Aug 3, 2018, Westside Seattle: Summit Atlas Charter School grand opening shows off newly expanded facility https://www.westsideseattle.com/robinson-papers/2018/08/03/summit-atlas-charter-school-grand-opening-shows-newly-expanded-facility The Summit Atlas Charter School at the corner of Roxbury Street SW and 35th SW is a very different and yet very familiar place. As a school most of the basics are there, and the aim for any school, quality education is the same you'd find anywhere. But the approach they take is interwoven with a spirit of gratitude, kindness, acceptance and support that sets it apart from other school environments. It's one of eight Summit Public charter schools in Washington. Officially opened a year ago in a somewhat limited building the school held a grand opening ceremony on Saturday Aug. 4 to celebrate its new more extensive expansion and remodel. The facility now offers 24 classrooms, common spaces, a kitchen where meals are served from, 8 "quiet rooms", and an outdoor basket ball court…. … The expected enrollment for the year is 360; when they are fully built out, they expect to serve about 700 students. The goal is 100 students per grade level. … … 19 percent of our students qualify for Special Education. So we are really an 'All means All' type of school. … Special education at Summit Atlas has its own name this year. It's a full inclusion model in that students are enrolled in the core curriculum, get support in Learning Center but those that have significant learning disabilites get specialized support in what they call the "Joy Academy." …
top of page
Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
bottom of page