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. 

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. 

Thank you for your readership! This is a QAE PTSA newsletter. Please direct, question, comments, concerns and ideas to [email protected] ​

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. 

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! 

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!! 

Community 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. 

As 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. ​

Check out this performance ... and their hair and dances moves ... from the QAE Talent Show. Our teachers are the champions!

QAE staff and parents have worked hard to on Hiring Teams over the past 3 weeks to hire outstanding new teachers. After screening over 350 applicants from all over the world, completing reference checks on all short-listed candidates and interviewing for primary, intermediate and specialists, we are thrilled to welcome the following new teachers to our community.

UPDATE - we'll be hosting an informal meet and greet with our new teachers on Thursday, May 9th, 6:30-7:30pm at the Big Howe playground. Stop by to meet the new staff and let your kids run and play. We'll have some munchies, but feel free to bring a picnic dinner. At least 5 new teachers have confirmed that they will be there!

Primary staff (K-2nd Grade)

Jerrika Dickerson is currently a 1st grade teacher in Haltom City, Texas. Chosen to be her school’s Teacher of the Year in 2018-19, she brings her enthusiasm for multiage classes and her passion for learning and teaching to QAE. She was a member of her school’s Building Leadership Team, she was selected to be on a district-level collaboration team on math curriculum development and advanced learning programs, and she was on a school-based team to launch her school as a specialty school.


“I am greatly looking forward to my first year as a Seattleite educator at Queen Anne Elementary this year! I graduated from Dallas Baptist University in 2017 and have been teaching the most wonderful first graders in Texas for the past two years. I am a Colorado native, and a Texan by marriage, but my husband and I are anxious to begin our next adventure in North Seattle this summer. To me, education is more than a passion, it is my calling. I am dedicated to learning beside my students as we tackle new challenges and continually grow. I am overjoyed to be joining the learning movement at QAE and invest in the creative community that thrives here. My simple joys include reading everywhere, all the time, the smell of roasted garlic, and shopping local! I also love cooking my husband a "phenomenal" dinner, swimming, and coffee dates. I just can't wait to meet you!”

Specialists:

Dr. Emily Valdez is our enthusiastic new librarian. She has been a Special Education teacher and ELL teacher, and will now become our QAE teacher librarian. She brings her doctorate in educational innovations and policy and her rich teaching experience to lead our beloved library.
​
“I'm so excited to be a part of the QAE community as a teacher librarian. After earning my BA from Bowdoin College, I traveled the world for a year on my own to get a better sense of what I wanted to do with my life. After a short stint in a software start-up, I went back to school to get my M.Ed in special education. For three years I taught special education in a high school in rural Idaho and decided that I wanted to get my doctorate. I headed for Seattle and started the program at UW. After fifteen years of doing research on educational innovations and policy, I decided that I missed the classroom and most of all I missed daily interactions with students and other teachers. I recently went back to school (again) to get my endorsement in library and media science at SPU where I discovered the best job possible---teacher librarian, which combines my absolute love of books and kids. When I'm not in the library, I enjoy hiking, camping, and playing sports with my daughter, Eva; my husband; and my black lab, Helo.”

We'll also be announcing a new art teacher soon!

Thank you to our dedicated QAE Hiring Teams: Lorin Belcher, Julie Colando, Jen Dickens, Sarah Goldman, Erin Knapp, Priyanka Jayanthi, Devin Liner, Rachel Marks, Molly Meck, Laura Shaw, Michele Christensen, Leslie Jaynes, Gillian Jorgensen, Sandra Nanney, Pia Silverlieb, Jody Stewart, and Ian Stewart. Many thanks to the additional families and friends who provided child care to make our many interviews possible. Specific teaching assignments will be determined in the weeks ahead once our teams have a chance to plan together.

It's that time of year again! If you don't hear from them, please reach out to your classroom coordinator about little gestures for our staff next week. Bringing in a coffee to start the day can really put a smile on their face! 

Here's what the PTSA Sunshine Committee has planned for this week. Please contact Kirsty Papadopuls at [email protected] if you'd like to help! Jodie Scott is coordinating showing our gratitude for the Learning Lab staff. Contact Jodie at [email protected] to help with those wonderful folks.

Monday: Drawing Blueberry and Juices
Staff caricatures by Drawing Blueberry and Pressed Juicery juices!

