As a Queen Anne- and Magnolia-focused nonprofit, Successful Schools in Action, has made a name for itself citywide - with other neighborhoods asking for the secrets. But as it operates on a shoestring budget, SSIA's focus remains on its programs, with hopes to increase its services in the future.
"Our plan is to really focus on existing programs, strengthen and expand those," said SSIA director Lisa Moore. "We are also starting to have some initial conversations about the possibility of replicating our model in other parts of the city because there's been interest expressed in our model."
SSIA formed seven years ago as grassroots initiative to help support neighborhood schools - currently six public schools in the Queen Anne and Magnolia neighborhoods.
"We can administer programs that are out of reach of individual schools because they lack the capacity and resources to run them," Moore said.
As for the expansion of the model across the city, co-president of SSIA board and Coe Elementary Principal David Elliott said he "absolutely supports it" but that it would require careful consideration.
"It really has to be looked into carefully before we talk about using our very limited resources for expanding to other areas," Elliott said.
With its $100,000 budget - supported by grants, donations and fundraising - SSIA coordinates a Tutoring Program, Debate Program, Work Experience Program and Collaborative Conversations for the six schools.
Though expanding the model throughout the city would mean creating programs and services to more students, operating on a "shoestring" budget as Elliott said, has its limits.
SSIA recently received a $5,000 grant from Bank of America's Charitable Foundation Program Sept. 15. The grant will help establish Seattle Public School's newly introduced Math Assistance for Public Schools program by making sure students who fall behind receive help from a tutor.
Moore wants to increase SSIA's programming capacity but it needs more financial support to do so.
"I get requests weekly asking if we can add additional programs, a big one being in the arts," Moore said. "We'd love to be able to respond to some of those requests but at this point we'd need to have a bigger budget."
Last year the Tutoring Program had 92 volunteers and served an average of 160 students each week. Currently 50 students are registered for the Debate Program for 4th and 5th graders at the elementary schools - Coe, John Hay, Lawton and Blaine - and for McClure middle school students.
"We have several tutors lined up," Moore said. "We're just waiting for schools to complete their assessment to determine which students receive tutoring services."
SSIA is also still planning its schedule for Collaborative Conversations - chances to dialogue between teachers, principals, parents and community members around community education issues. Moore expects the upcoming Collaborative Conversation to focus on the reopening of Old Hay.
