Option Schools and Alternative Programs in Seattle Public Schools

For over fifty years, Seattle Public Schools has nurtured innovative educational programs designed to provide schools and programs that responded to the diverse needs and interests of Seattle’s families. These schools have been known as alternative, option, magnet, STEM, HCC, dual language immersion, K-8, and Creative Approach schools, and they have served many different roles within changing enrollment and choice assignment plans. These intentional school communities, built in close partnership between educators and families, have provided vital examples for innovative instructional practices that continue to make a difference in classrooms across Seattle.

We call on Seattle Public Schools to renew its commitment to these option schools, and to embrace their importance to our system as a whole. This will require fostering a learner-centered ecosystem of schools that integrates community resources and focuses on holistic outcomes for diverse student needs to adapt and thrive. These schools can be laboratories for the kind of collaboration, flexibility, personalized and real-world learning that is critical for transforming school systems to meet the future needs of students, families and communities.