West Seattle, Washington
28 Sunday
3-0 was doubly meaningful for Chief Sealth International High School‘s football team tonight. That’s the score by which they defeated Franklin at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex – and that’s their record so far. The three points came on a field goal in the final second of the first half by #26, sophomore kicker Ogi Petronijevic (above). Otherwise, it was mostly a defensive contest – one busy tackler was #11, junior Xavier Nguyen:
During the offensive attempts, #3, senior Jeylen Pham-Alejaga, did a lot of carrying:
Another highlight of the night – the Chief Sealth cheerleaders were joined by younger protegés from their fundraising cheer camp earlier this week:
Next up for head football coach Daron Camacho and the Seahawks, the annual Huling Bowl game against West Seattle High School – that’s next Friday night, September 22nd, 7 pm, at NCSWAC (2801 SW Thistle).
West Seattle High School‘s care coordinator Stacey Fernandez asked us to share this with you:
I serve students and families that are in need of basic needs resources, and over the years the number has drastically increased. This week, I have officially kicked off the first food drive of the year. All food and hygiene products collected will benefit WSHS students. The food drive will go on until September 29th. Food items could be dropped off at the front office, Monday – Friday 8 am – 4 pm. I will hold two after school collection times where I will be accepting donations at the school’s historical entrance (the entrance that directly faces Hiawatha). The dates for the after-school collections are: Tuesday, September 19, 4 pm – 6 pm, and Tuesday, September 26, 4 pm – 6 pm.
Here’s the list of most-needed items.
The fall quarter starts in two weeks at South Seattle College (WSB sponsor), and SSC has an acting president in place. Here’s the announcement we received today:
Dr. Sayumi Irey, an educational leader committed to antiracist and sustainable educational transformation with over 25 years of experience, became South Seattle College’s acting president on Sept. 1, 2023 and will serve in this role during the 2023-2024 academic year. Dr. Irey was named to the position by Seattle Colleges Chancellor Dr. Rosie Rimando-Chareunsap, and steps into the role after the retirement of Dr. Jean Hernandez, who served as interim president at South during the 2022-2023 academic year.
“I believe that Dr. Irey is the best fit to ensure leadership stability through this coming year,” Dr. Rimando-Chareunsap said. “She brings to the role deep knowledge of the priorities and directions in which South Seattle College is already actively engaged.”
A national search for South Seattle College’s next permanent president will start this fall.
Prior to becoming acting president, Dr. Irey served as vice president of instruction at South Seattle College since 2019. She has also been a longtime equity and social justice leader in our state, having founded the statewide Social Justice Leadership Institute (SJLI), a non-traditional leadership program to train historically marginalized staff and faculty of color in Washington State to succeed in leadership roles. Under Dr. Irey’s continued leadership, over 200 staff and faculty have taken part in SJLI from across the state’s community and technical college system.
Dr. Irey started her higher education as a student in the Washington state community and technical college system, and holds a master’s degree in Library & Information Science and a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership & Policy from the University of Washington.
“As a first-generation TRIO student, I started my community college experience in Washington State,” Dr. Irey said. “As a student, I met faculty members who changed my life in many positive ways and met staff members who were kind, caring, and supportive. I see that vital mission carried on today at South Seattle College, and I continue to be proud of our staff and faculty members and grateful for the care they show to our students, community and each other. I know our work changes people’s lives.”
South Seattle College is headquartered on West Seattle’s Puget Ridge at 6000 16th SW.
Another high-school team is off to a successful start of the season. The report and photo are from West Seattle High School volleyball coach Scott Behrbaum:
The West Seattle High School girls varsity volleyball team were the champions of the Kent Meridian Varsity Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, defeating Shadle Park HS in the finals. Way to go. Wildcats!
The Wildcats also defeated Holy Names in the first league match of the year on Wednesday, 9/6.
WSHS has three road matches ahead this week, and then will be home, vs. Roosevelt, on Wednesday, September 20th – here’s the season schedule as finalized so far.
