Please join us on the evening of Wednesday, June 8. Official business will run from 6-7:30 pm. At this time important budget discussions and voting will take place.  15 minutes before and after is reserved for open questions. Your QAE PTSA would love to hear from you and see you on TEAMS this evening! Find the link to join here in the PTSA calendar. This is a great opportunity for learning about open board positions for next year. Your Parent Teacher Student Association welcomes everyone! Bring a friend! 

Dedicated hearts of many volunteers makes our community stronger. The PTSA is recruiting board members and board directors for the 2022-23 school year. Let's explore how to align your passions with ways to support QAE! Lots of positions are open and can all be shared with a buddy! Here is our active recruitment list:   

• President
• Vice president
• Secretary
• Fundraising Director (oversees strategy for the Jog-a-thon, Fund Drive & Auction)
• Auction/Spring fundraising event Lead
• Communications Director
• Social & Emotional Learning Director
• Co-Treasurer

Additional supportive positions may be available. All positions are open to anyone interested in this important support work. If you are willing to learn more, be curious, contribute your voice, time and talent to connect our entire community of Explorers Contact Sarah Kaiser, PTSA Vice President at vp1@qaeptsa.org ​

Our principals and teachers could use some helping hands to get QAE classrooms in ship-shape ready for next September. Volunteers are needed to help with organizing, sorting and boxing up supplies. This work will take place in empty rooms during the school day, and needs to be completed by June 17th. If you can offer a few hours of your time over the next few weeks, please email our volunteer coordinator, Jeanine MacQuarrie, at volunteer2@qaeptsa.org. Indicating your general availability will be helpful. Preschoolers are welcome! 

Thank you for your readership! This is a QAE PTSA newsletter. Please direct questions, comments, concerns and ideas to communications@qaeptsa.org ​

An end of year day full of fun for our students. We need you to join in the fun too! Please consider being part of the planning team! Tentative Dates are set for Monday, June 13 or June 16th (last week of school). As Co-Chair you will help support the overall flow and details of the day, purchasing items as needed and communicate with volunteers. Huge thank you to our community events leader, Shalini Nilakantan and Ms. Josie, our super special P.E. teacher. Send an e-mail to snilak@gmail.com to lend a hand!​

The PTSA will have open positions on next year's board and are currently forming a Nomination Committee that will help to fill these positions. 

The goal of the committee is to lead the process in matching people with open positions. One could say they are the match makers in this love story. 
You do not need to be on the board to participate in this committee. The committee needs to be in place as soon as possible in order to fill as many of the essential volunteer rolls as possible. A few positions that have already been identified are Board President, Secretary, Fundraising Lead, Co-Treasurer. 
 We'd really like your help in identifying people who might be interested in serving on the PTSA, and we'd also like to invite any of you who are interested in serving on the nominating committee to please let us know by May 20th.
If you are interested, have any leads for us or just have general questions please email  Sarah Kaiser at vp1@qaeptsa.org 

Thank you for your readership! This is a QAE PTSA newsletter. Please direct, question, comments, concerns and ideas to communications@qaeptsa.org ​

Ms. Roy is leading a Welcome to Queen Anne event for new families on May 3rd 5:30 – 7 pm. This is a drop-in style with a PTSA table set up to offer information, answer questions and get to know people. It's so nice to meet people in person again! QAE's very own 4th and 5th grade Explorers will be tour guides. Meet outside in the school courtyard. 

Starting on Monday, May 9th from 7:55 a.m. - 8:25 a.m. Ms. Roy will be available to informally gather outside with parents to connect over coffee. This is a great time to ask questions and share ideas.  All are welcome and we are so happy to have this tradition come back to life! Keep tuning in here for the June Caffeine with Janine date. 

Thank you for your readership! This is a QAE PTSA newsletter. Please direct, question, comments, concerns and ideas to communicaitons@qaeptsa.org ​

Take advantage of the spring sunshine on Saturday, May 21st from 1 to 4 p.m. You can drop your kids off at the Queen Anne Elementary playground to play while you get some time to yourself! Thank you to QAE parents Katie Luhman and Jackson Bennett who will entertain your child for three hours. Snacks and school playground equipment, such as balls and jump ropes, will be provided. Sign up your student and their friends for an afternoon of fun! The cost is $75 and all proceeds go towards our QAE PTSA in continued effort to reach this year's fundraising goals. Sign up here! 

