While we are not meeting over the summer during our regular meeting time, we are calling a special meeting in response to requests heard at our last meeting- Please join us at the Highland Park Improvement Club on 12th and Holden on Tuesday, August 12th at 7pm to discuss Highland Park Elementary. We sent the following invitation to school and city officials:
Dear Principal Cronas, your colleagues at Seattle Public School, City Council Members Burgess and Bagshaw, and Mayor Murray,
We are the Co-Chairs of the Highland Park Action Committee, a community group that advocates for the Highland Park and Riverview Neighborhoods in Southwest Seattle. Our role is to affect positive change in our neighborhood, and we have historically been active in bringing together a voice for our neighborhood, which has faced many challenges.
We hosted parent Peter Weiss at our May community meeting, who came to speak with us as a member of the Highland Park Elementary’s PTA. In discussing his ideas with us to organize a 5K as a fundraiser for the school, the community learned about the state of affairs for our local school- Highland Park Elementary is ranked last in the Seattle Public School System.
Some of our members were brought to tears with this news, exhausted by what feels like yet another blind eye turned towards our community from our leaders. We write to you in response to a request that night from the community to get some answers as to why our school is doing so badly and what the plan is for improvement. We have since discussed this idea with the PTA and have formed a partnership in our efforts. We, along with incoming PTA president Sol Mendez, would like to invite you to a meeting to discuss the school, and answer some questions from our community.
Please let us know if you can join us at the Highland Park Improvement Club on 12th and Holden on Tuesday, August 12th at 7pm.
Sincerely,
Carolyn and Billy Stauffer (Co-Chairs, Highland Park Action Committee)
Sol Mendez (President, Highland Park Elementary PTA)
Invitation Sent To the following (confirmed attending are bold): Chris Cronas – Principal, Highland Park Elementary Marty McLaren – School Board member Israel Vela – Executive Director of Schools for West Seattle Michael Tolley – Assistant Supt for Teaching and Learning Shauna Heath – Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction Cashel Toner – Director of Early Learning Zakiyyah McWilliams – Executive Director of Special Education Bernardo Ruiz – Director of School and Family Partnerships, Equity and Race Mayor Murray Tim Burgess, Seattle City Council’s Education and Governance Committee Chair Sally Bagshaw, Seattle City Council’s Education and Governance Committee Vice-Chair Tom Rasmussen, Seattle City Council Member Kerry Wade, Neighborhood District Coordinator for the South Team, Seattle Department of Neighborhoods
HPAC 