Our Mission The Rainier Beach Community Empowerment Coalition builds community capacity to successfully address critical issues and enhance quality of life.
|
Kubota Garden is a Seattle City Park, open 365 days a year with no admission charge. 20 acres are landscaped, with a large Natural Area surrounding Mapes Creek. The central core of the garden that was built in 1927 by Fujitaro Kubota is designated as a historic site.
A project to restore the Natural Area is underway to remove invasive plants and plant new native trees and plants, led by the Green Seattle Partnership. A volunteer work party meets the 1st Saturday of each month, from 10 AM to 2 PM. About 7,000 square feet of wildland forest along the creek bank near Renton Avenue, and 2 acres near the Chief Sealth Trail is under restoration. 50 conifer trees have been planted so far during 2012.
Neighbors wishing to get muddy are encouraged to visit the calendar pages linked below for the dates of our upcoming work parties on February 4th and 18th. I would be happy to help answer any questions.
Kubota Garden Foundation is an independent non-profit, meets monthly, and has both a website www.kubota.org and a Facebook page. They lead free tours, conduct plant sales to raise money for construction & maitenance projects, hold volunteer work parties, and present educational programs.
Seattle Parks gardener staff hours were permanently reduced by about 20% on January 1st, 2011. Cutbacks included eliminating the summer temporary workers who did mowing and watering, and laying off one of the 3 gardeners for the winter.
New projects are constantly upgrading the garden. A grant application has been submitted to the West Seattle Garden Tour to build drinking fountains http://www.westseattlegardentour.com/ . Sculptor Gerard Tsutakawa is designing the bronze water bowls.
A new 100′ pond is proposed to replace one of the lawns, with a Rampart made of a 27′ stone wall rising from the surface of the water. An International Stoneworks Symposium will provide donated faculty & student labor for 2 weeks during August of 2013, and the materials are being offered as a donation by Marenakos Rock Center.
Other projects being planned are parking lot paving, plastering the garden wall, a visitors center with restrooms, and a Japanese Teahouse (photo attached).
Arboreally yours,
Michael Oxman
Forest Steward
Kubota Garden Natural Area
(206) 949-8733
Hello Parents, Students, Community Partners and Stakeholders of Rainier Beach high school,
This is a call to action. We are in the midst of a graduation crisis. Our students need all stakeholders to come together and work collectively toward the common goal of ensuring their success. The urgency is validated by the recent release of regional data.
At the upcoming PTSA meeting on Monday, 1/23 @ 5:30 , SPS and RBHS representatives will present to families about the current graduation crisis, and provide strategies to assist their students.
Please share the attached flyer with families and encourage them to attend this meeting. The only way to resolve this crisis and improve the graduation rates of our students is to have family involvement.
DID YOU KNOW…
73.5% of students graduate from high school in Washington State.
National Average is 67%
1 in 3 African American students don’t graduate
1 in 3 Hispanic students don’t graduate
1 in 2 Pacific Islanders don’t graduate
1 in 2 American Indians don’t graduate
95% of king county jail inmates are high school dropouts.
67% of jobs in WA will require some sort of secondary education in 2018.
Students must pass the End of Course Exam and Washington State Tests to graduate from high school.
To find out how you can help your student/child succeed, come to the PTSA meeting on 1/23 in the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Center (PAC) at 5:30pm.
SEEDArts, Southeast Seattle’s largest non-profit arts organization, has announced plans to revive the Columbia City Cinema.
Community effort to reopen the Columbia City Cinema surges forward
SEEDArts has announced a new prospective project: to renovate and reopen the Columbia Cit y Cinema. The original cinema closed in May 2011 — since then residents and business es have repeatedly expressed a desire to bring the movie house back. In response, SEEDArts has been working with a Community Advisory Board to investigate the feasibility of raising funds to refurbish and reopen the cinema.
We hope to rent the building for one year so we can embark upon a feasibility analysis and ensuing capital campaign to raise the $1.1 million needed to renovate the building, fix the code violations and establish operations. Although there is a lot of excitement in the community, we are still in the feasibility phase of the project. SEEDArts and the Cinema Advisory Board are working together to finalize a business plan, establish bids for construction and confirm the support capacity of the local community as well as public and private sources. To sign the initial lease, we must raise $60,000. Donations can be made at seedseattle.org/donate .
