Seattle Public Schools

Seattle Public Schools
Every student achieving, everyone accountable
2445 3rd Ave. S., Seattle, Washington 98124 United States
Type	Public
Grades	Pre-K through 12
Established	1867
Superintendent	Larry Nyland
Budget	$753,086,395 (FY 2015-2016)
Students	53,872
Teachers	3,185
Mission Statement	Enabling all students to achieve to their potential through quality instructional programs and a shared commitment to continuous improvement.
Website	SeattleSchools.org

Seattle Public Schools is the largest public school district in the state of Washington. The school district serves the entire city of Seattle. As of 2012, 91 schools are operated by the district, which serve at least 47,000 students throughout the city.

The Board of Directors for Seattle Public Schools is an elected body representing seven geographical regions, known as Districts, within the City of Seattle. The length of the term is four years. Board meetings are generally held twice monthly. For the 2015-16 school year, board meetings were scheduled for the first and third Wednesdays of each month, at 4:15 p.m., with some exceptions. Its headquarters are in the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence.

Like most inner city school systems, the district has had to face its own share of controversy dealing with problems concerning racial tension, student population assignments, and administrative scandal; such incidences include a student boycott in 1966 and using "racial tie-breakers" which led to a 2007 supreme court case.

When the University of Washington was founded as the Territorial University in 1861, its initial class offerings were not at a level that would now be considered those of a college or university. Its first class offering was a primary school (elementary school) taught by Asa Mercer, and for some years it was jointly supervised by the newly formed Seattle School Board its own Board of Regents. It functioned as Seattle's first public school.

In 1867, the public school moved to what was then the County Building on Third Avenue between James and Jefferson, the site of today's Prefontaine Fountain. A year later, the school moved to Yesler's Pavilion (later Yesler's Hall) at present-day First and Cherry. A year later the school moved again to a temporary building (called Bacon's Hall after its first teacher, Carrie Bacon) located at the site of the present King County Court House. In 1870 the first "permanent" school building, the Central School, opened on Third Avenue between Madison and Spring Streets. It originally had two classrooms; a third was built in its attic in 1881.