Today is the last day to reach our goal. Please support our students today! If everyone participates, we are confident we can raise the remaining $18,000 to reach our goal. Give whatever you can – every dollar helps and will go to good use!

Thank you,
 
QAE PTSA

Blue Highway Games will be providing a host of fun and interesting games for all levels for game night on November 12th from 6:30-8:30 p.m. in the QAE cafeteria.  All QAE families are welcome! 

Pizza will be provided courtesy of the Queen Anne Elementary PTSA, however we are asking that families bring cold beverages, salads and/or desserts to accompany the meal.  Contact Suzanne Beckerman at suzannebeckerman@gmail.com with any questions about food & beverages. 

Parent volunteers are needed to assist with game tables.  Please contact Lindsey Carrillo at lindsey.carrillo@outlook.com or click here to sign up if you can help out. 

Please RSVP here. This will help us to estimate the pizza order and table set up.   

Hope to see you there!
The QAE PTSA

Dear QAE Parents and Prospective QAE Families: 

Seattle Public Schools (SPS) is creating new attendance area boundaries to accommodate increasing enrollment and construction of new school buildings. The Growth Boundary proposal is going through its 2nd and perhaps final revision.  SPS is seeking community comments about the proposal as they finalize the proposal for School Board Approval.  QAE PTSA highly encourages you to complete the SPS Growth Boundaries Survey with your respectful and thoughtful comments.  The survey deadline is Oct. 25th.

As a QAE community, we want to advocate for 4 critical items:

Create a equitable and sensible Geo-zone for QAE that provides overcrowding relief for both Hay and Coe Elementary schools and allows opportunities for students in the McClure Service Area and other parts of the district to attend QAE.  (Please keep us an option school with a geo-zone that is walkable). 

Include the QAE community and leadership in discussions and planning of the QAE BEX remodel (scheduled to be completed in 2019).

Consider short term capacity mitigation measures such as portables or if QAE would qualify for an accelerated BEX construction schedule given our undersized school facilities, enrollment growth rate, and over capacity challenges in the McClure Service Area.

Plan for an interim school where QAE students will safely reside during BEX construction.


When you being the survey please note Queen Anne Elementary does not have a number to reference in the drop down menu, instead: 

> Select the text box option marked "Other (please specify)"
> Please fill in Queen Anne Elementary or QAE in this text box.
 
>> Write your comments in the survey! << 

For additional information about the SPS Growth Boundaries Proposal and school capacity data, please visit here. 

Thank you,

QAE PTSA 

Sample letter

I am a parent (or prospective parent) at Queen Anne Elementary and am concerned about the recently revised GeoZone for QAE. Our school is no longer inside its own GeoZone--which now starts 7 blocks away! I ask that you please revise QAE's proposed boundaries to support a neighborhood walk zone, help relieve capacity issues equitably at both Hay and Coe, and still provide support for Magnolia. As an option school serving the entire McClure service area it's important that QAE preserve some space for children outside of its own GeoZone.


Also, short and long term mitigation measures are urgently needed to provide sufficient facilities at QAE. Student enrollment in QAE is 
rapidly increasing beyond the number of classrooms available and the current classrooms and facilities are smaller than district standards. Additionally, QAE lacks a gym and the lunchroom is too small to accommodate the projected enrollment even in multiple shifts. Please consider if QAE would qualify for an accelerated BEX construction timeline. Which interim school will QAE students attend during construction? Finally, please include the QAE community and leadership in the discussion and planning of QAE BEX construction.  We appreciate being informed about changes to our school and wish to collaborate with SPS to provide the best possible learning environment for the students. 


  
Sincerely,

Your Name

The Explorer Fund Drive is the only time of the year that the PTSA makes a direct appeal to you for a donation, and we rely on this campaign to raise 30% of our annual PTSA budget.  

We need you to support our exceptional school and contribute today!

To learn more about fundraising at QAE and why it is important for our school, please visit the following links:

• about fundraising at QAE
• why fundraising is important for our school
• what our fundraising efforts pay for

Thank you,

QAE PTSA

All QAE parents are invited to attend a PTSA general membership meeting on Tues., Oct. 22 at 7 pm in the school cafeteria.  You will learn more about how PTSA dollars are being spent on our kids this school year, as well as hear proposals for incremental spending support for the school.  You'll also hear an update from Principal Elliott and members of the staff on the school's curriculum plans for the year, including efforts that are underway to provide greater differentiated teaching in the classroom.  Lastly, we will also be discussing the district's plans for redrawing school boundaries and addressing over-crowding of QA schools, and how this will impact QAE.

Our annual giving campaign is at 22% participation, and we have only 9 days left to reach our goal of $85,000. We need your participation to keep our exceptional programs funded. 

Your contribution is critical! Please support our students today! Give what you can - every dollar helps and will go to good use!

Thank you,

QAE PTSA

What can 4th graders do? John Hunter, an elementary school teacher in Virginia, believes they can solve world peace. He believes they are capable of much more than we usually ask of them.

World Peace and Other 4th-Grade Achievements interweaves the story of John Hunter with his students’ participation in the World Peace Game. The eight-week game sparks a transformation among the children from being ordinary school kids to becoming citizens of the world. 