Thank you to Ms. Parker for making our library such a wonderful place! With community support we can continue keeping our library current and interesting for our students. Mark your calendars for the QAE Book Fair, May 9th-12th.  

SAVE THE DATE! One of QAE’s favorite community events is back! Join your classmates, staff, and parent community on June 18th at Lumen Field as the Sounders take on division rival LAFC! Kick-off is at noon. Come celebrate all that we have accomplished together this school year and cheer the Sounders to victory. Scholarship tickets will be available to ensure everyone that wants to attend can. More information on ticket ordering coming to the Rocket Reader and Classroom News soon!
​Children MUST be accompanied by an adult guardian. This is not a chaperoned field trip. QAE teachers and staff will attend, but this is not a district-sponsored school event.
Thank you to parent volunteer, Jonathan Hildebrandt for organizing. 

It's that time!  Parents, teachers, guardians and friends, please look back through your camera rolls, phone pic history, and emails. Then, send us some of your best candid shots from the various moments this past school year!
There are two ways to send us pictures:
1. Email your pictures to yearbook1@qaeptsa.org 
2. Download them to this secure drop-box. 
Please include your child's name, grade, teacher and VOPP/In-Person in your email and make the subject line, "2021-22 Yearbook." With your participation we'll have extra sweet 2021-22 memories for our kids to look back on. Thank you parent volunteer, Tiffany Robinson, for leading the yearbook project this year. 

It's yearbook time! A great way to contribute to our community is by submitting a photo or two of your kiddo(s). Send an email to yearbook1@qaeptsa.org. Please include your child's name, grade, teacher and VOPP/In-Person in your email and make the subject line, "2022-23 Yearbook." Not sure what kind of pics would work? Think about QAE's 5 Pillars. You probably have more photos then you think of your kiddo sharing school art creations or a piece of writing, math solving they're proud of. Maybe you caught a pic of them in some spirit wear. Thanks to volunteer Tiffany Robinson, our yearbook lead, all students will have this QAE keepsake. 

April 22nd is a day to recognize our Earth. This year's official theme is "Invest in our Planet." In and around Seattle there are many ways to participate. Here are a few:

• Simple Gardening and Nature Activities for Youth and Families- WSU Extention & King County
• Earth Day Run and Tree Planting  - Magnuson Park 
• Duwamish Watershed Restoration - Duwamish Long House and Cultural Center 

Stay tuned into the RR for future Green events planned by parent volunteer Veronika Ziegler, QAE Garden Coordinator. 

Wise Camps Outdoor Stem Adventures -  PreK- 9th grade 
Girls Rock Math - 1st - 6th grade 
Aspiring Youth Special Needs - Starting at 8 years, in-person and on-line. 

That's right, QAE! Our Board has risen to the fundraising challenge of the decade  with our mighty hearts, and we'd like to thank you for ALL of your support! We couldn't do it without you.  We're halfway to our $100,000 goal and have not yet reached our goal of 100% community participation. We're asking YOU, dear community, to take us home! We know you want to keep our school special today and in the future.  In great effort to reach our fundraising goals, here is what we're doing: 

• Extending the silent auction until 12 a.m. Monday! Get your Dino-donut Classroom, Seattle Ultimate Season Tickets, Rooftop Brewery Tour, Spirit Wear and more now! 
• Buy-in Parties are staying open indefinitely! There are limited spaces so get your spot for Parents Day Out, Burgers and Beers and the mostly flat - QAE Night Bike Ride. It's not too late!
• Text-to-Give is now an option! Because we know you want to give in the easiest way possible, text EXPLORERS to 833-679-3232. We gotcha! All levels and donation amounts are appreciated and welcomed! 

Funds raised this year directly impact QAE, enabling several important staff positions that make a large positive impact on our kids every day. Let's keep going QAE! It's for our kids today and tomorrow. 

