Karma Sawka, a second-grade teacher at Kimball Elementary School, works one-on-one with Betelhem Molla, age 7.
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Seattle Public Schools Enrollment Timeline
October - November
• Pre-register incoming students not already attending Seattle Public Schools, including incoming kindergarteners. It’s not mandatory, but it’ll save you time when open enrollment begins.
• Complete applications for early sibling assignment. This applies only to families in which one child is already attending, and will continue to attend, the school that the sibling is choosing for enrollment.
January
• A citywide kindergarten and middle school fair at district headquarters originally scheduled for Jan. 10, 2009, was canceled due to district work on school closures and consolidations.
• For information on tours and open houses, go to: http://www.seattleschools.org/area/eso/schooltours.html
March
• Originally slated for February, open enrollment was rescheduled for March 2 to March 31.
• Assignment letters, which were originally supposed to go out in late March, will be sent by the end of May.
For forms and enrollment center locations, please visit: http://www.seattleschools.org/area/eso/story.dxml)
GLOSSARY
Cluster: One of nine geographic regions that divides the district.
Reference area: geographic areas surrounding each school. Each student has a “reference” school, though they are not guaranteed a spot at the school.
Tiebreakers: A series of factors that determine in what order kids are assigned to a school, including siblings already at the school, distance and lottery number. Race used to be a tiebreaker, but the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that unconstitutional. Check the back of the Seattle School’s enrollment guide for more detailed information: www.seattleschools.org/area/eso/enrollmentguides.xml.
Enrollment 101: The Ins and Outs of Seattle Public Schools
By Denise Gonzalez-Walker
Imagine a school where a third of those who apply get in. Sound like an exclusive private academy? Try again. According to preliminary Seattle Public School enrollment data, that was the fraction of families who chose TOPS for kindergarten during open enrollment and got in this year.
The district works very hard to ensure that the assignment system is fair to all families. Tracy Libros, Manager of Enrollment Services, says that more than 90 percent of families get one of their top two choices by the start of the school year. Unlike private schools that pick and choose their students, popular alternative programs like TOPS use a lottery system for student assignment, while neighborhood schools rely on a set of tiebreakers.
I have been through Seattle’s open enrollment process twice with my son – once for kindergarten, and a second time to switch schools. This year, I will be finding a middle school for him and an elementary school for our daughter, who enters kindergarten next year.
What should parents know? From blogging about schools over the past year and talking with a number of people, including a dad who studied the enrollment system’s computer source code, I’ve learned some tips for making the enrollment process less painful.
The folks I talked to all had one message they wanted to spread: The enrollment system is fair and impossible to cheat, with the exception of faking a residential address (read on to find out why that’s not a good idea.) However, there are many important factors that can impact your child’s assignment:
Be on Time. Be on Time. Be on Time. Nothing impacts your school choice more. Open enrollment for the 2009-10 school year has been shortened, running from Jan. 20 - Feb. 13, 2009. The shorter time frame will allow the district to mail out assignment letters in late March instead of April, as it had been doing for years.
Pre-Register. Every year, more parents take advantage of the district’s pre-registration process in October and November. It benefits families by getting the necessary paperwork – immunization records, birth certificates and address verifications – out of the way early on. Families who pre-register will receive a personalized school application packet in January to use when open enrollment begins.
Make a List. Some parents will drive 20 miles a day for the “perfect” school, while others want a school within walking distance. Some kids thrive in big, traditional programs, while others shine in smaller alternative settings. The beauty of Seattle’s system is that you can decide your priorities and have a decent chance of finding a school that will fit them.
Check out the Enrollment Guide. Seattle Public Schools’ enrollment guide is available online, in school offices and at district headquarters. Near the back of the guide, you’ll find indispensable information about “tiebreakers” and transportation. Be wary of the summary grids, though. Specific offerings can change from year to year, and the quality of programming often varies dramatically between schools. In other words, just because a school offers band doesn’t mean you’ll get Garfield’s award-winning program.
Read up on What Parents Think. GreatSchools (www.greatschools.net) offers a mix of reviews from parents and students – be sure to note the date the review was posted. Parents often share candid thoughts about specific schools on local education blogs, too. A few that I’ve found helpful are: Seattle Public Schools Blog, run by parents (http://saveseattleschools.blogspot.com/), and School Zone, written by Seattle Post-Intelligencer education reporters (http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/schoolzone/) – not to mention Chalkboard, my own P-I blog (http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/chalkboard/).
Put on Your Detective Hat. Want to know where kids in your neighborhood attend school? Wondering how long the wait list is at the alternative program you like? Seattle Schools’ Web site contains a lot of great data, but you need to be prepared to dig. Look under the “New Assignment Plan” (www.seattleschools.org/area/newassign/index.html) for demographic data and maps. You can find links to historical enrollment data, including past wait lists and first choice selections, on the main enrollment page: www.seattleschools.org/area/eso/hist_enr.pdf.
Be Cautious about Historical Trends. Sometimes one school will have a long wait list while nearly all students who chose another one nearby will get in. Libros recalls at least one case when the following year, demand flipped as parents en masse chose the school they perceived to have a shorter wait list.
When Best Isn’t Best. Every year, some parents become obsessed with getting their kids into the most high-demand schools, including TOPS, John Stanford International School and Eckstein Middle School. Try to remember – just because a school has a reputation for being the “best” doesn’t mean it’s the only program that will meet your kid’s learning needs, or even the best fit.
Do the Fair. No, not the Puyallup, but the Seattle Schools Kindergarten and Middle School fair, scheduled for January 10, 2009, at district headquarters. There, you can meet principals and parents and learn more about specific school offerings. It’s crowded, chaotic and loud, but provides an easy way to winnow down your school choice list. School representatives can also answer questions from parents who want to transfer their child at other grade levels.