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
West Seattle High School‘s football season is off to a 2-0 start after a resounding win tonight over Franklin, 42-6 at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex. Comprising most of the Wildcats’ score were six touchdowns – two by #3, senior Bo Gionet:
The first TD of the night was by #80, junior Myles Mutchler:
WSHS held Franklin scoreless for the second, third, and fourth quarter – after the Quakers’ TD in the final minute of the first quarter, they were done. Back to WSHS scoring: Another TD was by #5, senior Gibson Aguilar:
Another by #24, junior Airric Lewis, seen below with head coach Anthony Stordahl:
And the sixth and final TD for the Wildcats tonight was by #16, junior Niko Craven:
Among the night’s star runners, #1, senior Leland Gayles III:
The point-after kicks were all good – all by #34, sophomore Scott Bremen. And the defense was responsible for the announcer’s repeated use of the catch phrase, “brought down by a pack of Wildcats.” Many penalties, mostly for Franklin, slowed things down, and the game was headed for three hours before it ended in time for the second NCSWAC game of the night (Ingraham-Cleveland) to take the field.
NEXT WEEK: WSHS plays Cleveland at SWAC, 7:30 pm Friday (September 15th).
Friday night means high-school football: Chief Sealth International High School played tonight at Memorial Stadium downtown, vs. Lakeside, whose Twitter/X updates include the final score: Sealth 36, Lakeside 21. Next Friday the Seahawks, now 2-0, play their first home game of the season, 4:30 pm Friday (September 15th) vs. Franklin, at Nino Cantu SW Athletic Complex (2801 SW Thistle).
For thousands of West Seattle families, today’s biggest news is the start of the new school year. The traditional red-carpet welcome for students at West Seattle Elementary in High Point was paired today with a ribbon-cutting for the school’s newly complete expansion/renovation. Last month, we took you on a photo tour of the school. Now, principal Pamela McCowan-Conyers (above right), her staff, and their students are all back, after two years in temporary quarters at the former Schmitz Park Elementary (a “long ride” from High Point, the principal acknowledged). McCowan-Conyers hailed the project as “sorely needed” while offering a profuse round of gratitude for everyone involved, before leading the ribboncutting:
Among the dignitaries was district superintendent Dr. Brent Jones, who also enthused about the project, funded by the BEX V levy, passed by voters in 2019.
Once the ribbon was down, students headed for the entrance, under the new canopy, and were greeted by school staffers with high-fives and big smiles.
Shoutout to WSE staffer Akim Finch, who DJ’d the event, including a brisk early round of Earth Wind & Fire classics (“September” was especially appropriate):
The expansion added 12 classrooms, giving the school a capacity of more than 500 students; currently it’s around 400, assistant principal Ritchie Garcia told us when we toured for last month’s report. The school – which serves a community with a large immigrant population – is designed to support families as well as students, with areas where parents can access resources such as a job board.
P.S. With the reopening, West Seattle Elementary’s address has returned to 6760 34th SW – readers have noted that Google is still listing it with the Schmitz Park address, which is now the temporary home of Alki Elementary.
Just announced by Seattle Public Schools:
Seattle Public Schools (SPS) is pleased to announce that it has reached a tentative agreement with Local 302 International Union of Operating Engineers. The Local 302 represents SPS custodians, culinary services, grounds, security, and alarm monitor teams.
SPS appreciates all the hard work of both bargaining teams to reach a tentative agreement.
We are excited to have the members of Local 302 join us as we welcome our students, families, staff, and community partners for the 2023-24 school year tomorrow.
Thanks to Greg for the tip. The three sets of speed bumps announced earlier this year for SW Genesee, near Genesee Hill Elementary, were installed today, the day before the scheduled start of Seattle Public Schools‘ 2023-2024 classes. Other West Seattle school areas with new traffic-safety installations over the summer include Lafayette Elementary, Pathfinder K-8, and the Denny/Sealth campus.
With Seattle Public Schools scheduled to start Wednesday, we have three notes tonight:
CONTRACT TALKS: We hope to hear more Tuesday about the district’s contract talks with Operating Engineers Local 302, the union for several categories of staff including culinary services, custodians, grounds, security, and alarm monitoring. SPS acknowledged Friday that the contract had expired Thursday but insisted, “It is not unusual to go past the contract end date for these negotiations.” The South Seattle Emerald reported that union reps speaking at last week’s school-board meeting said talks had been under way since spring but the district just made its first money proposal a week earlier. Meantime, the question many are asking is whether teachers would refuse to cross the picket line if this union goes out on strike. There’s been no public statement on that, though it’s been requested that teachers not step in to do the work IUOE members would do. (Tuesday morning semi-update: We asked SPS for the latest. They sent us a statement that is word-for-word what they published on the SPS website Friday. So, no update yet.
