From the District: Special Ed parent focus group

All parents of students receiving special education services within the Northeast Region are invited to join us for a focus group:

March 3rd, 6:00-7:30 PM
Olympic View Elementary Library

This focus group will provide an opportunity for you to share the experience of your student and family and will be facilitated by representatives from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). The focus group is one component of the District’s Memorandum of Understanding with OSPI and our ongoing efforts to build and sustain systems that ensure substantial compliance in our services for students with disabilities. If you are interested in attending, we ask that you kindly RSVP to Pam Klopfer at paklopfer@seattleschools.org or 206-252-0054. We have capacity for the first 30 parents who respond to participate. Please specify if child care or interpreting services will be needed. Light refreshments will be provided. Read more

Bryant’s Student Hunger Service Project packs up its first 60 weekend meal packs for NE Seattle students

Bryant’s pilot program, in conjunction with the Hunger Intervention Program (HIP), culminated its first month’s food collection with a packing party to assemble 60 weekend meal packs to send home with students facing hunger every day in northeast Seattle. The 5th Graders collected food items through December and came together Friday night to complete their work of preparing packages of food that will be discretely distributed to students by HIP. Next up will be the 3rd Graders, who have already started collecting food for the next delivery to HIP at the end of January.

From Hannah Lack, Bryant’s new Elementary Assistant

Hello! I wanted to take a moment and introduce myself. I’m Hannah Lack, the new Elementary Assistant here at Bryant. You can email me for any issues concerning attendance or requests for bus passes. For bus passes please include the bus number, your child’s name, what room number they are in , and who they are riding home with. Thank you so much and I look forward to meeting more of you!

Kindergarten admissions nights offer assistance

Seattle Public Schools is offering admissions guidance in January and February at local schools. Get help completing your forms, speak to admissions staff through interpreters and submit your paperwork in person. Choose a date/location that works for you. See the flyer for details on the paperwork, or visit the District’s enrollment page to download the forms and see an overview of the entire process. Read more

Bryant PTSA Board Meeting Minutes – December 2015

Tuesday, December 8, 2015
7:08 pm

Attendees: Leeann Huntington, Julie Ohrazda, Lauren Abraham, Jennifer Mahlum, Rachel Schaw, Kim Love, Kim Larsen, Joan Crooks, Amy Shanafelt, Carleen Confer, Amy Alphin, Dan Sanger, Julie Pearson, Patricia Parker, Sam Fogg, Mary-Britt Love, Anna Marburg, Michelle Ireton

November Board Meeting Minutes-Approved

Officer Standing Reports

  1. Treasurer’s Report (Lauren Abraham & Jennifer Mahlum)
    Large matching gift payment came in
    Paid for 5th Grade camp & Paper

Special Committee Reports

  1. Hunger Service Project
    Kicked off the program this month
    Program reps gave grade specific presentations

New Business

  1. Schools First presentation on Supporting Seattle’s schools, levies.
    • Two important levies are on the ballot in Feb 2016
      • Operations Levy (provides 25% of Seattle Public Schools operating budget)
      • Capital Levy (maintenance, support classroom technology, academics and athletics and expand school capacity)
    • For more information see www.schoolsfirstseattle.org
    • Call to action
      • Endorsement from the PTA matters.
      • Volunteer to help get the word out (phone banking, newsletter communications)
      • Contributions: Financial support towards the campaign would be appreciated. In 2013 Bryant PTSA contributed $500.
  2. Proposal to fund teacher professional development around PLCs (Dan Sanger)
    • Request to fund 25+ teachers to attend training around PLCs in August of 2016
    • $649 per teacher, Total ask $17,523
    • Board will meet as a smaller group with Dan to explore potential solutions
    • PLC training presentation
  3. Funding for limited ceramics for 4th grade (Julianna Batho)
    • 4th Grade is interested
    • Ask is $950 to fund program in the Spring for all 3 programs
    • Board will respond to this request by end of the year
  4. Tech Lab update on how the program has contributed to Bryant’s goals in year 1
  5. Request to fund a counselor position (Natalya Yudkovsky)
    • General discussion – No formal ask/request for funding was made
    • Dan & Julie described how they have tried to fill the gap of the counselor position
      • Teachers added more social studies, social interaction curriculum to their studies
      • Julie has taken on the role of supporting students when specific challenges arise.
    • Julie & Amy Alphin encourage any parents who feel like there is a gap around counselor support to please let their teacher, Julie and/or a PTSA member know so we can look for ways to address.

Meeting adjourned 8:42

Check the lost & found!

Coming in for your parent-teacher conference? Please remember to check the Lost and Found racks located in the main hallway, for any of your student’s lost items. There are many sweaters, coats, lunchboxes, water bottles and miscellaneous items that would love to be reunited with their owners! All unclaimed items will be donated to charity. Thank you!

Paramount Duty Resolution adopted by Bryant PTSA

The attached Paramount Duty Resolution was adopted and signed by the general membership at the PTSA Board meeting on November 10th.  It sends a message to our legislators that as parents, citizens and voters, we request they uphold the Washington State Constitution that mandates the State amply fund education for all children.

We are sending the signed Paramount Duty Resolution to our 46th District Legislators, Gov Jay Inslee and the Senate and House Education Committee Members. Read more

Join the Lunch Recess Parent Team!

We have immediate openings for lunch recess volunteers weekly (or alternating weeks) from 12 – 1:30 pm.

Our playground volunteers help make Bryant a safe and fun place to be by helping kids in small ways like tying shoes & giving out band-aids, to bigger ways like giving gentle reminders of school policy, reporting incidents to playground staff and building social skills. This is a great way to get to know our school and Bryant students of all ages! Read more