Sacajawea PTA News
The happenings around Sacajawea
Thank You, Sacajawea Community
Thanks to our generous community, the Annual Giving Campaign has raised $36,000. Now we’re watching employer-matching help push us toward our $50,000 goal!
Our Annual Giving Campaign is officially complete, and we’re thrilled to share that together we raised $36,000 toward our $50,000 goal. Your generosity puts us within close reach of the finish line—and we’re optimistic that employer matching will carry us the rest of the way. Historically, employer matches have generated 25–40% in gifts, and those contributions make an enormous difference.
These funds play a vital role in keeping Sacajawea strong. This year, our PTA is raising $70,000 to support more than $100,000 worth of programs that directly benefit every student—from additional reading specialist hours and family support services to tutors, teacher stipends, community events, and more. Your gifts ensure these essential programs continue, especially as district and state budgets shrink.
If you haven’t yet given or would like to contribute before year’s end, you can still do so through our Annual Giving Campaign page. And if your employer offers matching, please take a moment to submit your match—it truly amplifies your impact.
Thank you for showing up for our students, our teachers, and our community. We’re excited to see how far matching will take us and look forward to updating you soon!
Welcome to 2025-2026
It is our pleasure to welcome new and returning families to another year at Sacajawea Elementary on behalf of the PTA. We are excited to be back to school!
Hello Sacajaweans!
It is our pleasure to welcome new and returning families to another year at Sacajawea Elementary on behalf of the PTA. We are excited to be back to school, and we look forward to connecting with you and your families.
The Sacajawea Elementary School PTA is a small-yet-mighty organization that works to help support our school, educators, administration, and most importantly, our students. Throughout the year, we host community events, work to promote equity, and raise money to support our school. We also send a weekly newsletter with school news, Principal's note from Mr. Fisk, school calendar, and more.
One of the great strengths of Sacajawea is the broad participation and involvement of our parent community. As kids return to school, we, as your PTA, will work to support you and your families as much as possible with consistent communication and community-building events. We are planning fun events this year, and can always use an extra hand. Please let us know if you are able to get involved.
If you’re looking for an easy way to meet fellow parents and see all that we do, please attend our monthly PTA board meetings. They are a welcoming, productive, and fun way to get involved. We meet monthly, and our first meeting is Thursday, September 11th, at 7:00 pm on Zoom. This year, we will be meeting in person once in the fall and once in the spring, and on Zoom for the other months.
Please be in touch with us as the school year gets underway. We’re here to help, and you’ll find contact details below. And, to ensure you receive all of our PTA updates throughout the year, please subscribe to our email list: sacpta.org/subscribe. You can also visit our website (sacpta.org) throughout the year for up-to-date info on school and PTA events. Lastly, join our Facebook group (sacpta.org/facebook) for more discussion on life at Sacajawea.
Thank you all for making this school such a special place! At Sacajawea, we truly do all SHINE.
Sincerely,
Tiffany Elliott PTA Co-Chair
Amalia Poquiz-Mayor PTA Co-Chair
chair@sacpta.org
Get Ready for 2025-2026
Get connected with the PTA, come to the pizza party, and please contribute for your student’s school supplies.
Hello, Sacajaweans!
Another school year is almost upon us, and we hope you’re enjoying the last bits of your summer vacation.
As we roll into Kindergarten JumpStart and the start of the school year, we want to ensure you can stay connected with our school and PTA updates.
Get Connected
Here are a few things to do (or double-check) as we head toward September:
Register for our email list for periodic updates and event notices.
Join our Facebook group for more discussion on life at Sacajawea.
Interested in volunteering? Contact our volunteer coordinator, Charlene Shanahan, for details: cyshanahan@seattleschools.org.
Become a PTA member at Sacajawea.
Put our first PTA meeting on your calendar for Thursday, Sept. 11th. PTA meetings will generally be the 2nd Thursday of each month.
Get the Pizza Party on Your Calendar
We’re having a back-to-school pizza party event on Tuesday, September 2nd. We'll meet on the upper playground from 5:30pm - 7:00pm, and we'll have (free) pizza and fun. Come have a bite, see old friends, and meet our newest community members, too. Please bring your own water/drink.
Pay for Your School Supplies
We are pleased to announce that our PTA pre-purchased all homeroom supplies for students for the 2025-26 school year, reducing supply costs by purchasing in bulk and ensuring all students have the necessary supplies. This means families don’t need to go out and buy supplies for their student. Instead, parents only need to provide their child with a backpack and a water bottle.
While we are pre-purchasing the supplies this year, we need families to help cover the costs. The requested amount per student is $40. If purchasing supplies would be a financial burden, the PTA will cover your costs via our scholarship funds.
PTA to Pre-Purchase School Supplies for 2025-26
The PTA will pre-purchase all homeroom supplies for students for the 2025-26 school year. Read on to learn how to pay for your student’s supplies.
