James Mercer). It is certainly our hope that this streamlined structure will lead toward greater synergy and support for our schools, students, staff, and families.

Along with this structure, all athletics will now be under the High Schools Executive Director Chris Carter. As many of you know, over the years, SPS has had its share of problems regarding concerns around our high school athletic programs. Some of it has to do with a lack of training for coaches and principals, some of it has to do with lines of authority and communication. By having all the high school principals supervised by the same person who is also overseeing all athletics, it will make it much easier to support our programs and make sure they are doing right by our students.

The next two positions that will be posted and hired for in the next few weeks will be the Assistant Superintendent of Student and Family Support and the Assistant Superintendent of Special Populations. When I arrived at SPS, I was surprised to see no singular department that had a specific mission to support our students and families. Yes, of course, all of us do this, but we were lacking a department that has a paramount focus on this important topic. This role will supervise:

• Partnerships
• Family Outreach
• Coordinated School Health
• Safety and Security
• Student Discipline

and many other disparate offices. By having a one-stop shop of help and guidance for families, it is my hope that we will be a better provider of service to our students and families.

And of course, having all our special populations departments like

• Special Education
• Multilingual Learners (ML)
• Highly Capable (HC)

and others, in one place, we will better support students across all our schools. As you know, we have Special Education programs across grades and schools, just like ML and HC. By putting these kinds of programs together under one roof, we will also be better able to serve our students and their needs.

I appreciate that it might appear that all these new positions are adding to the central office. In reality, when we are done, entire offices and departments will be merged or removed completely. This will lead to not only a more understandable and effective district, but a more streamlined and efficient one as well.

These three departments, the Office of Schools, the Office of Special Populations, and the Office of Student and Family Support, will be the main drivers around our academic, social, physical, mental, and emotional success.

Of course, big shout outs need to go to our folks in Budget, Operations, Facilities, Legal, Technology, Communications, and everyone in HR helping to hire and support thousands of SPS employees. But it is my hope that these three student-facing offices will be the backbone of our district for years to come.

As I wrote to you last month, we are nowhere near finished with the changes needed to take our district to where we want to go, but we are certainly on our way --- it is a start.

Thank you all for believing in SPS. With your help and hard work, SPS truly will be the best urban public school district in the country.

Ben

Just because school is out for summer doesn’t mean the learning stops. At Rainier Beach High School, more than 80 incoming freshmen are taking part in Power Up, a transition program aimed at helping students transition from middle school to high school.

Participants take part in social-emotional learning and life skills classes aimed at helping them assimilate to high school culture and beyond. Students write poetry, learn financial literacy, and work on behavioral skills that will help them succeed in the classroom.

The program is run by the DiscoverWorks program, which helps students stay active, learning, and engaged during the summer months, and The Good Foot, a nonprofit organization that promotes youth activism and violence prevention.

Next year, school starts BEFORE Labor Day. The first day of school for 1st through 12th graders will be Sept. 2. Kindergarteners and preschoolers will begin on Sept. 8. Parents, be sure to check your emails in late August for back-to-school messages.