The PTSA Legislative Team issued the QAE Bell Time Survey to poll our community on the existing and potential upcoming changes to the Seattle Public Schools Bell Times. There were 121 responses, thank you QAE! We hear you and your contributions to the ongoing discussion of Bell Times is valued! SPS has received our Survey and it has been sent to our School Board and to Pegi McEvoy (Assistant Superintendent of Operations) who are working on the Bell Times for next year.
View the results from the survey here. Some details on the complexity of the Bell Time Issue and where it currently stands: Pegi McEvoy has been diligently working on the Bell Time issue for families and the District is working on a goal to move from the current three Tier system down to a two Tier system. The current three Tier system has three different bell times with 50 minutes between each start and end time so that transportation works across the 98 schools of the District. In order to switch from three Tiers down to two Tiers there was originally a one time 3.7 million dollar cost. By making transportation changes and cost reductions, Pegi McEvoy has gotten this number down to a one time cost of 2.3 million. This current one time cost of 2.3 million to achieve the switch to two Tiers and potentially be able to offer better bell times as a result must be completed with outside funds. (Due to a current tough budget year and the potential for the Levy Cliff next year.) Pegi McEvoy is working very hard at trying to secure this outside funding, with a deadline of May 1st. Two Tiers across the District has the potential to have great positive change for families, kiddos and schools. (and also may avert the necessity for an earlier Tier 1 bell time) If you have any leads on helping the funding issue or want to offer any other help toward this issue, please contact: Pegi McEvoy Assistant Superintendent of Operations [email protected] 206-252-0707 The PTSA Legislative Team would like to thank QAE parent, Christina Thibault for her wonderful help in crafting this Survey and for the PTSA Board and Ms. Roy for being in collaboration on this effort to have our voice heard. Grab some FREE pizza and let's focus on parenting topics that are timely and important to YOU. Sibling rivalry? Getting out the door in the morning? What’s your parenting challenge lately? Bring it!
ParentNet is an open space for Kindergarten through 2nd grade families to discuss everyday parenting topics or challenges in a supportive community. And if you bring a parent who’s new to ParentNet, you’ll both be entered to win a $15 Menschie’s gift card! See you Wednesday, Jan. 25th from 6:30-8:30 at the QAE Library! Learn more on the QAE ParentNet website. Six teams of 4th and 5th grade students will be participating in QAE’s first annual Global Reading Challenge! Among the goals of the GRC are to motivate children to read, develop teamwork and cooperative thinking skills, and have fun. Each year, students from across the city read up to 10 books selected by Seattle librarians and participate in weekly meetings to study these books with their teammates. After several months of hard work and preparation, our teams are ready to compete in a quiz-show style contest at QAE! Our winning team will advance to compete with teams from other schools across the city. The program will end with an All-City Final that will take place at the downtown Central Library.
If your child is participating in GRC this year, please join us for our In-School Competition, which will be held in QAE’s cafeteria on Tuesday, Feb. 7th beginning at 8:30 a.m. We are so proud of all of our 4th and 5th grade participants! ![]() On January 26th, children's author Javaka Steptoe will be visiting Queen Anne Elementary as part of the Multicultural Children’s Literature Celebration week. Javaka’s latest book Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean Michel-Basquiat has received many starred reviews, has landed on multiple year- end, best-of lists and is widely considered to be a strong contender for ALA awards. If you'd like to pre-order signed copies of any of Javaka's books, please fill out and return the order form to your child's teachers by January 19th (available below). 20% of book sales will be used to purchase multicultural literature for several low income, high free & reduced lunch schools in Seattle that have no library budget. ![]()
QAE cares about our families and knows that there have been many experiences related to the Bell Time change this year. Members of our QAE PTSA reached out to our District and heard back from Pegi McEvoy, SPS Assistant Superintendent of Operations, who let us know that the District is accepting data from individual schools within SPS on the Bell Time issue.
QAE Bell Times Survey is an opportunity for us to communicate with our District and provide our QAE staff and PTSA data about the Bell Time issue as it relates to our community. There are only 11 questions on the survey and it should only take five minutes. The QAE Bell Times Survey must be taken by 1/2/17 by 10 p.m. so we can collate the data and communicate it to SPS. The data will not be used to advocate for one bell time over another and will be shared with our community after the holiday break. This survey's main intent is to let you know that we care about you and value the needs of our community. Please note that whatever QAE's preferences, scheduling bell times is a complex process where the District will consider feedback from all schools. Take the Bell Times Survey now... Background & Other Ways to Share Your Thoughts During the last contract negotiations between the District and the Seattle Education Association, the parties agreed to add 20 minutes instructional time each day as well as a one hour early dismissal each week to give teachers more time for collaboration and planning. After receiving feedback from families, teachers and staff, the initial proposal is to add 10 minutes to both the beginning and end of the day. Under this plan, the 2017-18 QAE school day would begin at 7:45 a.m. and end at 2:15 p.m. The early dismissal would be every Wednesday afternoon at 1:15 p.m. See this page on the School Schedule Recommendations for 2017-18 for more information. You can also share your thoughts directly with the District by writing to [email protected]. Special thanks to the amazing Christina Thibault, QAE parent, who helped to craft the survey and to Ms. Roy for support and collaboration. With Gratitude, Christa Winquist & Ian Stewart QAE PTSA Legislative Team We know you need a few last minute gifts and stocking stuffers. How about some QAE Explorers Spirit Wear?! We have shirts for both kids and adults, fleece zip-ups, those awesome QAE scarves, mugs, and tumblers. Stephanie Reich will have the Spirit Wear store set up near the covered play area tomorrow, Friday, Dec. 16th, at the end of school (1:05 early dismissal).
