School Board Votes to Save Our Challenge Program!

At last night's board meeting the School Board voted 3-2 in favor of Option 3, which preserves the self-select challenge program in grades 7 and 8 for ELA, Social Studies and Science. Sixth grade will have mixed ability classrooms in this model.

Thank you to Amy Cast, Kimberly D'Angelo and Ken Smith for voting for the successful model preferred by the Community, Parents and Students. Thank you for all of your hard work and for listening!

May 24th 7pm is the Last Chance to Show Your Support for Self-Select Challenge before the Vote!

The School Board meeting on May 24th, 2016 at 7pm will be the LAST CHANCE to speak to the School Board and show support for the Self-Select Challenge Program before they vote. 

The Middle School Grade Reconfiguration Task Force and its Academic Subcommittee have presented the board with 2 options for the Middle School Academic Model. The two options presented are Option 1 (Mixed Ability Classes for grades 6-8) and Option 3 (self-select challenge for grades 7 & 8 with mixed ability classes for grade 6):

Do Not Be Fooled or Confused! Option 1 would result in the REMOVAL of the Self-Select Challenge program!

Out of the 2 choices being considered by the School Board, Option 3 is the model that would Save Our Challenge Program in grades 7 and 8. Option 3 was the second choice model of both the Task Force and the community input to Save Our Challenge. 

The School Board can choose to Save Challenge by Voting for Option 3! If you support the Challenge program, please attend the May 24, 7pm school board meeting to express your support for challenge and Option 3. We believe the school board listens to students and will act in the students' best interests. So, please encourage all students (students who have taken challenge, students who chose not to take challenge and we're happy to have the choice, and elementary students who want to have a choice when they are in middle school) to attend and speak to the school board.  

We need to fill the board room with challenge supporters if we want to keep this valuable, equitable program that gives students CHOICE. Now is the last opportunity for the School Board to hear from the community before their vote on whether or not to keep the Self-Select Challenge program. Now is the time for everyone to speak! May 24, 7pm!

Please browse the Save Our Challenge website if you would like more information on this. 

Thank You to the School Board

A huge "Thank You" to our NSD School Board!

You have made a welcoming place at your meetings for our students to come and advocate for themselves as so many did last night in favor of maintaining the Self-Select Challenge Program. You have listened with attentiveness and asked them pertinent questions. For many of our students this is their first foray into public speaking and community advocacy and you have helped make the experience a positive one. Thank you!

Urge the School Board to Vote for Option 3 at the May 10, 4pm Board Meeting and in Email.

Hello Challenge Supporters,

Tomorrow afternoon (Tuesday May 10^th at 4pm) is the next School Board meeting. At this meeting the School Board will hear the first reading of the Middle School Reconfiguration Task Force’s recommendation on Challenge. At last week’s School Board Study Session, the School Board decided to narrow the choices being considered to Option 1 and Option 3. Let’s talk about those options and how they emerged.

The district is currently calling Option 1 “Challenge for All in grades 6-8”. This name is, in fact, a fairly recent re-branding to confuse the Northshore Community. Option 1 was originally called “Heterogeneous Class Groupings” until after the October 13, 2015 Academic Subcommittee meeting. When the Save Our Challenge group started regularly attending Subcommittee and task force meetings and testifying at School Board meetings, the district renamed Heterogeneous Class Groupings “Challenge for All” in an attempt to make the community think the district was keeping and expanding the challenge program. In reality, Challenge for All is Mixed Ability, Heterogeneous classrooms in which the district believes teachers will be able to create and deliver differentiated instruction for each student in their classroom at a Challenge-level pace.  Any student who is not ready for challenge-level pace may be forced to take a support class in the subjects in which they struggle INSTEAD of taking an elective. 

Do Not Be Fooled or Confused!  Option 1 would result in the REMOVAL of the Self-Select Challenge program!

Although, Option 3 was not the first choice voted on by the community and presented to the School Board in the Save Our Challenge Proposal, it was the second choice of the parents, students and community members. Option 3 will keep the current Self-Select Challenge Program in grades 7 and 8 while also keeping the Mixed Ability, Heterogeneous classroom model that is currently used in our elementary schools for 6^th grade. We had hoped self-select challenge classes would be available for 6^th grade as well, but in this compromise model, the students will still have self-select challenge for 7^th and 8^th grade. Also, Option 3 was the second choice model voted by the Task Force. Nearly half of the task force members found option 3 to be an acceptable second choice. This is not the preferred model of either side of this debate, but it is an acceptable compromise for both.

Out of the two choices being considered by the School Board, Option 3 is the model that would Save Our Challenge Program in grades 7 and 8.

Please attend the School Board meeting on May 10, 2016, at 4pm to urge the School Board to choose Option 3! If you are unable to attend please send an email to all school board members urging them to vote for Option 3! (sbdistrict1@nsd.org, sbdistrict2@nsd.org, sbdistrict3@nsd.org, sbdistrict4@nsd.org, sbdistrict5@nsd.org )