At this point, we don't know if school will start in-person in the Fall, but we do know the teachers and classroom organization for Queen Anne Elementary. We will have 11 classrooms as we had in 2019-20 and we're happy to share that all our teachers are returning. 

Here' s the breakdown that Janine shared:

• Kindergarten – Ms. Jayanthi, Ms. Scannepieco
• 1st Grade – Ms. Dickerson, Ms. Kessel
• 2nd Grade – Ms. Belcher, Ms. Scheer
• 3rd Grade –Ms. Dudley, Ms. Thruelsen
• 4th Grade – Ms. Hartmann
• 5th Grade - Mr. Backman, Ms. Goldman: 5th grade returns to a departmentalized model next year, so Mr. Backman will teach Math and Science to both classes, and Ms. Goldman/Mr. Stevenson will teach Language Arts and Social Studies to both classes.
• Resource Room – Ms. Manno, Ms. Brownstein
• Library – Dr. Valdez
• Visual Arts – Ms. Appel
• PE – TBD in September as this will be a temporary assignment until classes are finalized.

Staffing Updates:

• Office Assistant Ms. Catie Coyle is moving to California in July. We wish her and her family the best of luck in her new locale.
• Ms. Goldman and her partner are expecting their second child in July. During her Sept – Dec maternity leave, Mr. Trevor Stevenson will be teaching 5th grade. Mr. Stevenson was at QAE all year as our enthusiastic PE Specialist, and he has extensive experience teaching elementary and middle school.
• Ms. Dickerson and her husband are expecting their first child in July. During her fall maternity leave, Ms. Caroline Ginder (Ms. Scannepieco’s sister) will be teaching 1st grade. Ms. Ginder was a regular substitute teacher at QAE in 2019-20, knows the children well and has experience teaching Kindergarten and 1st grade.

We will see how the COVID-19 pandemic impacts SPS which, as always, SPS plans to review staffing allocations across the district in late September. If you have any questions on QAE's staffing for next year, please contact Janine.

Queen Anne Elementary is taking part in the Global Reading Challenge for the 4th year! Teams of 4th and 5th grade students have been working had to prepare for this quiz-show style contest at QAE! Among the goals of the GRC are to motivate children to read, develop teamwork and cooperative thinking skills, and have fun. Each year, students from across the city read up to 10 books selected by Seattle librarians and participate in weekly meetings to study these books with their teammates.

Our winning team will advance to compete with teams from other schools across the city. The program will end with an All-City Final that will take place at the downtown Central Library.

If your child is participating in GRC this year (or you just want to watch!), please join us for our In-School Competition, which will be held at QAE on Tuesday, Feb. 11th at 8:15am. We are so proud of all of our 4th and 5th grade participants!

See the Seattle Public Library GRC site for more information, including the list of books.

Our Fall Project-Based Learning Showcase and MakerSpace MarketPlace is next week!

When: Tuesday, Dec. 17th 2019, 5:30-7:30pm
Where: QAE - MarketPlace is in gym/Chillzone, project presentations in classroom areas

Be sure to bring cash to get some wonderful creations from the MarketPlace. Full schedule detail below:

A message from 3rd Grade Teacher Thruelsen:

İFelíz Mes de la Herencia Hispana! İHola amigos de QAE! I am taking it upon myself to share some information about Hispanic Heritage Month, which falls between September 15th and October 15th. This is incredibly important to me as I have Hispanic family members and spent many years working in Spanish immersion in Los Angeles, where 47.5% of the population is Hispanic. Though we have a smaller Hispanic and Latino community at Queen Anne Elementary, we have a substantial one within Seattle and it’s important our children know and celebrate their Hispanic neighbors! Here are a few FAQs about Hispanic Heritage Month that I think you might find helpful in talking about with your students. Please reach out if you’d like ideas on how to incorporate this in your teaching over the next month!

Preguntas Frecuentes: Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between Hispanic and Latino?
Hispanic refers to a linguistic lineage, from Spanish. Latino refers to those who come from Latin America. Therefore, many Latinos are Hispanic, but not all (I.e. Brazilians), and many Hispanics are Latino, but not all (I.e. Spaniards). Many people identify as both and will use the terms interchangeably, but not all choose to do so.

