Green Lake Elementary School (2400 N 65th St) is hosting three upcoming kindergarten tours:

Tuesday, Feb. 7, 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 9, 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Thursday, Feb. 16, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

For more information or to sign up for a tour, call the Green Lake Elementary School office at (206) 252-5320.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2012.

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Post tags: green lake elementary, kids, schools

Juli Griffith and Lenora Quarto were special education teachers at Green Lake Elementary (2400 N 65th St) in 2008. Griffith still teaches at Green Lake Elementary. Quarter is no longer employed by Seattle Schools.

Griffith and Quarto were both suspended for ten days for refusing to attend training in how to administer the test and for refusing to give it, KING 5 News reports. The two teachers said the students’ parents had asked them not to give the children the test.

Read more at king5.com and view the case here.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: green lake elementary, law, schools

The school’s Garden Club and a group of volunteers will be prepping the garden this weekend and the art will be installed on Monday (Dec. 19, 2011).

The art installation will be composed of metal representations of Native American berry picking baskets which will rust to a reddish-brown in the rain. Two baskets will be positioned strategically at the main path to draw visitors into the garden.

Thanks for the tip, Monica!

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: green lake elementary, public art, schools

Photo via facebook.

Green Lake Elementary Team C, 1973-74. Photo via facebook.

Did you attend Green Lake Elementary School (2400 N 65th St)?

We would love to compile your memories and snapshots of the school.

To get things started, here is a remembrance from David Carlos, who has lived in Green Lake since 1968:

My sister, brother and I are alumni of the ol’ Green Lake Elementary when it was a beautiful turn-of-the-century wooden building. Then, when the brick building opened in 1970, we were the first-year students there. 

My 4th grade class was HUGE. There were 7 guys named David in the class of about 60-70 students in the room we called Team C.

The school curriculum and structure was, back then, considered cutting-edge: There were 5 teachers, one of them being a hearing-impaired specialist who communicated with deaf students. She wore a special microphone hanging around her neck, which transmitted her words to their hearing aids.

After meeting as a large group, we students would be divided into smaller groups and rotated from one teacher to the next throughout the day. One teacher would discuss science, while another did math, or English, or Language Arts. It was a classroom without walls.

This sounds a bit far-fetched now, but when we were kids, our teachers said there was a special switch that was used when we were too loud. The switch turned on a magical noise-absorbing machine hidden above the suspended ceiling tiles, to dampen the decibels. We never saw the machine. We just knew when it was working, because you could hear a pin drop. It was that quiet. Looking back now, I bet it was just the air conditioning unit that created white noise.

My favorite teacher was Mrs. Bartoo. I had a major crush on her, and would give her little presents, like daffodils plucked from neighbors’ yards. Oooops.

And Chas DeLong, who lived in Green Lake in the 1970s and 1980s, shared this photo of Ms. Gentry’s 1972-73 Kindergarten class with us:

Feel free to add your own memories in the comments below, and please email us any pictures you would like to share. We’re at tips [at] mygreenlake.com. Many thanks!

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: 1970s, green lake elementary, historical, kids, schools

photo credit: comedy_nose

Green Lake Elementary School‘s 26th annual Christmas Tree Sale kicks off on Friday, Nov. 25, 2011 and continues until Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011.

The sale takes place at the school, located at 2400 N 65th St.

A wide variety of high quality cut fir trees, including Nobles, Grands, Douglas Firs and Frasers, will be available, as well as decorative wreaths and swags.

Sale days and times are:

Mondays through Fridays, 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturdays and opening day, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sundays, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

All proceeds support education programs at the school by helping pay for  a reading and writing specialist, swimming, drama, art, music, science fair and other school programs and supplies.

Thanks for the tip, Brian Esler!

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: christmas, green lake elementary, kids, schools

Early enrollment events are planned for several Seattle locations, including Green Lake. The full list is available on this PDF.

The Green Lake early enrollment event will be at the Green Lake Branch Library (7364 E Green Lake Dr N) on Monday, October 24, 2011, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m.

The following documentation is required for enrollment:

• Certificate of Immunization Status (CIS) [PDF]
• Photo ID of the parent/guardian registering the student
• Two address verification documents: Examples include current (dated within the past 60 days) telephone, utility, or cable bills; mortgage information; insurance docs; or documents from public agencies such as Courts or DSHS. Residential Leases are accepted if the start date of the lease is less than 60 days old
• A birth certificate, or a similar document such as a passport, which shows that the child will be 5 years old by August 31.

Admission forms are available online [PDF] and will also be provided at the event.

Students enrolling in Seattle Public Schools are assigned to an attendance area school according to home address. Families can use an address look-up tool to find their attendance area school.

In addition to the kindergarten enrollment nights, families may also enroll online at seattleschools.org.

For additional information, call the Seattle Public Schools Service Center at (206) 252-0760.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: daniel bagley elementary, green lake elementary, kids, library, mcdonald school, schools

The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) reports that they have completed a Safe Routes to School project at Green Lake Elementary School (2400 N 65th St).

