Seattle Public Schools has just announced that all schools will be closed on Wednesday, due to anticipated snow and ice. That includes all before-and after-school programs and preschools.

Seattle Public Schools started two hours late on Tuesday morning, and now the district has announced that classes will dismiss two hours early.

All after-school activities are canceled.

We are cancelling all classes this afternoon because of recent winter weather. Buses in the north end are having difficulty on the roads. This will be operated as a two-hour early release. Weather patterns changed this morning in the north end of the District requiring us to dismiss classes early. We apologize for the inconvenience this caused today but predicting the weather is not an easy task. Safety is a top priority of our students.

SPS will send an automated phone call to all families notifying them of the two-hour early release. Families who are using childcare services at a school should contact the childcare provider directly for hours.

Seattle Public Schools is closely monitoring the weather this week, especially for school on Wednesday. Families will receive an automated phone call if school is cancelled.

Families can learn if there is a school delay or closure through:

• local media (TV, radio stations, newspapers and blogs)
• the District website at www.seattleschools.org
• an automated phone call
• the Public Schools Emergency Communications System at www.SchoolReport.org

For the latest weather updates, you’ve got a smorgasbord of options. Check out the weather blog of UW Professor of Atmospheric Sciences Cliff Mass; KING 5′s weather forecast; KIRO 7′s Stormtracker radar; KOMO4′s weather blogs and forecasts; and the National Weather Service.

The City of Seattle is warning residents to take precautions and be ready for a series of winter storms over the next few days.

The National Weather Service predicts lowland areas, including Seattle, could get three to seven inches of snow through Tuesday morning, plus the possibility of another six to 12 inches of snow over the lowlands on Wednesday.

The Seattle Department of Transportation crews are working through the night to maintain snow routes and address any trouble spots. Crews will use salt and salt-brine on city streets to prepare them for Tuesday morning’s commute.

Metro Transit remains on snow routing. Some trips or routes may be cancelled depending on conditions. Bus riders should check Metro’s Adverse Weather page for updates. Sign up for email or text Transit Alerts. People without online access can call the Customer Information Office at 206-553-3000 from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays.

Metro suggests dressing warmly since you may be waiting for a while. It’s also best to head for a bus stop on a main arterials or at major transfer points such as park-and-ride lots, transit centers, or shopping centers. Riders also should wait at bus stops at the very top or very bottom of hills, because buses are often unable to stop for passengers on the hill.

Seattle Public Schools notified parents and students on Monday night that Tuesday classes would start two hours late. Buses will be on snow routes, and there will be no preschool or Head Start programs.

Buses will be operating on snow routes tomorrow, which means that yellow buses only run on roads maintained by the City that receive snow removal. Students who ride buses received notice of snow routes in the mail during the week of Nov. 21. For more information on transportation, visit www.seattleschools.org/transportation

Families are being notified by an automated call tonight. Families are also advised to continue monitoring weather tomorrow morning and this week, as winter weather conditions may cause changes to school schedules.

The city is urging everyone to be prepared, and recommends that people:

• Consider options now for travel, staying off the roads if possible.
• Move cars off streets, if possible, to aid with snow removal.
• Check on neighbors, especially the vulnerable.
• Wrap pipes and outdoor faucets to prevent ruptured pipes and flooding inside homes.
• Turn faucets to a slow drip to prevent pipes from freezing.
• Be careful how they choose to heat or light their homes. Open flames and unattended candles are dangerous. Do not bring open stoves or gas grills inside as the fumes can be poisonous and deadly.
• Find and clear street storm drains. Snow followed by rain can clog drains and cause flooding.
• Have coats, hats, gloves and blankets at hand to stay warm during possible power outages.
• Bring pets indoors.
• Only call 911 in a life-threatening emergency.

Businesses and residents are reminded to keep their sidewalks clear to help pedestrians walk safely. Pedestrians should be cautious on snow or ice covered surfaces.

Once the snow starts coming, please email us your pictures of the neighborhood, whether it’s a cute snowman or cars abandoned on an icy hill.

Families who participate in Seattle Public Schools’ free and reduced lunch program can sign up for a free Thanksgiving meal, courtesy of NBA stars and local politicians.

Families must sign up by Monday at one of 11 Seattle Parks and Recreation Community Centers. The two nearest community centers to Phinney Ridge and Greenwood where families can sign up are: Ballard, 6020 28th Ave NW; or Bitter Lake, 3035 Linden Ave. N.

NBA stars Brandon Roy, Jamal Crawford, Will Conroy, Isaiah Thomas and Spencer Hawes have teamed up with Councilmember Bruce Harrell and Mayor Mike McGinn to give away 2,000 Thanksgiving dinners. The “Thanks-Give-N-Go Turkey Give-Away” takes place on Tuesday, Nov. 22 from 5-8 p.m. at the Rainier Community Center, 4600 38th Ave S.

If you’re interested in working as an unpaid volunteer, Seattle Public Schools needs community members for its new Advanced Learning Program Task Force.

