Author: eeueditor

Combating racism and racial violence is our responsibility

Posted on | by eeueditor

Members of the Haring Center Community: 

I hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy. The deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, along with the history of racial injustice and racial violence in this country intensify the pain and anger during an emotional time in our community amidst a public health crisis that is disproportionally impacting the Black community. 

Black Lives Matter.

To our Black families, staff members, and friends: we stand beside you and see the deep pain and trauma that the loss of these lives and the history of systemic violence and injustice carries. We stand beside you as members of the Haring Center community and recognize the work that we have to do as individuals, as a community and as an institution to combat systemic racism, police brutality, and injustice. We commit to doing this work every day within our classrooms, in our building, and beyond in our community. We commit to reflection, listening to and learning from other community organizations and voices who are focused on this important work.

We must work together to create safe spaces to express our emotions, share pain, and raise our voices. This work is important to all of us.

EEU Closed through at least April 24th

Posted on | by eeueditor
Hello EEU Families and Haring Center Staff,
Many of you have probably heard that in response to Governor Inslee’s March 12 emergency proclamation, all Seattle Public Schools and the EEU are closed through at least April 24, 2020 in an effort to aggressively slow the spread of COVID-19. All public and private schools in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties are impacted. 
 
Today, the staff began prepping all classrooms for deep cleaning and disinfecting of classrooms, the gym, lobby and high traffic areas.  Starting tomorrow, I will be encouraging all staff to work from home.
 
We will continue to reach out via email, web posting and phone calls.  Please feel free to reach out to us with questions of needs.
 
You can reach the office staff by emailing 

You can reach the Family Support Team  by emailing 

Chris Matsumoto
Principal, Experimental Education Unit
Associate Director, Haring Center

To EEU Families

Posted on | by eeueditor

Hello EEU Families,

Today after school I met with EEU staff to discuss the closure for a minimum of 14 days starting March 12th. Our priority remains the health and safety of students, families and staff. Despite our deep desire to learn together at the EEU, we believe it is important to work with local schools and government to reduce the risks posed to our community.
I asked that the classroom teams, the front office team and the Family Support Team be available for phone calls, email and video conferencing. We want to hear from you if you have questions or concerns. The UW is currently operating, but I have given permission for all EEU staff members to work from home.

The following link is the most up-to-date COVID-19 fact sheet from King County Public Health so you can stay informed.
https://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/communicable-diseases/disease-control/novel-coronavirus/~/media/depts/health/communicable-diseases/documents/covid-19-recommendations-en.ashx
I also wanted to share a resource teacher Pete found providing some guidance for talking to children about the Coronavirus.
Please stay safe. We are already anxiously awaiting the opportunity to have the community back at the EEU. I will continue to provide updates via email and on the EEU webpage (http://hermes3.education.uw.edu/eeuschool/).
Chris Matsumoto
Principal, Experimental Education Unit
Associate Director, Haring Center

Seattle Schools and the EEU Closed starting March 12

Posted on | by eeueditor

Seattle Schools has just announced that schools will be closed for a minimum of 14 days starting Thursday, March 12th.

FROM SEATTLE SCHOOLS:

We have been following the guidance of Public Health Seattle & King County and implementing preventive and responsive strategies, but in light of Governor Inslee’s request that all citizens practice measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, it is now time for the district to act swiftly. Starting tomorrow, Thursday March 12, Superintendent Denise Juneau and the Seattle School Board will close Seattle Public Schools for a minimum of 14 days as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently guides. This necessary action is an effective way to disrupt widespread infection. Beginning Thursday, March 12, all school building activities including school day instruction, childcare, health services, enrichment, etc. are canceled until further notice.

I will continue to provide you updates as information becomes available. On behalf of the Haring Center and EEU staff I want to say that our hearts are with all our children and families.  We know that disruption in services is extremely challenging for families and we hope to be back in session as soon as possible.