Join Community Power Works and the Rainier Valley Chamber of Commerce on Monday, Jan. 30 from 5:30 – 7:30 at Maya’s Restaurant for a conversation about how to green your business. You’ll be able to talk with experts on energy efficiency, waste management and water conservation. Light Dinner Served.
RSVP for this free program.
SPS seeks community volunteers for Special Education Advisory & Advocacy Council (SEAAC)
Seattle Public Schools is seeking unpaid volunteers from our ethnically, linguistically and culturally diverse communities to serve on the Special Education Advisory & Advocacy Council (SEAAC), for a term of one year.
The purpose of this committee is to advise Seattle Public Schools staff on special education issues. We thank Rick Minutoli for his last several years of leadership. During this time, SEAAC identified and advised the Superintendent and District leadership of the top three priorities in special education. This year, SEAAC has provided parent and community input on the roles and characteristics desired in the Executive Director of Special Education, and has been working to identify problems of practice in discipline and capacity management. Moving forward, future areas of focus will include advising District leadership on effective and efficient communication, advising on the development of student-friendly policies and family-friendly tools.
This advisory committee will:
- Represent parent, staff, and community agency perspectives across the education system and community on behalf of students with a wide range of abilities on special education issues.
- Provide Seattle Public Schools with perspectives on special education programs, including current operation and management, policies, proposed changes, future plans and goals.
- Present its recommendations and opinions in a report annually, and more often as requested, to the Executive Director of Special Education.
The committee will meet once every month. An orientation session will be held for newly appointed members. District staff will schedule and facilitate the meetings.
The council will include up to 30 members appointed by the Superintendent or her designee. A minimum of two-thirds of the members will be parents of children with disabilities currently enrolled in a Special Education program in Seattle Public Schools. SPS students, families, community members, staff, non-District community based organizations and representatives of higher-learning institutions are encouraged to apply.
Interested individuals should submit background information and reasons for their interest via email to specialed@seattleschools.org no later than 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 18. Nominations will be reviewed between Jan. 30 and Feb. 6. The nomination form is linked here, and you can read the full charge of the committee here .
Becky Clifford, Interim Executive Director of Special Education
252-0055; rlclifford@seattleschools.org
Laurie Morrison, Ed.D.
Assistant Principal, South Shore PK-8
4800 South Henderson Street
Seattle, Washington 98118
206.252.7606
Hi everyone, I wanted to let you know that SOCR / RSJI are working with the Loren Miller Bar Association, Seattle Parks and Seattle Police Department to co-sponsor a community version of our Race: the Power of an Illusion training. The flyer is attached. Please feel free to share this information with anyone who might be interested in joining us on Saturday, January 28th, from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. at the Garfield Community Center, which is located at 2323 E. Cherry St. in Seattle. Light refreshments will be served.
RSVP by Friday January 20, 2012
Light Rail Station Walkabouts in South Seattle
Dear Community Members,
The South Precinct of the Seattle Police Department (SPD) and the Southeast Seattle Crime Prevention Council (SSCPC) will be conducting two additional walkabouts at the following Light Rail Stations to assess pedestrian safety:
- Mt. Baker Station Area - January 22, Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Meet in southeast corner of QFC/RiteAid parking lot. Wrap-up meeting will be held in QFC’s employee break room.
- Rainier Beach Station - January 23, Monday at 7:30 p.m. Meet in Quality Rentals parking lot. Wrap-up meeting will be held in Quality Rentals’ store.
All community members are invited to attend and walk in groups for several blocks in each direction from the stations, looking for areas where safety improvements can be made.
Please dress warmly and bring a flashlight, note pad and pen for taking notes about areas needing improvement.
For more information, contact SSCPC President Pat Murakami at Pat@NetworkSupportGroup.net or 206.478.9038.
