Congrats to Graduating 5th GradersAnother group of 5th grade Explorers are blasting off to 6th grade! Congrats to them all! Here they are presenting at the recent Ocean Fest event that our great 5th grade teacher, Ms. Berg planned for them. Thanks for being such great student school leaders QAE class of 2021-22! Have fun in Middle School!  Reina Casto, Ethan Castoldi, Maggie Elian, Givanni Galotta, Ivy Harper, Samuel Held, Thomas Jones, Coen Kelly, Satya LaRocque, Campbell McCartney, Edward Merritt, Ayal Pelley, Nova Raymond, Russell Raymond, Henry Reiner, Brian Sanford, Phoebe Smallman, Andres Soler, Shea Soldezzo, Payton Walker A letter from Ms. TaylorDear Queen Anne and VOPP community, It was an honor to serve as your Assistant Principal this year and I thank you for welcoming me with open arms! I have so many positive memories of this year! It shows what a caring and supportive community surrounds this school. As I move into my next role as Principal of Greenwood Elementary, I’ll hold our conversations and connections close to my heart! Take care Explorers...I know you’ll go far and will make a positive difference in this world! Mrs. Taylor Thank you for your astounding support throughout this challenging year Mrs. Taylor! You will be missed! We know you'll build and nourish a brilliant and kind community at Greenwood! Thank you! Together we make SPARKS!Volunteers bring the magic! To 20 full hearted volunteers who worked to fulfill executive, director, coordinator and lead roles on our board, Thank you! To close to 100 volunteers who helped with lunch, teacher classrooms, field trips events and so more, Thank you! BIG Thank you to Shalini Nilikantan for Leading Field Day!  The latest and greatest community SPARKS! Field Day Dinos!! Teachers bring the heart! On behalf of our entire community of parents and students, the PTSA thanks teachers and staff. We appreciate you showing up every day for our kids, providing the best quality education and social emotional support possible and having fun. You are the other adults that many of our kids spend the most time with every day besides their direct caregivers. That is astounding. Thank you! Extra special call out to Ms. Josie for such great teacher/parent collaboration on Field Day, Thank You!!! Our kids are the reason! Thank you so much to all our kids who do their very best everyday. They bring us joy, laughter, truth, humanity and so much more. They are our great teachers and our future leaders. They are what brings us together. Continue supporting QAE over the SummerCommunity building is part of the what PTSA does to create connection for all of us. Whether it's a yearbook, t-shirt, tickets or events there are ways for you to help make sure everyone is included, can participate and enjoys a little something special from QAE. Here are ways to support: -Spirit Wear we get 10% back! Get summer clothing, hats, shorts, t-shirts and more. --Amazon Smile we get 0.5% back! Choose Queen Anne Elementary in the upper left. -Direct Give Text EXPLORERS to 833-679-3232 QAE Pillars & Southeast Seattle Schools Fundraising Alliance.We're happy to share that QAE PTSA was able to put action behind one of our school's core pillars; We are concerned, confident and compassionate citizens of the world. Our donation to the SSSFA, along with other organizations and PTAs, helped them achieve their goal of $15,000. This funding will help support 15 schools in the southeast part of our school district. This is meaningful action that elevates us all.  Seattle Public Library Summer ResourcesSummer Book Bingo - Kids and adults play along from May-Sept, win prizes! Outdoor Recreation - Get outside and explore! Hiking, fishing, camping guides and maps! Stay tuned in here for Summer connection!In effort to continue building community, we hope to have one or two Summer playdates, park meet-ups and outings. If you want to help please email us! secreatary@qaeptsa.org There are still vacant board positions! Email vp1@qaeptsa.org for more info. QAE at the Sounders has officially SOLD OUT at 107 tickets! Looking forward to seeing an orange & purple, green & blue pond of Explorers this Saturday in the stadium stands. Go Sounders! Have a wonderful Summer QAE Explorers! Thank you for your readership! This is a QAE PTSA newsletter. Please direct questions, comments, concerns and ideas to communications@qaeptsa.org
Rainy Day Plan for Field DayThank you to everyone who has signed up for this Monday. If the weather turns Field Day will be pushed to Tuesday, June 14. Please see the Tuesday sign up link below. Thank you Shalini, our community events lead, for being prepared! Final call will be communicated via email on Sunday evening. Stay tuned! MONDAY PRIMARY FIELD DAY SIGN UP https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4bafae23a0fb6-qaefield RAIN DATE TUESDAY SIGN UP (WILL ONLY HAPPEN IF WE NEED TO PUSH) https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0A4BAFAE23A0FB6-rain Important Sounders Tickets Update Important to know! After purchasing your tickets you will need to download the Sounders FC mobile app. This is where your tickets will show up and be scanned at the stadium entrance. Download the mobile application here. Last call to purchase is now. closes Monday! Email secretary@qaeptsa.org for scholarships. Upcoming Event & Reminders