Why the dates Sept. 15-Oct 15?
Why not a full calendar month? September 15th is an incredibly symbolic day to many Hispanic countries in Latin America. Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua all declared independence in 1821 on September 15th. In addition, September 16, 1810 was the day when Mexicans gave el Grito de la Independencia (the Cry of Independence) to declare the beginning of the Mexican War of Independence from Spain. Mexicans and Mexican-Americans traditionally celebrate El Grito starting at midnight on the night of the 15th of September. Many Hispanics celebrate this day within our city in September. There is a Fiestas Patrias at the Seattle Center this weekend if you’d like to explore! Details here: https://www.mygiraffe.com/Home/Detail/47459

Who should the kids absolutely know about?
There are thousands of influential Hispanic men and women who have made phenomenal differences in our country’s growth, progress, and success. However, oftentimes I find that students don’t know even the most significant leaders. Every child, by the time they leave elementary school, should know at the least the following influential leaders: (it’s killing me to only write down three names here):

Cesar Chavez: (SAY-sar CHA-vez) devoted his life to assisting thousand to receive better wages and safer working conditions, specifically agricultural workers in California. Hero to many Hispanic families throughout our country.

Dolores Huerta: (Do-LOR-es WUER-ta) was a leader on behalf of farmworkers, partner to Cesar Chavez in many ways. Obama’s campaign slogan, Yes we can! Was an echo to Dolores’ slogan, Si, se puede!

Sonia Sotomayor: (SON-ya So-to-my-or) was the first Latina and Hispanic Supreme Justice in our country. (also fun fact: type one diabetic like me! )

I so appreciate everyone’s efforts to make our classrooms welcoming spaces for all. Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, even on a smaller scale in our classrooms, helps us fulfill our mission to include and celebrate every single student in the Seattle Public Schools system.

Sinceramente, Srta. Thruelsen

Below are a handful of the photos taken by QAE parent Christa Winquist during our recent Project-Based Learning Showcase and our first ever MakerSpace Marketplace. It was a such a great night - amazing to see all the excitement, the kids so eager to share what they've learned.

As Christa said, "I loved how this event and evening was teacher and student led and focused with parents in a supportive role. The event really captured the spirit of QAE! My kiddos and our family really enjoyed it!"

Queen Anne Elementary is participating in Hour of Code for the sixth year! And we need your help to make it a success!

Hour of Code is an annual event at QAE teaching beginning coding skills to all students.  It is important that every student has an opportunity to learn computer science, and this event also teaches problem-solving, logic, and creativity.  These are vital skills no matter what field students go into as adults.  Only a tiny fraction of us are learning computer science, and fewer students are studying it than a decade ago (and women account for only 12% of computer science degrees).  That’s why our entire school is again joining in on the largest learning event in history: The Hour of Code, during Computer Science Education Week.  More than 100 million students have participated already (and our kids are among them!)   ​

This year's Hour of Code focus is creativity. See the series of videos that highlight creativity and feature Bill Gates, Malala, Serena Williams,  Sheryl Sandberg, Neymar and many more. Show them to your kids to get them excited!

Volunteers Needed
The Hour of Code Team is looking for volunteers to help the students throughout the day on 12/6. This is a fun activity, and it does not require any advanced technical skills. Please sign up here today! We're going to start with a volunteer meeting at 8:30 for a quick tutorial about what programs students will be doing and how you can support. We'll then head to classrooms. We'll be sure you're in the class of your child. If you can stay throughout the day, great. If you can only stay for part of the day, just note on the volunteer form.

Sign up here to volunteer...

If you work for a technology company, we'd love to have a group of engineers volunteer!

If you have any other questions, please contact Greg Marks, PTSA Technology Director and Hour of Code maestro, at [email protected].

​PBL Night is Thursday, Dec. 13th from 5:30 – 7:30pm at John Marshall.  This year, we will be adding the first ever QAE MakerSpace MarketPlace!

Project-Based Learning Showcase Schedule

• 5:30-6:30pm - 3rd–5th grade MakerSpace MarketPlace in John Marshall Auditorium
• 5:55pm - Kindergarten performance on stage in John Marshall Auditorium
  
• 6-6:30pm - K-2nd grade PBL Presentations in classrooms
  
• 6:30-7pm - 3rd-5th grade PBL Presentations in classrooms

​
If you have family or friends thinking about registering at QAE next year, please invite them to this fantastic event!

MakerSpace MarketPlace
Makerspace MarketPlace is a place to support the student directed MakerSpace fall challenge. Students wrote proposals to “make a difference for themselves, the community or the world”. Explorers had the freedom to create initiatives, which included fund-raisers, awareness campaigns and products to sell. These products will be shared at the MakerSpace MarketPlace to raise money for different charities on PBL night. All funds raised will be pooled and divided equally amongst the students’ initiatives. There will also be a raffle and a bake sale to raise funds for the QAE MakerSpace. MakerSpace MarketPlace will be open from 5:30 – 6:30pm in the Cafeteria. 

If your child would like to sell their MakerSpace items at the MarketPlace or showcase his or her learning, please fill out the application here:
https://qaeptsa.wufoo.com/forms/2018-qae-makerspace-marketplace/

After we receive your entry, we'll follow up with more details!
​
If you would like to make or contribute baked goods for the MakerSpace Bake Sale, please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409084eaaad29a0fb6-makerspace

Come support our students and community, buy delicious baked goods and see the amazing learning happening in MakerSpace! 

