I was very glad to see your editorial piece regarding the four-period day at West Seattle High School (June 6). It is so refreshing to hear someone give credit to parents and their part in the education of their children.
I am on the steering committee charged with making recommendations about the scheduling at West Seattle High School, and parents have not been given fair treatment.
I am bewildered by the Seattle Schools stance on the four-period day at the West Seattle High School.
When you look at the complaints about the four-period day (23 percent less instruction hours, 8 percent larger classes, and 29 percent less seat time per credit compared to a six-period day) common sense tells you that these are not positive differences.
Study less in a larger class and do better?
I have lived in the West Seattle community for 13years and am the parent of two elementary schoolchildren. I am a strong supporter of Seattle Public Schools and do all I can to be a part of the public school system. I volunteer on a weekly basis in the classroom and for a variety of school activities. I am an active member of the PTA and am a founding member of Lafayette's Playground Committee that has raised over $300,000 to begin construction of a playground this summer. I would like my children to continue to receive a quality education within the Seattle Public Schools system.
There is a debate occurring in the pages of the West Seattle Herald regarding academic rigor at West Seattle High School and the efforts by a large number of parents to improve this school this year.
When our children enrolled as freshmen this year, we were promised an honors curriculum. Shortly after the start of the school year, we were told by Principal Ders
West Seattle has a stake in a transportation proposal approved by the three-county Regional Transportation Investment District Planning Committee last week.
If voters agree this fall, money would be included to widen the Spokane Street Viaduct and build a new off-ramp at Fourth Avenue South. There are also plans to construct a rail yard overpass on Lander Street in the Sodo.
On May 17, 2007, at 1:22 a.m., Elisabeth Rose Emery was born to Jason and Chanda (Earhart) Emery. The baby girl was 20.5 inches long and weighed 9 lb., 1 oz., at the time of her birth at Overlake Hospital, in Bellevue, Wash. Grandparents are Bill and Pam Emery of Spokane, Wash., and Bill and Danielle Earhart of Seattle, Wash. Great-grandmothers are Elizabeth Emery of Philadelphia, Pa., and Rose-Yvette Scheffer of Longueuil, Quebec, Canada.
Drivers must wait patiently when the Ballard Bridge is raised as it was last week just before noon to accommodate a passing fishing boat. Dean Wong photo.
With no worries in the world, these turtles were taking it easy on a log in the pond at Golden Gardens. The north end of the park has a variety of wildlife to enjoy. Dean Wong photo.
What is it at City Hall that keeps making the Council stop worrying about the real problems of the citizens, like the accelerated loss of affordable rental housing, and get mired in another boondoggle.
The latest one actually was born in the mayor's office in an obvious over reaction to problems in the downtown war zone also known as Pioneer Square. There were real problems in that area with drunken crowds of crazies running amok.
State gets it right - and wrong, too
By Don C. Brunell
Washington lawmakers are considering a "connector" bill that emulates efforts in Massachusetts to attain universal health care coverage by requiring every person in the state to get health insurance. Nice idea, but Massachusetts officials are having a difficult time turning their dream into a reality. The plan is not yet implemented, and the monthly premiums have already doubled.
The costs are much higher than anticipated, increasing the need for taxpayer subsidies.