The task force will consist of approximately 20 members including one or more district staff, principals, teachers, parents and community representatives. Late afternoon meetings will be held monthly beginning in late November at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence.

The task force’s primary purpose is to advise district staff as it develops facility recommendations that will support the delivery of services to advanced learners throughout the district. The recommendations will be used by the Seattle Public Schools Facilities and Capacity Management Advisory Committee, Superintendent and School Board. The task force’s work will include a review of Accelerated Progress Program (APP) and Spectrum enrollment patterns, key program elements, family interests, costs and decision-making factors regarding student enrollment in APP and Spectrum programs. Responsibilities will include participating in public meetings, reviewing descriptive data, and weighing the competing interests and constraints surrounding future services for APP and Spectrum.

The task force will meet at least once a month for two hours from November to June with the possibility of additional meetings as needed to provide timely information to the Facilities and Capacity Management Advisory Committee, Superintendent and School Board. District staff will facilitate the meetings. A typical meeting will include a staff presentation on a topic or issue to resolve, followed by dialogue and discussion by the task force members. Staff will review task force input to develop recommendations.

Seattle Public School parents, principals, teachers and community members with an interest in advanced learning programs are encouraged to apply. Interested individuals should submit background information and reasons for their interest via email with “Advanced Learning Task Force” in the subject line to: advlearn@seattleschools.org no later than Monday, Nov. 14.

A district administrative team will select task force members to represent of a cross section of the community and participation in the Accelerated Progress Program and Spectrum program. Task force members and those not selected will be notified via email or mail sent Nov. 15. The first meeting is scheduled for Nov. 21 from 3:30-5:30 p.m. in Room 2765 of the John Stanford Center, 2445-3rd Ave. S.

Schools around the country celebrated International Walk to School day today. In South Phinney/East Ballard, West Woodland Elementary School counted more than 250 students who walked or biked to school.

The bikes started piling up outside West Woodland’s doors this morning. Photo by Anastasia Schemkes.

Students received special stickers from parent coordinators and the Sierra Club this morning as they arrived at school. The Sierra Club is promoting its “Beyond Oil” work to get more people out of their cars.

October is Walk and Wheel month, and most schools are encouraging students to walk or bike to school instead of having mom and dad drive them. Thirteen Seattle Public elementary schools have special events planned this month.

If you’ve got photos of Walk to School events from your school, please email them to us.

Updated Thursday: We just got some photos from Daniel Bagley Elementary in Green Lake, which pulls kids from Greenwood and Phinney Ridge, too. Bagley mom Lexy reports that more than 150 students walked to school yesterday, many of them as part of a Walking School Bus.

Two Walking School Bus routes converged about 1/2 mile from school to form a mega-bus of 50 kids and 20 parents. That’s one way to stop traffic on Aurora!

Thirteen Seattle public elementary schools are participating in tomorrow’s International Walk to School Day, as part of “Walk and Wheel” month. Participating schools in our neighborhood include West Woodland in South Phinney/East Ballard, and Daniel Bagley, just across Aurora Avenue North near Green Lake.

West Woodland mom Sheila Bacon Cain tells us the school has been participating since 2003.

Neighbors may notice large groups of students walking to school tomorrow morning, celebrating with the “West Woodland Wildcat” cheer. One of the largest groups will be the “60th and Sycamore” walking school bus – a group of students and parents who walk to and from school each day, starting at the corner of 60th and Sycamore. The group walks down the Pea Patch hill and south on Third to the crosswalk at 58th, with the bulk of the group arriving at the school around 8:45 a.m.

Close to 3/4 of the school participates in Walk to School Day, and many of the students will continue to walk or wheel throughout the month of October – getting good exercise and dramatically cutting down on car trips to and from the school.

So, drivers, please be extra careful tomorrow as there will be many more kids walking to school than usual.

Incoming kindergarteners and students of all grades who are new to Seattle Public Schools can get a head start on the enrollment process for next year starting on Monday. Early Enrollment goes through Jan. 31, 2012.

SPS enrollment facilitators will be at several Seattle Public Library locations and neighborhood community centers from Oct. 3-25 to help parents fill out forms and answer questions. You can also enroll your child during Seattle Public Schools’ Family and Community Symposium on Saturday, Oct. 15, at Garfield High School (interpreters provided).

Early enrollment allows families to avoid long lines during the busy spring and summer enrollment periods. While early enrollment does not impact where a student is assigned to school – under the new student assignment plan, assignment is based on the student’s home address – it is offered as a convenience to families, enabling them to get the enrollment paperwork completed ahead of time.

In addition, families who have students enrolling early – as well as existing students – will receive their school assignment notification in early 2012, prior to the Open Enrollment period in the spring. Students may apply to attend a different school of their choice during Open Enrollment.