Questions?
Kristin Teske (Teacher) - [email protected]
Kristi Barnes (MarketPlace) - [email protected]
Pia Silverlieb (Bake Sale) - [email protected] 

Earlier this afternoon Principal Roy shared the following e-mail with the student community. The PTSA wants to underscore the thanks given to Ms. Dudley, Ms. Palumbo and Ms. McCormick for helping us work through this difficult situation. We are relieved that there will be no reduction in existing classrooms at QAE!

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Dear QAE Parents/Guardians,

Each September, Seattle Public Schools examines initial school enrollment and makes staffing adjustments district-wide. This year, SPS enrollment is significantly below projections which impacted many schools across the district. Queen Anne Elementary is one of several SPS elementary schools directed to make staffing adjustments. This means we must adjust our staffing by one full-time teacher. Our next step is to determine how to best do this while having the least impact on students.

In light of losing a full-time teacher, which would force a reorganization of almost all of our classes, the staff came up with a unique approach that minimizes the impact on our children. We thank Ms. Bonnie Dudley, Ms. Megan Palumbo and Ms. Helene McCormick for their dedication to supporting our students in crafting an innovative plan.

After consensus with the Building Leadership Team (composed of staff, PTSA Executive and parents; K – 5th grade teachers and Career Ladder Teachers) and QAE staff, here is our plan:

• Ms. Bonnie Dudley and Ms. Megan Palumbo will job-share the 2nd grade class. When Ms. Palumbo goes on maternity leave in March, Ms. Dudley will teach the class full time for the remainder of the year.
• Ms. McCormick, our 0.6 Reading Specialist, voluntarily reduced her assignment by 0.1 FTE. PTSA generously agreed to fund an additional 0.4 FTE so that QAE will keep a Reading Specialist at QAE. We are thrilled that Ms. McCormick will continue supporting QAE explorers this year. Thank you so much, PTSA!

What does this mean for your child?

• All our classes remain intact. No classes will need to be reorganized.
• While Ms. Bonnie is our least senior teacher, her class remains in place because Ms. Bonnie and Ms.
• Palumbo volunteered to job share.
• Thanks to PTSA additional funding, we will have a 0.5 FTE Reading Specialist at QAE in 2018-19.
• We will not have a 0.5 Math Specialist at QAE in 2018-2019.

Ms. Bonnie, Ms. Palumbo, QAE staff and I will work closely with students and parents in the 2nd grade class to navigate this unexpected change. All students will continue to have great teachers and continue learning alongside their current classmates.

• Even if your child isn’t in Ms. Bonnie’s class, your child may still hear about this change or have a friend impacted by the change. While none of us wants a change to happen, modeling for our students that we will get through this together is important. We can help our students through this process by:
• Talking with students to identify feelings created by this change and how to deal with feelings. Expressing both sadness at the change and confidence that we will manage this in our supportive community helps students build their emotional and social skills.
• Providing reassurance that once these changes are made, there will not be additional SPS staffing changes in the coming weeks and months.
• Helping students to identify ways they can help both themselves and others. Checking in with friends and expressing support ensures that all students know that they have a role in impacting our community and our world.
• Ms. Bonnie, Ms. Palumbo and Ms. McCormick want parents to know that they understand this change has to be made, and they want to make it as calmly and smoothly as possible for students. Expressing your support to teachers as we make this change by writing a note or sending an email would be ideal, as they are very mindful of the impact adult conversations can have in front of students.
• Read the SPS post on Staffing Adjustments.
• Below are Reorganization FAQ which parents may find helpful.
• I welcome your questions and don’t hesitate to reach out to me! Please contact me by phone or email at [email protected] and I will get back to you as quickly as possible.
• This article may provide some helpful information to parents as we help students navigate this unexpected change

I want to express my appreciation and support to every QAE family, our incredible QAE staff, our BLT and PTSA. Collaboratively working together has been essential during this process. We will get through this change over the next few days, and most importantly, we will get through this together as a supportive QAE community.

Yours,
Janine Roy, Principal

​
QAE 2018 Reorganization FAQ

When a school has to reduce a teaching position, how is this done?
When a teacher needs to be displaced in a school, we are contractually required to ask for volunteers and if none emerge, then the least senior classroom teacher is automatically displaced. At QAE, we had three volunteers which allows us to keep classes intact:

• Ms. Palumbo volunteered to change her position to 0.5 second grade so that her 0.5 Math Specialist position could be eliminated.
  
• Ms. Bonnie volunteered to reduce from full-time to half time in order to remain at QAE.
  
