Seattle Public Schools,

Listen to community and stakeholder feedback and build an auditorium in the new Wilson Pacific Middle School.  As the largest BEX IV project in terms of cost and number of students served, it is imperative that the Wilson Pacific project is done right!

There is already a shortage of auditorium space for elementary and middle schools. Schools without auditoriums must compete with each other to book their events in the few auditoriums that do exist. Adding Wilson Pacific Elementary and Middle schools to the fray will put significant pressure on the Jane Addams, Eckstein, Whitman, Roosevelt, Ballard and Lincoln auditoriums.

The Wilson Pacific Auditorium will be a district-wide core facility and a centerpiece of the north-end.  In the BEX IV Levy, taxpayers approved the Wilson Pacific project as a large, comprehensive middle school built to serve its students as well as the community for the next 50 - 100 years. The best use of our tax dollars is to build the project as presented in the 2013 Voter's Guide.

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION TO SUPPORT AN AUDITORIUM AT WILSON PACIFIC MIDDLE SCHOOL!

No Wilson Pacific Auditorium means:

1. No All-School Assemblies - There will be no ability to have all-school assemblies for 650 Elementary and 1,000 middle school students. Important events such as anti-bullying, cultural enrichment, and drug and alcohol prevention will not occur.

2. Reduces the Comprehensive Middle School Experience - No opportunity for onsite student music and theatrical performances, academic assemblies, graduations or large community meetings.   An auditorium is a vital facility for supporting a comprehensive middle school -- one of the benefits of a large middle school.

3. A Wasted Opportunity - The Wilson Pacific site is a blank canvas and the largest piece of Seattle Public Schools Property. Unlike many other SPS sites, it is large enough to accommodate an auditorium. It's also centrally located and will be 100% new construction. Now is the time!

4. Wishful Thinking to Use Offsite Facilities - There is already a capacity strain on the existing auditoriums. Busing students is costly. Transporting props, costumes, large instruments to and from the borrowed venue is a logistical hassle requiring parent volunteers. These impediments naturally deter these kind of activities and detract from academic focus. 

5. Inequities between Middle School Experiences - All but one of the Seattle Public Middle Schools has an auditorium. Hamilton International Middle School has access to an auditorium at an adjacent facility - Lincoln High School. Even though Lincoln is currently being used as an elementary school, meaning lower usage of the auditorium, HIMS still has difficulty booking the facility during peak times. These difficulties will be exponential for WilPac due to the increased travel distance to other facilities and increased competition for use of the spaces. It also presents a huge financial burden on students assigned to Wilson Pacific.

PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION TO SUPPORT AN AUDITORIUM AT WILSON PACIFIC MIDDLE SCHOOL! 

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 

Why Won't the  Gymnasium Work?  Gymnasiums do not provide enough seating, are in constant use, have terrible acoustics and do not have lighting for musical and theatrical performance. Gym floors cannot with stand street shoes, musical instruments, stage props and most other items needed during performances and assemblies.

Why Won't a Commons Areas Work? Common areas face the same issues that Gymnasiums do -- there is not enough seating or large enough stages.  They are not available during lunch periods. Events have been severely limited in Common Areas because the noise infiltrates nearby classrooms.

Why Auditoriums are not Wasted Space -  Principals and music teachers at high schools and middle schools say this is just not true. In addition to supporting the choir, band, orchestra and theater arts programs during the school day, the auditoriums are valuable overflow space used for pullouts, combined classroom teaching, rehearsals, stage craft professional training, all-school assemblies, graduations and various community events.