News Release

From the Department of Education and Early Learning                                    October 2, 2019

Contact: Al Sanders, Department of Education and Early Learning,

 al.sanders@seattle.gov, 206-485-5926

SEATTLE (October 2, 2019) The Department of Education and Early Learning announced today that it would award more than $1.2 million to create classrooms and improve safety at five Seattle preschools. The providers receiving capital funding are all operated by women of color and serve linguistically and culturally diverse students in south Seattle.

Finding licensable space for preschool facilities in Seattle remains a significant challenge for providers. Through the voter-approved Families, Education, Preschool and Promise (FEPP) Levy, the Seattle Preschool Program will be investing approximately $7.5 million to help preschool providers build, upgrade and renovate their spaces for SPP. This investment will allow 80 additional children to attend preschool in Seattle.

“The City understands that developing and maintaining high-quality learning environments is an enormous cost burden to our providers,” said Dwane Chappelle, the Director of the Department of Education and Early Learning. “The funds support providers and ensures the continued growth of preschool seats throughout Seattle. While the funds are specifically for preschool spaces, these classrooms could also be integrated into licensable child care spaces and support the Mayor’s proposal to expand the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).”

The four providers receiving Seattle Preschool Program Facilities investments are:

Voices of Tomorrow-$249,999: The funds will renovate and expand of classrooms, restrooms and kitchen space, and the construction of an outdoor play area. These renovations will allow the program to expand to serve up to 40 children for a full day program

Tiny Tots-$900,000: Tiny Tots will be part of the Othello Square complex that will open in 2021. The award will be used to place two SPP classrooms inside Tiny Tots’ Early Development Center at Othello Square, which will serve 40 children. The center will include rooms for infants, toddlers, and preschool, with a commitment to the City of 20 years.

Causey’s Main $20,000 and Causey’s MLK $42,686: The two locations will use the funds to make safety improvements to their sites.

Bella’s Creative Learning Center-$50,000: The funds will go toward expanding a residential space to accommodate 12 SPP students.

DEEL’s mission is to transform the lives of Seattle’s children, youth, and families through strategic investments in education.

We need your voice, we need your experience, we need YOU! 

Do you have a passion for improving educational outcomes for youth of color? Are you interested in helping your community meet the challenge of closing race-based opportunity gaps in education?

DEEL needs volunteers to review applications for awards that will come from the voter approved Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy (FEPP). Many of the awards will focus on helping eliminate racial disparities and systemic racial bias in education.

You don’t need experience, just a desire to get involved!

If you are interested, click here for more information and to complete a short survey.

The Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) is excited to announce a special event, a School Community Partnership Summit to be held on Thursday, October 17 from 8:00-3:00 p.m. at Magnuson Park in Sandpoint.

The School Community Partnership Summit is convened by the City of Seattle’s Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL), and our partners, as we begin investing Families, Education, Preschool and Promise (FEPP) Levy funds in pursuit of our community’s shared goal to eliminate race-based opportunity gaps among Seattle’s youth. 

Achieving this worthy goal will require all of us—schools, community-based organizations, families, and committed individuals—to work together in authentic relationship and with common purpose. 

 
This summit is a unique opportunity for community partners and schools to relationship build and network with each other.  

Registration is open! 

Registration for the School Community Partnership Summit will be open through Friday, October 11!  

Community partners and schools will be limited to register a maximum of 3 individuals. Please identify the  individuals who will represent your school, organization, or program prior to completing the registration form.  

Who should attend? 

Community groups should register individuals with:  

• Deep knowledge of the programs the organization offers, 
• Some level of decision-making authority, such as Program Director/Manager, Executive Director, or Site Coordinator.  

Schools should register individuals who are:  

• Responsible for funding, partnership decisions, and grant writing, such as Principals, Assistant Principals, or other school leaders 

For more information on the Summit and any questions regarding registration, contact Marissa Rousselle at Marissa.Rousselle@seattle.gov.  

Today, Mayor Jenny Durkan is releasing her 2020 Proposed Budget. This is the second year of the two-year budget biennium, and the proposed budget maintains core services while increasing investments in priorities like public safety, affordable housing, homelessness, transit and transportation safety, and opportunity and jobs for Seattle’s young people.

