Author: Carrie Drake

Bryant After School Enrichment (ASE) Program Registration Opens April 1!

Carrie Drake

The Bryant After School Enrichment (ASE) Program opens this weekend for registration, at www.seattlease.org.

Classes are available to preview on the site before registration by navigating to “Classes by School”:”Bryant Elementary”:”Current”.  Please note that details are not final and may change prior to the opening of registration.  Please review carefully once registration opens before completing your purchase.

Registration will open at noon on Saturday April 1st and will be entirely online on a first come, first served basis.  The Spring program includes classes in:

  • Ceramics
  • Spanish
  • Found Object Art
  • Minecraft
  • Artist Trading Cards
  • Guitar
  • Art/Games for Early Dismissal
  • Math
  • Robotics
  • Taiko Drumming
  • Animutants

Classes will begin the week of April 24th and run through the last week of the school year.  Most classes are scheduled from 2:30 to 3:30 pm.  On Wednesdays classes start right after early dismissal.

Bryant Blast is Back on May 6!

Carrie Drake

Bryant Blast is Back on May 6!

After a pandemic hiatus, we’re excited to bring back an exciting Bryant community tradition, the Bryant Blast! The Blast will be held on May 6 from 12 – 4 pm. Plan for entertainment, fun carnival-style games and activities, face painting, tasty food, and much, much more!

 

Do you want to help plan the Blast? We’ll be sending a sign-up for volunteer shifts right after Spring Break. So, if you have a favorite job at the Blast, you can sign up early! Contact the Blast Committee at blast@bryantschool.org if you’re interested in helping.

 

Volunteers & Donations Needed for Spring Service Day this Saturday

Carrie Drake

April 1st, 10am – 12pm

We need your support to make the HIP packing party a success! Please sign-up to donate food and/or sign-up for a short, 30 minute volunteer shift. More info about all the awesome opportunities for your family to participate on Spring Service Day and Sign-Up Genius links are below. Thank you for getting involved, giving back, and helping community!

Ways to Participate:

Help put together Healthy HIP Packs for the Hunger Intervention Program

Kids and families are invited to assemble food packs in the cafeteria (no RSVP needed). Bryant’s Student Hunger Service Project is excited to bring this opportunity back for the first time since COVID!

Volunteers are needed to help the packing party run smoothly. 30 minute volunteer slots are available for adults, kids and caregiver/kid pairs.

HIP PACK VOLUNTEERS:Sign-Up Genius

Donate food items for the Healthy HIP Packs (food donations due by 3/30)

Please review the list of food items needed and sign up for the quantity you can donate to ensure we have the right amount for each pack. 

HIP PACK DONATIONS: Sign-Up Genius

Plant seeds and work in the Bryant Garden

Please RSVP so we know who is coming!

GARDEN WORK PARTY:Garden Work Party Sign-Up Genius

Join the Move-A-Thon activity stations

Move-A-Thon happens on the Bryant playground in support of the Southeast Seattle Schools Fundraising Alliance. If you would like to help plan or run the Move-A-Thon activities, please sign-up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090d4eabad2ea1f58-moveathon#/

Donate grocery gift cards for our sister school

Cards will be distributed to their students for Spring Break. Bring $25 QFC/Kroger gift cards to the event or donate online. 

We are excited to come together to build community, celebrate the beginning of spring, give back, and have fun! Donut and beverages will be provided. 

Bryant PTSA Honors: Black Lives Matter in Schools and Black History Month

Carrie Drake

Join us on Tues, Feb 7 at 7 p.m. at Bryant Elementary Library (doors open 6:45 p.m.) for a screening and post-film discussion with 2 current Roosevelt High School students of “Roosevelt High School: Beyond Black & White” a documentary about race and education, based on the experiences of Roosevelt High School yesterday and today.

The film is a production of Roosevelt Alumni for Racial Equity (RARE), a Seattle non-profit formed to promote racial equity, with a focus on schools and their communities. Fifty years later, Seattle still struggles with race and diversity. Race is one of the burning issues of the day, but does your family talk about it? The topic is uncomfortable and complicated. Yet the conversations need to happen. Young people are entering an increasingly diverse world. To thrive, they must be prepared to work with people who look different or come from different backgrounds.

Doors open at 6:45 p.m., film starts at 7:00 p.m., and post-discussion with RARE volunteers from our community. Film is 30 minutes in length. Discussion 30-45 min.  Bryant parents, students, and community members are welcome. Bring your friends and neighbors! Watch the 3 min trailer here: https://youtu.be/-xkWV8-m9O0

 

PTSA Advocacy Alert Update

Carrie Drake
In December, 253 Bryant Elementary parents and caregivers formally signed on to a Bryant PTSA letter to School Board Director Chandra Hampson regarding outstanding SPS funding this year for our school  In the letter, we urged School Board Director Hampson to advocate to Seattle Public Schools (SPS) to ensure Bryant elementary school receives staff funding in accordance with the current enrollment level at the school this year.  This includes funding the librarian position fully along with additional specialist teacher funding.  The letter highlights the impacts from funding cuts on the school, including reducing student library checkouts in half this year.  Additionally, in the letter, we requested information on how SPS plans to address projected budget shortfalls.  We urged that to address the shortfall, SPS does not make cuts to critical staff and services that impact school operations and student-teacher ratios.  
 
In addition to sending School Board Director Hampson the letter, we also invited her to a community forum to discuss the issue and we currently await her answer.  In the meantime, over the month of January, SPS and the School Board begin drafting next year’s school budgets so it will be an important time for families to be engaged and active in this decision process.  Please stay tuned for further advocacy updates!