Thank you for your readership! This is a QAE PTSA newsletter. Please direct questions, comments, concerns and ideas to communications@qaeptsa.org
We need parent help in 2022-23 Dear QAE, Our school was established in 2010 by a passionate, dedicated and involved group of teachers, staff and parents. With the organizational foundation they put in place 12 years ago our school volunteer leadership has been able to glean stability, grounding and direction during these past three years of uncertainty. Your current PTSA is asking you to help make sure this stabilizing yet flexible effort continues for our future students, teachers and community. Becoming a board member of the PTSA is a great way to build community for our kids (and as a parent!), and to create enrichment opportunities for the whole school. We’d love to have you join us for the 2022-2023 school year! Please note: All roles can be shared with a friend, and current board members are happy to talk to you further about what the roles entail. If you are at all curious, want to learn more, have questions or have ideas about our school. Please take the next step and connect. We need you to help build our Board! You can reach out in the following ways:
Field Day 2022 volunteers sign-up here! Yay!!! All parents and guardians are invited to volunteer and join in on the outdoor fun! When: Monday, June 13th all day! Where: Our QAE school playground. What: There will be playful games, face painting, ping-pong, picture booth, water game stations, sack races, hula hooping and more. SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER HERE for morning, afternoon or all day slots! To help make an extra special day for the kids, our Field Day Committee is looking for the following:
Yearbooks! Every student will receive a 2021-22 yearbook courtesy of QAE PTSA. We're committed to purchasing one book per student and one per staff. To help cover the costs and ensure special mementos like this as well as student & community enriching events and general PTSA initiatives, can continue in the future, we're asking community to help cover the cost if you are able. Any and all donations help all students, families and staff. Pay what you can here. Choose 'send', then enter an amount. Click 'add a note' and write 'yearbook'. Then continue to enter your payment information. Thank you for your support! Mark Your Calendars for ALL of the Upcoming Events & CelebrationsUpcoming Events & Reminders
Thank you for your readership! This is a QAE PTSA newsletter. Please direct questions, comments, concerns and ideas to communications@qaeptsa.org
Last PTSA Membership Meeting of the school year-please come!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! Align your passions with PTSA! 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:
End of year pack up - Here's how you can help. 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! Upcoming Events & Reminders
Thank you for your readership! This is a QAE PTSA newsletter. Please direct questions, comments, concerns and ideas to communications@qaeptsa.org
Bike to support our school Get on your bike and ride! Join QAE moms, Meg Kelly and Cindy Reiner, for a mostly flat, easy-paced evening bike ride around Queen Anne hill on Thursday, May 19th! We will meet near the Elk's Lodge to glow up our bikes....yes, that's a thing, then head out on the Westlake Trail. Mid-ride we will stop to enjoy beverages and snacks while watching the sunset at Myrtle Edwards park. Only 4 openings remain. Visit this link to learn more and to reserve your spot! Proceeds go towards PTSA! Southeast Seattle School's Fundraising Alliance At QAE, one of the five pillars is "We are concerned, confident and compassionate citizens of the world." Help put this core value into action by considering a donation to the Southeast Seattle Schools Fundraising Alliance. SSSFA is currently participating in their second annual Move-a-Thon, and they have a goal of raising $150,000 in donations that will support 15 schools in southeast Seattle. There are three ways to contribute:
Field Day 2022! 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! Explore School Parent Leadership - Nomination Committee 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 Upcoming Events and Reminders
Thank you for your readership! This is a QAE PTSA newsletter. Please direct, question, comments, concerns and ideas to communications@qaeptsa.org