If you order online tonight, Stephanie can deliver to your child's classroom before the end of the day tomorrow. If you buy tomorrow at school, cards are preferred, but cash/checks accepted. You know the grandparents would *love* a mug and your child would look full of spirit in the New Year with an Explorer shirt! View the Spirit Wear online store... The Levy Cliff: SPS and School Districts statewide are approaching a "levy cliff", an upcoming reduction in how much money school districts can collect through local property tax levies. You may have seen Superintendent Nyland’s letter about it. In SPS the levy cliff is projected to mean a budget shortfall of $74 million dollars and has the potential to translate to 440 staff positions cut across our District and 98 schools. If the levy cliff happens, QAE would face a big reduction to next year's school budget. What can we do? 1. Call our Legislators of the 36th District and Governor Inslee: Did you know our Legislators do not get calls and emails in volume over the issue of fully funding public education in Washington State? We must send a respectful message that we care about the issue of fully funding public education and request a levy cliff extension for the 2017-2018 school year. Put it on your calendar to call once a week if possible. Speak from the heart. Pass this information along on FB, Twitter, and to other friends you know in the 36th District. 36th District Contact info:
2. Attend SCPTSA Community Budget Gap Meeting: Seattle Schools staff will explain the budget numbers. PTA members and the community will have a chance to collaborate on actions we can take together to motivate the Legislature to act. Meeting Dates:
3. Attend Focus Day in Olympia: Washington’s Paramount Duty, NAACP, and WEA are co-sponsoring a rally to demand that our state fully fund public education now! Event Details: Dr. Martin Luther King Day: Monday January 16, 2017 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Washington State Capital 416 Sid Snyder Ave SW, Olympia, Washington 98504 If you're interested in learning more about the levy cliff situation, check out these articles:
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From QAE PTSA Technology Advisor Julie Smith:
This week QAE students got to practice all 5 of our pillars and rocked the Hour of Code! We had over 400 QAE kids join with tens of millions of kids around the world coding, helping other kids, tweeting our participation, and having fun. Thank you to our amazing school community for your help, support, and participation - our kids were both excited and engaged throughout the day! Our fantastic volunteers made the day run incredibly smoothly (and thanks to those who made sure our volunteers and teachers were well fed!). Special thanks to all the teachers for working this into their busy schedules, sacrificing the teachers' lounges, and helping to get our kids excited about learning these critical 21st Century Skills. Now to continue the momentum...below there are a number of suggestions for how to continue to engage your children in coding and software development including resources and classes for both online, individualized and classroom/camp settings. In addition the parent technology committee will be working with our staff technology committee to find more ways to continue to support these critical thinking and problem solving skills and tools in our classrooms. If you are interested in getting involved in the parent technology committee, please email [email protected]. Coding Resources Self-directed · Visit http://studio.code.org/ to continue the exploration! · Early readers should check out: Course 1 · Readers should try: Play Lab, Flappy Code, and Courses 2, 3, and 4 · Scratch Jr’s iPad app is also good for 1st and 2nd graders · Khan Academy is also a great resource for computer programming education Winter Camps and Classes · http://www.creativecoding4kids.com/ · https://zen.coderdojo.com/dojo/us/535-terry-ave-n-seattle-wa/seattle Summer Camps · https://www.digitalmediaacademy.org/washington-tech-camps/university-of-washington/ · https://www.idtech.com/locations/washington-summer-camps/seattle/id-tech-uw-seattle/ · https://www.codingwithkids.com/#!/camp?tab=0 All are welcome at Tuesday's parent education event on "Creating Community while Navigating Identity Politics." The talk will be facilitated by Amy Pak and Marquita Prinzing from Families of Color Seattle (FOCS). The event will take place from 6-8:30 pm at the QAE Library.
