Reminder: join us on Thursday evening, 6:30-8pm, for a free parent education event hosted on Zoom! Katie Gruver from Positive Parenting Seattle will be presenting on "Using Family Meetings to Reconnect, Solve Problems and Have Fun (yes, it's possible!) During COVID-19."

How to join:
Please send an email to Principal Roy at jbroy@seattleschools.org and she'll share the Zoom link to you.

If you feel like you’re constantly renegotiating expectations with your child(ren) about homework, chores, bedtimes, screen usage, siblings etc; if you feel like you’ve fallen back on punishments or threats and are looking for a few new ideas; if you feel like you're spending every moment together, but that very little of it is FUN; if you've been overwhelmed or disconnected or frustrated by juggling it all right now, please join us for an informative and uplifting conversation on family meetings. More details on the schedule and about Katie here...
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We can't be together right now, but Dr. V would love to get new books into the hands of students and families! We know these are tough times for many families, but Dr. V has put together a great list of books (and some crafting kits).

Dr. V's list includes some great books for every grade level. Secret Garden Books will donate 10% of the the purchase price of books on the list to the QAE Library.

How the Book Fair works:

1. Go to the QAE Library Wish List on Secret Garden’s site. Browse the long list of picture books, Sasquatch and Washington Children's Choice Award Books, graphic novels, and craft kits. Order from that list and the Queen Anne Library gets 10% on those purchases. Be sure to add "Queen Anne Book Fair" in the comment section of your order.
   
2. At this time, you may pick up pre-paid orders curbside. See their website for pickup hours, they will contact you when your order is ready.
   
3. We also encourage you to order other titles from their vast catalog, they will most likely be shipped separately. (Though these purchases won't directly help our library, they will help support Secret Garden Books, our lovely partner for literary greatness!)
   
4. You may also purchase a Gift Certificate that will go directly to the QAE Library to help Dr. V build our collection of awesome titles.

Questions? Please contact Dr. V at ​elvaldez@seattleschools.org or Secret Garden Books at 206-789-5006.

In this time of staying-at-home, we've adjusting how we can support our families. The QAE PTSA will be hosting  an online parent education event. Katie Gruver, of Positive Parenting Seattle, will be presenting on "Using Family Meetings to Reconnect, Solve Problems and Have Fun (yes, it's possible!) During COVID-19" ​on Thursday, May 14th.

If you feel like you’re constantly renegotiating expectations with your child(ren) about homework, chores, bedtimes, screen usage, siblings etc; if you feel like you’ve fallen back on punishments or threats and are looking for a few new ideas; if you feel like you're spending every moment together, but that very little of it is FUN; if you've been overwhelmed or disconnected or frustrated by juggling it all right now, please join us for an informative and uplifting conversation on family meetings. 

When: Thursday, May 14th, 6:30-8pm
Where: Your house! We'll be hosting the meeting on Zoom. See below.
Cost: This is a free event, but we are collecting donations to reimburse the presenter for her time. Any excess funds will be donated to the Ballard Food Bank. 
To Register: Please write to Ms. Roy at jbroy@seattleschools.org and she'll send you the Zoom link as well as the link to donate (if you can't afford to donate, no worries, we want all families to attend!)

Agenda: 

• 6:30-7:3pm
  • Family Meetings 101 (what is it and why)
  • How to invite your child(ren) to teach you how to get started (Principal Janine Roy & Teacher Lorin Belcher will share what your children already know)
  • Avoiding common challenges (like unhelpful ideas or parental "fixing")
  • Helping children solve their own problems
  • Keeping agreements and setting clear expectations
  • Find the Fun & Leave Them Laughing (focusing on connection vs “doing it right”)
• 7:30pm Q & A --- What’s holding you back from getting started? What would help?

Some Background

• Now, more than any other time in modern history, families are under stress to find new ways to work together, compromise, build solutions, set clear expectations and keep agreements with one another. We also know that all of this is new and so, so hard.
• Family Meetings are the in-home version of what your students have already been doing all year in their own class meetings. Family Meetings are a place for: Connection, Problem solving vs Punishments, Accountability, Leadership, Helpful Skill-building & Fun!
• We believe they may just be your #1 parenting tool, all the time... but especially right now.

See you online on Tuesday!
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QAE community – the PTSA has been a little quiet over the past few weeks. Like each of you, we have been navigating our new normal. Balancing work, or no work, distance learning for our kids, Zoom meetings/happy hours/classrooms AND all the dishes! Parents that are Essential Workers – THANK YOU for being essential and being there for others!

The PTSA team has been chipping away at a handful of items and wanted to give you a quick update:

Auction – Thank you for participating in our first Virtual Auction. The consensus was we came together as a community and did an AMAZING job at raising money for our school, teachers and kids. Thank you to Mary Rea and Jenn Lovin for all of their hard work. Our community raised almost $95,000! Thank you for pivoting and being flexible when we weren’t sure how we were going to pull it off.

Reimbursement Forms – If you have any receipts that need reimbursement. Please submit your forms and receipts using this link and email to treasurers@qaeptsa.org.

Open PTSA Roles for next year – These are unprecedented times and the Board needs your help to fill next year’s leadership roles. We have a number of open roles – if you are interested, we would like to speak with you.

Officers - Officers sign checks, manage the budget and expenditures, ensure legal requirements are met, and provide leadership on PTSA interests throughout the school year

• President
• Co-Treasurer
• Secretary
• Assistant Treasurer

Directors - take the responsibility of specific areas of interest, along with advising and voting on issues at regular PTSA board meetings. Together with the Executive group, they form the voting members of the Board

• Communications Director
• Fundraising
• Legislative Director
• Families of Color Director
• Technology Advisor Director

Coordinators - They do not have a vote and are not required to attend board meetings (but are welcome and encouraged to!). They fill vital additional roles for QAE.

• Co- Community Outreach & Events Coordinator
• Garden Coordinator
• Fund Drive
• Auction

Budget Season — usually this time of year we take a lot of time going through line by line of our PTSA budget to determine how much we should allocate for next year. We continue to do this work but understand there are a lot of unknowns and want to give ourselves the most flexibility for the 2020-2021 school year.

Yearbook — Can you believe we are still thinking about Yearbooks?!? Send in your pictures and ESPECIALLY any fun at home pictures because we are going to have an “at home” section because this will be a most memorable part of the 2019-2020 school year. 

We are also working on details of a Virtual Book Fair and Virtual Parent Education event, more to come as we get those details! If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to Sandra Nanney at president@qaeptsa.org.

Thank you,

Sandra Nanney
QAE PTSA President