• Ms. McCormick, our 0.6 Reading Specialist, volunteered to reduce her assignment by 0.1 FTE. PTSA is generously funding an additional 0.4 FTE so that Ms. McCormick can remain as QAE’s Reading Specialist. Huge thanks to PTSA for your incredible support for students!

Are we at risk of losing any additional staff/resources?
No. Staffing adjustments are only made at the beginning of the year at elementary schools.

Could we have made cuts/savings in other places to save this position?
No. Schools are allocated separate budgets for staffing and supplies. Supply budgets cannot be moved to cover staffing needs, nor would they be sufficient to meet these costs.

Were enrollments down across all Seattle Public Schools?
Enrollment at the elementary level is down across the district. Schools are impacted differently based on their boundaries, housing trends, etc.

How does this compare to other elementary schools in our area?
Other elementary schools in the Queen Anne community had a difference between their projected enrollment and actual enrollment as well.

Did we take all the students off our waitlist?
Yes, all interested families were accepted at QAE this year.

QAE Curriculum Night - Thursday, Sept. 27th, 6:30-8pm at John Marshall
​
For new QAE families, Curriculum Night is an annual SPS evening information session for parents. This year, QAE parents/guardians will begin in the John Marshall auditorium/cafeteria at 6:30pm for staff introductions and an overview of our five pillars and QAE foundational elements, such as Project Based Learning (PBL), social emotional learning and innovative technology. Then parents/guardians will move to your child’s classroom where your child’s teacher will provide a presentation from the grade group team on academic programs, social emotional learning and supporting your child at home.

We begin in the John Marshall auditorium/cafeteria at 6:30 pm for staff introductions and an overview of QAE pillars. A 20-minute presentation will be offered by each classroom teacher in their room at 7pm and repeated at 7:30pm to accommodate families with more than one child. Beginning at 7:30 pm, Janine Roy will be available in the cafeteria to answer any remaining questions.

Games Club Available

We have a limited number of slots available for Games Club during Curriculum Night. You can drop your kids off for fun while you focus on Curriculum Night. Sign up here. Slots are limited and are by reservation only.

SPS is working towards adopting a new science curriculum. In this process the science adoption committee is asking for your participation. Please encourage your friends, family and community members to share their thoughts. We need all voices to weigh in on their ideas regarding K-8 science.

Take the survey here:
​https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SPSNeedsSurvey-Community

Calling all QAE citizens to our June Project Based Learning Showcase on Thursday, June!  This is our chance to celebrate student learning, hard work and determination.  We encourage all families to celebrate both their child’s PBL work and see the PBL products of other students and older students so all children develop a vision for what is possible in the years ahead.
 
PBL Showcase Schedule
5:30 – 6:00  - Kindergarten (classrooms)
5:45 – 6:30 – 1st grade Symposium begins in Cafeteria and breaks out into hallway and 1st grade classrooms
6:15 – 7:00 – 2nd and 3rd grade   Brick and Treehouse classrooms
6:45 – 7:30 – 4th and 5th grade Treehouse and Portables

Our wonderful Head Teacher / Kindergarten teacher Katie Cryan Leary put together a site that summarizes what each grade has done for PBL this year.

Take a look at the site:
http://qaepbl.weebly.com/blog/fall-2017-pbl-projects

From "What's in My Heart? ​What's in Your Heart?" to "We Are Seattle" to "Food Justice", learn more about how our students into a complex challenge and learning!

Queen Anne Elementary is Creative Approach School that joins Project Based Learning (PBL), Social Emotional Learning (SEL), and our Five Pillars with the Common Core Curriculum. A couple of amazing parent volunteers, Jenny Brailey and Mike LaRocque, helped put together these videos that highlight what each of the Five Pillars means. Check them out and share with other parents as well as those incoming families who are considering QAE!

• We are self-directed learners
• We encourage each other to think critically and learn more
• We are concerned, confident and compassionate citizens of the world
• We learn everywhere, we learn together
• We are creative

We are self-directed learners

Poet Charles Waters is coming to QAE on Thursday, Jan. 25th to talk about poetry with our students. ​Antioch University will be bringing 30 signed copies of Charles Waters' book Can I Touch Your Hair: Poems About Race, Mistakes and Friendship for sale the day of his visit. The can be purchased for $15 each with cash or check. Parents are welcome at the assemblies! 8-8:50am for K-2 and 9:10-10am for 3rd-5th grades.

We've had enough pre-sales of his book that Antioch will be able to give 30 copies of the book to Puget Sound area schools that do not have sufficient funding for their libraries!

We'd also like to give a last minute call out for student art that encompasses the themes of race, friendship and mistakes. Please have your child submit their work to their teacher by Tuesday, January 23rd.