In February, we celebrate Black History Month, a time to recognize the achievements and important contributions of African Americans. This week, schools around our district are also celebrating Black Lives Matter Week. This week grew from the Black Lives Matter movement, which began in Seattle schools and quickly spread to Philadelphia, New York, and other large cities around the country. This week is a time that teachers will teach lessons addressing some of the 13 principles of the Black Lives Matter Movement. This year, our overarching theme is Allyship.
Our staff created lesson plans related to our theme each day. A brief overview of our lesson plans follows:
Day 1 – Introduction to Allyship and the Black Lives Matter Movement
Day 2 – Allyship as an Upstander
Day 3 – Antiracist Superheroes
Day 4 – Planning for Action—why people march to create social change.
Day 5 – Day of Action—Our day will begin with an assembly followed by an all-school march. Families are welcome to join for both the assembly and the march.
We choose to celebrate Black Lives Matter Week because we want all of our students to feel that their identity is affirmed at school. We also have a schoolwide year-long focus on empathy, learning to consider another person’s experience and the feelings of others. We believe that creating an identity-safe environment is the first step to closing the opportunity gap. Our district’s Strategic Plan, Seattle Excellence, is focused on supporting Students of Color who are furthest away from educational justice, beginning with African American boys and teens. This strategic plan is not about changing students but changing broken systems and undoing legacies of racism in public education. We know that by actively becoming an anti-racist educational system and ensuring that students furthest away from educational justice thrive, conditions in SPS will improve for all.
This is a reminder that Open Enrollment for School Choice Process begins on February 1 and runs through the end of the month. If you plan to have your child remain at their current school in their current program, you do not need to take any action. If your student is currently attending an option school but wishes to attend a neighborhood school in 2024–25, you will need to apply through the School Choice process. Only forms submitted during Open Enrollment will receive tiebreakers such as the sibling tiebreaker which gives siblings priority in admissions. Enrollment for kindergarten and new to SPS students opened in January. If you know of people enrolling at TM for kindergarten, please encourage them to register as soon as possible, as this will impact our staffing projections for next year.
If your family has moved outside of your student’s current school boundaries but you wish for your child to remain at their current school, submit a choice form. A seat at the current school is subject to space availability; there is no guarantee. If you don’t submit a choice form, your student will have an automatic reassignment to a new attendance school for next school year.
If you have additional questions, please contact admissions@seattleschools.org.
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