Sacajawea PTA News
The happenings around Sacajawea
Personal Item Pickup & Return Procedures for June 2020
The district has designated June 10th – 12th as days for families to pick up student personal items and return school items students may have at home. Here are the procedures and schedules for those days.
Dear Sacajawea Families,
The district has designated June 10th – 12th as days for families to pick up student personal items and return school items students may have at home. Here are the procedures and schedules for those days.
Staff Workdays: June 8th & 9th. Prior to the family/student personal items pick up days, teachers and staff will clear out lockers and desks and put together a bag for each student. Teachers may change their teaching schedules on these days and during family pick up and return times.
Class meetings and Schoolwork: June 15th – 19th. Teachers will have at-school workdays to close out our building for the summer this week. For this reason, their weekly teaching and learning schedule will be lighter, and we’ll focus on celebration and reflection for this last week of school. Each teacher will let families know what the schedule looks like for the week.
Family Pick-Ups and Returns: June 10th - 12th
If you have more than one child at Sacajawea, please come on the oldest child’s day.
If you are unable to pick up during your designated time, please let your child’s teacher know which pick up time you will be able to come to.
If you are unable to come to any of the pick-up times, please let your child’s teacher know.
Family Pick-Ups and Return Schedule
Preschool – P4 & P5: There is no pick-up time for preschool as preschool staff has already distributed their belongings.
Rooms 1, 4, & 5: Wednesday, June 10th 8:00 – 11:00
Rooms 2 & 3: Wednesday, June 10th 12:00 – 3:00
Rooms 6 & 7: Thursday, June 11th 8:00 – 11:00
Rooms 101, 102 & 105: Thursday, June 11th 12:00 – 3:00
Rooms 103 & 104: Friday, June 12th 12:00 – 3:00
Health and Safety Procedures
Everyone, staff, and family members alike, please wear masks and keep social distancing in place as much as possible throughout this process.
We will have a limited number of masks on hand in case someone forgets to bring one and will have hand sanitizer.
Families will drive or walk up to the designated pick up area on the upper playground in front of the covered play court.
Please do not socialize with other families or staff while you are here, as we are endeavoring to keep social distancing. A hello-wave or smile is always appreciated!
If you have more than one child at Sacajawea, please come on the oldest child’s day.
Drivers
If you are in a car, please do not leave your vehicle.
Pull up to the designated area and let us know who you are here for.
A staff member will approach the car and put your student’s personal items in the back or trunk of the car to maintain social distancing.
If you have items to return, please place them in the same location where staff will put student personal items and let us know what they are.
Walkers/Bikers
There will be marked areas on the pavement for waiting in line with social distancing.
Walkers/Bikers will come up to the designated waiting area.
A staff member will bring your student’s belongings to the table placed out for walk-ups.
You can place any items you have to return on the same table for staff to collect.
After the items have been placed, please stand back to maintain the 6-foot social distancing and only pick up your items after the staff member has stepped away.
Musical Instruments
4th Graders may keep their instrument for the summer if they are planning to return to Sacajawea and continue in instrumental music next year.
5th Graders must return their instruments.
Return Procedures
Place a tag or masking tape on your instrument case with your name on it. Please do not use duct tape or write directly on the case.
Bring the instrument to Sacajawea during your assigned family materials pick up and drop off time on Wednesday, June 10th. (8:00 – 11:00 4th Graders, 11:30 – 2:30 5th Graders)
Staff will check off that your instrument has been returned.
Library Books
Bring your library books during your designated time. Staff will take them, and they will be checked back in.
Other Items to return
If you have any other items to return (classroom library books or supplies, for example), please use a sticky note or baggie to label who they should be returned to. Small items should be in a baggie. We will have a collection area for these items and will try to get them to the right person.
Need something specific?
If you have a specific item that you are concerned about getting back, such as a child’s favorite hat in their locker, please email your teacher.
Lost and Found
Items will be displayed so that you can identify them to be brought to you.
Sacajawea Virtual Arts Festival, Submissions Due June 8th
Mr. Ryan is organizing Sacajawea's Virtual Arts Festival! You can submit a photo of one art piece per student to rjschmidt@seattleschools.org by Monday, June 8th! Include the student's name and grade level.
Mr. Ryan is organizing Sacajawea's Virtual Arts Festival! You can submit a photo of one art piece per student to rjschmidt@seattleschools.org by Monday, June 8th! Include the student's name and grade level.
