Friend of the Blog and Advertiser West Seattle Montessori School and West Seattle Academy will be hosting Open Houses soon.

Let’s let the schools’ Tara Requa take it from here:

“Hello! I just wanted to let your readers know that West Seattle Montessori and our Upper School, West Seattle Academy, will be hosting two Open Houses in the coming weeks.

We currently have five preschool/kindergarten Montessori classrooms, three Montessori first-through-third grade classrooms, a transitional Montessori fourth & fifth grade classroom, as well as a high-school preparatory sixth through-eighth grade middle school.

Our Open Houses are open to the public, and we want to welcome the Burien Community to come in and check out our amazing school!”

Dates and times:

• Saturday, January 21,  1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
• Thursday, February 2,  6:30pm – 8pm

Tara adds:

“Our teachers will be giving Montessori presentations during both Open Houses which is a great way for parents and students to find out about the method and how exciting our classrooms can be!

The mission at West Seattle Montessori School and West Seattle Academy is to foster independence and a love of learning.

Our teachers love teaching. They love to see kids really get into the spirit of learning.

Be sure and let your friends with school-age kids know about West Seattle Montessori and West Seattle Academy, and to feel free to ask about enrollment.”

West Seattle Montessori & West Seattle Academy
11215 15th Ave SW
Seattle, WA  98146

Phone: 206-935-0427

www.westseattlemontessori.com

BTB Advertiser Three Tree Montessori School invites parents and kids to their Open House on Saturday, Nov. 19^th, from 10 a.m. – Noon.

Three Tree Montessori School is located in Burien at 220 SW 160th, near Sylvester Middle School.

Have you driven down SW 160th Street and wondered what was going on behind those whimsical columns? That warm ochre and brick colored building is the home of Three Tree Montessori School, a rich and vibrant community that supports the fundamentally unique education principals of Maria Montessori. Montessori is a time-tested, science based approach to education, designed to nurture the whole child.

Come view the beautiful classrooms, gardens and playgrounds, meet the teachers, and learn about Montessori programs for children ages one through twelve.

For more information, visit their website here: http://www.threetree.org

Kennedy Catholic High School will be holding a ‘Passport to Your Future’ Open House on Tuesday, Nov. 8th, and all 6th, 7th and 8th Grade Students and Families are welcome to attend.

This 90-minute event will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a welcome speech by principal Mike Prato in the gym, which is on the northwest side of the campus.

“Pick up your passport as you enter the gym and prepare learn about Kennedy Catholic Lancers’ excellence in Learning, Faith, and Leadership,” reads an email.

Visitors will find out about academics, counseling support, college classes taught on campus, scholarships, retreat and international travel opportunities, service to the broader community, activities, and athletics.

John F. Kennedy Catholic High School is located at 140 South 140th Street in Burien.

Questions regarding the Open House can be answered by calling the school office at 206-246-0500.

More information is available at www.kennedyhs.org/admissions.

Longtime Burien non-profit Curiosity Corner School will be moving into a new location after spending 13 years next to the Goodwill on SW 128th.

The new location is in the complex known as “Time Square.” No, it’s not where a glittering ball drops ‘Snooki’ down to a huge crowd of revelers on New Year’s Eve – it’s at the corner of First Ave South and SW 156th, right here in Burien.

The school, which serves up to 50 children ages 0-5 years old, was founded in 1985 to serve kids in the Burien, White Center and West Seattle areas. Over the past 22 years, they estimate to have served over 2,000 children in the area.

“We’re moving because we outgrew our current location,” said Director Kathy Wahlborg. “At one point we thought we were going to have to close down, until our Real Estate Agent Sally Law found this space.”

The new location, which is slated to open sometime in November, will include new classrooms – an Infant Toddler one on the south side, and a Headstart one on the north – as well as office space and an outdoor playground area.

“We’re also moving toward full accreditation with the NAEYAC (National Association for the Education of Young Children), ” Wahlborg added.

According to their website, Curiosity Corner’s Mission is:

To provide a quality child care program for children 4 weeks to 5 years of age while supporting parents in positive parenting skills and providing information on children’s developmental stages, healthy family dynamic, self esteem and personal growth. We are committed to providing quality programs to serve all ages and phases of family life.

Goals
Child Care Center: To provide a program where children are comfortable to explore and grow intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, socially, and physically.

Family Support: To teach parenting skills and help parents provide positive guidance for their children. To provide parents a support system. To help parents understand their child’s behavior at different stages and ages.

As parents and children participate in our program, we strive to enrich and support their families with new strengths that help them manage their home life. Curiosity Corner will act as a facilitator to benefit all those who walk through our doors.

Here are some photos of the new (and old) locations as taken by Scott Schaefer:

Curiosity Corner has been at their current location on SW 128th for 13 years.

The school's new location is at Time Square, located at the corner of First Ave South and SW 156th

Nice wooden floors are all ready to be played on in the north classroom.

An outdoor playground will be put into the middle courtyard.

Friend of the Blog and Advertiser West Seattle Montessori School and West Seattle Academy have a lot of new things happening as the 2011-2012 school year gets underway.

Let’s let the schools’ Tara Requa take it from here:

“The teachers are back in session at West Seattle Montessori School and West Seattle Academy and we have a lot of exciting and new things going on here.

In this spirit of our mission at West Seattle Montessori School and West Seattle Academy, which is to foster independence and a love of learning, we have added some new outstanding staff members to our team.

Because the school is growing quickly, we’ve been able to add an additional First – Third Grade classroom, and Matt Whittemore will be the new Lower Elementary Teacher.

Matt has been teaching in the Seattle Public Schools for the past seven years and is eager to begin working in a multi-age classroom using the Montessori method.

