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Our second brews fundraiser of the season will take place on Saturday, Nov. 10th between 12-4pm at Burke Gilman Brewery (3626 NE 45th St #102). One dollar of each beer sold will be donated to QAE for the fourth grade trip to IslandWood. We’ll also be collecting donations to put together care packages for the homeless. We’ll have the new QAE growlers available for sale as well.   The QAE Jog-A-Thon is on Thursday! So much of what we love about our school and school community is supported by PTSA resources and funds raised through the Jog-A-Thon. Did you know the PTSA has been behind the funding of so much good stuff? See some of the great things below. And if you've already registered to support our online donation system in PledgeStar thank you! Please consider sending a few additional emails this week. If you have yet to do so, just log on to www.PledgeStar.com/qae and register - it's really easy and will take less than 10 minutes of your time.
MISSION #1: TEACHERS
MISSION #2: CLASSROOM & ACADEMIC SUPPORT
MISSION #3: COMMUNITY
MISSION #4: CURRICULUM & CLASSROOMS
MISSION #5: EXPERIENCES FOR STUDENTS
As families have seen on various outlets, including the email sent today by Janine – SPS enrollment was low and many schools are being impacted in losing teachers and reorganizing classes. QAE is one of the many schools being impacted. We would have had to say good-bye to Ms. Bonnie as our newest 2nd grade teacher and it would have impacted all of our classrooms through a reconfiguration of 2nd grade (would have need to created many split grades that would have had a cascading effect from K to 5th).
The impact to our student community seemed too great. The PTSA started exploring options with school staff. The team dived into all options ranging from doing nothing to revising the entire PTSA budget to do something. It is with great gratitude to Bonnie, Megan and Helene for volunteering a creative solution of job sharing and personal sacrifice that allowed us to arrive at today’s solution. We are impacting the least amount of students, a class gets to have 2 great teachers, we lose no teachers from our QAE family and PTSA helps bridge a gap to continue to support our students. But this action is also met with the knowledge that many other schools are in a worse situation. Schools do not always have the resources or ability to have so many pieces come together. During the fundraising season, the PTSA may come to you with asks fo money but today we are asking for your time: please lend your voice to the other schools in our community that need our help. This is absolutely unacceptable and we need our collective voices to be heard on how this impacts our communities. Please consider editing and sending a version of the note below and spreading the word to all of your friends within SPS to write them. Any letters can be sent to schoolboard@seattleschools.org. We need to galvanize and flood them with letters to show them how displeased we are. See the SPS summary of the staffing adjustment as well as their FAQ about the process. Another way to advocate is to attend one of the upcoming Superintendent listening tours. The closest to our area is Ballard High School on October 4th. ------ Sample Letter to Send to the SPS Board This is just an example, please write your own or edit as you see fit. Note the underlined sections that should definitely be edited. To: schoolboard@seattleschools.org Subject: Unacceptable displacement of teaching staff Dear Superintendent, School Board and senior SPS staff, I am parent of two SPS students - a second and fourth grader at Queen Anne Elementary. I am incredibly frustrated to see that SPS is displacing staff from approximately twenty different schools and majorly disrupting the lives of teachers, families and communities as a result. The impact on students at Nova and Interagency is even greater given the disproportionate impact on them. I understand that there is a correlation in number of students and revenue and with the 1.4% enrollment decrease, you need to find ways to cut cost. Is there a reduction in staff or other major cost cutting efforts happening at the JSCEE? Why are schools bearing all the reductions in revenue? This is absolutely unacceptable. Also, you are already in violation of the McCleary ruling on classroom sizes which as you know should be a maximum of 17 students for K-3 and 25 students for 4th grade and up. At my kids' schools, they have more kids in their classrooms already so combining classrooms will only put SPS further away from appropriate class sizes. You need to do better for teachers, families and communities. How will you retain top talent when teachers can easily go to neighboring districts that are more effectively managed where they can make more money? How can you shuffle kids around after school has started which is hard for all of them but especially for neuro-atypical children in our system? At work, if I were to consistently miss projections and disrupt hundreds or thousands of customers regularly, I would have been fired long ago. Please take us off this annual enrollment projection roller coaster and find ways to keep communities intact. Best, [ Your name ] The annual QAE Fund Drive is on! This is your chance to help our school and its students. If you haven't seen it yet, here's the letter Principal Roy is including in our orange folders:
--- Dear QAE family, The annual QAE Fund Drive has begun! I’m writing today to ask you to make a special gift to support QAE students. Because you know, like I do, that school funding does not cover everything we want for our children. Here’s what your gift to the Fund Drive will do . . . Your gift will help fund three of the key specialists that make QAE such an incredible place for your child:
Additionally, you’ll help fund the Social Emotional Learning and Project Based Learning curriculum. On the back page of this letter I’ve included a list of all of the things your gift helps fund. It’s a long list. I need to be clear. QAE does not receive funding for the three positions above. Unless you and the PTSA raise the money, these positions will not be filled. So each year, an incredible group of people band together to help QAE provide a fantastic learning and growing experience for our children. The PTSA organizes the fund drive. As Principal, I do everything I can to support them – and you. Because it’s your generosity that makes these incredible things possible for the students. It’s your generosity that provides for the people and programs that set our school – and your kids – apart. Please send a gift, by December 15th, using the enclosed reply card or by going to: https://qae.givingfuel.com/qae-ptsa-annual-fund-drive Very appreciatively, Janine Roy Principal, QAE  QAE 4th graders are teaming up with Seattle Seed Co. and YOU to raise money for their IslandWood Experience! All proceeds from this fundraiser will go towards supporting our students in this educational outdoor adventure that takes place at IslandWood on Bainbridge Island. 50% of profits from every sale goes towards our students.