What an incredible evening of celebration and community building! Thank you to all of those who were able to join us and contributed to From the Heart, QAE Community Celebration and Fund Drive!
If you weren't able to join, click here to see the full program and hear about the many reasons why QAE is special to our families. 
"The most motivating part of the evening was listening to the kids' voices and seeing their faces while they shared their thoughts about what's in their hearts at school. The bidding around the "teacher for the day" experiences was fun, exciting and inspiring! It showed how much of a positive impact the people in these positions have on our kids!"  -QAE Parent, Andrea Hildebrandt
We're well on our way to reaching our $100,000 goal, but we still have a ways to go and we need your help to get there. Even if you missed Friday's festivities, it is not too late to participate.
The silent auction continues until this Saturday, April 2nd at 6 pm. Many exciting and unique items are still available for bidding or purchase including:

• Buy-in events for Parents' Day Out, Burgers and Beers, Halloween Costume Sewing Lessons, and QAE's very own Night Ride. Reserve your place at these fun, community-building events before they sell out!
• Beautiful black and white student portraits courtesy of Red Poppy Photography.
• A variety of QAE Spirit Wear, including a brand new From the Heart t-shirt design available for pre-order. 

If you'd like to give a direct, 100% tax-deductible cash donation, you can do so here.
Another big thank you to all of the parent volunteers, PTSA Board members and families who came together to make this night one to remember. It truly does take a village, and how fortunate we are to be part of this one. 

