Mr. Riley has sent us a note about his excitement for the coming school year and about some fun projects available to help make our school library more vibrant and useable.  Take a look at his message and the list of projects here.

Items have been added for Ms. Simon's K classroom and for Mr. Riley's Library & Technology Center.  Find the wishlist here or look for it on the discussion forum.

QAE has officially posted an opening and will be hiring for a K-1 teacher. We anticipate that we will be able to have a teacher in place for the first day of school.

QAE PTSA together with McDonald PTSA are excited to announce Sponge Language School will provide extracurricular language classes for Queen Anne and McDonald Elementary students for the 2010-2011 school year.  Two classes are planned to start the first week of October.  Based on the Before/After School Survey conducted in June, Sponge will offer a 5-day a week Spanish class and a 2-day a week (Tu/Th) Spanish class for K-2 students.  Classes will meet from 8:00 am to 9:15 am.  (These classes are for K-2 students only.  If you are interested in Language class for your grade 3, 4, or 5 student, see our earlier News post).

From Sponge:
“We want children to love language and culture the way we do. We teach our classes entirely in language using the communicative approach. We design our themes and activities to engage the students and to motivate them to communicate. We teach using multiple media to appeal to different learning styles—from the visual learner who loves felt-board stories and art to the kinesthetic learner who loves drama and movement. We differentiate our instruction encouraging students to use more language and longer expressions as their skills develop.”

Tuition is $280/month for the 5-day a week class and four payments of $275 for the 2-day a week class.

Families are asked to commit financially to the academic year.  Class size is limited.  Spaces will be filled on a first come, first served basis once registration is opened.  If spaces fill, a wait list will be created and Sponge will work to meet demand once interest is known.

In order to make sure QAE families are aware of this opportunity registration will begin on September 9th.  Registration will be completed through Sponge’s website, www.spongeschool.com.

A Sponge representative will attend the QAE/McDonald Orientation on September 1st to provide information and answer questions.

Information for enrolled students / founding families has been updated with more details about school hours, drop-off / playground supervision, kindergarten assessment, cafeteria / meals, volunteering, and more.

Sponge School will be providing a before-school language program to K - 2, and those details are going to be announced in the near future.
Now we're gauging interest, again, in an extracurricular language program for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders (whose population has grown significantly since the last time we asked).  More details at http://qae-community-discussion.715305.n3.nabble.com/3-4-5-Grade-Language-Program-Interest-tt1346452.html#a1346452

Principal David Elliott has put together a message for our community regarding the latest enrollment numbers, the staff's excitement over how QAE is developing, and their collective commitment to excellence.  The statement can be viewed on our website.

We've started a list of items needed for each classroom.  Please visit this link in the discussion forum to see the list of items, and reply there to indicate your interest/ability to donate any of them. 
The first items on the list are for our 3/4/5 classroom, and are also listed below, but visit the link to see the most updated list of items.
As of 8/24/10:
3/4/5 Classroom - Joe Bailey-Fogarty, Teacher
    * STILL NEEDED: area rugs and/or the non-slip pads that go beneath them. Any nice rug or carpet scrap will do – the bigger the better.  We can’t pay for a serious cleaning, so it shouldn’t be pet stained or require steaming.
    * STILL NEEDED: old digital cameras – any working digital camera would be great.

Please join us for a fun evening in the park!  This will be a great event, a chance to meet other Queen Anne Elementary families, and enjoy the last days of summer.

When:  Sunday, August 29th at 5:00pm
Where:  Wallingford Playfield (4219 Wallingford Ave N)  Map
Food:  Please plan to bring your own food for this event (see note below)

IMPORTANT:  There has been a change in plans regarding food for this event.   Food for purchase from Taco Del Mar will no longer be provided as an option at the picnic  This change is based on an unexpected increase in the overall cost of the food and making sure we are responsibly using the currently limited amount of PTSA funds.   Thank you for your understanding!

A variety of beverages will be provided - water, juice, and sodas.  Street Treats will be on hand with their ice cream, cookies, pies and bars for purchase.

Looking forward to seeing you and your families on Sunday!

Information for enrolled families about the upcoming school year is posted on our website, and will continue to be updated / expanded over the coming days.

Thanks to everyone who attended the Queen Anne Elementary PTSA Charter Meeting on August 10 (there were over 70 of us!).  It was a wild success:  our officers have been elected, many board positions filled, and a large number joining the PTSA as members  - congratulations!   Meeting minutes will be posted to the PTSA section of the website later this week. 
Stay tuned for more from our newly formed PTSA.

Elected:
President:  Karrie Sanderson
Vice-President:  Jill Gallagher
Secretary:  Kate Bagley
Treasurer:  Yazmin Mehdi

Appointed:
Technology Committee Chair:  Suzi LeVine
Enrichment Committee Chair:  Allison Payauys
Facilities Committee Chair:  Steve Tatge
Parent Volunteer Coordinator:  Scott Houghton
Website Committee Chair:  Liz McKay

Special thanks to the PTSA Steering Committee for all their help in making this happen.