This history of the African American Academy is taken from the second edition of Building for Learning: Seattle Public School Histories, which includes histories of every school building used by the district since its formation around 1862. The original essay was written for the 2002 first edition by Nile Thompson and Carolyn J. Marr, and updated in 2023 by HistoryLink contributor Ryan Anthony Donaldson.
African American Academy
In January 1990, the African American Academy was approved by the Seattle School Board, one of 10 board-approved programs to eliminate disproportionality and increase academic achievement. The creation of the academy program was a response to the Friends of the African American Academy, consisting of activists advocating for a learning environment comprising African American teachers and support staff specifically for African American male students and a specialized curriculum that acknowledged cultural differences in teaching and learning styles. The student program expanded to include African American female students.
The African-centered curriculum recognized that humanity started in Africa and emphasized the history, culture, and heritage of Africans and African Americans through an interdisciplinary approach. The focus of the academy was to develop in each student a strong sense of self and a strong sense of heritage. Of the students, 91 percent were African American. Classes mixed students of differ- ent grade levels, and middle school students served as mentors. All students wore uniforms. Activities at the academy began with a family potluck orientation.
It opened as a K-5 at Colman School in September 1991 (see Thurgood Marshall), then moved to Sharples for the next school year and became K-6 (see Kurose). From 1993-2000 its home was Magnolia School.
In September 2000, the academy moved into a new facility designed for a K-8 program. Designed by Streeter & Associates Architects AIA, PLLC, with Soltek Pacific serving as contractors, the three-story building has capacity for 650 students, comprising two classroom wings, a 90-seat lecture hall, cafeteria, and a gymnasium with stage. In 2009, the Seattle School Board voted 5-2 to close the African American Academy program. In the fall of 2009, students from the Van Asselt Elementary School K-5 program located at 7201 Beacon Avenue S moved one mile south to the African American Academy building. Then known as Van Asselt at African American Academy, the student population peaked at 553 students in 2010, reducing to 382 students in 2020.
In 2019, the school’s name changed from Van Asselt Elementary at African American Academy to Rising Star Elementary at African American Academy. The name was changed to eliminate confusion and other issues related to another Seattle Public School campus sharing the Van Asselt name less than a mile away.
History
African American Academy
Location: 8311 Beacon Avenue
Building: 32-room brick and metal
Architect: Streeter & Associates
Site: 12 acres
2000: School opens; African American Academy program relocates from Magnolia
2009: African American Academy program discontinued & Van Asselt Elementary School K-5 program moved in; Renamed Van Asselt at African American Academy
2019: Renamed Rising Star Elementary at African American Academy
Rising Star Elementary at African American Academy in 2023
Enrollment: 382
Address: 8311 Beacon Avenue S
Nickname: Panthers
Configuration: K-5
Colors: Green and white
