Don’t hide your pride! Buy a special Say Gay t-shirt now through May 27 using our online portal. Your purchase helps the PTA purchase LGBTQIA+ books for the STEM library!
Make sure to mark your calendar for Louisa Boren STEM’s 3rd Annual Pride March on Sunday, June 26 from 2-4 PM in the Morgan Junction. STEM parent, woman & queer-owned Youngstown Coffee is partnering with us again. Last year it was super fun and the music was bumpin’–don’t miss it!
It’s May, and that means it’s time for the annual Bike to School Day. Louisa Boren STEM K-8 students, parents, and staff are invited to join a BIKE TRAIN. It’s free and fun!
Meet at Greg Davis Park (2600 SW Brandon St) between 8:00 and 8:15 a.m. on Wednesday, May 18 and we’ll bike to school together along a neighborhood greenway and the Longfellow Creek path. Bring a helmet, a bike lock, and your big smiles for this event.
- You can bike to Greg Davis Park or drive and park. Everyone is welcome.
- Grade K-2 students – please have a parent or other adult join in the bike train with student. If parent or adult is not available but student wants to participate, please contact Marlo Laubach at poppymuffin72@gmail.com and we can likely find another adult to pair student with.
- Grade 3-8 students – parents are welcome but not required if student is confident on a bike.
- Please note the bike train is only in the morning. Families should make their own plans for afternoon transportation.
- If there is more than a light drizzle on Wednesday, May 18, the RAIN DATE is Thursday, May 19.
Pedal On Owls!!
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WHEN: Thursday, May 19, 2022, 10:00 AM until 9:30 PM
WHERE: Panda Express, 15842 1st Ave S, Burien, WA 98148
HOW:
-Order online at PandaExpress.com and enter code 336677
-Bring the flyer below on your phone or on paper to the restaurant
WHY: 20% of sales will be donated to STEM!
[embeddoc url=”https://stemk8pta.org/files/2022/05/Panda-Exp-flyer-English-Espanol.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”google”]
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Head over to Paper Book Booksellers TODAY through Sunday to benefit Louisa Boren STEM K8!
Shop in store at Paper Boat Booksellers today, March 22 through and Sunday, March 27 and a portion of your purchase will benefit STEM. The book store closes at 6pm today through Saturday, and closes at 5pm on Sunday.
You MUST mention STEM at check-out for our school to receive proceeds.
STEM “Book Fair” Fundraiser at Paper Boat Booksellers
Dates: Tuesday, March 22 – Sunday, March 27
What: Part of the proceeds from purchases placed Tuesday, March 22 – Sunday, March 27 will go to STEM when STEM is mentioned at check-out.
How: Must mention STEM before making a purchase for the school to get the credit.
- purchases must be made during that week, so things that are in stock at the store work best
- If you would like to place a special order, you will need to pay for the purchase at the time you order it so that proceeds can be counted toward STEM.
Paper Boat has a great selection to choose from in stock, and any special orders you make for out of stock items can also benefit the school if they are pre-paid during that week. Store Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10 am-6 pm and Sunday 11 am-5 pm. Paper Boat Booksellers is located at 6040 California Ave SW, Suite A.
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Voter-Approved Education Levies Support Seattle Students
(This article in its entirety can be found at https://www.seattleschools.org/about/levy/)
There is a gap between what the state funds for K-12 education and what Seattle students need. Every three years, Seattle Public Schools asks voters to renew the Educational Programs and Operations Levy (EP&O), which is a local education property tax.
School construction is primarily funded by local voter-approved capital levies. Capital levies are also the primary funding source for technology used by students, teachers, school staff, and administrators, and for district operations. Capital levies are local education property taxes. Every three years, the district asks voters to approve renewal of one of the six-year capital levies.
The money Seattle Public Schools collects from local, voter-approved education levies stays in Seattle. We use these funds to provide the quality of education that our students and families expect, and to ensure our students have safe, welcoming schools that support student success.
View the Levy Presentation to understand how funds are used, and go to https://www.seattleschools.org/about/levy/ for more information.
Key Dates Coming Up
- Wednesday, Nov. 3: Expected date for Board Action on placing levies on the ballot
- Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022: Election Day — Seattle voters make decision on levies; ballots due by 8 p.m.
All students who were photographed on October 12 have photos available for viewing and ordering through the Class Act Portraits website.
Check your email inbox, spam or junk folder for an email from info@classactportraits.com with a link directly to your student’s photos.