He especially looks forward to working with the students as individuals. This year, students can look forward to learning a little bit about cooking, guitar playing, and establishing a peaceful community in this classroom.

Another wonderful addition to our teaching team is Jennifer Clarke.

Jennifer has ten years teaching experience under her belt, and was the WSMS and WSA Spanish Specialist last school year. This year, Jennifer will be the lead teacher of the Fourth – Fifth Grade classroom, and looks forward to seeing kids really get into the spirit of learning.

Students in her class can look forward to lots of field trips, hands-on science lessons with our new Foss Kits, and a new math program that will really help fine-tune the math skills. There will also be a bi-lingual component to the classroom as Jennifer will continue to reinforce the students’ Spanish skills.

The third addition to our teaching staff is Jay Irish, known to everyone at WSMS and WSA as Senor Jay.

Jay taught Spanish and PE to the middle school students during the 20010-2011 school year, but has now accepted a position as the Spanish Specialist for the entire school.

He will also be contributing as a teaching assistant in the Fourth – Fifth classroom. Fluent in Spanish, Jay has lived abroad and has the ability to communicate bilingually.

He worked as a Spanish customer service representative for Jet Blue Airways from 2009-2010, and more recently, Jay has been a Spanish tutor for working professionals, as well as for university and high school students.

Jay brings a fun and lighthearted approach to his classroom, and the students have much to look forward to in their Spanish lessons with Senor Jay this year.

Be sure and let your friends with school-age kids know about West Seattle Montessori and West Seattle Academy, and to feel free to ask about enrollment.”

West Seattle Montessori & West Seattle Academy
11215 15th Ave SW
Seattle, WA  98146

Phone: 206-935-0427

www.westseattlemontessori.com

Highline Public Schools is asking residents ‘What do you want in our next superintendent?‘ through a series of Focus Group meetings to be held between Sept. 26th and 28th in various locations in the area.

“You can have a say on the qualities and characteristics you want Highline’s next superintendent to possess,” reads the district’s website. “The district is holding a series of focus group sessions September 26 – 28. You are invited to participate. You will also have an opportunity to take an online survey later this month on the district website.”

Business and civic leaders, teachers, staff, principals will have their own sessions, and community members are invited to meetings on Sept. 26th (TBA) and 27th (White Center Heights Elementary).

Here’s the schedule:

The Port of Seattle's retired fire truck was donated to Puget Sound Skills Center's Fire Services program Tuesday morning (Sept. 6). Photo courtesy Highline School District.

Tuesday morning (Sept. 6), the Port of Seattle donated retired fire truck #713 to the Puget Sound Skills Center (PSSC) at a ceremony at the school’s campus in Burien.

Students from the Fire Services program looked on as Port Battalion Chief Rick Kruckenberg delivered the engine to PSSC Principal Dr. Sue Shields and City of SeaTac Battallion Chief John Madson, Fire Services program administrator at PSCC.

“Donated equipment like this engine provide our students the opportunity to learn and practice skills on fire equipment they will use in their career choice,” said Dr. Shields. “We are grateful for the continuing support and partnership of the Port of Seattle.”

For more information on the Puget Sound Skills Center, visit their website here.

Today though, we decided to try and capture what a lone student might be going through as he prepares to board a bus and head off to school after a busy, but, as usual, too-short summer – here’s a pic Scott Schaefer took of an 8th grader as he waited on his own for the bus to Sylvester Middle School from Burien’s Three Tree Point neighborhood:

For the complete HSD school calendar, click here (PDF file).

Beginning this fall, ‘Odyssey: The Essential School’ will be open to all students from throughout the Highline School District in grades 9 – 12. To prepare for this, they will be holding two orientations next week for any families and/or students who might be interested.

Odyssey has been a neighborhood school at the Tyee Educational Complex (located at 4424 S. 188th Street in Seatac) for the last six years. Now the school is offering an innovative, new program that includes:

• a rigorous academic course of study that prepares students for college;
• a competency-based approach to teaching and learning that allows students to learn at their own pace;
• a blended learning model, which means that along with quality classroom instruction, students have additional opportunities for online and other digital learning;
• a personalized, supportive learning environment based on democratic and equitable practices.

If you would like to learn more, you can attend an orientation at Odyssey on:

• Tuesday, June 21, at 2 p.m.
• Thursday, June 23, at 5 p.m.

To learn more about this program, visit: http://www.hsd401.org/ehighlights/2011/06/01/OdysseyBecomesaDistrictwideSchool.aspx

Questions can be directed to Odyssey@hsd401.org.

An application and interview are required for admission. Enrollment is open now to any student in Highline Public Schools.

To view or download the application, click here (PDF file).

Odyssey is named “The Essential School” because it was founded on the principles of the Coalition of Essential Schools – more info here http://bit.ly/essentialschools

Burien Police were alerted, and security has been increased at the school, beginning Tuesday (May 31st) and continuing through the rest of this week. Two Burien Police cars were visible as school began Tuesday morning as students went to class.

“While the police believe that the threat is not credible, we want to err on the side of caution and share this information with you,” reads a note released by the school and signed by Principal Vicki Fisher, which we’ve published below:

Click image to see larger version.

We checked in with Catherine Carbone-Rogers, Highline School District Director of Communication and Community Engagement, who told us that there is nothing unusual about the increase in security, which she says is “just a precaution.”

She would not reveal any more information about the threat however.

Carbone-Rogers also reiterated Fisher’s stance by stating that the school prefers to “err on the side of caution” and are working closely with police.

School was conducted as usual Tuesday, and students were all given copies of the same letter from Principal Fisher, who was unavailable for comment.