Tuesday & Wednesday: Coffee/Tulips and Treat Yourself!
Exact order TBD but one day will be Storyville coffee and make your own tulip bouquets.  Other day is essential oil scrubs and sprays and "rocket fuel" trail mix bar. 

Thursday: All-Staff Lunch
Lunch generously hosted by Canlis and Met Market

Friday: All-Staff Happy Hour
Off site hosted happy hour at the Shelter Greenlake!

​Thanks to those who helped organize Teacher Appreciation Week. And special thanks to all the QAE staff for the amazing job they do with our kids!

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 [email protected]. 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.

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​
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: [email protected]
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 ]

When: Thursday, Oct. 12th, 6:30-8pm

It's that time of year! Curriculum Night is an opportunity for our teachers to share their vision, focus, and plans for the year. You'll also hear more about Project Based Learning, daily life in the classroom, and volunteer opportunities.

• 6:30pm - Meet in the cafeteria for staff introductions and overview of our Five Pillars of Learning
• 7pm - Session #1: Teachers provide information on academic programs, social emotional  learning and supporting your child at home for the year
• 7:25pm - Session #2 – this is a repeat of Session #1 for families with multiple children at QAE 
• 7:55pm - Curriculum Night wraps up. Still have questions? Come to the cafeteria to connect with Principal Roy

Update: CURRICULUM NIGHT GAMES & FORTS!
This just in! There is now a child-focused event happening at Curriculum Night. A limited number of spaces are available for current QAE students to participate in Games & Forts, led by Gen Zoufal and Alex Hagen. If you are interested in registering your child, please follow this link:
https://qaeptsa.wufoo.com/forms/curriculum-night-games-forts/

Suggested donation is $5 per child. Registration will open at 4:30pm on Wednesday, October 11th and close at 5pm on Thursday, October 12th. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected]

 Look forward to seeing you at Curriculum Night!

Ms. Roy sent out the letter early today to all QAE families. See below for answers to some questions about this change.

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Dear QAE families,

​Each year, SPS examines September enrollment and then makes district-wide staffing adjustments. Our enrollment has changed this year due to factors such as higher-than-expected family relocations. As a result, SPS Enrollment needs to displace one teacher at QAE. Contractually, we are required to displace our least senior teacher, and we are saddened to report that 4th grade teacher Ms. Dawson will be assigned to teach at a new school. Ms. Dawson wants parents to know that she understands and accepts this change has to be made, and her hope is to make it as calm and smooth as possible for students and for her move to a new school.

​Our Building Leadership Team (BLT), composed of staff, PTSA and parents, recommends that we reorganize classes at 4th grade, due to current class sizes and striving to impact as few students as possible. This means we will shift from three 4th grade classes to two. Staff have worked together to create the best placements for our students and I have been in communication with 4th grade families in Ms. Dawson’s class already. We know our incredible QAE staff will support all students during this transition. The PTSA was clear that it wants to help the affected classes and will vote on funding a 4th grade tutor at the next meeting.

​While no one wants this to happen, sometimes unexpected things occur. Modeling for our students that we will get through this together is important. All QAE families can help our students and our community 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 we make these changes, 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. Helping with the move, checking in with friends and expressing support ensures that all students know that they have a role in impacting our community and our world.

I welcome questions and don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I have also attached a second page of answers to some questions I anticipate you may have. ​

​Thank you to our wonderful QAE community. Collaboratively working with staff, BLT and PTSA 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.

Many thanks,

Janine
[email protected]

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QAE 2017 Reorganization FAQ

When a school loses a teacher, how is that teacher chosen?
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. The teacher being displaced is the least senior teacher at our school based on years teaching in SPS and in Washington state, as her experience is out of state.

What happens to the teacher who is displaced from the school?
She is assigned to a teaching position in another SPS school.

If our enrollment is down, do we get to keep the Head Teacher role (Katie Cryan Leary)?
Administrative allocations are assigned for the year and do not fluctuate due to enrollment changes. Our Head Teacher position was funded by converting our Assistant Principal allocation into a Head Teacher position for this year, so this position remains in place for the year. This role will be so important as we prepare for our move to our interim site next year.

Are we at risk of losing our music teacher?
Based on the number of classroom teachers at QAE, our specialist teacher allocation has not changed.

Are we at risk of losing any additional staff/resources?
At this time, I do not anticipate any impact to district services from SPS this year.

