Preamble

Salmon Bay is more than a school. It is a community. Each student, parent, and staff member plays an integral role. In support of this community, we come forward with some conceptual ideas and suggest some attainable goals in order to nurture our children.

Statement 1 – Communication

We want to foster more communication in our school community in order to include and involve every member of the community.

To this end, we suggest three strategies:

An “About Salmon Bay” Reference Guide

A binder that is given to new parents, or existing parents who want a copy, with a suggested table of contents that include things like:

a yearly calendar with important deadlines
volunteer expectations, plus volunteer opportunities that speak to all skills and levels of availability
the role of FOSBE, how the group works, what/who it is
who to call if you have an idea or want your voice to be heard, e.g. the name and number of all the committee or topic chairpeople
current explanation of the “looping system,” as changes are made a new section can be published and replaced in everyone’s binder
current understanding of the “Salmon Bay Way,” how we are different and how we define alternative education
teacher and staff introductions, with classroom and grade-level specific information

This binder should be in an email-able format to keep cost down and allow parents to access it how they choose. Hard copies should also be available for those who do not have computer or email access.

We acknowledge, respect, and will utilize existing resources such as: the old parent handbook, the Summer Fishwrapper, the defunct communication and technology committees, the FOSBE yahoo discussion group, and the video of Salmon Bay founders sharing their story.

An online version of the reference guide, with an interactive forum for continuing dialogue

A more formalized “Buddy System” for new parents to the community to feel welcomed and connected. We recommend the system be classroom-based, possibly a volunteer coordinator for each classroom and/or existing parents who volunteer to be assigned new parents to contact, welcome to the school, entice their participation, and serve as a resource.

Statement 2 – Vision

We recognize that the “Salmon Bay Way” is both a fundamental set of values and an evolving vision for our children. We encourage more conversation about the “Salmon Bay Way.” This conversation includes:

how it is defined currently,
how it can be refined, and
how we can promote and make visible our philosophy of alternative education.

We want every member of our community to understand and be able to communicate our philosophy.

Statement 3 – Salmon Bay in the Greater Community

We want to explore Salmon Bay’s role in the greater community, such as:

between the Salmon Bay elementary and middle schools
with other schools in the area
among Seattle’s alternative schools
within the Ballard community
as part of the Seattle School District, and
with the Seattle Education Association

These opportunities will serve to enrich our children’s lives by giving back to, learning from, and strengthening ties with the greater community.

Closing

We share these ideas and goals in the spirit of being role models for our children, recognizing that open communication, involved parents, and active citizenship model the kind of citizens we want our children be as a result of their education here at Salmon Bay.

Next Steps

We put forward three committees to explore each of these ideas further. Point people from our Wisdom Council have agreed to spearhead continuing conversation that will both utilize existing resources and work that has already been done and invite community members to contribute their own ideas and skills to the effort.

Angie Kilkenny will spearhead the Communications effort, getting to work on creating an “About Salmon Bay” Reference Guide and figuring out who and how to formalize the “Buddy System.” Andy, Lynn, and Jeff have agreed to explore the technology aspect of putting the reference guide online.
Eric Bass will spearhead continued conversation about the “Salmon Bay Way” – our vision and philosophy.
Andy Grow will spearhead continued conversation about Salmon Bay’s role in the greater community.

We also recommend to the Wisdom Council conveners the following opportunities to disseminate the results of the Wisdom Council and invite participation from the community:

Publishing an article about the experience, including the statements and a call to action, in the Fishwrapper
Publishing the statements and a call to action on the school website
Using the phone tree to encourage people to read the statements or watch the community meeting video, and get involved
Putting up posters at school
Sending the statements and a call to action home in the Kid Mail

We encourage any of you who are interested in continuing this work with us to sign up for any of our three committees.