Middle College High School HP support request

Published on June 2016 | Categories: Types, Presentations | Downloads: 42 | Comments: 0 | Views: 240
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West Seattle Blog upload of support letter being circulated by Middle College High School's High Point teacher.

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Content

Dear friends and supporters of Middle College High School,
Thank you for expressing your interest in helping to defend our school! Your letters, phone
calls, social media posts and physical presence can and must make a difference. As you likely
know by now, the Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools has just announced that he intends to
close Middle College High School at the High Point Center located in West Seattle. This cannot
happen for the following reasons. First, closing MCHS HP after serving West Seattle and the
South End for 18 years would be an injustice for students and families in need of a quality alternative high school experience. For a district that claims to be concerned about academic
achievement gaps and dropout rates, closing MCHS HP is irresponsible and terribly short
sighted. Second, closing MCHS HP would isolate the Ida B. Wells Middle College site at the
University of Washington likely leading to another closure in the near future. This would be
devastating and the end of Middle College in Seattle because the High Point and UW sites are
the only two that have a connection to the original Middle College both in staffing and educational philosophy. Lastly, allowing Seattle School District administration to close MCHS HP
would be a victory for the Ed Reformers in the SSD that seeks to destroy alternative schools as
part of an overall effort to standardize and weaken public education in our city.
For those who do not know me, my name is Alonzo Ybarra and I have taught Humanities at
Middle College High School for 18 years. I am also a proud graduate from the original Middle
College location at Seattle Central Community College, class of 1991. I taught the first 15 years
of my career at Middle College at South Seattle Community College until the Seattle School District decided to close our site in 2012. To be more accurate, it was SSCC that asked our site to
leave campus due to the benign neglect of the Seattle School District administration and their
refusal cooperate with our generous hosts. Our principal and district administration thought that
Middle College at SSCC would close quietly so they turned all their attention toward opening
another site at Seattle University. Much to the surprise of our principal and district administration, Middle College supporters, alumni and community members came to our defense and
voiced strong opposition to closing our school. This wave of support forced the district to seek
out a new location that would at least keep our school open and serving students in West Seattle
and the South End. This is how Middle College at SSCC changed location to the current High
Point Center location. And while it is true that we no longer had a home at the community college, our new location provided us with new opportunities to have our Middle College site focus
on teaching about social justice with a special emphasis on environmental sustainability, food
justice, urban farming and service learning. Visit our blog to see our students in action:
www.middlecollegehighpoint.egublogs.org
We could use help from anyone available to donate some time enhancing our social media presence and improving the Middle College High Point blog.
Currently we are using a face book group re-named “Save Middle College High Point and Ida. B
Wells” as a way to connect primarily with alumni and supporters.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/298253326925105/
MCHS HP Faculty: Alonzo Ybarra, Boo Balkan-Foster, Andrea Chorney, Nessa Lemalu

Concerning the letter of support for Middle College High School at the High Point Center:

Issues and concerns you may consider:


Lease renewal at High Point Center. Lack of commitment to negotiating a long term
lease has kept MCHS HP on a yearly cycle of uncertainty and makes it easier to consider
closing our school.



Staff retention, we cannot afford to lose experienced teachers of color at Middle College.



Need administration to support creative interdisciplinary project based learning and creative scheduling at MCHS HP.



Middle College High Point has strong community support from the High Point Neighborhood Association, Neighborhood House, agencies within the High Point Center and
High Point Commons P-Patch and the 34th District Democrats.



Where is Principal Cindy Nash? MCHS needs a principal who is committed to transparency and advocating for all MCHS sites equally. The principal of Middle College should
understand the mission of MCHS in Seattle and be capable of conducting meaningful advocacy.



Seattle Public Schools should value and celebrate small schools that enrich the learning
culture through building strong and lasting community relationships.



What happens to the current students who attend Middle College High Point?



What is the price of fewer alternative schools for West Seattle and the South End?

Seattle Schools Administration e-mails:
Larry Nyland, Superintendent - [email protected]
Charles Wright, Deputy Superintendent - [email protected]
Michael Tolley, Assistant Superintendent, Teaching&Learning - [email protected]
Pegi McEvoy, Assistant Superintendent, Operations - [email protected]
Israel Vela, Executive Director of Schools SW Region [email protected]

Seattle School Board e-mails:
Sharon Peaslee [email protected]
Sherry Carr [email protected]
Harium [email protected]
Sue Peters [email protected]
Stephan Blanford [email protected]
Martha Mclaren [email protected]
Betty Patu [email protected]

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