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 affected differently based on their boundaries, housing trends, etc.

How does this compare to other elementary schools in our area?
QAE is an option school so it enrolls differently than the neighboring attendance area schools that have automatic assignments. One unexpected factor this summer was that option school enrollments were affected by technical issues with the SPS online admission system not informing new families about option schools in their area. This technical issue, which inadvertently occurred over the summer, specifically impacted option schools enrollments. This has since been corrected, but it affected option schools.

Is our enrollment different from last year?
QAE’s enrollment this year is an unexpected anomaly. With the upcoming remodel of the school, the district and community clearly feel QAE will grow to capacity. Bottom line: this is not a trend, just a result of many different factors happening at once.

Did we take all the students off our waitlist?
Yes, all interested families were accepted at QAE this year. Note: we did find a 2 month window where the SPS online enrollment form issues so option schools were not listed in new student enrollment options.

I welcome questions and don’t hesitate to reach out to me! I will connect with you as soon as possible.

Janine
206-252-2480

QAE is throwing a Popsicle Party for new families who will be joining us for the 2017-18 school year! It's tomorrow afternoon (June 13th) from 4:30-5pm on the QAE playground. See the school, meet some other families and get any questions answered. If you know a family of an incoming Kindergartner (or other families who will be new to QAE), please encourage them to attend!

Afterwards, new families can stick around and check our school-wide Project Based Learning celebration from 5-6:30pm!

Parents of Incoming Kindergartners: Don't forget to sign up for Kindergarten Jump Start, which will take place the week of August 21st - 25th!

Our kids. Our teachers. Our family. We're building a community of concerned, confident and compassionate citizens of the world.

Our Five Pillars:

• 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
  
  

Help our students navigate the world with these values by supporting the PTSA's Explorer Fund Drive.

If you haven't had a chance, please donate now!

 The school is looking great, and is very nearly ready for the first day. The classrooms are large and light, and many hours have gone into making them some of the best elementary rooms in Seattle.  At orientation, families met the staff, toured the school grounds and were afforded the opportunity to meet with Mr. Elliott. The current staff is very nearly organized for the first day and beyond.  They are feeling very enthusiastic, though not complete.  Because of fluctuating enrollment, QAE is very lucky to have been granted another full time teacher, to be hired by QAE, and second teacher to share with McDonald Elementary. 

This will lower class sizes to around 25 students per room, which is excellent news for everyone!  The two new teachers are being hired now, and will hopefully be in place for the first day.  QAE will hire a kindergarten/1st grade teacher, and McDonald has hired 2 teachers who will job share and be the instructors for both school’s third graders.  The classes will be as follows:

David Elliott                              Principal
Rachel Simon                            Kindergarten
To Be Hired                             K/1st grade 
Katie Cryan Leary                 2nd grade
Joelle Mertel & Dianne Eileen, 3rd grade shared with McDonald
Joe Bailey-Fogarty               4th / 5th grade
Jeffrey Riley, Librarian / Technology Specialist
Niki Meyers, Special Education
Brent Roberts, Physical Education
Carla Kirch, Administrative Assist

Thank you for your patience with these last-minute changes.  If you have questions/concerns, please feel free to contact D

QAE has officially posted an opening and will be hiring for a K-1 teacher. We anticipate that we will be able to have a teacher in place for the first day of school.

What is a technology-infused curriculum? For many, this is the big question whose answer will define what makes Queen Anne Elementary unique. We have a dedicated and motivated team of parents who are looking at best practices internationally, and our entire staff is involved in defining what and how to apply these to our school.
While the role of technology is still being determined, one thing that is clear: the top priority of the school is teacher quality.  With that in mind, it's great to share a news story of/about our 3rd/4th/5th grade teacher, Joe Bailey-Fogarty. This project demonstrates how Joe makes learning multiple subjects at once fun. He incorporates teamwork, architecture, physics, budgeting, art, and enjoyment in this lesson. See more here.

David Elliott and his new staff met with founding families and prospective students on Saturday morning in Queen Anne.  The event was a huge success with over 100 attendees, brimming with  energy and excitement.  The Queen Anne Elementary community showed itself to be an enthusiastic group of individuals and families, eager to contribute and shape the future of the school.  What an amazing opportunity for the founding families, working toward the common goal of building an exceptional public school!   Check out photos from the event on the website.