Superintendent Message_Feb. 8, 2026

Dear Seattle Public Schools Community,

It is an honor and a privilege to write to you today. These last seven days have been an incredible whirlwind of activity, meeting students, families, staff, and community members. I visited 15 schools across the city, from Dunlap to The Center School, from Alki to Greenwood. In each building, I saw deep and vibrant learning. I saw educators teaching with rigor and care. I saw principals who knew their staff, their students, and their families.

I loved meeting some self-described “wine moms” on the playground as they dropped off their students for school. I loved talking about curriculum and pedagogy with a 3rd grade teacher. I loved walking the halls of the schools with our senior leadership staff, so they could see what is happening in our schools. Because how can you be a good, thoughtful, and supportive school district administrator unless we spend most of our time in classrooms and cafeterias?

I want to give a shout out to the student who was doing a non-fiction project about cats, and told me that their cat’s name is Smokey, just like one of mine. I want to give a shout out to the students at Lafayette Elementary who wrote me letters about their school and how great it is. I want to give a shout out to the teachers doing a hands-on lesson where students built their own pinball game to learn about force. I want to give a shout out to the student that was riding a unicycle that was taller than they are.

I want to give a very special shout out to the dozens of students at Rainier Beach High School who honored me with their presence and voice. During a moving and heart-wrenching dialogue, they shared their wants and needs to feel safer and to honor their wonderful friends who died. Thank you, Rainier Beach students: I heard you and have already begun to act on your suggestions.

I also want to commend all the parent and family volunteers I saw. To have an extra pair of loving hands in a classroom, supporting the educators and the students is incredible. The research is clear: the most important person to move a student toward success in a school is the classroom teacher (big shout out to them). But we also know that tutoring and mentoring are incredibly strong indicators toward success as well.

Thus, to that end, I want to make sure to use today's newsletter to send out a clarion call to all community. Parents, grandparents, cousins, and friends: if you would like to volunteer in our classrooms, our cafeterias, or our playgrounds, please reach out to your schools. And from central office, I will be trying to break down every barrier I can to make it easier to volunteer and help.

One of the fascinating data points about Seattle is that we have over 800,000 folks living in the city, but only about 50,000 students. That is a ratio of 16 to 1, or 6.25% of the city are students. In most cities, this number is closer to 10 to 1 or 10%. Meaning we have so many more people in this city than we do students, which makes it even easier to have mentoring and tutoring.

Could you imagine if every student in SPS had an individual tutor and mentor who started with them in kindergarten and moved up with them until senior year? What an amazing dream!

So, today, I ask you to dream that dream with me. Let us work together to try to get mentors and tutors for all 50,000 of our students. It will take time, but I think we can do it.

Additionally, I would love to get the chance to meet you. Last Monday, I shared information about a series of community meetings I will be holding across the city starting Thursday, Feb. 26. Please find details on the Superintendent Community Engagement Meetings webpage.

And of course, I must end this newsletter with another hope, and that is for the Seahawks to win today. Anyone who knows me knows that I am (sadly) a Jets fan. If anything, I hope that just shows you how loyal I am. But as a new Seattleite, and one who cares deeply about community, I will be wearing my Seahawks jersey and rooting for the team along with all of you.

Go Hawks!

Thank you all for your support of the Seattle Public Schools.

Ben