NOT-READY PORTABLES: After we reported a week and a half ago that West Seattle High School‘s new portables were in place in the parking lot, a commenter said staff had been told they won’t be ready to occupy for the start of the year.
(WSB photo, last month)
We asked SPS if that was true, and if so, why. Spokesperson Tina Christiansen replied, “According to the senior project manager, it’s an issue with the availability of electrical contractors.”
WEST SEATTLE ELEMENTARY CEREMONY: Last month we showed you the renovations and expansion at West Seattle Elementary School, where classes are resuming after two years at the former Schmitz Park Elementary.
(WSB photo, last month)
WSES will celebrate the project before school on Wednesday morning, combined with their red-carpet rally to welcome the students, starting around 7:15 am
As we’ve been noting since mid-August, some students are already back in class. Most of those who aren’t yet are about to be. Here’s who starts tomorrow (Tuesday, September 5th):
Tilden School (WSB sponsor)
Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School
Watch out for more people walking and biking, and more traffic in general in school zones.
Both of West Seattle’s public high schools have started their football seasons with victories. We covered West Seattle HS‘s home win on Friday; then on Saturday, Chief Sealth IHS opened their season on the road at Bellingham. That game ended with a 32-27 victory for the Seahawks. Next week, head coach Daron Camacho‘s team is on the road again, 5 pm Friday (September 8th) vs. Lakeside at Memorial Stadium downtown.
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
Waving their flag and bursting through a banner, the West Seattle High School Wildcats roared onto the Nino Cantu SW Athletic Complex field tonight for the first time this football season. Two-plus hours later, they left the field victorious over Columbia River High School (Vancouver, WA), but only after some literally last-minute drama.
But first – new head coach Anthony Stordahl‘s team got off to a strong start, taking the ball on an interception just half a minute in. They needed a while to break through the Rapids’ defense but with 4:28 to go in the first quarter, #1, senior Leland Gayles III, got the first TD.
The Wildcats got another one in the final minute of the first quarter, with #45, junior Cole Edwards, recovering a Columbia River fumble in the end zone.
The Wildcats capitalized on another of their opponents’ mistakes in the first :15 of the second quarter, when #7, junior Alex Jorge, followed an interception with a run most of the way down the field. That eventually set up a field goal by #34, sophomore kicker Scott Bremen, that boosted the WSHS lead to 17-0 with 10:27 to go in the first half.
The Rapids finally got on the scoreboard with a touchdown at 7:16 left in the half, and that was the end of scoring before halftime, when everyone left the field with WSHS up 17-7.
In the second half, more big runs – including two by #2, junior Sam Turner – paved the way for a touchdown pass at 7:26 caught by #5, senior Gibson Aguilar.
With the point-after kick, WSHS was up to a 24-7 lead. A few minutes later, a spot of trouble – a short-lived physical altercation at midfield, broken up quickly by coaches and refs, saw (corrected) two players, one from each team, ejected. The next significant action in the game didn’t come until the final minute, when Columbia River scored two touchdowns, resulting in a final score of 24-19. Close call, but reason for WSHS fans to join the expanded Cheer Team in celebrating.
NEXT WEEK: WSHS has an early home game, 4:30 pm, next Friday (September 8th) at NCSWAC, against Franklin.
Every school year, we tell you about ways you can help local students, from tutoring to attending events to donating money. Here’s the announcement for one of the first fundraisers of 2023-2024, from Friends of Roxhill Elementary:
Kick off the new school year by giving to the Roxhill Field Trip and Classroom Fund!
Did you know schools and families cover the cost of field trips? This creates a disparity between field trip experiences across schools in our district.
With your generous donations, Friends of Roxhill provides each teacher at our school with money for field trips and to equip their classroom with much-needed supplies, like educational games, toys, and books. Last year, each teacher received ~$15 per student. We’d like to increase the amount to ~$20 per student this year!
Not all families in our school have the means to give. If you do, please consider donating on behalf of your student and a classmate. 100% of funds will go to teachers to benefit our RoxStars.
