Kids Create is offering an after-school holiday art session!

Come join us for this two-day Holiday gift-making workshop where we will create colorful bird houses and sculpt ornaments out of clay!

Mondays: Dec 5 and Dec 12, 3.40-4.45.  Cost: $45

The kids create web page & online registration is open at http://www.kidscreate.org/schools/QAE.html
http://www.kidscreate.org/schools/QAE_registration.html

You may pay online or drop a check off at the office by Wed Nov. 30th.

Please vote! The General and Special Election is coming up! The ballot contains a few things that will effect schools. The Families and Education Levy and four Seattle School Board Positions are up for a vote. The QAE PTSA voted to endorse the Families and Education Levy.  Make sure you drop your ballots in the mail no later than  November 8th.

If you would like more information or have any questions, contact Jenice Lee at jenicelealee@hotmail.com

Drum roll please…

Congratulations Queen Anne Explorers, You raised Over Fifty Thousand Dollars in the Jog-a-thon!!

The envelopes, checks, and PayPal donations have continued to flow in this week, and as of last night, by Treasurer Brook Wessel’s latest calculations, we had received $50,317!

We also are expecting almost $4,000 in additional donations via company matching- so if your company matches donations, please don’t forget to request the match! (if you need any help or information from us, please don’t hesitate to ask. ) Also, we had about another $5,000 that was pledged on sponsor sheets but has not been turned in yet, so if you still have donations to turn in, or if you were one of the participants who had pledges by the lap, please do collect them- it could make the difference of a class field trip or some much desired technology!

Thanks again for all of your participation- this was such a fun fundraiser, but we could not do it without such fabulous support from our QAE community.

QAE PTSA Fundraising Committee

Roots of Empathy
Mary Gordon and Stuart Shanker:  Science, Self-Regulation and Citizenry

Town Hall Seattle
November 29, 2011
7-8:30 p.m.

Admission is free; use promo code: Empathy

REGISTER HERE

How do we grow a more caring, peaceful, and civil society? By creating better citizens -- citizens who recognize the needs of others as equal to their own -- through empathy. With studies reporting a decline in empathy, Mary Gordon, founder/president of Roots of Empathy, a citizen-sector organization that harnesses the power of the parent-infant-attachment relationship to build empathy in elementary schoolchildren, presents this social and emotional learning program that reduces aggression and bullying and increases social and emotional understanding. Dr. Stuart Shanker, distinguished research professor of philosophy and psychology at York University in Toronto, provides the scientific context for self-regulation, and how Roots of Empathy contributes to its development. Presented by Roots of Empathy.

The Seattle School Board will decide this winter whether to conduct a national search for a Superintendent or whether to appoint Interim Superintendent Dr. Susan Enfield. Before the School Board decides, they will seek input on the traits that members of the public would like to see in a Superintendent. The School Board has partnered with the Seattle Council PTSA to help gather this information from Seattle Public School families. As a part of this they are hosting three community meetings in November where families can share their thoughts with members of the School Board. There will also be a survey seeking the same input available in mid-November.
 
Families of all students in Seattle Public Schools are encouraged to attend and share their comments in these free and welcoming community meetings hosted by the Seattle Council PTSA. 
 
Monday, November 14, at Roosevelt High School, 7:00-8:30pm
Tuesday, November 15, at Denny International Middle School, 7:00-8:30pm
Thursday, November 17, at South Shore K-8, 7:00-8:30pm
 
Childcare and light snacks will be available starting at 6:30pm at all locations.  For interpretation services please email barbara@seattlecouncilptsa.org or call (206)364-7430.
 

Dear families,

This is a reminder that Wednesday is a professional development day for teachers in Seattle Public Schools. Students will be released from classes two (2) hours early on Wednesday.

A list of important dates, including no-school days and early dismissal days is available online.

Thank you,
Office of Public Affairs, Seattle Public Schools

QAE Jog-a-thon 2011 was a huge success!

Thank you to all of the wonderful parent volunteers who joined us for Friday’s event, and to all of you who helped your students gather sponsors!

Our sun dance seemed to have a miraculous effect as the rain clouds parted at about noon and held off until the very end of the day.  Kids were running like crazy and when they weren’t running they were cheering the others on - amazing enthusiasm and team spirit!  There were rockets painted on faces, great music to keep everyone fired up, teachers, parents, and siblings running, and lots of treats as well as Pinkabella cupcake tokens & Molly Moon ice cream tickets as rewards.  The kids had a blast, and we blasted right through our fundraising goal!

We’re going to hold off on announcing our total dollars raised until we have finished collecting donations…. There were quite a few students who filled their sponsor forms but didn’t collect all of their donations up front—if you had donations that were done by the mile, or have sponsors that you weren’t able to collect from before Friday, please do collect those and turn them in via orange folders in the next couple of days.   We’ll plan to announce our total this Friday!  Thank you!

During our General PTSA meeting on Thursday, we voted to officially endorse the Families and Education Levy. Queen Anne Elementary is scheduled to participate in phone banking this Thursday, Oct. 27. The campaign provides a quick briefing and an easy phone script,  AND they feed everybody pizza and snacks.  This is an excellent way to remind voters that a YES vote for the Families & Education Levy is an investment in the future of Seattle’s public school kids.  You can bring kids, small and big.  There’s plenty of room to stretch out and color or do homework and eat pizza. 

If you are interested in participating, please email Jenice Lee at jenicelealee@hotmail.com

Kids Co is doing a project and they are in need of socks.  Used but clean ones are perfect.

And if anyone has Hot Wheels tracks, they'd love to build an epic track!

Please feel free to drop any donations off directly at KidsCo.  Thanks!

Sometimes little kids get splashed, or spill things, or have accidents.  If you have extra clothing that can go into the Oops collection, Ms. Kirch would love to take those items off of your hands.

She needs pants, tops and underwear. Most of the needs are smaller kids such as kindergarten but up through 2nd grade would do also. 

Thanks and have a great weekend!

Tomorrow is the big day, we can't wait.  Hope to see you there!

IF your child didn't return their envelope today, please have them bring it tomorrow.

Questions? Contact Holley Ring at hring@Windermere.com or Natalie Carlson at carlson_Natalie@earthlink.net

You can send your Jog-A-Thon pledges/donations thru Paypal to the QAE PTSA.  **However, please continue to send the physical pledge form in to school with your child for recording/admin purposes.**

Just click on the "Donate" button below (or on the front page of the website) and follow these instructions to identify your donation as a Jog-A-Thon pledge:  Click on the "add special instructions to the seller" link located underneath the Queen Anne Elementary PTSA in the "review your donation" screen, just before you submit your donation.  Type in your student's name and the word "Jogathon.""

Please join us for the first PTSA Meeting of the year tonight, Thursday Oct 20 at 6:30pm.
Limited spaces are available at KidsCo for childcare; drop-in with cash or a check made to QAE PTSA - $7.25 per child.

You will hear about:
- The PTSA budget and plan for activities for this school year
- Information about the upcoming Families and Education Levy
- The QAE strategic plan from David Elliott
- Q&A session with David and PTSA leaders

When: Thursday, October 20th, 2011 from 6:30pm-8:30pm
Where: QAE Cafeteria
Who:  All Queen Anne family and community members are
  welcome

Bring those checkbooks or cash if you are interested in buying some of the latest fashions that are sweeping the QA neighborhood this season, aka: QAE Logo Wear!  Hats, hoodies, t-shirts and more will be available for purchase before and after Thursday's meeting.