7 -8 p.m. TONIGHT is our live celebration and auction. Look for the LIVE AUCTION button at the top of our auction home page. Here are some reminders and helpful tips. 
~~~~~~
Using Chrome as your browser may result in a better virtual experience tonight. 
~~~~~~
Don't forget to pick up your food TODAY.
Eden Hill's orders at Big Mac Burger (1935 Queen Ave N) between 2 - 5 pm. 
Queen Anne Beer Hall's orders to be picked up at their location (203 W Thomas St.) at your prescheduled time. 
~~~~~~
Currently, we're at 7% of our 100K goal.

Let's raise the paddle for our kids. 

We can't wait to see you in the chat from 7-8 pm.
Thank you for your support!

​

Last day to order dinner from Queen Anne Beer Hall is tomorrow, the 24th at 2 pm.

To join our virtual Spring Community Celebration just click the Live Auction Button  at the top of our auction home page this Friday at 7 pm. 

Would your kiddo like to be Art teacher, PE teacher or Librarian for the day? How about Principal for the day? All of the descriptions of the live auction experiences are available for you to view now! 
More items are being added to our silent auction every day. Bidding closes on April 2nd. 
The auction team is excited to connect, celebrate, share heartfelt words from community members and students, raise necessary funds and keep the beat going with YOU QAE Community! ​

Here we go! The QAE 2022 virtual silent auction is opening Monday morning! Every dollar raised helps support the much needed resources for our kids.  Need some entertainment? We have tickets to The Moisture Festival. Thinking about kids camps? How about ultimate frisbee or art? Feeling like you want something simple and unique? What about a your teacher's favorite children's book with a special note inside? Get some self care, find a family project and indulge yourself as well! Check out all of the offerings starting Monday!  

Don't forget to share it with your friends and family who'd like to support our school while getting some great items, services or experiences. Or submit a video of what you and your kiddo appreciate about QAE. 

Enjoy dinner at home on live auction night! All dinner options are listed in the virtual silent auction items. Thanks to our procurement team we now have TWO of our fantastic local Queen Anne restaurants to choose from; Eden Hill, for pick up only at Big Max Burger AND Queen Anne Beer Hall, for pick up only that evening. How does "..honey glazed..", "smoky blue cheese..." or "...white chocolate popcorn.." sound? Maybe you're in the mood for "Smashburgers," ....it's a pretzel and wings kind of night. What ever your taste buds are craving, we think we got you covered....meals and bevies for all ages. 

BUYING FOR EDEN HILL ENDS ON MARCH 22ND @ 2 P.M. 
BUYING FOR QUEEN ANNE BEER HALL ENDS ON MARCH 24TH @ 2 P.M. 

​Whatever your style we hope you'll be virtually joining us for an hour of fun heart-felt community building, a little entertainment, and of course, fundraising for our one and only QAE. Up to 50% of dinner costs go back to our school! 

Congrats to the RAD READERS who are on their way to the Global Reading Challenge Finals! They're the first QAE team in history to make it this far. According to our brilliant 4th grade teacher, Ms. Goldman, QAE's team got all 21 questions correct, which took them into the "nail-biting" tie-breaker round against Catherine Blaine's very talented WEIRD READERS. After six extremely challenging questions, our team came out on top! Go Explorers!! 

Community at QAE is at the heart of the PTSA's work. One of our five pillars is "We are concerned, confident and compassionate citizens of the world." We're a school that embraces advocacy and acting from our hearts, supporting choices, finding empathy, thinking critically and practicing compassion in our community. 
The PTSA is supportive of community members that have heightened risks within their personal situation. Part of the PTSA's role is to take into consideration voices from across QAE, which include teachers, staff, parents and students. While it's completely understandable that families are going to make individual decisions based on what is right for them, we ask that part of that decision making process include a consideration for the broader community that is potentially impacted. 
We want to acknowledge that the lifted mask requirement in classrooms, that was announced from Seattle Public School District on Monday, was news that presented another significant change, similarly to how we felt coming back to school in the Fall. We encourage an open dialogue with your children to foster empathy and understanding when they encounter children and adults who have made different decisions. Here is an article that you may find helpful and a SPS resource; Helping Kids Adjust to Changing Covid-19 Guidelines. 

As it seems, a continuous flow of changes, on a handful of levels, are being presented to our community, on what feels like almost a daily basis. It's hard to know where to put our energy sometimes. Again, as your PTSA, advocating for community is a priority. Feeling safe and supported is important for everyone. It's frustrating to hear about the unjust treatment of our teachers across the district and at our school  who are not receiving district support. Teachers who have immunocompromised family at home or young children who cannot get vaccinated yet are faced with the choice of taking unpaid leave or compromising their families health. This is concerning in may ways, and because it goes against the memorandum of understanding between The Seattle Education Association and the school district, a trust has been broken. In support of our amazingly hard working, student dedicated and true heroes/heroines...our teachers, their health and the health of their families, we're encouraging all community members to write to our school board district representative, Vivian Song. 