Shop online here: http://fundraising.seattleseedcompany.com/shop Use the custom gift code to ensure the money goes back to 4th graders: QAEIWOOD2017 Simply enter the code at checkout!
Thank you for helping our 4th graders with their IslandWood experience! Read more on the QAE IslandWood page...  Support QAE and enjoy Via Tribunali pizza! The fabulous staff at Via Tribunali Queen Anne will be giving out cards good for a free pizza with a small donation to the current 4th grade class trip to Islandwood next year. Suggested donation is $20. Cards will be available all evening (5-11 p.m.) and no purchase is necessary - people are welcome to just come by with a donation and get a free pizza card, but of course we hope it's a QAE community event where we see lots of families dine there!
Via Tribunali is located at 317 W. Galer St. For more information, please contact Robin Mohr at rmmohr@yahoo.com. Support our students, skip having to cook at home and enjoy food that the kids (and adults) will love. Win - win - win!  The 4th Grade is raising funds towards Islandwood 2017 with a special restaurant night (and day) at Thackeray in Fremont. Just mention "Queen Anne Elementary" when you order and 10% of the proceeds will be donated. It’s available all day long: brunch or dinner, as well as take-out. See the Thackeray site for their menu and hours. Hope to see you and your family enjoying food and supporting QAE on Sunday, Feb. 26th! 
As we head into break, we first wanted to say thanks to the families that have taken the time to commit to our QAE community during the Explorer Fund Drive.
It's been a busy and distracting last couple weeks, so we've extended the deadline. If you didn't have a chance, there's still time to contribute to the Explorer Fund Drive! We kicked off this Fund Drive with hope and inspiration of how we say Yes. Here's just some of the many things the PTSA able to say YES to with your support:
As we begin this Thanksgiving break, you can help us continue to say Yes and support the amazing staff and students of QAE! Donate Now to the Explorer Fund Drive Enjoy your holidays and thank you for your support, The Queen Elementary PTSA  Our kids. Our teachers. Our family. We're building a community of concerned, confident and compassionate citizens of the world.
Our Five Pillars:
If you haven't had a chance, please donate now! Our annual Explorer Fund Drive kicked off yesterday and will run through Wednesday, November 16.
The PTSA holds fundraising events just three times during the school year:
Our goal for the Explorer Fund Drive is to raise $80,000 directly from our QAE Parent Community. Donate to the Explorer Fund Drive! Your PTSA works with staff and teachers at the beginning of the year to determine what can most benefit our students that the school district is unable to provide. Through this process, the PTSA said YES to:
The PTSA has an ambitious goal to spend $799 per student during the 2016-17 school year. Please say YES to help support all the above items and many, many more. Help us say YES when our students have a need, our teachers voice a request, or our parents are passionate about something that will support our 419 students. Donate to the Explorer Fund Drive now! Thank you in advance for supporting the students, staff, and community at Queen Anne Elementary! QAE PTSA  Neighborhood haunt Targy's will be hosted a Halloween party on Friday, October 28th.
There's no cover charge but they'll be collecting donations at the door that will be split between Hay, Coe and QAE. Proceeds to our school will go towards the 4th graders' trip to IslandWood next year. There's no obligation to donate though, it's meant to be a casual costume party to build community. The DJ's include a QAE parent! The weather was perfect on Friday for what turned out to be an amazing Jog-A-Thon! with many changes to the district budget, the PTSA was counting on $40,000 in donations, just to maintain our level of support staff and other essential programs. Our Jog-A-Thon saw students focused on their running goals as they reached out to friends and family. Thanks to the generosity of QAE friends and family we exceeded our fundraising goals and had a record year! These contributions help support programs from tutoring to art to teacher training. Thanks to all the parents and families who helped organize and make the the Jog-A-Thon run smoothly. And to all those who were kind enough to donate. And especially to all the kids (and staff) who ran their hearts out! Our 5th graders worked extra hard: serving as running mentors, course monitors, water helpers, lap markers, and more. We saw students finding their own pace, encouraging one another, recovering from setbacks, and celebrating goals hard-won. We also couldn't have done it without the generous donations from these local business who believe in support our community:
Some photos from the Jog-A-Thon below! If you have any others you'd like to share, please send to communciations@qaeptsa.org  Now that the school year is up and running (zing!), it's time for the annual QAE Jog-A-Thon. The kids will be doing laps on Friday, Sept. 30th at the lovely Queen Anne Elementary. It's our only kid-powered fundraising event of the year and it's a ton of fun for everyone involved.
New this year: Families will be able to reach out to friends and loved ones through an online system called PledgeStar. Each student will have a private online page (only accessible using your unique private link) where friends and family can learn about our amazing school and how they can encourage the student’s Jog-A-Thon efforts. The system makes it easy to ask and easy to give. Getting pledges before the event is serious business, but the day of will be fun. Every student at QAE, the teachers, and staff and a bunch of parent volunteers will be out there moving - there will be music, snacks & drinks, some friendly competition, prizes and a lot of fun and enthusiasm! Learn more about the Jog-A-Thon and set up your student's personalized page.  Thank you to all of our families who have donated to the Explorer Fund Drive! Every give is big and together, with your generosity, we have raised $43,138! We need to raise $31,862 to reach our goal! Every donation makes a difference!
Please donate by Friday, November 21st! Thank you, QAE PTSA We are Bridging the Gap! Our annual Explorer Fund Drive kicked off this week and will run through November 17th. Help support our beloved school and its exceptional PTSA Funded Programs! Donate Today! Thank you for your support and generosity! QAE PTSA  |
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