First grader Olympia is our featured reader for May!
Did you know the Bryant Library participates in the nationally recognized Read poster program? Our posters are featured just off the main school entrance in the Library every month and on the library blog. Now’s the time to get your favorite reader featured for a month next school year. Purchase your poster slot on the Bryant Blast online auction and you’ll get a fabulous photo shoot with Bryant parent and photographer Audrey Lee and a personalized Read poster treatment.

The 2016-17 school year calendar was approved by the Seattle Public Schools School Board on May 4, 2016.

Important dates include:

Wed., Sept. 7 Start of school
Wed., Sept. 28 2-hr early dismissal
Wed., Oct. 26 2-hr early dismissal
Fri., Nov. 11 Veterans Day (no school)
Mon. – Wed., Nov. 21-23 Elementary and K-8 parent-teacher conferences (varies by school)
Thurs. – Fri., Nov. 24-25 Thanksgiving (no school)
Mon. – Fri., Dec. 19-Dec. 30 Winter break (no school)
Mon., Jan. 2 New Year’s Day (no school)
Mon., Jan. 16 Martin Luther King Jr. Day (no school)
Wed., Feb. 1 Day between semesters (no school)
Mon., Feb. 20 Presidents’ Day (no school)
Tues. – Fri., Feb. 21-24 Mid-winter break (no school)
Wed., Mar. 22 2-hr early dismissal
Mon. – Fri., April 10-14 Spring break (no school)
Wed., May 10 2-hr early dismissal
Mon., May 29 Memorial Day (no school)
Fri. June 23 Last day of school

The Bryant Elementary PTSA board consists of a President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Membership Chair, Volunteer Coordinator, Fundraising Chair, Legislative Chair, Member-at-Large, and Teacher Representatives.

These positions are extremely important to our school and community. We are thankful for the wonderful and dedicated parents that fill these roles every year! If you are a member of the PTSA and have an interest in a board position or know of others with interest, please contact the Nominating Committee at volunteer@bryantschool.org. We welcome anyone with the desire and commitment to get involved.

For 2016-2017, we have several open positions, including Co-Treasurer and Legislative Chair. Read more →

Thank you for completing the parent survey posted a couple of weeks ago. Your feedback is very valuable as the PTSA helps to align after school activities with the new bell times.

Several important themes emerged from the survey.

• More parents will require after school child care. 50% of parents said they will now need to secure child care because of the new bell times.
• No morning programs. Only Bike/Walk to Bryant and Safety Patrol/ Crossing Guard Duty would remain in the morning, all other programs would need to move to the afternoon.
• Participation in Clubs, ASE, & other programs seem unaffected by bell times.
• Participation in Clubs, ASE, & other programs improve when time is increased to 2 hours.

Read more →

Enrollment for our before- and after-school program for the upcoming 2016-17 school year will be held between Monday, May 2 and Friday, May 14. This applies to incoming kindergarteners and students currently in the before- and after-school program.
Read more →

Friday, April 1 at 6pm

Bryant 4th Graders will be running one mile around the Bryant Track to raise money to subsidize the cost of next year’s Islandwood trip. Come cheer them on as they put in some sweat equity to ensure all 4th Graders can participate in this memorable team-building camp experience. 4th Graders, sign up now to get your fundraising link. It takes 5 minutes and is free!

If you’d like to contribute to this campaign and send all of next year’s 5th Graders to Islandwood, please visit our Run for Islandwood website. Questions? Email Kim Love.

Thank you to the PTSA members who attended the Mid-Year General Membership meeting last week and elected our Nominating Committee: Janie Booth, Meghan Delaney and Kate Speizer. These PTSA members are responsible for shaping the PTSA board by presenting the general membership with a slate of candidates to fill 2016-17 board positions to be voted on at the Spring General Membership meeting in June. If you, or someone you know, want to get more involved in the Bryant community, please email Nominating Committee chair Meghan Delaney.

If you would like to be part of the important process of deciding how PTSA funds for next school year should be allocated and are able to commit to 4-5 evenings in March and April for meetings, we would love to have you join the Budget Committee. If you are interested, please contact PTSA Co-Treasurers Lauren Abraham or Jennifer Mahlum.

Here are some small, convenient ways to support our school while you are shopping.

Use a Scrip card, with your credit card or instead of cash, and Bryant earns 5% of your purchases, every time you use it! Recharge the Scrip card (with the cashier or online) with your rewards credit card and both you and Bryant benefit. Pick up a preloaded $10 card by sending a check for $10 (made out to Bryant PTSA) to “Bryant Scrip” through KidMail.  Include your child’s name and teacher and you’ll receive the card through KidMail. Or you can contact Michelle Ireton to get a card.

As you gear up for spring, I want to remind you of the other ways you can raise money for Bryant while you shop.  If you are ordering from Amazon, you can use the link to Amazon on left navigation of the Bryant PTSA website and Bryant gets a percentage of your purchase. Other online shopping can raise money by going through the eScrip online mall, also on the Bryant PTSA website.