If you don’t see an email, you may go to orders.classactportraits.com, click Order Recent Pictures and enter your unique passcode: STEM followed by the Student ID# (no spaces and no zeroes at the beginning). Example: STEM234567.
You can view the photos, choose backgrounds and order prints on the website.
This message was prepared by Naida Boyer, SCPTSA President, President@scptsa.org.
Monday, October 18th is the deadline for the Washington State COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and Seattle Public Schools will be suspending 142 school bus routes. Possible disruptions might also occur in other sectors including staff, culinary services, and building maintenance.
Seattle Public School’s PTSA recognizes that this disruption will further impact our school community. Indeed, the lack of school bus drivers has already impacted many of our schools, students, and families.
Below is a list of all schools affected by bus route suspensions starting Monday, October 18th.
Despite the challenges, this is an opportunity to come together and show up for each other in the community.
Here are some resources to facilitate coming together as a community to get through this challenge:
-
City of Seattle – Safe Routes to School http://www.seattle.gov/
transportation/srts -
Topic: SCPTSA Monthly General Membership Meeting
10/14 SCPTSA General Membership Meeting Recording:
Access Passcode: 0V1=5^f5
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Kids & Carpooling Poster
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EXAMPLE of Transportation Survey (MSFT Office)
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EXAMPLE of Transportation Survey (Google Office)
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Transportation Connection form: https://docs.google.com/
forms/d/ 1wMb7Tseq4XY8DzOyDVYUaatPl-Nz_ FciZW3UrGE1xAc/prefill -
Transportation Connection Results form: https://docs.google.com/
forms/d/ 1vYP5odWvbgjYjIFF5Ey9SrKyb_ t7WDMEW1K1e7cqriA/edit?usp= sharing
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PTSAs can only be a community connector of individuals to transportation solutions. For liability reasons PTA cannot provide transportation. We can act as a facilitate and connector for folks who choose to make space in their vehicle for a student who needs a way to get to school, or volunteer to chaperone a walking school bus. Via social media or published surveys, we can create a way to build a community for our families to reach each other and support each other. It is important to encourage safe practices and community guidelines.
Additional information we have learned since a Friday afternoon meeting with Ashley Davies (AEDavies@seattleschool
-
They are cutting routes using the racial equity analysis tool, and are currently cutting routes at Tier 4 schools. Most schools are Tier 4. This means that routes for tier 1, 2, and 3 schools will be prioritized, and should be continued. For more information on the Equity tier model and methodology, please see this link, scroll to slides 32-38. https://www.
seattleschools.org/wp-content/ uploads/2021/07/20201209_ Agenda_Packet-Posted-20201209. pdf -
Out of the number of drivers that they anticipate WILL show up for work on Monday, half of them will be used for routes for students who have transportation written into their IEP.
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They are trying to keep drivers for the buses for students who have transportation in their IEP as their same drivers. However, for general education, drivers will in many cases be driving new routes. Drivers will be practicing new routes this weekend, but weekend traffic patterns and weekday are different. So there is benefit to weekend practice but it is not perfect.
-
If a family cannot get their student to school they should reach out to their principal so that they can access funds to make sure that students can get to school.
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They are actively looking for more solutions, including the use of passenger vans. While the district has a sufficient number of buses, you need different qualifications for driving buses than you need for driving a passenger van.
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As they bring back routes they will be using a racial equity analysis too. They will bring back routes as they get drivers. It takes about 4 weeks for a person to complete training to be able to drive a bus.
The SCPTSA BOARD: WHO TO CONTACT LIST
Contact me about: |
Name |
SCPTSA position |
|
SCPTSA leadership |
Naida Boyer |
President: presiding official and representative of the council
|
|
WA state PTA issues |
Romanita Hairston |
Co-Vice President |
|
PTA Conflict resolution |
Kiani Pineiro-Hall |
Co-Vice President |
|
PTA Board governance |
Heather Hart |
Secretary |
|
|
Brian Terry |
Treasurer |
|
|
Manuela Slye |
Past President, Executive Board Advisor |
|
Family Engagement |
Sebrena Burr |
Family & Healing Centered Engagement & Anti-racism, Executive Board Advisor |
|
Reflections Program |
Jennifer Sunami |
Reflections Chair |
|
Advocacy |
Samantha Fogg |
Legislative Chair |
|
MemberPlanet, member drives |
Melanie Jorgenson |
Membership Co-Chair
|
|
PTA Equity and Inclusion |
Maritess Zurbano |
Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Chair |
|
Special Education advocacy and inclusion, ELL |
Hodan Mohamed |
Special Education Co-Chair
|
|
High school specific issues |
Brian Duncan |
High School Chair |
|
D1 PTA questions and community |
Christina Pizana |
District 2 Director |
|
D3 PTA questions And community |
June Nho Ivers |
District 3 director |
The following routes at the following schools will be suspended beginning Monday, October 18, 2021 until further notice.