Regards,
Nhi Tran
Southeast Program Coordinator
Seattle Neighborhood Group
206.322.6134
www.sngi.org
nhi@sngi.org
Hello Everyone,
On January 23rd Rainier Beach PTSA will be hosting a very IMPORTANT meeting. This meeting is to stir up urgency among the parents/guardians in the performance of our students at RBHS.
Please forward the attached flier to whomever you come in contact who work with families of RBHS or future families of RBHS.
We are focusing on the hear and now but it does not hurt to have future families hear about the great things happening and or are coming. You will see the flier does not have a positive flair and this is on purpose this is to give a shock and awe to the information. In return we will be presenting the things in place to help the students performance and growth and to let parents know the one piece that is missing is them.
Presenters will be:
Carlina/Dwane
Rita
Michael Tolley
Drew O’Connell
Colin Pierce
Xaila Lewis (or someone from homework center and viking visionaries)
I have attached some information also to this email this comes for League of Education Voters Advocacy Workshops I attended this past weekend. It is for your review and to pass out as you deem fit.
Thank you,
Carlina
PTSA President
RBHS
360-204-1358
Community Dinner at Rainier Community Center is the third Friday of
every month, so January 20th, February 17th, and March 16th.
Rainier Valley Eats is starting an after school cooking program and Good
Food Box program at Rainier Beach High School. The first cooking class
there will be Thursday January 19, from 2:45 - 4:30 in the Culinary Arts
kitchen across from Ms. Rice's room.
Those are the big stories for now, thanks Ken. I hope to see you at the
event this coming Saturday.
Katie Pencke
Program Manager, Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands
Seattle Tilth
5513 S. Cloverdale St.
Seattle, WA 98118
p 206 760 0500
c 206 992 7034
f 206 633 0450
katiepencke@seattletilth.org
www.seattletilth.org
Make a gift to support Seattle Tilth this year!
Seattle Tilth inspires and educates people to garden organically,
conserve natural resources
and support local food systems in order to cultivate a healthy urban
environment and community.
On January 12, 2012 the Rainier Beach High School Design Team met in the school’s Career Center to continue reporting on the transformation effort underway at Rainier Beach High School. Teachers, SPS staff, service providers and community members were present.
Top Highlights
1. Rainier Beach High Schools has moved from a Level 1 designation to a Level 2 designation due to the rate of growth of student performance from the time frame of Spring of 2010 to Spring of 2011.
2. A Science Lab redesign process in underway. There will be a separate new physics and chemistry lab to join the already refurbished biology lab. All four lab rooms will have IT Ports.
3. Outreach for the International Baccalaureate Program (IB Program) is progressing. An IB Ambassadors group has been formed. Their next meeting is January 19th at RBHS at 5:30 p.m. Connections between Aki Kurose and South Shore School grade 8 are being established with tours upcoming.
4. Teachers view of the new principle Dwane Chappelle is that he is extremely committed; he has a big focus on what is happening in the classroom and on teaching practice; he puts in many hours; he is very supportive of teachers; and he is definitely working towards establishing a new Rainier Beach High School.
Top Surprises
1. An IT skills center is being considered for housing at RBHS due to the strong advocacy of Betty Patu. The skills center would focus on providing student Microsoft and Cisco certification for future careers in IT.
2. A suggestion was made to conduct “exit interviews” of students transferring out of the schools in order to understand and grow from the reasons that students may choose to leave.
Most Controversial Thing Heard
1. There are reports that there is a need to improve information share about enrollment at Rainier by the John Stanford Center Enrollment office because individuals have been encouraging families not to enroll at Rainier Beach.
2. Open Enrollment has been moved up one month to February 27 – March 9, 2012.
Implications for the Rainier Beach Neighborhood
1. The SE Seattle Community needs to know about and help promote the IB Program at Rainier Beach and make sure students of color and neighborhood youth enroll so that the seats are not taken by families living outside of the community.
2. Rainier Beach residents, educators and families need to learn and understand the initiatives being put forth by the South East Education Coalition calling for a “Five in Five Initiative”. This is an initiative where our goal for south end Seattle schools is to have them raise to a Level 5 in five years. RBHS is currently a Level 2 school.
|
|
Most popular posts