Upcoming Dates:

• Thursday, December 19, 6-7 pm: Superintendent Denise Juneau and TAF staff will be co-hosting an informational meeting at Thurgood Marshall.  Somali, Vietnamese and Spanish interpreters will be available.  Childcare is available.
• January 8 and January 22: SPS school board meetings, agendas not set yet.  One or both of these meetings will discussion and votes on approval of the TAF Joint Operating Agreement (see link below) and related changes to the HCC section of the Student Assignment Plan

Links to the latest information and materials on STEMbyTAF:

• Survey Summary and Survey Data – Our PTA created a survey to provide input to the district on questions to address at the information session.  Results have been shared with the Superintendent’s office as an input to planning the Dec. 19 information session.
• TAF@Saghalie tour notes – A few Thurgood Marshall parents who attended tours at TAF@Saghalie agreed to share their observations and notes with our community.
• SPS / TAF Joint Operating Agreement and Board Packet – board packet from 12/18 meeting, containing the Joint Operating Agreement for a board vote in January
• TAF One-pager created by our Thurgood Marshall Equity Action Teams

TAF has provided the two documents below to the Thurgood Marshall PTA for sharing with our community.  The first document is an updated presentation that provides an overview of STEMbyTAF at WMS.  The second document outlines how math instruction would be provided in a blended classroom.

STEMbyTAF Presentation – November 2019

STEMbyTAF Math Instruction

Seattle Public Schools is considering policy changes and proposals that would have significant impacts on Thurgood Marshall families.  These include the district proposal to change the HCC policy and program in southeast Seattle, and a proposed partnership with STEM by TAF at Washington Middle School.  Our PTA is working to gather information as quickly as possible to help keep families informed of updates and important dates.

Here are two actions you can take:

1. See the news item below titled “Recap and Notes from 10/22 Meeting” for more information.
2. Bookmark the Board Calendar: https://tinyurl.com/spsboard-dates to keep track of board and committee meetings and agendas. Board members often have open meeting hours to hear from families, usually at a local library or coffee shop.

On 10/22, the PTA hosted a discussion and Q&A on the district’s proposed changes to HCC as well as the district’s proposed STEM by TAF partnership.  Wyeth Jessee from the School District and Director Hersey were in attendance at the meeting.  The four documents linked below include 3 documents that were distributed at the meeting as well as meeting notes.

Notes from 10/22 Meeting

Proposed Student Transition Assignment Plan

Proposed Policy 2190 Change

TAF FAQ’s (printed from SPS website as of 10/22/19)