Roxhill Elementary is a small but mighty Title I school with about 250 students, located in the south end of West Seattle. Friends of Roxhill Elementary supports the education and enrichment of our multicultural public school in Seattle. Over 70% of our students are from BIPOC communities (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color). Our nonprofit focuses on building equity for students through fundraising, community building, and other important projects for our kids’ school success.
You can go here to help. (And if you have news of a school fundraiser/event/cool potential news story, email westseattleblog@gmail.com or text 206-293-6302!)
Some fall high-school sports start up even before the first classes of the year. High-school football season is about to begin. Tomorrow night (Friday, September 1st), West Seattle High School plays a home game at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex (2801 SW Thistle), 6 pm, vs. Columbia River (from Vancouver, Washington). Chief Sealth International High School was scheduled for a season-opener on the road at Foster High School in Tukwila, but the Metro League schedule page says the game’s been canceled and that CSIHS instead is playing at Bellingham, 1 pm Saturday (September 2nd). You’ll also see/hear football at West Seattle Stadium, where O’Dea – which plays its home games there – will play Union at 7 pm Friday.
Most local students who aren’t back in class already will return next week. If you’ve just moved here – or are rethinking your K-5 student’s plan for next year – independent Tilden School (WSB sponsor) wants you to know they still have a few spaces at each grade level. As noted here last month, Tilden has a new head of school, Dr. Jorge Olaf Nelson, and is looking ahead to the new school year with excitement. They’d be happy to give you a tour, even amid all the preps for the start of school – here’s how to contact Tilden School via email or phone. The campus is on the north edge of The Junction, at 4105 California SW.
(WSB photo, Alki Elementary demolition site last Friday)
After three weeks, Seattle Public Schools has made its decision about how to respond to the city Hearing Examiner ruling granting neighbors’ appeal of a zoning exception that would allow the new Alki Elementary to be built without off-street parking: It’s going to court. That’s one of the options if you lose a case before the Hearing Examiner – going to King County Superior Court with a “petition seeking review of a land-use decision.” That’s what SPS filed today, according to documents we obtained tonight. The petition contends in part:
… The Examiner concluded that the SDCI [Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections] Decision lacked sufficient supporting information on this issue alone. The Examiner’s conclusion regarding the vehicle parking departure is incorrect. … Petitioner is aggrieved and adversely affected by the Decision because the Decision prejudices Petitioner’s ability to use its Property and is intended to interfere with the Petitioner’s legal use and enjoyment of the Property and the ability to develop the Project … the Examiner engaged in unlawful procedure, erroneously interpreted the law, made a decision that is not supported by substantial evidence, and committed clear error where it concluded that the Appellants met their burden to demonstrate that it is not necessary to eliminate all parking to meet the school’s educational needs. … The Decision’s determination that the parking analysis did not accurately reflect parking conditions was not supported by substantial evidence in the record. … The Examiner chose to give greater weight to anecdotal statements that parking conditions in December 2021 must not reflect normal parking conditions instead of expert analysis that concluded, in both the report and in testimony, that the parking conditions in December 2021 were likely higher than normal conditions given that many people chose to stay home (and park on the street) rather than leave due to both the COVID-19 pandemic and the West Seattle Bridge closure.
This is not likely to end quickly. The initial schedule set for the case requires a hearing by October 20th, but the case itself might not be fully heard until next January. The district has a permit for demolition, excavation, and grading of the school site, and has completed most of the demolition, but can’t get a permit to build the new school until this issue is settled. Building the school without a zoning exception for parking would require 48 spaces, and presenting a revised plan providing them was one of the other options the district had for responding to the Hearing Examiner’s ruling.
Tomorrow night was supposed to be Seattle Public Schools‘ grand finale to its series of community meetings meant to collect ideas to define “well-resourced schools.” That’s what the district says it needs to move toward – and that might mean closing/consolidating schools. So far, it’s had a series of in-person meetings around the district, including this one we covered on August 10th. Late today, the district announced the citywide online meeting scheduled for tomorrow will instead be held at 5:30 pm September 26th. The announcement says in part, “Moving this online engagement to Tuesday, Sept. 26, after the school year has begun will allow for wider community participation. It will also help us prepare an exceptional experience for a larger number of people.” If you RSVP here, they promise to send the meeting link during the week of September 11th. Meantime, they’re still promising an online survey in “early September.” This is all supposed to result in a plan to be presented by superintendent Dr. Brent Jones in November.
