Bryant Elementary WELCOMES ALL New Families – 2025!

Lily Chan

Bryant Elementary WELCOMES ALL New Families – 2025!

Bryant staff and PTSA heartily welcome you to our community and hope you can attend a special evening created with you and your arriving student in mind

Most new families are kindergarten families, and the night is overall geared towards their acclimation to Bryant, so kindergarten staff will be in full attendance.

  • When: Thursday, June 5, from  5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
  • Where: Bryant School 3311 NE 60th Street (use this entrance)
  • Who: YOU & your entering student (and family, if you wish), PTSA rep, principal(s),

K teachers, community childcare providers (LASER)

  • What: Hear: about our school, kindergarten, PTSA programs, and more…
  • Why: we want you to love Bryant as much as we do!!! 😊

Expected agenda:

5:00 – school front doors open (60th St entrance)

5:30 – 6:10 – Bryant ‘nuts & bolts’ – principal, PTSA, LASER. K team will each have information to share with you and answer related questions

  • K families information and Q & A session with the Kindergarten teaching team

Then till-7:00 – you can visit all the K rooms in the K hallway and the building, in general. We each will be in our rooms to answer questions you have. Additionally, we have Bryant-specific K topics to explain and Kinder-tools for viewing on student work tables.

A few more details will be emailed to you early that week…

Hope to see you then.

Bryant Chess Club Continues

Lily Chan

We’re excited to announce that Bryant Chess Club will continue! After many dedicated years of Christine, Daniel and coach David keeping the love of chess alive at Bryant, they are now passing the torch to a new leader: Cary “Coach Ray” Easterday of Orangutan Chess Academy.

Coach Ray brings over 40 years of chess experience, along with a Master’s Degree in Geology and more than 30 years as a lead science educator in colleges, museums, public events, and classrooms. Since 2018, he has taught chess professionally to students across dozens of Seattle-area schools. His passion for chess education and engaging teaching style are sure to inspire a new generation of Bryant players!

The Chess Club will continue to be offered through ASE and will meet on Thursdays after school. If there is strong interest, we are hopeful to expand to two days per week.

Let’s give a huge thank you to Christine, Oliver and David for their years of leadership—and a warm welcome to Coach Ray and the Orangutan Chess Academy team!

Let’s keep the Bryant chess tradition strong!

PTSA General Meeting and After Party

Lily Chan

 
Mark your calendars! Our final PTSA General Meeting of the year is Tuesday, June 10 from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. in the Bryant Library. Join us for:
  • Presentation and vote on the 2025-2026 PTSA Budget
  • Executive Committee nominations and vote
  • End-of-year updates from your PTSA Board
  • And more!
After the meeting, we’ll head down to the Duchess for an informal gathering to celebrate an amazing year. We hope to see you there!

Bryant PTSA Volunteer Awards

Lily Chan

Each year, the Bryant PTSA gives several special awards to those that have provided exemplary volunteer service to our children and school community. Please submit nominees and a short note of appreciation for their efforts at the form here. The deadline to submit is Friday, May 30th. Awards will be presented at the final general membership meeting on June 10th. Categories include:

  • Golden Acorn Award – Bryant PTSA’s highest recognition of dedication and service to our school community.
  • Volunteer Extraordinaire – recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary contribution to Bryant Elementary during the past school year.
  • Unsung Hero – recognizes people who quietly, consistently, and reliably do one job over a long period of time. Often they work behind the scenes, but they make incredibly valuable contributions to Bryant.
  • Room Parent Champion – recognizes an outstanding room parent who goes above and beyond in fostering connection, organizing events, and supporting both teachers and families.

Huge Thanks for a Fantastic Final HIP Packing Party!

Lily Chan

Thank you, Bryant community, for stepping up to support the Hunger Intervention Program! Thanks to your generosity, we packed over 300 weekend food packs—well beyond our goal of 250—and donated extra food as well. HIP was incredibly grateful for the support.

Special thanks to our amazing 3rd and 4th grade families for contributing to the food drive and showing up in force to pack! It was heartwarming to see so many Bryant Hawks and parents in action.

We look forward to continuing this important work next school year. If you’re interested in joining as a HIP Co-Chair for 2025–26, please reach out to: kate.sortun@gmail.com or ninamettler@yahoo.com. 

Help Keep the Bryant Play Alive—Lead Volunteers Needed

Lily Chan

The Bryant Play is a cherished tradition that fosters creativity, teamwork, and lasting memories for our students. Next year’s 4th and 5th graders are eager to participate, but we need parent leads to make it happen!

We’re looking for 1-3 volunteers to step up and take on the organizing role. You don’t need prior experience—this is a team effort with plenty of support available, including materials and insights from past productions.

Without committed leads before summer break, the play will not be able to move forward. If you’re interested or want to learn more, reach out to Caroline Stanford (this year’s Play Lead Producer) at caroline.stanford@outlook.com. 

Let’s work together to keep this beloved tradition going for our kids!

HIP needs our support more than ever!

Lily Chan

Following the termination/unpaid leave of all six AmeriCorps staff by DOGE and the Trump administration, the Hunger Intervention Program (HIP) reports severe disruptions to their meal delivery for homebound seniors and Healthy HIP Packs/afterschool meals for students. HIP is heartbroken and urgently needs community support. Read their full statement and find ways to help here: Urgent Update: Cuts to the AmeriCorps Program and the Harms to Our Community – Hunger Intervention Program.

An immediate need is food donations for Bryant’s final packing party on 5/20. Due to increased demand (400-450 packs/week) and the HIP news, all families are urged to contribute by volunteering and with food donation sign-ups , not just 3rd and 4th grade.

How to Help with the Food Drive:

About HIP: A local non-profit increasing food security in North King County through meals, education, and advocacy.

About Healthy HIP Packs: Weekend food program providing six meals and two snacks for food-insecure children.

About Packing Parties: Watch this fun video with your kids!