We are pleased to announce that our PTA will pre-purchase all homeroom supplies for students for the 2025-26 school year. This means families will no longer need to worry about supply lists over the summer. Instead, parents only need to provide their child with a backpack and a water bottle. This change aims to reduce supply costs by purchasing in bulk, ensuring all students have the necessary supplies.
While we are pre-purchasing the supplies this year, we need families to help cover the costs. The requested amount per student is $40. If you need a scholarship, please let Karen Murphy (the Sacajawea Family Support coordinator) know. Her email is ksmurphy@seattleschools.org.
The PTA allocated scholarship funding for these supplies in our budget for the upcoming school year, increasing the importance of our fundraising events, such as the Move-a-thon, Direct Ask, and the Spring Auction. Your contributions during these fundraisers are crucial, as they now help cover the costs of school supplies, ensuring that every student is equipped and ready to learn from day one.
We also want to highlight the ongoing need for volunteers to make this program successful. We are looking for dedicated individuals to assist in various tasks, including finding the best prices for supplies, making bulk purchases, delivering supplies to the school, and organizing them for distribution. The volunteering opportunities are designed to be flexible, allowing parents to contribute in ways that fit their schedules. If you’re interested in helping or have any questions, please get in touch with us at supplies@sacpta.org.
Family Support Resources for Summer 2025
Find free summer meal programs, food banks, family resources, and support services for Seattle families — including SUN Bucks benefits, summer meal sites, and local community events.
Summer Meals
SUN Bucks
Do you know about Sun Bucks?
SUN Bucks is a new program that provides $120 in food benefits for every eligible child in your family. These benefits can be used to purchase groceries during the summer months.
Eligibility:
Eligibility is primarily based on participation in public assistance programs such as SNAP, TANF, or an approved application for free school meals. Families can also qualify based on household income. There is no citizenship requirement, and SUN Bucks is not considered under the public charge rule.
How to enroll:
Most eligible families will be automatically certified for SUN Bucks and do not need to apply.
For local meal sites and eligibility requirements, text FOOD to 509-509.
Hunger Intervention Program (HIP) – Free Summer Eats
HIP’s Summer Meals for Kids provides freshly made, nutritious meals from the HIP kitchen at kid-friendly, accessible locations around North Seattle. Recognizing that food insecurity impacts the whole family, parents or caregivers are invited to share a meal with their child.
Seattle Summer Meal Program
Summer 2025 meal sites will operate from June 25 through August 22.
Each youth can receive up to two meals or one meal and one snack per day to be eaten onsite.
All Seattle residents are eligible for these programs and services regardless of immigration status (unless otherwise noted).
Note: As of June 17, food sites have not yet been listed on the website.
Resources
Akin Summer Resource Fair
Join us for food, fun, and essentials at the Akin Summer Resource Fair:
Date: June 24th
Time: 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Families can access:
Fresh produce
Hygiene kits
Arts & crafts kits
Children’s books
Diapers
Beanie Babies
Reduced fee state IDs and Real IDs (Dept of Licensing & DSHS on site)
First come, first served! Please bring your own bags.
Questions? Call: (206) 364-7930
FamilyWorks
FamilyWorks offers food access and family support programs in North Seattle, helping families thrive.
Services include:
Rental Assistance
Utility Discount Programs
ORCA Lift
SNAP/EBT
And more!
Drop-in Hours:
Family Resource Center
Wednesdays: 2:00 – 5:00 pm
Fridays: 11:00 am – 2:00 pm
Wallingford Food Bank
Tuesdays: 12:00 – 2:00 pm
Thursdays: 3:00 – 6:00 pm
Fridays: 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Contact to schedule a one-on-one appointment:
Email: theteam@familyworksseattle.org
Phone: (206) 647-1770 ext. 4
Food Banks
University District Food Bank
Our U-District Pantry is open for in-person shopping on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. We offer fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, eggs or frozen meat, canned and dried goods, toiletries, baby formula, diapers, and pet food plus connections to important community resources.
We try to provide food for several days, but please follow posted guidelines so that food is available for all our customers.
More info about University District Food Bank
Weekly Pop-up Food Pantry at North Seattle College
North Seattle College and University District Food Bank have partnered to offer a weekly pop-up food pantry:
Date: Tuesdays | 4:00 – 7:00 pm
Location: 9600 College Way N (Southeast end of campus, inside parking garage)
The pantry serves students and community members from surrounding neighborhoods.
Offerings include:
Fresh produce
Milk or non-dairy milk
Meat or eggs
Canned foods
Other pantry staples
Food is available through both walk-up and drive-through options. (Please note: short wait times may occur for the drive-through.)
North Helpline – Lake City Location
Neighbors may access our two food banks up to six times per month. A visit to either of our two food banks counts towards the same six visit limit. It is not 6 visits per location. You can visit each of our two food banks once per day. If you visit both of our food banks on the same day, it will count as 2 of your 6 visits. You will be told at check-in when you are on your final (sixth) visit of the month. Your six visits begin again on the first of each month.