(WSB photo)
As of tonight, the old Alki Elementary is almost completely demolished, but a matter that must be settled before the new one is built is still in question. More than two weeks have now passed since a city hearing examiner ruled in favor of neighbors challenging the city decision to allow a zoning exception so the replacement school – with a higher capacity – can be built without parking. We’ve been asking both the city Department of Construction and Inspections and Seattle Public Schools what they plan to do to respond to the ruling. We finally got an answer today from SDCI; spokesperson Wendy Shark tells WSB, “SDCI has communicated to the district to revise the project proposal to include the required parking or provide additional information to supplement a revised decision. A revised decision would be appealable to the Hearing Examiner. Timing of these actions is dependent on the district.” The required parking, per city code, is 48 spaces. The district has one other option – they could appeal the hearing examiner’s decision in King County Superior Court; so far court records show no indication they’re doing that. What they do plan to do, we don’t know yet, as we asked again as soon as we heard from SDCI this morning, but we hadn’t received a district response by day’s end. The building permit can’t be finalized until the issue is settled. The new school is supposed to be ready in two years.
(WSB photo)
Thanks to Clay for the tip. In time for the new school year’s start in two weeks, the long-planned portables are in place in the West Seattle High School parking lot. We first wrote about the plan back in January, when the city sought feedback on the zoning exceptions needed for approval, primarily involving parking, as the portables were projected to cover 30 spaces. According to the slide deck originally presented with the plan, the school already has fewer spaces than zoning requires – 191 compared to 238. and this is a further reduction from that. The presentation also cited a survey from two mornings in May 2022 showing that the lot is not fully used during an average school day. Another exception (“departure”) was sought for providing less covered bicycle parking than required. According to district enrollment reports, WSHS had more than 1,300 students enrolled at the end of last school year, 200 more than fall 2019.
(WSB file photo)
By two weeks from today – Wedmesday, September 6th – most local students will have returned to school. One West Seattle school has already begun the 2023-2024 school year – Summit Atlas, the charter middle/high school. For students at Kennedy Catholic High School in Burien, the nearest parochial high school, today was Day 1. The rest of the planned first days that we found via online calendars start next week – here’s the list:
August 30 – Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic School
August 30 – Vashon Island School District
September 5 – Tilden School (WSB sponsor)
September 5 – Hope Lutheran School
September 5 – Holy Rosary Catholic School
September 5 – Holy Family Bilingual Catholic School
September 5 – The Bridge School
September 6 – Seattle Public Schools (1st-12th grades)
September 6 – Highline Public Schools (1st-12th grades)
September 6 – Westside School (WSB sponsor)
September 6 – Explorer West Middle School (WSB sponsor)
September 6 – West Seattle Montessori
September 11 – Seattle Public Schools (kindergarten/preschool)
September 26 – South Seattle College (WSB sponsor)
(Anyone to add? Let us know – westseattleblog@gmail.com – thank you!)
(WSB photos by Patrick Sand)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
Two weeks from tomorrow, West Seattle Elementary School students and staff will have classes at their 6760 34th SW home campus for the first time in more than two years.
While WSES spent those two years in temporary quarters at the former Schmitz Park Elementary, their school underwent big changes – an addition and renovations. We requested a tour so we could show you those changes before the school year. Shown below are our tour guides last Friday afternoon:
From left are assistant principal Ritchie Garcia, Miller Hayashi Architects principal Laura Maman and project manager Pearlene Cheah, and Seattle Public Schools‘ project manager David L. Jackson. We photographed them beneath what might be the most distinctive feature of the expansion-and-renovation project – shown atop this story – a new entrance canopy that is visible from the streets west and east of the school and from the neighborhood to its north.
We started our tour at the front entrance, which is now a secure space with separate doors for the office and the hallway.
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(WSB photo: Chief Sealth cheerleaders in July’s West Seattle Grand Parade)
The start of school doesn’t mean the end of summer. For three days next month, the Chief Sealth IHS Cheer Team is leading a summer after-school mini-camp for kids K-8 as a fundraiser. The mini-camp is happening 4-8 pm September 13-15 at CSIHS (2600 SW Thistle). On the final day, students will show their new skills during a Sealth game at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex across the street. The deadline for signups has just been extended to next Monday (August 28th); this flyer has more info. When you’re ready to register your student(s), use this form!
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