The proposed 2020 Budget for the Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) totals more than $105 million and includes the first full year of Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise (FEPP) Levy funding as well as expansions to DEEL’s Sweetened Beverage Tax investments.

I wanted to share some of the highlights from the department’s proposed budget, including new and expanded programs and investments.

• Expansion of the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP): The proposed budget more than doubles the level of investment in CCAP with an additional $3 million in funding. The budget provides major investments in increasing family access to vouchers, providing supports and incentives for providers, and adding staff capacity to the department to manage this growth in the program.
• Transfer of Upward Bound from Human Services Department (HSD) to DEEL: The proposed budget includes the transfer of the Upward Bound program from HSD to DEEL. Moving the program and staff will increase alignment with education resources, access, and the relationships that DEEL holds as the City’s education leader. At the same time, with the Seattle Promise program gearing up for its first full year of expansion into all 17 Seattle Public School high schools, integrating Upward Bound into DEEL will allow for direct access for students in the program to Promise.
• New FEPP Levy positions: The budget continues to invest in the capacity needed for DEEL to deliver on its mission and the FEPP Levy Implementation & Evaluation Plan. Three new positions are proposed through the FEPP Levy, including:
  • 1.0 FTE Public Relations Specialist, Sr, in the Strategy and Innovation Division to help make the public aware of the programs, services, and resources that DEEL offers.
  • 1.0 FTE Administrative Specialist II in the Early Learning Division to address needed support to ensure timely and customer-oriented operations.
  • 1.0 FTE Strategic Advisor 1, Exempt, to serve as the Early Learning Operations Data Analyst to provide support for the division’s continued work on Child Information and Provider System (CHIPS) as well as ongoing data management support.

Over the next two months, the City Council will review the Mayor’s the proposed budget. Traditionally, the Council votes on final adoption of the budget in late November. More information about details in the budget can be found at www.seattle.gov/budget, and you can also direct any questions to jenny.durkan@seattle.gov.

In gratitude,
Dwane Chappelle
Director, Department of Education and Early Learning

Just off the corner of 20th and Spruce in Seattle’s Central District, there is a school with a picket fence designed to look like a box of crayons and where all of the 3-to-5-year old children entering with their parents are greeted with a hug and a smile before entering their classrooms.

It’s the First Place Early Learning Center, and the atmosphere created within the school is unique.

 “When I started working here 3 years ago, it felt like I was ‘coming home,’ becoming part of a community,” said educator Stacy Green. “Working with the children, I feel like I’m giving them part of me.”

The three classrooms that make up First Place are bursting with the type of energy that comes with  Preschoolers: children hugging parents before dashing off to meet with classmates, singing “good morning” songs, and students deciding the activities within their classrooms that are going to start their day.

“Just to see their faces when they get to walk into the classroom, look onto the board and find their name, the excitement they bring every day,” said Verna Grissette, who has been with First Place for over 4 years.  

“The heart and laughter never changes,” Green said. “You can see them building a community among themselves in the classroom.”

The community and interaction between students, teachers, parents, and school administration makes First Place special.

That community is what Betty Thomas said her Great-Grandchild Alivia Combs felt her first day at First Place two years ago, “This was the perfect place. She didn’t cry when she walked in, and she loved everybody, like she had been here before.”

Thomas said she has seen Alivia bloom at first place, who has been in classes with older kids, but kept up with them and “learned everything that they learned.”

“She loves to tell me ‘Granny I can do it!’”

Alivia is a “people person” and Thomas says First Place has nurtured that talent, allowing her to become a teacher’s helper in the classroom. Thomas said that is what she believes Alivia will carry from the school as she enters Kindergarten, calling First Place the perfect place “for kids that need a special start in their lives.”

Jacquelynn Loos said when she was notified that her son Archer Watson could start Preschool and there was a spot open at First Place, she really didn’t know much about the school, but she has fallen in love with the school’s mission.