Take a Tour. Spreadsheets, gossip and anonymous blog postings can only tell you so much. The best way to learn about a school is to visit during one of the school tours and see firsthand whether it would be a good match for your kid.
Don’t Rule out the School across the Street. Many community- and environmentally-minded families are opting for neighborhood schools that their children can walk to, instead of schools across town. As a result, there has been a renaissance in programs like Meany Middle School, where growing parent involvement and strong principals have re-energized the school, according to Meany parent Sarah Slater.
Close Enough? The distance tiebreaker plays a critical role in who gets into popular programs, especially in the highly popular northeast cluster, where all of the neighborhood schools are full. While you are free to choose any school in the district on your enrollment form, your distance from a school will play a role in both assignment and transportation. Alternative schools are the exception to this rule, depending on a lottery process for assignment.
Explore the Alternatives. Seattle has many popular alternative school options. Parents like the fact that these programs typically span K-8, boast high parental involvement and offer different learning models. If you are considering an alternative school, be sure to carefully check which clusters receive preference in assignment and transportation. Not all alternative schools are “all-city draws.” For example, TOPS assignment gives priority to students from the northwest, Queen Anne/Magnolia, central, south and southeast clusters, while Thornton Creek at Decatur draws students from the northeast and north clusters.
Got Sibling Preference? The district recognizes most families want their kids at the same school. For that reason, the most important tiebreaker is “sibling preference.” Also, families can apply in October or November for Early Sibling Assignment. The district recommends visiting Enrollment Services at Seattle Public School headquarters (2445 Third Ave. S.) for this option. Twins are a different story, though.
Twin Concerns. Twins face a unique challenge during the enrollment process because they are entering the system at the same time and don’t have sibling priority. Everyone I know seems to know a family with twins who were assigned to different schools because neither of them already had a sibling attending a school. Libros says that her office is working on a fix now, where twins would be processed together; the change will require School Board approval. In the meantime, the district is almost always able to offer families an option where twins can both attend the same school in their cluster, although it may not be at one of the parents’ top choices.
Choose Your Wait List Wisely. Going for a trio of popular schools? You also need to consider which school you want to be “wait listed” on. It doesn’t have to be at your top pick. Wait list order is determined by the same tiebreakers that apply to school assignments. Later in the year, families can opt to switch wait lists, but will go to the bottom of the list, not benefiting from tiebreaker status. (For more on wait lists, see Linda Thomas’ “Ask the Educating Mom” column from August: www.seattleschild.com/article/20080801/SCM02/662098149).
Learn the Special Rules for Special Programs. Special education and advanced learning programs are placed in school buildings throughout the district. For example, there are Spectrum programs in 11 different elementary schools, serving students who qualify through advanced learning testing. These programs offer separate informational sessions and enrollment processes. Check with Enrollment Services early on to learn more about your options.
Don’t Live There? Then Don’t try It. Using a friend or relative’s residential address as your own can be tempting, especially if they live next to a plum neighborhood school. However, the district takes multiple steps to discourage this, from verifying addresses during enrollment to following up on complaints from other parents. The district policy states: “Assignments are always subject to address verification and may be revoked if inaccurate or misleading information is provided.” There can also be negative implications for older kids who play sports sanctioned by the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association.
Not a Resident? Seattle Public Schools serves out-of-district families on a space-available basis. See sidebar on “Thinking Outside Your District” for more details, or go to: www.seattleschools.org/area/eso/non_res_info0809.pdf.
Imperfect Choices
“Seattle’s system gives you the idea that you have a choice,” says Northeast Seattle parent Rachel Gleeson, “but in the end, it felt like we were given no choice at all.” Gleeson and her family were one of hundreds feeling the pain of living in northeast Seattle, an area where population growth is outpacing school capacity.
While the district guarantees that kids will get into a school in their cluster – the large section of the city where they live – there are no guarantees that kids will get into their so-called reference school, typically the school that’s closest to their home. In some cases, children are assigned to schools on the opposite side of their cluster, when closer buildings don’t have enough space.
Coming from New York City, Gleeson thought Seattle’s school enrollment would be easy. She and many of her neighbors chose Bryant Elementary, their reference school, based on the school’s strong reputation and the idea that it was a “safe” choice.
“It wasn’t until the assignment letter came that the anxiety hit,” Gleeson says. She had not gotten any of her three choices. Her daughter was assigned to one of the few schools in the cluster with room. Not a bad school, Gleeson acknowledges, but it would mean either driving her daughter or putting her on a bus for three hours a day.
“We didn’t want our kids to have a school experience all about bussing,” Gleeson says. “We wanted our kids to be able to walk to school together, to build community.”
In the end, Gleeson and other parents in her neighborhood worked with district personnel, Bryant school staff and their school board representative to reach a good solution. Bryant Elementary, along with several other northeast Seattle schools, added classrooms to absorb the increased demand. Gleeson says that everyone along the way was responsive and concerned, but initially would say their hands were tied because of “the system.”
That system is about to change. The Seattle School Board approved a framework for student assignment that prioritizes predictability, guaranteeing a spot for children at their reference schools while maintaining choice for families who want either a different school or an alternative program. Reference areas will also be “right-sized,” according to district spokesperson David Tucker. The new plan is on track to roll out in the 2010-11 school year.
In the meantime, the district held community meetings in September to brainstorm ideas for addressing growing capacity problems north of the Ship Canal. Parents who have questions can contact Kathy Johnson, Seattle Public Schools Facilities Planning Manager, at 206-252-0653.
Denise Gonzalez-Walker is a Seattle freelance writer and mother of two who blogs about education for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer at blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/chalkboard.