Feel free to contact our Legislative Director, Jackson Bennett, with questions. In partnership and community, Your 2022 PTSA Board. ​

We all need as much help as we can get these days so the auction team has created a
ProTips Check List for you!

​
1. Do Now - Make sure you have an account set up on the QAE Auction site. In other words, rsvp/register. This will allow you to participate in all the ways listed in the steps below. There are four different segments to our virtual community spring celebration and fund drive; direct giving, silent auction, community celebration and live auction. It can be confusing so please read on.... 
2. Do Now - Contribute a video testimonial for From the Heart, QAE Community Celebration and Fund Drive. A 7-10 second video of you or your child singing, dancing, talking, sharing their art and expressing how their heart feels at school. You can view all of these shared bits of community celebrating the night of our live auction. 
3. Do Now - Procure an item, experience or service and directly add to our auction site. The more we have to bid on, the more merrier! It will be included in either the silent or live auction segment. 
4. Soon! Order dinner between March 17th and March 22nd! Thanks to one of our local favorite neighborhood restaurants Eden Hill, our auction team has partnered up with family needs in mind. With a vegetarian option, kids meals and cocktails to choose from; take a load off the night of the auction knowing that dinner is on its way the night of our community celebration and live auction. 
5. Do Now or Auction Night - It's nice to have choices! You can directly give (fund drive segment) now all the way up to a few days past our live auction. Alternatively, you can participate in "raising you paddle"(virtual auction segment) the evening of March 25th. And...Yes! You can do both. 
6. Do Now - Clear your evening calendar for Friday, March 25th as our virtual - Live Auction is happening from 7-8 p.m. This is where fantastic items ranging from a Mexico vacation home to unique QAE student experiences will be auctioned off. These items will be auctioned LIVE, meaning you'll have to be online from 7-8 p.m. in order to bid and win. We'll send out an evening schedule closer to the date but for now set up your account so you don't miss out! 
7. Soon! - Bid on the variety of items, experiences and services that our auction team has procured for you! Silent Auction opens this Friday, March 18th! There is something for everyone--kids camps, family yoga, custom built Free Little Library, gift cards and more! Bidding will start this Friday, the 18th, and will close on Sunday, March 27th. Mark your calendars! 
​That's a lot! Basically, keep your eyes on the Auction site. Remember, you have to rsvp/register, in other words set up an account,  in order to participate in most all the ways above. Our goal is to raise $100,000 to support our school and getting every part of the community to feel like they can participate one way or another. We need your help, every family at a level you can afford. We have hope that our community can come together over the next few weeks to support our school (even if it's virtually!). If we've learned anything over the past few years about silver linings it's that our virtual From the Heart Community Celebration and Fund Drive + Auction allows anyone to bid! This includes grandparents, neighbors, far away family members and friends. Anyone can create an account and bid online in the QAE Auction so share it with your friends and family!
​From our Heart to Yours, please feel free to reach out with questions at any time. 

Ukraine is in our hearts, minds and spirit. We know that some families in our community have connections to loved ones near the war that is taking place. We know that we're all worried about the destruction of lives, land and home. We have heavy hearts and wonder how to talk with our children about it all. Here is an article shared by Leslie Jaynes, one of QAE's amazing  teachers and community members. She shared it with the parents in her classroom who then passed it to another classroom where it landed with our PTSA. So, it might be familiar to some already. Either way, we hope you find it as helpful as we do and it allows you to thoughtfully, whole heartedly and openly navigate conversations with your kiddos in an age appropriate way. With wishes of peace, love, hope, safety and gratitude for community, please reach out to PTSA if you or your children have ideas about how to support Ukraine as a community. 
​https://www.pbssocal.org/education/how-to-talk-to-kids-about-the-ukraine-invasion

Good question! Much of the funding will go towards staffing grants. The school district allocates funds to schools across the district based on student enrollment numbers. We use raised funds to supplement what we get from the district because we want to support our kids and teachers more than the SPS funds allow. At our school this includes our art teacher, librarian, kindergarten math tutors, our school reading specialists, PE teacher and playground supervisors. It's hard to think about what our school would be like with out those positions fully funded. 

Kindergartener Fenna Luhman has shared a few thoughts of her own: 
“She is really kind and she helps us out a lot.” -about her tutor

“I thought Koala Lou was really good. It taught me that you need to love one another. I especially liked that it was a play.” -about the Book It Theater presentation of the book Koala Lou by Mem Fox

These are just some examples of the impactful ways our fundraising makes important programs exist and directly touch our children's lives every day at our school. With your help, the PTSA will not only continue to offer programs such as these, that embody our 5 pillars, but to raise funds so that we can also embrace the community and education that make us who we are. Go Explorers!

The dollars raised go towards even more such as