“My son has done so well, instead of seeing his behavior as a deficit, they’ve seen it as a strength,” Loos said. “What makes the school work is they make sure they’re utilizing the curriculum around the children’s needs.”

Loos said that at times Archer can “be overwhelming,” but that he has been placed with an “absolutely incredible teacher” during his time at First Place.

“I can see a difference in his behavior, the way he acts, in the way he speaks.”

Both Loos and Betty Thomas said that the life skills that Alivia and Archer receive at First Place will be invaluable as they enter Kindergarten. Educator Stacy Green said that is a vital part of what they work on at First Place.

“You can see them start to take ownership of the classroom and their education,” Green said. “Our curriculum lets teachers step back and provide students with the ability to direct their own education.”

Alivia Combs and Archer Watson will be part of this year’s “Graduating Class” from First Place. Next stop, Kindergarten!  Betty Thomas and Jacquelynn Loos said they’ll be sad their young students are leaving First Place, but both are ready for their next step.

Thomas, who said Alivia wanted to know at last year’s graduation “Why don’t I have a gown?” is looking forward to a school that will build on the foundation Alivia has built at First Place. “I hope they will continue what this school did, I don’t want no one to hold her back.”

Loos said that last year Archer wouldn’t have been prepared, but with his work at First Place he has “stepped up.” “He will be prepared to sit down in a structured environment and be able to utilize time for learning and time for play.”

Carol Brown is ready for First Place, the school with the crayon picket fence, to be a gem that is not “hidden” to children and parents searching for a Preschool.

“If you’re looking for a home away from home, with nurturing teachers and a top of the grade preschool and Pre-K program, this is the place!!”

For more information on First Place School, go to www.firstplaceschool.org

Enrolling Now! First Place School is a partner of the Seattle Preschool Program (SPP). For information on applying for SPP, go to seattle.gov/applyspp      

Over 30 students came along Henderson Avenue in Seattle’s Rainier Beach neighborhood, calling for funding for schools, for the end of the school-to-prison pipeline, and for taking steps to reduce climate change. When they reached their destination, the courtyard of the Rainier Beach Community Center, the students who were part of the Washington Building Leaders of Change (WA-BLOC) Freedom School program stopped marching and started setting up booths showing how they want to achieve the changes they were calling for.

The students—rising 9^th and 10^th graders—and their displays were part of WA-BLOC’s Day of Social Action, dedicated to pointing out the challenges and inequities in their communities and highlighting steps young people can start working on to reduce and end those inequities.

“We want them to understand how the actions they take can start small and grow until they impact the world,” said Jerrell Davis, Project Director of WA-BLOC’s Freedom School. “The goal of the school and the project is to allow our students to express and empower themselves.”

Students started the six-week project discussing with their Servant Leader Educator (SLE) the areas they wanted to be the focus of their Day of Social Action. Issues included:

• Seattle’s “Got Green” movement advocating for environmental, racial, and economic justice,
• Funding inequities in Seattle’s high schools and the lack of funding for school supplies
• Impact of climate change,
• Overpolicing and the impact of the school-to-prison pipeline in their community.

The SLE’s, college students who focus on developing a peer-to-peer partnership with the young people in their class, worked with the youth in developing the curriculum around the issue they chose. Students would then discuss and research these issues affecting their communities and those discussions would drive their research over the course of the summer learning program.

Davis said the research involved daily reading, which is a goal of the program.

“We want to improve their reading skills,” he said. “And every summer we see reading ability and comprehension improve, which is something that will help them in the future.”

The displays that took over the community center courtyard presented the issues and the steps students said needed to happen meet the challenges they spent the summer researching.

Rising Rainier Beach High School Sophomores Elias and Lawrence presented the funding inequities in Seattle High Schools, specifically the funds raised from PTSA groups. An example of that disparity was a comparison of the funds raised by Roosevelt High School’s PTSA. A story on KUOW Radio said that Roosevelt was able to raise over $3.5 million, funds that could go toward paying teachers to conduct college prep courses or afterschool activities. It’s a total that many Seattle high schools, including Rainier Beach, couldn’t hope to match.