Your message should be about Hope, Peace, Love, Support, Kindness, Protest, or Resistance.
Black Lives Matter
The violence and social turmoil of the past week are heavy on our minds, and it is clear that racial equity is as important as ever in our school, community, and country. As a PTA, we are unwavering in our resolve for racial equity and in our support for all our families.
Dear Sacajawea Community --
The violence and social turmoil of the past week are heavy on our minds, and it is clear that racial equity is as important as ever in our school, community, and country. As a PTA, we are unwavering in our resolve for racial equity and in our support for all our families.
There is much more that can and will be said, but as a PTA we will double-down on our commitment to equity, and importantly, toward undoing racism. We must all work collectively to foster an anti-racism environment and to raise anti-racist children.
We also know that our community members are not all experiencing this moment in the same way. If you need extra support of any kind, please reach out to a member of our racial equity team (equity@sacpta.org) for whatever you might need.
To our families of color, particularly our black families we say: You are seen, you are heard, and you are loved.
To our white families we say: Understanding privilege, discussing whiteness and racial bias may be uncomfortable, but it is necessary work. We welcome these conversations as we strive together against racial injustice and racism.
There is more we can do as a PTA and a community, and we will continue our commitment to anti-racism at Sacajawea. For now, the Parent Racial Equity Team has gathered together some resources to help parents talk to their kids about the protests and racism. These articles will provide a place to start:
How to talk to your children about protests and racism:
Talking to children after racial incidents::
Talking to kids about racism in the media:
A great list of additional resources:
In solidarity,
The Sacajawea PTA and Parent Racial Equity Team
Sac PTA Proposed Budget for 2020-2021
Thanks to the hard work of Laura Riley (our Treasurer) and the budget committee, we have a budget proposal for the 2020-2021 school year.
[June 2020 Update: This budget was approved by a vote of our general membership.]
Thanks to the hard work of Laura Riley (our Treasurer) and the budget committee, we have a budget proposal for the 2020-2021 school year. This proposal comes in at around $83,000, and would require us to raise about $16,000 before the end of the school year (the money we raise during the current school year funds the budget for next year).
The proposed budget provides continued support for things we funded this year (except the math curriculum, keep reading). About half of our expenditures are for staff and school support, including tutoring, teacher stipends, and volunteer coordination. Arts and Culture is the next largest bucket and includes 4th-grade Instrumental Music, our visiting musicians, and our Artist-in-Residence programs. Support for events and meetings consume the last 20% of the budget and provide for all the wonderful gatherings we have throughout the year, like our Equity Events, Arts Festival, Math and Science Fair, and more.
It’s worth noting that this proposed budget assumes some form of return to school in the fall, but we recognize that changes in that situation will almost certainly require us to reallocate our funds mid-year.
Something new and notable in our budget proposal is the addition of the Future Friends Fund. This $1,000 item is our first step in a multi-year conversation to promote PTA equity via grants from our organization to other PTAs in northeast Seattle. Since all of our children will be future friends at JAMS, Hale, and beyond, we’re hoping to build more connections with our broader community now. For this year, we’ll fund this initiative with earmarked donations.
For comparison purposes, our current year's budget is about $110,000, and it includes support ($33,000) for the math curriculum that our school rolled out this year. That support provided for 3 years of curriculum materials, and we don't need to commit more money to this. We didn't have any additional large asks from the school, and given the current circumstances, that will work out just fine.
If you have any questions or feedback before then, please let Laura (lkriley99@outlook.com) and our co-chairs (Ara/Seth, chair@sacpta.org) know.
Online Cultural Events, Week of 4/13/2020
Here are a collection of online cultural events that our Equity team produced. Check them out!
Here are a collection of online cultural events that our Equity team produced. Check them out!
Visit the Seattle Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival website to learn about Japanese culture. Click on the Culture Access tab to choose a category at http://www.cherryblossomfest.org/
The Seattle Center Festál podcast, “Yes, and…” shares stories and honest conversation about race and identity at http://www.yesandpodcast.libsyn.com/
Our Big Neighborhood – Movin’ Around the World: Virtual from Northwest Folklife is happening at http://www.nwfolklife.org/maw-virtual/
Tacoma Arts Live presents all-ages virtual plays, starting with ”Nihonjin Face,” by Janet Hayakawa and Tere Martinez. View released chapters at https://tacomaartslive.org/video