Cleveland Goes Green

March 2007

In This Issue...

Cleveland Goes Green

All Families Reading Early

Olympia Update

Number of the Month
		66 The number of environmentally-focused businesses and organizations that offer service learning opportunities to Seattle Public Schools students.

Leadership Breakfast for Kids
		Celebrate Seattle Public Schools with the Alliance! Save the date of May 1, 2007, for the Fifth Annual Leadership Breakfast for Kids. More info.

Southeast Seattle Forum
		Southeast Seattle residents are invited to join a March 14 forum with Carla Santorno to discuss her vision for schools in that part of the city. Please contact Stephan Blanford for more information.

Give Kids Good Schools

Seattle Public Schools

STAND UP

If you have trouble accessing Web pages using the links provided, please copy and paste this link into your browser to access the newsletter online:
http://www.alliance4ed.org/newsletterarchives/march07.htm

Cleveland Goes Green

More than 200 Cleveland High School students attended a fair on February 16 that introduced them to internships and service learning opportunities related to the environment. The fair was organized by the Environmental PORTAL (a coalition of students, educators, and community organizations and businesses interested in the environment ) and Clevelands HEAL (Health, Environment, and Life) career academy.

Seattle City Light, Environmental Protection Agency, Olympic Park Institute, and Childrens Hospital were just a few of the businesses and organizations that presented mentoring opportunities.

Cleveland Junior Jenifer Afala, one of the fairs organizers, said, I didn't know that my fellow students would be so excited about the fair! One friend said, Lets go! I want to go see and look for a job and volunteer work because I need hours. I felt like it was a success!

Cecilia Alvarez-Smalls, Work-Based Learning Program Specialist for Seattle Public Schools added, The fair far exceeded my expectations! I feel it was a valuable experience for all involved!

Ballard High School Environmental PORTAL students will be assisting Sustainable Ballard in the planning and facilitation of Eat Local Now A Ballard Food Fest! The event will be April 17 at Ballard High School. For more information, contact Cary Melton.

All Families Reading Early

Point to items in the grocery store. Tell your child what the item is. Turn off the TV for a whileplay a book-on-CD from the library instead! Encourage your child to tell you stories, even if the right words arent all there.

These are just some of the tips that city librarians are sharing with parents at Family Early Literacy Nights in southwest and southeast Seattle preschools. Organized by Alliance for Education and launched in 2006, the literacy nights are already showing great signs of success, with parents reporting more use of the library and increased time reading with children.

Olympia Update

Elected vs. Appointed School Boards
On February 22, the Senate Early Learning Committee and K-12 Education Committee held a hearing about SB 5535, the proposed school district governance bill. The bills major provisions would:

Let the people who live in a given school district decide whether they want to have elected or appointed school boards (or a combination thereof). Currently, in the state of Washington, all school boards are elected.

Mandate training for school board directors.

Increase compensation for some school boards.

Create regular performance audits of school boards by the state.

The bills author, Senator Ed Murray (D-Seattle), testified that the bills major provisions respond to a need for increased accountability of school boards to their communities. A representative of Seattles Communities and Parents for Public Schools (CPPS) also voiced support for localities having the option of determining what governance structure works best for them.

Alliance for Education is an independent nonprofit organization that advocates for policies and mobilizes resources that advance academic achievement for all students in Seattle Public Schools. Visit us on the Web at www.alliance4ed.org.