“It was really an eye opener,” Lawrence said. “It was surprising because I truly believed we (Beach) had more money.”

For Elias it was a “reminder of the impact that money can have on a classroom and a school.”

WA-BLOC’s Freedom School works in collaboration with the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), the organization committed to improving the lives of communities of color and underserved communities throughout the U.S. The CDF advocates for people of color having a greater voice in their communities, and Davis said the Day of Social Action is WA-BLOC’s effort to encourage their students to get active in making changes as early as possible.

This year is the fifth annual Day of Social Action, and Davis said previous years the action of young people had a direct impact on their communities.

“Our students have been active in pointing out the transportation inequities in our communities, which lead toward the city providing free ORCA cards to Seattle High School students,” Davis said. “Their actions encouraged the development of a community garden within the Rainier Beach ‘food desert’ to focus on developing healthy food over fast food and a grocery store that doesn’t welcome us.”

As the students celebrated the end of their Day of Social Action, Davis said the celebration was an act of expression for youth who are too often told the way they express themselves is a negative.

“They are told they’re ‘too loud,’ or that how they act is ‘not the proper way to express yourself,’ words that if said enough, will make you lose confidence,” Davis said.  “We want them to be themselves and we want them to ask every day: How can I make a difference in:

–My Self,
–My Family,
–My Community,
–My Country,
–Any My World And with Hope and Action.”  

News Release

From the Department of Education and Early Learning                                                          

August 14, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact Al Sanders, Department of Education and Early Learning, 

al.sanders@seattle.gov or 206-485-5926

All 3-and 4-year olds eligible

SEATTLE (August 14) – If you have a 3-or 4-year old who is ready for preschool, the Seattle Preschool Program (SPP) has openings in select locations throughout the city.

“Seattle is committed to ensuring that children throughout our amazing city have the skills they need to thrive when they enter Kindergarten,” said Dwane Chappelle, Director of the Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL). “We want to make sure parents, families and community members know that SPP is available, and that SPP provides a nurturing, supportive environment to help prepare their kids for the future.”

The Seattle Preschool Program helps prepare children, regardless of income, to enter Kindergarten with the skills they need to succeed. Research shows that children who attend high-quality preschool programs have better academic and life outcomes; they’re more likely to have better grades, graduate, attend college, get a job, have higher lifetime wages, and better mental and physical health.

Voters approved the creation of SPP as a pilot program in 2014 and approved continued funding for the program with the adoption of the Family, Education, Preschool and Promise (FEPP) Levy last fall. The FEPP funding allowed for the expansion of SPP, increasing the geographic diversity of the program, with a focus on providing more capacity in regions of the city with the highest demand.

While there are some openings throughout the city, Monica Liang-Aguirre, DEEL’s Director of Early Learning, said there are several locations in Central and South Seattle that still have spots available and might be convenient for parents who work near those neighborhoods.

“We know the impact preschool can have on lives of young people,” Liang-Aguirre said. “SPP is an investment in the future, and we want to make sure as many parents and preschools programs as possible are taking advantage of this valuable opportunity.” 

For the 2019-2020 school year, SPP programming will be available at 68 sites throughout the city, offered by community-based organizations, Seattle Public Schools, and family childcare.

Tuition is calculated on a sliding scale based on household income and family size; historically the majority of children qualify for free tuition.

All Seattle children who will be 3-or 4-years old on or before August 31, 2019 can apply. Applications will be accepted until March 31, 2020 for any openings available throughout the school year. Families interested in locations that have openings will be contacted immediately; families can remain on the waitlist indefinitely.

You can go to seattle.gov/applyspp for more information on the Seattle Preschool Program, or you can call 206-386-1050.

DEEL’s mission is to transform the lives of Seattle’s children, youth, and families through strategic investments in education.

For a group of rising 8^th Graders, this summer has been a period of learning and discussion at the ACE (Academy for Creating Excellence) Academy Summer Program at Seattle’s South Shore K-8 School. Students have spent the last few weeks working through the challenges facing Atlanta teen Justyce McAllister. Justyce is the focus of the book “Dear Martin” written by Nic Stone. ACE is using the book this summer as a discussion starting point for a class at academy.

