While Queen and Magnolia parents may be excited to have an option school in their neighborhood, what option they'll have exactly remains to be determined. But the district is making headway in creating a design team to determine the fate of Old Hay.
Successful Schools in Action has been asked to help identify individuals in the community serve on the design team. Lisa Moore, the director of SSIA, sent out a feeder e-mail earlier this week to help the selection of those interested in moving the decision process forward.
In a voluntary online survey created by Lawton parent Kelsey Fatland, 330 people answered questions about their preferences. Of the curriculum listed, 60 percent preferred an International option, as opposed to 26.9 percent in favor of a Montessori program. The
survey was sent to all neighborhood school communities, preschools in the area and various neighborhood parent blogs.
Fatland's children have attended Montesorri programs, and her eldest child attended a Chinese International School in San Francisco, so she had a general curiosity about the neighborhood's interests. Having just moved to Magnolia in June, Fatland said she wasn't sure how representative the numbers were.
But, Fatland said, "from the conversations I have had with other parents there seems to be many families looking for an opportunity for their children to learn languages."
The design team will lead the process of selecting the program for Old Hay, though the final decision does lie with the superintendent. But the district, as board president Michael DeBell has said, wants the school to be a draw for Magnolia and Queen Anne parents.
Though the survey pointed to a preference for a language-based program, without any option schools currently available in the neighborhood, Fatland said, "any option that keeps local families interested and excited about our public schools will prove successful for all involved."
The first meeting for the design team, which will be comprised of five members, is scheduled for Jan. 12 and the expectation is that the team's work will be finished by the beginning of March to help inform parents' choices for schools.
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