The deadline has been extended to Monday, Nov. 5th. To participate, fill out the PDF below and return to the office on Monday. ----- As the holiday season approaches, stresses and strains we might otherwise dismiss can overwhelm us. The holiday season can place additional strain on many families in our community who are already working hard to keep their children fed, clothed, active, and hopeful. The purpose of the QAE Families and Friends program is to strengthen our school community by giving all families the opportunity to:
Fill in the confidential form and return it in a sealed envelope to the QAE Office by Wednesday, Nov. 30th. Julietta Skoog or Jennifer Connolly will contact you shortly thereafter. Questions? Contact Jennifer Connolly at 252-2480 or by email at [email protected] or [email protected] ![]()
As we head into break, we first wanted to say thanks to the families that have taken the time to commit to our QAE community during the Explorer Fund Drive.
It's been a busy and distracting last couple weeks, so we've extended the deadline. If you didn't have a chance, there's still time to contribute to the Explorer Fund Drive! We kicked off this Fund Drive with hope and inspiration of how we say Yes. Here's just some of the many things the PTSA able to say YES to with your support:
As we begin this Thanksgiving break, you can help us continue to say Yes and support the amazing staff and students of QAE! Donate Now to the Explorer Fund Drive Enjoy your holidays and thank you for your support, The Queen Elementary PTSA Our 4th annual QAE Hour of Code is on Wednesday, Dec. 7th. Hour of Code is a North America-wide event to help students understand how to create their own computer codes and engage in the problem solving and logic that underlies it. QAE is again joining in on the The Hour of Code during Computer Science Education Week. More than 100 million students have participated already (and our kids are among them!) Living in a world surrounded by technology, we know that whatever field our students choose to go into as adults, their ability to succeed will increasingly hinge on understanding how technology works. Only a small fraction of students are learning computer science, and fewer students are studying it than a decade ago (and women account for only 12% of computer science degrees).
The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics. Here’s a video to get you inspired! To accomplish our goal of everyone at Queen Anne Elementary coding, we need parent help! Here’s how you can get involved: 1. Talk about software development and coding with your kids. How does software impact the work you do? How does it impact the world around them? Get them excited about this critical field and its applications. 2. Volunteer to help on Wednesday, December 7th. We need morning volunteers, sign up to volunteer... 3. Learn some coding skills. Go to code.org and Khan Academy and take a few introductory or advanced coding classes on your own and with your kid(s) 4. Sign up to bring snacks in for the volunteers and staff on December 7th. Fed parents are happy! 5. Tell others about the Hour of Code... friends, family, grandparents. Get them excited and involved. Encourage others to sign up themselves, their kids, and their schools to participate in this movement to bring 21st century skills to all kids. Get more info on the Hour of Code site. Thank you for all your support and help as we introduce our kids to the skills they need to flourish in the 21st Century. We learn everywhere, we learn together! Appreciations from Last Week:
Next Week:
Raise for Maize Campaign for Dwankhozi: Queen Anne Elementary has a partner school named Dwankhozi Primary School, located in Eastern Zambia. The school is supported by a foundation called Dwankhozi Hope. One of the ways that Dwankhozi Hope supports the students at Dwankhozi Primary School is to hold a fundraising campaign called Raise for Maize. The funds raised provide food for the students at Dwankhozi Primary School during the community's "Hungry Season." In rural southern Africa, subsistence farmers experience a Hungry Season (January-March) when their stored food grown is depleted as they wait for the rainy season to end and the March harvest to be ready. That means their children are coming to school hungry, which makes learning very difficult for them. The school day has to be shortened during this period as the students have no energy to learn. About half of the students don't make it to school as their focus is on finding food. We have an opportunity to help! Women in the Dwankhozi Primary School community are willing to make the students a school lunch during this Hungry Season. They just need us to help buy some maize:
QAE Student Leadership visited classes this week to outline our Raise the Maize Campaign running from Dec. 5 – 9. We are asking students to do a service at home to fund raise. We are hoping students will bring the funds they raise in an envelope and write a message to explain what service they did to raise money for Dwankhozi students. Students will be invited to bring their donations in the sealed envelope on Friday, Dec. 9th and put it in a jar in the cafeteria during lunch hour. The focus will be on all of us working together to make a difference for others. It is the act of kindness and service that we are focusing on, rather than the size of the donation. Thank you for helping your child to plan how they will fundraise for this important annual global citizenship event at our school. Food Drive: Article by Lewis Nettleton, QAE Student Reporter: We are starting a food drive for Pike Place Market’s food bank. It starts December 5 – 9th. This is a list of food that you can bring:
Bring a donation and help our downtown Seattle neighborhood. For more information, go to PMFB.org Come for the donuts, cider and pie. Stay for the weeds!
Our garden needs to get ready for the winter! That means we need as many adult helping hands as possible!! Get ready to cut old growth back, turn soil, plant bulbs and spread mulch. A huge thank you to Five Corners Hardware who is donating and delivering mulch for us! Bring your bulbs!! (School colors, purple and orange would be great but all colors of course are welcome!!) We'll also be collecting non-perishables for NW Harvest at the party. Kiddos are encouraged to come. See the Gather at the Garden page for more details... Our kids. Our teachers. Our family. We're building a community of concerned, confident and compassionate citizens of the world.
Our Five Pillars:
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