Justyce is being pulled in several directions. He’s a bright student in a prep school where he is reminded daily that he doesn’t quite fit in. A teen being teased by his friends about how he’s no longer a part of the “neighborhood.” A young man who wants to change the environment that he lives in but is starting to feel alienated from the tools he needs to use to make that change.

So, he starts writing letters to someone he knows understands the challenges he’s facing: The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

ACE’s focus is on keeping academic skills sharp during the summer months while developing academic skills in math, science reading and writing in a culturally responsive environment. The educators are also working on instilling in young African-American men how they can start being change agents in their communities.

“Too many of our young men have a sense of powerlessness,” said Anthony Washington, ACE’s Humanities Educator. “We’re using the book as an opportunity to consider a number of issues, from autonomy, to choices made, to misconceptions and changing outlooks.”

As Justyce confronts the issue of racial profiling, Washington leads his students in looking at misconceptions by showing a J. Cole video showing police officers raiding the rapper’s home in a predominantly white neighborhood because neighbors assumed that drugs were being sold out of the home.

The students are examining how perception can impact their communities, which has led to a discussion on changing their environments, not just in their neighborhoods, but in society at large. Starting with pointing out the “Negativity in our neighborhoods,” Washington challenged the young men to start looking at what steps needed to occur to create a more positive environment. Drugs were a negative, but what could be done to encourage people to stop selling them, what if the jobs available in the community paid less than the money they made on the streets?

The goal of the reading and the discussion is part of ACE’s overall effort to start changing mindsets. Washington reminds his students that “you are leaders and you can help change the community.”

Anthony Bynam is one of those leaders, a rising 8^th Grader at Southshore who enjoys drawing and talked about “Dear Martin” while trying hard not to give away any “spoilers.”  “I related to Justyce because of how he acts and because he has a peaceful approach.”

Before going to Southshore, Anthony was a student in Everett in a majority white school, where he had to experience the racism that Justyce felt at Braselton Prep. “The first time it hurt,” he said, “But I learned to ignore it.”

Anthony also enjoyed the discussion in Mr. Washington’s class about the book because it presents an opportunity for “people to talk about making changes for the better.”

Tony Eastland is halfway through the book, and the Southshore Rising 8^th Grader is enjoying how Justyce “wants to help people and himself.” “He (Justyce) wants to become a lawyer to help battle against police brutality and to help Black people.”

“At first it was weird,” Tony said about the letter’s Justyce is writing to King because “Dr. King has passed away. But you understand that in a way he’s talking to himself.”

Tony and Anthony said they will carry some of what Justyce McAllister faced in the book with them into the school year, something that both Mr. Washington and Marcus Harden, Program Director of the ACE Summer Academy are happy to hear.

“We wanted something that everyone could understand and relate to,” said Harden, who admits that some of the students didn’t know who Dr. King was.

The reading and discussion are a chance to plan daily lessons on the issues brought up in the book, how the students connect to those issues, and learning in Harden’s words “what they will do with those lessons.”

“We want our students to have pride in themselves,” Harden said. “We want them to become their own advocates. We also what them to find their own Martin—or Malcolm—that they can connect to.”

Invitation to Participate

Please join us on Thursday August 8^th, 2019 from 11:00AM-1:00PM at the 2100 building for a feedback/input session regarding the levy investments for the new Families, Education, Preschool and Promise (FEPP) levy.

The Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) is convening a community feedback/input session to inform the development and evaluation of applications submitted by schools for the Families, Education, Preschool and Promise (FEPP) Levy and we seek your participation. An important part of this work is partnering with families and communities, and we are looking for your perspective in the following three areas:

1. input and experience with school-based programming, communication, and engagement with Cultural Responsiveness (for example the ability to learn from and relate with people of your own culture and other cultures);
2. the needs and experiences of students you may work within your organizations, as it pertains to their academic support, and college and career readiness, and;
3. your experience or feedback related to school-based partnerships and collaborations. 

