As part of our effort to improve student attendance in Seattle’s public schools, the mayor’s office Be Here Get There attendance campaign has enlisted the help of the Seattle Youth Ambassadors to blog about their experiences working on the campaign.  Represented by teen students in every Seattle public high school, the[More]

Mayor McGinn went head-to-head this Saturday with celebrities, professional athletes, and public school officials at the Strike for Life Celebrity Charity Bowl-A-Thon. The event, hosted by Women Standing Tall, was a fundraiser for Lifelong AIDS Alliance and the District 7 Coalition for Better Education. Among the celebrities in attendance was NBA star[More]

Today Mayor Mike McGinn announced the launch of the Be Here Get There, a research-driven, incentive-based campaign designed to raise awareness and improve academic achievement by improving citywide school attendance. Research has shown that students with more than 20 absences per year have less than a one in five chance of graduating[More]

Kids were nervous and excited, and parents were engaged today as Seattle Public Schools marked the beginning of the new school year with their Back to School Bash at Seattle Center. Community groups and Seattle Public Schools programs had tables set up at the Bash so families could learn about resources and[More]

Throughout our town hall meetings and conversations with arts advocates, we have heard loud and clear that arts are an essential ingredient in a complete education. Evidence suggests that when schools invest in arts education, students demonstrate academic gains. And when students engage in creative expression, they benefit from increased self-confidence, sharpened[More]

A lot has happened since our last post about the Summer Reading Camp, a joint project of Mayor McGinn’s Service Plan and Washington Reading Corps. On July 16th the mayor organized a barbecue at his home in Greenwood to recognize the partners, volunteers and funders who worked together to make the Summer[More]

We know that too many children in Seattle are not prepared for success in school or a career. During the Youth and Families Initiative over 2,800 residents attended 131 neighborhood meetings and agreed on 37 specific priorities for City services. Top priorities for health care were access, school-based health, mental health, dental[More]