Chris Matsumoto
Principal, Experimental Education Unit
Associate Director, Haring Center

March 10 Coronavirus Updates

Posted on | by eeueditor

FROM SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS:

On March 10, an Aki Kurose Middle School staff member was lab confirmed with COVID-19. In an abundance of caution, Aki Kurose Middle School will be closed until further notice. We are working directly with Public Health Seattle and King County and will follow Public Health’s recommendations when making decisions to reopen the school. Disinfectant and cleaning of the building and learning spaces will follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations.

The Experimental Education Unit (EEU) and the Haring Center remain open at this time.  I will continue to provide any updates as they become available

Health and Safety Update

Posted on | by eeueditor

EEU Families and Staff,

The EEU and Haring Center remain open. We continue to work in partnership with Public Health, the University of Washington, Seattle Public Schools, and the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). To date, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Seattle Public Schools or at the EEU. If a Seattle Public school has a community member who is diagnosed with COVID-19 by a medical professional, that building will close. This includes the EEU.

The EEU and Seattle Schools share the goal to keep our doors open as long as possible while prioritizing the health and safety of our students, families and staff. 

We continue to ask for your help in keeping our community healthy and safe. We ask that children, families and staff members stay home if they are sick and consult medical professionals. In addition to postponing all activities outside of school hours, we have suspended all school tours and trainings until further notice to limit the number of people entering the building.

While we are open and here to provide education and support, we also respect and honor every family’s ability to make the best decision for their child and family about participating at the EEU with the current health and safety concerns.  We will not question a family’s decision to keep a child home and only ask that you let your teacher or the front office know your child will be absent.

In addition to these updates, we wanted to provide additional resources regarding Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). We have found the following handouts very helpful:

These handouts have also been translated into several different languages and can be accessed using the links below:

https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/NovelCoronavirusOutbreak2020/FactSheet

https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/NovelCoronavirusOutbreak2020/HealthEducation

We appreciate your continued support and patience as we do our best to address the health and safety concerns of our community. We will continue to provide updates as information becomes available. Thank you.

Chris Matsumoto
Principal, Experimental Education Unit
Associate Director, Haring Center

UPDATE: Response to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Posted on | by eeueditor
We understand that this is a difficult time to know what to do to keep your family safe. We want to share the most current school-related information so you can plan accordingly. You’ve probably heard there are more cases and deaths in King County related to novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

We will continue to keep you updated on coronavirus as things develop at the EEU, Seattle Public Schools, and the University of Washington. That said, there have been a few developments over the past few days:

  1. Seattle Public Schools has canceled all large, school and district-sponsored community events to be in alignment with the Public Health directive to avoid all large gatherings.
  2. Also following Public Health recommendations, the University of Washington is moving all of its undergraduate and graduate classes online starting Monday, March 9, through the end of winter quarter, March 20. The UW Campus and business operations will remain open.
  3. There has been one UW staff member with a presumptive positive test for the coronavirus. That staff member did not have contact at the EEU — they worked on upper campus — and is now in self-isolation at home. 
To be clear: we are still open, as are all Seattle Public Schools, in accordance with Public Health’s recommendations. If Public Health, Seattle Public Schools or the University of Washington determines schools should be closed, we will close. Until that time, we will continue to keep classrooms open. We are following Public Health’s recommendation and Seattle Schools current policy regarding large school gatherings and postponing the following events:
 
March 10 — Dad’s Night
March 29 — Heritage Night
 
Our top priority is the health and safety of our students and staff, and we will follow the guidance of health experts in this evolving situation. If you have any questions, please contact the front office.

Remembering Gina Bunster

Posted on | by eeueditor

Gina Bunster passed away last week.  Gina was an EEU alumni parent who gave so much of herself to the EEU community.  She was an advocate not only for her boys here at the EEU, but truly for all children.  She was an incredibly active member of our family council, but most importantly, Gina was a wonderful partner, mother and friend.  Gina always shared herself with the community.  She shared her deep passion for inclusion and her love for gardening and baking. Gina also gave back to the field of early intervention.  Gina was working at Northwest Center as part of an amazing team supporting young children and families with disabilities.  Gina was an essential part of our community and we are going to feel the impact of this loss.

Our hearts go out to Gina’s family. The world has lost a fierce advocate for inclusion and wonderful person.