If you are able to attend, please RSVP HERE by Wednesday August 7^th at 10:00AM. Lite fare and refreshments will be provided. Please let us know of any dietary restrictions or accommodations you may need.

On-street parking is available in the surrounding area, and in a street-level garage accessed through the alley. Parking is also provided in the fenced area across the street from the building next to the pharmacy.

For questions please contact Colin Pierce – Colin.Pierce@seattle.gov or 206.684.4966

News Release

From the Department of Education and Early Learning                                         

June 28, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Al Sanders, Department of Education and Early Learning,

 al.sanders@seattle.gov, 206-485-5926

Families, Education, Preschool and Promise Levy Funds Awarded
for School Based Health Centers

SEATTLE (June 28, 2019) The Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) today announced that two health care providers, Neighborcare Health and Country Doctor Community Health Centers, will receive funding to open three new School Based Health Centers (SBHC) in Seattle Public Schools. School Based Health Centers connect the dots between health and education, providing on-site comprehensive primary care and behavioral health for students.

The awards, which will provide more than $700,000 in funding, are the first provided through the Families, Education, Preschool and Promise (FEPP) Levy approved by voters in 2018. The seven-year FEPP Levy will invest over $51 million in School Based Health Centers serving elementary, middle, and high school students across the city.

The funds will go toward establishing SBHCs for the 2019-20 school year at Edmond S. Meany Middle School on Capitol Hill, Robert Eagle Staff Middle School in north Seattle, and Lincoln High School in the Wallingford neighborhood.

“These funds are vital to the holistic approach the department has developed toward educating our young people,” said DEEL Director Dwane Chappelle. “We’re building and expanding a successful program that provides health care that some of the students may not have access to. The simple fact is, healthy students are better prepared to learn.”

DEEL partners with Public Health-Seattle & King County (PHSKC) School-Based Partnerships Program to manage the K-12 School Health investment by providing support to community providers and Seattle School District. PHSKC School-Based Partnerships Program advances evidence-based and informed, high-quality, equitable, culturally relevant health care to support all students to be healthy and academically successful.

“School-based health centers are a proven strategy to improve both student health and academic achievement – by having access to care right on campus,” said Patty Hayes, Director of Public Health-Seattle and King County. “Removing even one health risk for a student can boost their achievement. Our centers are key to our efforts to close the opportunity gap for our youth who may not have easy access to care.”

Neighborcare Health, which has a 50-year record of providing primary medical, dental and behavioral health care services to low-income and uninsured families, senior and the homeless individuals in the Seattle area, has been providing school-based health services for over 25 years.

“Neighborcare Health has a long, rich history in school-based health, and we are honored to be able to expand our school-based network to include the students, families and staff at Lincoln High School and Robert Eagle Staff Middle School,” said School-Based Health Program Manager Alison Delateur. “Our ultimate goal at Neighborcare Health is for all members of our community to have equal access to quality health care. Funding school-based health centers is a long-term investment in the health of the community because it provides every child with a health care home in the place where they spend most of their time.”

The non-profit Country Doctor Community Health Centers, which has been serving the region’s underserved communities through the Carolyn Downs Family Medical Center and Country Doctor Community Clinic, will use this award to open its first school-based clinic. 

“Country Doctor Community Health Centers is delighted to be selected as the health care provider at Meany Middle School. This new school program comes right after we opened the Country Doctor Dental Clinic to expand dental services to our community,” said Raleigh Watts, Executive Director of Country Doctor Community Health Centers. “CDCHC’s multi-decade relationship with the Meany community includes an extensive list of CDCHC employees who either attended Meany or have children who go there. We are committed to providing SBHC service not just as a medical provider, but as a neighbor and a member of the school community. We have personal interest in the health of the school and its students.”

Both providers will be contributing a third of the operating cost of the centers.

Neighborcare Health and Country Doctor received the award through a Request for Application process from organizations interested in providing health services at the three schools. The application process was managed by Public Health with the applications being reviewed by a panel that included representatives from the community, Public Health, Seattle Schools and the principals from each school receiving the SBHCs.  

DEEL’s mission is to transform the lives of Seattle’s children, youth, and families through strategic investments in education.

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