Washington Middle School Counseling

This page, http://www.seattleschools.org/area/newassign/index.html, contains answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the new student assignment plan. The following is s summary of events to date:

Seattle Public Schools has a five-year strategic plan to achieve academic excellence at every school. An important component of this plan is a new student assignment process that is equitable, predictable, and easy for families to understand—as well as one that is feasible for the District to implement and maintain. A proposed new student assignment plan was submitted to the School Board in March 2009. Community meetings and work sessions with the Board to gather input were then held. The Board voted to approve the plan on June 17, 2009 with implementation of the plan to be phased in beginning with grades K, 6, and 9 in the 2010-11 school year. A proposed new student assignment plan with boundary maps was submitted to the School Board in March 2009. SPS will submit the boundary maps—including any revisions—to the School Board on November 4, 2009 for a vote on November 18, 2009.

The WMS anti-harassment and anti-bullying program, We All Belong began today. The program consists of 24 lessons spread over 3 years, for all students. Students are randomly assigned to grade-level small groups of 20-25 and a teacher who will stay with them all three years. We run the program 4 weeks in a row each semester, in order to create the group cohesiveness necessary for open discussion of the topics.

Sixth graders have a get acquainted introduction, then are taught what bullying is and WMS’ reporting process. The next lessons help think about the complexities of their lives, and teach them how to distinguish between friendly and hurtful teasing. A 3-lesson video on bullying which features interviews with real teens follows. The last lesson talks about strategies for bystanders of bullying and how to take a stand safely.

The seventh grade lessons begin with a review of the 6th grade material, plus expanded scenarios for practicing bystander strategies. Two lessons are spent on social contracts in the context of online activities and cyberbullying, and the social hierarchy, popularity, and group name calling. The last three lessons discuss gossip, conflict resolution, and the escalation of hate (discrimination, genocide, hate crimes, prejudice, scapegoating, stereotypes and violence.