Our position
- Keep great public schools open. Schools anchor communities. Families need stability to plan years ahead. Closure threats weaken trust and push families away.
- Closures won’t fix the budget. Other districts have lost students and funding to large-scale closures. Promised efficiencies haven’t fixed their budgets.
- Make public schools work for everyone. Maintain academic excellence and support every learner. Keep families from every socioeconomic background invested.
A school worth knowing
Rising Star
Elementary.
A school community with more than one chapter.
Rising Star occupies the campus built for the African American Academy in 2000. The Van Asselt elementary program moved here in 2009, and the school adopted the Rising Star name in 2019. [3]
South Beacon Hill, SeattleUpdateOctober 20, 2026
Possible merger
School that may move
Possible receiving school
These reported pairings are unconfirmed; no adopted SPS plan has been verified.
01History & community
The building changed hands. The community kept growing.
The African American Academy grew from community organizing for an education rooted in African and African American history and culture. Its purpose-built Beacon Hill campus opened in September 2000 with classroom wings, a lecture hall, cafeteria and gymnasium. [3]
When the board closed the Academy program in 2009, Van Asselt’s K–5 students moved from their campus a mile north into this building. The school became Van Asselt at African American Academy. [3]
The Rising Star name arrived in 2019 to distinguish the school from the separate Van Asselt campus nearby. Its history belongs to the children, families and educators who have made this campus their own across those changes. [3]
- 2000
African American Academy opens this campus. [3]
- 2009
Van Asselt K–5 program moves here after the Academy program closes. [3]
- 2019
School is renamed Rising Star. [3]
- 2020
Campus receives seismic improvements. [3]
8311 Beacon Ave. S, Seattle, WA 98118 [1]
Visit the school website ↗02School records
Sources & citations.
- 01
Seattle Public Schools
Rising Star Elementary: district profileCurrent school name and address, verified October 20, 2026.
- 02
- 03
Seattle Public Schools Archives
Building for Learning: Rising Star ElementaryDistrict history documents the school’s origins, community and campus changes, with archival photographs.
Rising Star Elementary. Your community. Your say.
Would you support or oppose closing this school?
Closure poll
- Opposed95%
- Neutral3%
- Support2%
Real results unlock after 10 confirmed votes at Rising Star Elementary.