The nearest enrollment events to Phinney Ridge-Greenwood are:

• Monday, Oct. 3: 5:30-7 p.m., Ballard Library, 5614 22nd Ave. NW
• Tuesday, Oct. 4: 5:30-7 p.m., Northgate Library, 10548 5th Ave. NE
• Thursday, Oct. 13: 5:30-7 p.m., Broadview Library, 12755 Greenwood Ave. N.
• Monday, Oct. 24: 5:30-7 p.m., Green Lake Library, 7364 E. Green Lake Dr. N.

The full list of all early enrollment sites, and the list of paperwork you’ll need to bring, is here.

Today is the first day of school for Seattle Public Schools, so please drive extra carefully, and stop at all crosswalks, as children navigate their way to school, many for the first time.

The district has a wide range of start and end times for elementary, middle and high schools, and many kindergarteners have only a half-day the first few days of schools, so there will be lots of children out walking throughout the day.

Seattle Public Schools is inviting students and their families, along with teachers and staff, to a special party to kick off the school year. The “Celebration of Learning” is from 4-6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 30, at the Seattle Center, in the Fisher Pavilion.

Interim Superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield and Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn will speak, and the All-City Band will perform. Representatives from Transportation, Nutrition Services and Enrollment will be there to answer questions from families.

Everyone will receive a ticket as they enter for door prize drawings. Prizes include dinner for two at the Space Needle, a gift certificate to Duke’s Chowder House and Seattle Mariners memorabilia.

Elementary and K-8 students in Seattle Public Schools will follow new transportation zones when school starts two weeks from today. The new transportation plan is designed to make bus rides shorter, saving $4 million by using fewer buses and less gas. Bus rides will be 25 minutes or less, and some buses will cover three routes instead of the traditional two each morning and afternoon.

The transportation plan map for Greenwood Elementary School, showing walk zones in orange and bus zones in yellow.

“With more efficient routing, buses are less likely to encounter the traffic delays that occur on longer routes, so families will find departure and arrival times to be more reliable,” Tom Bishop, SPS transportation manager, said in a press release. “In addition, the more streamlined routes will also benefit the environment by taking up to 80 buses off the roads and reducing the district’s carbon footprint.”

Transportation zones will include the entire attendance area of a school, extending to areas within a 1.25-mile radius from the school in each middle school service area. Existing walk zones to schools would still apply.

As a result of the plan, an estimated 3,600 elementary students who received transportation in the 2010-11 school year now reside outside of the new transportation zones. They will still be eligible for the following transportation:

• Students who live within a half of a mile from the Transportation Zone boundary can walk to a yellow bus stop within the zone. Seats will be allocated on a space-available basis.
• Community stops will be created so students can catch a yellow bus near an attendance area school and take it to another school.
• Students who are no longer eligible for transportation will receive a guaranteed assignment to their attendance area school, if requested.

School bus routes are assigned in late summer after student assignments are complete. As a result, families should expect to receive a letter with their route information in late August, prior to the start of the school year.

You can find the list of PDFs of each school’s transportation plan here.

Here are direct links to the PDFs for schools drawing from Phinney Ridge and Greenwood:

• Daniel Bagley Elementary School
• Greenwood Elementary School
• Viewlands Elementary School
• West Woodland Elementary School
• Whittier Elementary School

You can also find links to safe walk zones for each school here. Each PDF has arrows showing the preferred safe walking route, and lists where every crossing guard will be (both Adult Guards and School Patrol).

Seattle Public Schools is also encouraging families to prepare new students for riding the bus, by visiting the bus stop with your child, practicing the walk to and from the bus stop, and discussing what your child should do if he or she misses the school bus.

Also, school buses will be running later than normal for the first two weeks of school, as drivers check in each student as they board, to make sure they’re on the correct bus, and checking them off as they get off the bus.

Bus arrival and departure times for each school are listed here. And a reference guide for every question you might have about riding the bus is here.

If you haven’t already enrolled your children in Seattle Public Schools, the district is urging parents to do so by Aug. 30, to ensure your child has a school assignment by the first day of school, on Sept. 7.

Families new to Seattle Public Schools who want to change schools or who have not yet enrolled should visit us at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence (JSCEE) at 2445 3rd Ave. S. You can find a map, driving directions and bus routes to reach the John Stanford Center here. Enrollment hours are 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday.

“Those first few days in the classroom are so important, and we want to make sure all students have school assignments before the first day of school,” said Brandon Holst, JSCEE Services Manager. “It takes time to complete the enrollment paperwork, and the lines in our lobby grow longer as we get closer to the first day of school. We encourage families to enroll by Aug. 30 and avoid the last-minute rush.”

In addition, families should note that the JSCEE building will be closed Wednesday, Aug. 31 due to a district-mandated unpaid furlough day for all employees, one in a series of furlough days aimed at offsetting reductions in state education funding.

Families of students who are continuing enrollment at their assigned school DO NOT need to visit the John Stanford Center. Instead, they can submit their enrollment applications via email, by mail or by using our 24-hour drop box located at the JSCEE south entrance, facing Lander Street.