QAE’s 4th graders will play the World Peace Game this school year. Join us for a screening of the film and afterward a Q&A with 4th Grade teacher Jana Hunter.

www.worldpeacegame.org

Thursday, October 24, 2013
7:00 - 8:30 pm
Queen Anne Elementary 
Lunch Room

All QAE parents are invited to attend a PTSA general membership meeting on Tues., Oct. 22 at 7 pm in the school cafeteria.  You will learn more about how PTSA dollars are being spent on our kids this school year, as well as hear proposals for incremental spending support for the school.  You'll also hear an update from Principal Elliott and members of the staff on the school's curriculum plans for the year, including efforts that are underway to provide greater differentiated teaching in the classroom.  Lastly, we will also be discussing the district's plans for redrawing school boundaries and addressing over-crowding of QA schools, and how this will impact QAE.

Please mark your calendars to join us in the QAE cafeteria Tuesday, November 12th, for our 3rd annual game night!  Blue Highway will be providing a host of fun and interesting games for all levels.  Games will also be available for purchase.  Pizza will be provided but please let us know if you are able to bring a salad, side dish, or beverages.  Doors open at 6:30.  If you would like to help, please contact Lindsey Carrillo at lindsey.carrillo@outlook.com.

Hope to see you there!

The QAE PTSA

We want to make an online training program for folks who want to volunteer, but who couldn't attend the training classes.  We need help
brainstorming the format, writing the script, shooting video, editing, creating slides/quiz/other teaching aids, and bringing it all together
for online presentation.

We need several volunteers to team up to create the video.  We will coordinate a planning meeting once we've gotten a few volunteers. If
you can share a couple of hours over the next few weeks to help or need more information, please email Karen & Heath.

Lawton Elementary PTA welcomes the Queen Anne Elementary community to attend a School Board Candidate Forum.  They have invited candidates Suzanne Dale-Estey and Sue Peters to come and answer questions regarding their campaigns for school board in our region (District IV).  Responsibilities of the Board of Directors include: hiring and evaluating the Superintendent; establishing policies for governing the school district; adopting a balanced budget each year; having legal and fiduciary authority for the school district; adopting instructional materials; and, serving as community representatives to the district and on behalf of the district. Given this meeting is less than two weeks before the general election, it will be a great opportunity for you to meet the candidates, hear from them, and have a chance to ask them questions.  Special thanks to Lawton PTA for hosting this event and sharing it with our community.

WHEN:   Thursday, October 24, 2013 at 6:30pm
WHERE:  Lawton Elementary, 4000 27th Ave W, Seattle, WA 98199  Near the intersection of 27th Ave W and W Elmore St
RSVP:    QAE Legislative Co-Chair, angelamasco@hotmail.com

Please note, this event is not directly related to the Growth Boundary and Geo-Zone discussions our community is having with the school district and school board.  For more information about SPS Growth Boundary Proposal, please go here.  To participate in the SPS Growth Boundaries Survey see below post in the QAE News.

‏After today's email regarding QAE GeoZone, many QAE community members have asked for help in filling out the district survey regarding the revised plan.
 
You can access the survey here:
 
Once the survey has opened, you will see the following


1. Select the numbered area on which you are providing feedback:   Please leave that drop down menu blank.
 
Below that drop down menu is a text box option marked "Other (please specify)" - please fill in Queen Anne Elementary or QAE in this text box.
 
Once you have completed that field, the next field is a text box to answer the question:

2. What is your feedback?
Below is sample language that can be used.  Feel free to use and edit to make it personal to you.  For the short term, as a QAE community we want to advocate for two critical items:

• 
  At a minimum, revise and expand the most recently proposed QAE tiebreaker assignment GeoZone to include at least a 4-5 block radius around the school itself.  Right now, QAE is not in its own revised GeoZone
  
• 
  QAE to remain the only Option School for the McClure service area
  

 
Sample Survey Language:
My name is Jane Doe, I am a parent at QAE.   I am very concerned about the recently revised assignment tiebreaker GeoZone for QAE.   Our school is no longer inside its own GeoZone- which now starts 7 blocks away! The SPS stated purpose of an Option School GeoZone is to "give tiebreaker priority for students who live near the school".   The new GeoZone does not meet this requirement.   It is imperative that the QAE GeoZone be revised once again to at least include the immediate blocks around the school itself.   It is also crucial that QAE remain the Option School aligned to McClure service area to provide parents with an alternative if their neighborhood school is not meeting their child's educational needs.
 
Please take a moment and fill out the survey today.

Ms. Hunter's fourth graders are saving up to go to Tillicum Village on Blaine Island as part of their studies of "Northwest Coast People."  The 4th graders will be selling delicious, homemade baked goods to help pay for their ferry ride and visit the island. The island is the legendary birthplace of Chief Seattle. The field trip includes watching traditional dance, listening to stories from the Coast Salish and learning more about the cultures they're studying in the classroom.  

Stop by, enjoy a sweet and support our fourth graders. The fundraiser is this Thursday, Oct. 17 at 3:35pm at the Treehouse Main Door. The suggested donation is a dollar per baked good. 

 

Next week is the first QAE PTSA Meeting of the year, 7pm-8:30pm.  

KidsCo is offering childcare for the evening, 6:45pm - 8:45pm.  Childcare is for kids ages 4 and up.  All children must be potty trained.  Suggested donation of $5 per child at the door, cash or check payable to QAE PTSA.  Children must be picked up on time.

Space is limited, sign up here soon.