In an effort to make walking and biking to and from the school safer and more accessible, SDOT installed an illuminated overhead crosswalk sign and repaired a sidewalk.

The crosswalk light has yet to be turned on, but will be soon. According to SDOT, the light still needs to be connected to the electrical grid by Seattle City Light.

Brian Dougherty, SDOT’s Safe Routes to School Coordinator, said in May that Green Lake Elementary School was chosen for improvements due to a variety of factors, including the proximity of  the NE 65th St and Latona Ave NE business district, a history of collisions in the area, and the nearby location of arterial streets N 65th St and Woodlawn Ave NE.

Over the past four and a half years, the Safe Routes to School Program has made improvements at 23 schools across Seattle. It is anticipated that a more than 30 schools will eventually receive safety enhancements through the program.

The program is funded by Bridging the Gap, a $365 million levy passed by Seattle voters in 2006.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: green lake elementary, kids, safety, schools, walking

The improvements are being made by SDOT as a part of the Safe Routes to School program. The program is funded by the Bridging the Gap levy, passed by Seattle voters in 2006.

Brian Dougherty, SDOT’s Safe Routes to School Coordinator, says that Green Lake Elementary School was chosen for improvements due to a variety of factors, including the proximity of  the NE 65th St and Latona Ave NE business district, a history of collisions in the area, and the nearby location of arterial streets N 65th St and Woodlawn Ave NE.

“We want more kids walking and biking to school,” Dougherty says. To that end, SDOT is working on street and sidewalk improvements, traffic enforcement, and education to teach kids how to navigate busy streets.

About a month ago, Dougherty led a walking audit around some of the primary walking routes to Green Lake Elementary. Using this audit, SDOT identified the marked crosswalk on N 65th St at 1st Ave NE as a primary location for safety improvements. According to Dougherty, there is a history of pedestrians being hit while using the crosswalk. In the mid-1970s, he says, a child was struck.

SDOT will soon be installing an overhead flashing light and a downward-focused spotlight at the crosswalk.

Improvements are also being made to the sidewalks surrounding the school. During Spring Break, the cracked and bumpy sidewalk in front of the school was removed and replaced with a flat surface. A large European Birch tree located next the sidewalk was saved during the process. The tree will now will have more room to grow due to a narrower sidewalk.

More sidewalk repairs will be made this summer, particularly on Sunnyside Ave N, where trees have buckled the sidewalk.

Curb ramps will also be installed at N 65th St and Sunnyside Ave N, making crossing easier at the legal, unmarked, corner-to-corner crosswalk.

SDOT will also be installing bike lanes and sharrows to N/NE 65th St this summer. You can read more about that project here.

The Safe Routes to School program will wrap up at Green Lake Elementary School in the fall with an educational campaign for 2nd graders about safe walking and crossing habits.

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: cycling, green lake elementary, safety, schools, traffic, walking

Photo courtesy Arlene Harrington

Students at Green Lake Elementary School (2400 N 65th St) have been playing host to a duck who has made a nest right in front of the school’s office door.

The duck has been sitting on her nest for two weeks. “We have cones up and a string around the area with a kid-made sign warning passers by not to disturb her,” says Angela Blemker, Kindergarten teacher. “We all feel pretty lucky she chose us as a safe haven, though I don’t really know what she was thinking. The kids don’t exactly walk gingerly in or out of the building each day!”

Photo courtesy Angela Blemker

Photo courtesy Angela Blemker

“We’re trying to figure out how to lead the mother duck to Green Lake once she’s ready,” Angela says.

What should the school – and other Green Lakers with nesting ducks – do once the ducklings hatch?

Gayle Garman of the Friends of Green Lake says that there it is unlikely that humans will be able to lead ducklings in any particular direction.

“In my experience,” Gayle tells us, “the ducklings will only follow the mother, and she will lead them over ‘hill and dale’ to find some water. She may follow a small ditch or other small rivulet to Green Lake, or to a small pond, where they should be safer from crows, gulls, dogs, cats and other predators.”

Update, Monday May 23, 2011:

Jamie Matthews, PE Teacher at Green Lake Elementary, sent us the following note and photos this morning:

Mama duck  and her 11 babies were escorted by myself, our principal, secretary and a couple parents down to the lake this morning. This happened just before the first bell rang today.

Drivers around Green Lake were especially awesome and happy to stop to let her cross!

Thank you, Jamie!

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: birds, green lake elementary, kids, schools

The school’s Garden Club invites the community to join them in cleaning garden beds and getting the school grounds ready for the summer. Participants can bring their own tools or use tools provided by the Garden Club.

Container gardens at Green Lake Elementary School

©Amy Duncan for My Green Lake | Seattle's Green Lake Blog, 2011.

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Post tags: gardening, green lake elementary, schools, volunteer