Teacher Appreciation Week - May 1st-7th The PTSA has special plans for Teacher Appreciation Week! A Staff Farmer's Market is being organized for Thursday, May 5th. PTSA needs help acquiring local fresh fruits/veggies/herbs/flowers/products. Do you have a connection to a local farm/product? Can you donate part of your harvest from the pea patch that week? Can you donate your CSA box that week? If you answered yes to any of those questions, please contact Jamie Ross Djelosevic SOON at jrossdjelosevic@gmail.com. An Evening for New Families- May 3rd 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. Caffeine with Janine staring May 9th 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. Burgers and Beers - May 12th Get tickets here. Few things are better at building community than getting together for burgers and beer. When the beer comes from local favorite Rooftop Brewing and the burgers are SMASH burgers, you have the makings of a historic event. Grab your friends and head to Rooftop's private event space by the Ballard bridge to enjoy delicious, almost famous "Oklahoma Smash Burgers" by Seattle's self-proclaimed smash-burger connoisseur extraordinaire, owner of Caffe Ladro, and QAE parent, Jack Kelly. It'll be a great opportunity to meet new people, bond with those you know, and consume the best of brews and burgers. Only 6 spaces left! Proceeds go to QAE PTSA. Upcoming events and reminders
Thank you for your readership! This is a QAE PTSA newsletter. Please direct, question, comments, concerns and ideas to communicaitons@qaeptsa.org
Earth Day Bingo on Friday Check your student’s orange folder or back pack this week for an Earth Day Bingo activity! How many squares can your family complete? Students should bring their bingo forms back to school on Friday, April 22nd to be entered into a draw to win new books for their classroom! Thank you to parent volunteer, Veronika Ziegler - Garden Coordinator, for creating this fun earth minded activity. Parent's Day Out - May 21st 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! Book Fair on May 9th - 12th 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. QAE @ the Seattle Sounders on June 18th 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. The Yearbook needs your pictures! 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. Earth Day is Every DayApril 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:
Stay tuned into the RR for future Green events planned by parent volunteer Veronika Ziegler, QAE Garden Coordinator.
Summer Camps with OpeningsWise 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. Thank you QAE Community & Enjoy Spring Break!We're now at 60% of our fundraising goal! Thank you to all who have participated, from our awesome parent volunteers who put this together, to our students who shared their love for the school and teachers who created informative videos and each of you who said yes to bidding, texting and raising your paddles, total raised is $60,303!
This means that we have secured a majority of the funding for those things our students love about QAE. Text-to-give EXPLORERS to 833-679-3232 is always open and we're still inviting you to take part in the party buy-ins. Check out our fundraising page to learn about Matching Gift Companies and Amazon Smile. From the Heart T-Shirts are still for sale! Student photographs from Red Poppy Photography are for sale as well. If you are interested in being part of next year's 2023 fundraising team email, vp1@qaeptsa.org Thank you to each of you for your generosity, whether you gave your time, your talent or your treasure; each of you are an integral piece of our school community and we are so excited to celebrate this with you! Have a fantastic Spring Break! 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:
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:
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!  The on-line Silent Auction is OPEN! Don't miss out on some amazing adventures, beautiful photos of QAE explorers, thank you parent volunteer, Dana Pelleg and the opportunity to support our kids! Together, we'll celebrate this wonderful community and have the opportunity to ensure necessary staffing and supports remain in place to help students and teachers thrive. Let's reach our 100K goal. Bid often, bid high and give from your heart!   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. Auction night dinner? We got you!
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! Way to go 4th and 5th grade Explorers! 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!! How to talk to your kids about masksCommunity 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. Use your voice to support our teachersAs 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. |
Welcome to the Rocket Reader blog! The PTSA's collection of news & information relevant to QAE Families. This is also shared weekly in the Rocket Reader e-newsletter. Use the form below to sign up!
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