#1: TEACHERS
-Training for all new staff and annual refresher courses for the entire staff in Positive Discipline
-Project Based Learning professional development
-Support for training including skill sets such as working with gender diversity, cultural competence, and mindfulness in the classroom
-Teacher Appreciation Week to show our immense gratitude to teachers who have stood by our children every day with determination and compassion as we navigate this ever changing world. 
​
​#2: CLASSROOM & ACADEMIC SUPPORT
-Kindergarten aide for each class
-Resource room tutors
-Dedicated reading specialists

#3: CURRICULUM & CLASSROOMS
-Zones of Regulation (Social Emotional Learning Curriculum)
-Positive discipline tools
-Classroom libraries
-Calm Body Spots and materials to support self-regulation

#4: EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS
-Book-It Theatre presentations
-Annual Yearbooks

#5: FAMILY EXPERIENCES AND EDUCATION
-Families of Color T-shirts
-Let's Talk About Race Workshop
-Positive Discipline Workshop

As you can see, we need as much community as we can get to step up, make a donation, procure an item, RSVP/register and participate! We need everyone to keep the beat going? You can do all of this on our From the Heart...and the beat goes on fund drive and auction site. For questions contact Sarah Kaiser, our fierce PTSA Vice President at vp@qaeptsa.org.

Dear QAE Families and Friends,
Welcome back from MWB! We hope you found it restorative.
Our community has shown such resilience, dedication to one another, and hope for brighter days ahead over the last year. Our children have overcome the challenges of learning and growing during a pandemic and so have we. While we're still navigating uncharted waters, our QAE school community has worked tremendously hard to ensure that each of our children succeeds, joyfully, in academics, in friendship and in personal growth. 
Our PTSA, with you in hand, would like to take a moment and celebrate how far we've come, while also looking ahead to the future vision for our community.
We invite you to join us, virtually, for From the Heart, QAE Community Celebration and Fund Drive on Friday, March 25th at 7 p.m. 
In just a few short weeks, our goal is that all of us will be together for an evening of reflection as we hear from students, parents and teachers on what our school community means to them, speaking from their hearts to ours. We'll celebrate achievements and milestones while looking to the future as we raise critical funds to ensure we are able to continue offering each student access to the quality education, social emotional learning and growth opportunities our children have experienced through the years. 
Please RSVP NOW! From our heart to yours, we can't wait to see you virtually on March 25th at 7:00 p.m. 
Your RSVP will allow you to be registered and participate in bidding for a variety of services, items, gift cards and experiences. If bidding isn't your thing and you would rather donate, this is the place to do that too. Our auction team has partnered with one of our favorite local restaurants to bring you worry free and delicious dinner options for the whole family. RSVP now to participate! 
After you RSVP/registration, look for a special, "Welcome to From the Heart," email that will include your personal link to get started. Bidding hasn't opened yet as our procurement team is still working. That said, it's still important everyone RSVP as soon as possible. Stay tuned in here for the latest! 
"Watching our son grow and mature in such a supportive, caring and open environment is all we could have wished for from his elementary schooling." - Jeanine MacQuarrie (4th grade mum)

Your auction team wants to know! Please share your amazing children's voices by sending a 7-10 second video to vp1@qaeptsa.org. These videos always make our hearts skip beats in the most special ways. All videos will be shared the night of our Spring Celebration and Fund Raiser. Send in your video asap! Our event is only a few weeks away. 

Thank you to all of our PTSA members! We hope you can virtually join the board at the second membership meeting of the year. We'll be taking care of business, such as the budget, as we do. In addition, we'll be asking for your participation, your voice, your ideas and thoughts on how we can move forward into next year. Given all of the unknowns over the past few years, why not share our school community dreams with one another? We hope you will join us on Teams, Wednesday, March 16, 6-7 p.m.

Every student should have received a BLM shirt. Thank you to our FOC Director, Domin Chan and our Vice principal, Ms. Taylor.  If you're interested in purchasing more do so soon! The last day to purchase directly from the printer is this Saturday, March 5th. 
If you're interested in making a donation to cover the costs of your child's shirt it is appreciated! Choose 'send,' then enter an amount. Click 'add a note' and type "BLM t-shirt." Last, choose, "continue" to enter payment info. 

.Capoeira - Brazilian Martial Art After School Classes: 
Watch your child's confidence grow while learning the Brazilian martial art form of Capoeira. In this creative and fun class, children learn the movements of Capoeira through exercises and games that help improve flexibility, agility, reflexes, balance, concentration and gross motor coordination. Students learn to work individually as well as in pairs and groups. Ages 5-12. Masks and Full Vaccination Required. Learn more at Capoeira-Bahia in Motion. Located in Fremont. 

Skateboarding Camps: All Together Skate Park on Stone Way is offering skate camp for both Spring Break and Summer. Day camps for kids 5-12 years are offered throughout the year. Emphasis is on creating a fun and positive environment where individual growth is the focus. Camps are for first timers, beginners and intermediate learners. Learn more at All Together Skate Park. 
​