Welcome from Our PTSA President!

 Dear Queen Anne Elementary Family,  

Welcome!  What an amazing 3+ weeks of school with an incredible QAE school community of students, families, teachers and staff.  The QAE PTSA vision is to support this community and to support each other to help make our child’s potential become a reality and to help provide a powerful voice for our children.  QAE PTSA is a volunteer-run organization and we appreciate all of your volunteering efforts! 

Before I jump in, I wanted to remind you that our first big event and fundraiser of the year is this Friday--our beloved QAE Jog-A-Thon! We're at $22,000 towards our goal of raising $40,000 and need your help to meet that goal and support our kids. Setting up a PledgeStar account is a snap — take a few minutes to set it up now. Whether you post your PledgeStar link to your social media or dial up your grandparent for a donation — every dollar raised helps! And we'll see you on Friday at the school!

If you are new to QAE or back again I wanted to share the focuses we have this year.  These were built on parent and staff feedback the Board received at the end of the last school year:

Funding staff positions. The PTSA assists in funding our in-class tutors for Kindergarten and 1st Grade, playground supervisor, additional math specialist time, allocation for someone to help with particular paperwork and a Social Emotional Learning focused tutor. 

Providing staff and classroom support.  Funding staff professional development, training days for learning new curriculum and positive discipline, and discretionary funds teachers can use to enhance their classroom or curriculum.  And math curriculum for the 4th and 5th grade classes. 

Bringing in special guests for assemblies and events. 

Families of Color, which seeks to create a welcoming community for children and families of color, and to integrate cultural competency at QAE. 

Gather in the Garden, which uses the QAE Learning Garden to integrate basic earth sciences and community stewardship for our students and families. 

Classroom Coordinators, who keep you connected to what’s happening academically and socially in the classroom. 

In addition, we sponsor a host of additional support to build community and have fun through events, support Project Based Learning, and generally make QAE the most fun elementary school in Seattle!  This is all made possible through the hard work of volunteers and through funds raised each school year. 

How does PTSA pay for the above initiatives:  The PTSA holds fundraising events just three times during the school year.  Our estimated total fundraising goal this year is $250,000.     

Jog-A-Thon – Powered by our students by reaching out to our family and friends for pledges. 

Explorer Fund Drive – Powered by our parents to help answer a call by our school, teachers and students. 

Auction – Powered by the whole community.  A social evening that helps bring together our parent and teacher community to socialize and raise the dollars needed to fund this year’s operating budget.  (Save the Date – Friday, March 13, 2020) 

Here’s how you can get involved:  

Complete the back to school checklist!  This includes ensuring we can contact you for all of these great events, among many other things.  qaeptsa.org/checklist. 

Volunteer. Whether you volunteer in your child’s class, in campus groups, or through the PTSA, there are many ways to be involved. We are looking for a team to plan our annual auction but there are opportunities on every level of time commitment and interest. Start at the PTSA volunteer page or reach out to [email protected]. 

Attend a PTSA event. We organize community events (Family Games Night, Jog-A-Thon, etc) throughout the year, so please join us. We keep all school and PTSA dates on the calendar.

Donate. Fundraising enables us to support our students. We organize three annual fundraising events: Jog-A-Thon (October 4, 2019), Explorer Fund Drive (Dec. 2020), and Auction (March 13, 2020).  

Read the Rocket Reader. Our weekly e-newsletter publication includes essential school and PTSA information and important dates. The email address you provide through the Directory will be added to our distribution list courtesy of QAE PTSA. Please contact [email protected] if you are not receiving the Rocket Reader.  

Look for more information at qaeptsa.org, in the Rocket Reader, and in your student’s orange folder in the coming weeks. We look forward to meeting you and thank you for your support.  

Sincerely,  
Sandra Nanney 
QAE PTSA President 

PTSA President Sandra Nanney and her family

Frequently Asked Questions

​How do I get information? Do I need Facebook? 
We try to communicate in different ways to reach all parents – Rocket Reader emails, weekly Class Coordinator emails, student orange folders and Facebook postings.  Some forms of communication will reach you faster than others. 

Facebook – I see two QAE facebook accounts.  What’s the difference? 
There are two pages that shares school information.  Queen Anne Elementary PTSA – primary posts are the official dates and to-do's pushed by the PTSA and the Board initiatives.  QAE Community Discussions – closed group of QAE community family members where all individuals are welcome to post questions, discussions and support each other.  

The after-school enrichment registration process is different this year – why is that? 
After many years of running the enrichment program with a team of volunteers it was brought to the Board that the program had gotten larger than the parent volunteers could manage.  The after-school program is now being run by Kids Co.  It does look similar because we provided them all our previous providers for them to contact for set up. 

QAE PTSA Board Meeting vs. General Meeting –What is the difference? 
PTSA board meetings occur once a month for committee updates, discussions on ways to improve, execute, and vote on upcoming requests and needs of the communities.  All are welcome but only board members have a vote on motions during the Meeting. 
General Meeting – PTSA holds three all school meetings each year to share with the community financial updates, committee updates or any motions that require an all membership vote I.e. the main PTSA Budget requires a general membership vote.  All are welcome and usually kids club is available for students. 

I have an idea and want to start something new? 
Great! We are open to new ideas and parent led initiatives.  Please reach out to [email protected] and we can figure it out. 

What’s coming up? ​

• Wednesday, Oct. 2nd: QAE PTSA Board Meeting at the Chillzone
• Friday, Oct. 4th: All School Jog-a-Thon
• Thursday, Oct. 10th - Curriculum Night (Rescheduled)
• Friday, Oct. 11th: No School, In-Service Day
• Monday, Oct. 14th: Fall Enrichment Classes begin 
• Wednesday, Oct. 16th: QAE PTSA General Membership Meeting 
• Friday, March 13th, 2020: Auction 

Other questions? 
Email [email protected] and we'll do our best to help.