SPS districts | School | General Education Routes |
D1 | Cedar Park | 600, 601 |
D1 | Hazel Wolf K-8 | 516, 517, 518, 519, 520, 521, 522 |
D1 | Loyal Heights | 764 |
D1 | North Beach | 726 |
D1 | Wedgwood | 673, 674, 675 |
D1 | Whitman | 454, 455 |
D2 | B.F. Day | 669, 670, 671 |
D2 | Cascadia | 681, 682, 683, 684, 685, 686, 687, 688, 689, 690, 691, 692 |
D2 | Daniel Bagley | 719, 720 |
D2 | Green Lake | 703, 704, 705 |
D2 | Greenwood | 710 |
D2 | John Stanford Internal | 642, 643 |
D2 | McDonald | 645, 646, 647 |
D2 | Sacajawea | 768 |
D2 | Whittier | 617, 618 |
D2 | Hamilton | 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498 |
D2 | Robert Eagle Staff | 418, 419, 420, 422, 423 |
D2 | Lincoln | 1012, 1013 |
D3 | Bryant | 736, 737 |
D3 | Decatur | 638, 639, 640 |
D3 | Laurelhurst | 751, 752 |
D3 | McGilvra | 787, 788 |
D3 | Montlake | 733, 734 |
D3 | Thornton Creek | 602, 603, 604, 605 |
D3 | TOPS K-8 | 573, 574, 575, 576, 577, 578 |
D3 | View Ridge | 695, 697 |
D3 | Eckstein | 481, 482, 483 |
D4 | Adams | 701 |
D4 | Catherine Blain K-8 | 596 |
D4 | Coe | 743 |
D4 | John Hay | 722, 723, 724 |
D4 | Lawton | 607, 608 |
D4 | Magnolia | 595 |
D4 | McClure | 314, 476, 477, 478, 479 |
D4 | Queen Anne | 631, 632, 633 |
D4 | Salmon Bay | 530, 531, 532, 533, 534, 535, 536 |
D4 | West Woodland | 745 |
D4 | Ballard | 1007 |
D5 | Stevens | 784 |
D6 | Alki | 706, 707 |
D6 | Arbor Heights | 610, 611, 612 |
D6 | Fairmont Park | 621, 622, 623, 624, 625 |
D6 | Gatewood | 759 |
D6 | Genesee Hill | 774 |
D6 | Lafayette | 636, 637 |
D6 | Pathfinder K-8 | 560, 561, 562, 563, 564, 565, 566 |
D6 | Madison | 432, 433, 434, 435, 436 |
D7 | Orca K-8 | 583 |
Seattle Public Schools recently released flow charts that describe what actions take place when a student or staff member tests positive for COVID-19. Check out the links below to stay informed on these safety protocols.
Staff Guidance
Student Family Guidance
Questions? Contact: sdr@seattleschools.org
Everyone is welcome to attend the November STEM K8 PTA Meeting on Thursday, November 18 from 6:30 – 8:00 PM and join an important discussion on Obie is Man Enough by Schuyler Bailar. This discussion will be lead by LB STEM K8 family members Becky Barton and Shawna Murphy.
Published in 2021, Obie is Man Enough is a coming-of-age story about transgender tween Obie, who didn’t think being himself would cause such a splash. He leaves his swim coach, his pool and his best friends in order to find where he truly belongs. Included are topics of gender, bullying and ignorance, and this book is a great read for parents with their upper-elementary and middle school children.
Pick up your copy right away so you can join the discussion on November 18 with fellow PTA members. Here are several suggestions of where to find a copy of this book:
- Locally- and Black-owned bookstore Estelita’s Library, online at estelitaslibrary.com or visit them at 241 Martin Luther King Jr Way S, Seattle
- Paper Boat Booksellers online at paperboatbooksellers.com or their store at 6040 California Ave SW, Seattle
- Seattle Public Library, in person or online using the Libby app and connecting to your public library card
Join the November PTA Meeting: register as a PTA member to receive the link to meet virtually. STEM K8 PTA has underwritten ALL membership costs this year, so there is no cost to join online now: https://stemk8pta.org/about-the-pta/membership/
The STEM K8 PTA annually hosts a learning event during the November PTA meeting to honor Trans Awareness Week.