During this Thanksgiving break, please take a few moments to complete the annual Parent Conference Survey. Your comments and feedback on the supports provided at the school are important to the staff and school leadership team. As noted in the email from Gerrit, Liz and Paula, please take as much or as little time as you can afford for the survey. There are ample opportunities to include comments, which are especially useful to the school staff and leadership team. Please, however, refrain from identifying specific staff members because comments will be read by our Building Leadership Team and responses to the PTA questions will be shared with the PTA Board. As always, please include your name at the end of the survey if you would like a personalized response. Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the week-long break!!

We currently have the following board positions open:
1.     Legislative and Advocacy Chair(s)
2.     Membership Chair

In addition to these open board positions, we have the following needs for support:
1.     Nominating Committee
2.     Volunteers on activities and committees; please check out the Volunteer page
3.     People interested in board positions for next year

Please let us know if you are interested in the above board and volunteer positions or if you have any questions about them. Contact PTA President, Erika Rasmussen, at president@geneseehillpta.org

Family Bingo Night has been canceled due to the new storm being forecast to hit Friday night. Stay tuned for updates on a potential new date.

KINDERGARTEN TOURS
Do you have an incoming kindergartner for the 2019-2020 school year? If so, please join us on Thursday, February 7 from 9:00 am – 10:30 am for our Kindergarten Tour. This is a great opportunity for parents to learn more about the school, our programs, tour the building and see students in action.

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
Kindergartner registration is open for the 2019-2020 school year. If you have an incoming kindergartner, please register TODAY. Here is the link. Please register before February 15, 2019. The is the last point in which the current registration numbers can influence the district budget process for staffing for next year.

SCHOOL CHOICE AND OPEN ENROLLMENT PROCESS
If you are a family that was affected by the new boundary changes and have an incoming kindergartner, you must register your kindergartner before the School Choice and Open Enrollment Process begins. You will then need to register for Genesee Hill as a School Choice through the Open Enrollment process that takes place February 4 – February 15. Click here for more information about the School Choice and Open Enrollment Process.

“Direct Give” is our simple, straightforward annual fundraising campaign during which we ask families and the community to contribute towards our annual fundraising goals of $360 per student. The best way to donate is through Kindful online:

More details on Direct Give and the fun activities happening during the campaign can be found here.

Many schools across the Seattle Public School District have been affected by budget cuts for the 2018-2019 school year, and unfortunately, Genesee Hill is one of those schools. Our school was affected for a few reasons. Current enrollment is 678 students, which is below both the 692 student projection that the initial budget was based on last February and the updated projection of 686 this past June. Also, the shared equity priority that the district implements preserved staffing at schools with higher needs and reduced staffing at schools with greater resources and deeper programs that could absorb adjustments easier, like Genesee Hill.

Principal Kischner, Ms. Dunn and Ms. Henn worked closely with the Building Leadership Team (BLT) and PTA leadership to implement the budget adjustment in ways that respected the amazing staff members we have at our school, minimized disruption at the homeroom level and followed contractual guidelines. Starting October 1, the following plan to address the budget adjustment will be implemented:

• Reduce Physical Education to 1.6 teachers
• Eliminate our 0.5 Technology teacher
• Reduce our Math Specialist to 0.8 (four days/week)
• Shift our new Art teacher position to PTA funding
• Use savings from last year’s budget

Principal Kischner will be hosting a discussion about this plan and the budget adjustment at 5:30 pm Tuesday, September 25 in the library. Additional information about the plan for our school are included in his letter emailed to families September 24. Additional information on the district-wide staffing and budget adjustments can be found on the Seattle Public School District website, and questions can be emailed to Principal Kischner directly at gakischner@seattleschools.org or staffing@seattleschools.org.

On September 20, the Seattle Public School District posted information on staffing adjustments for the 2018-2019 school year. These adjustments will impact Genesee Hill Elementary School by decreasing our staff. The school must submit its staffing adjustments to the district Monday, September 24. That evening, Principal Gerrit Kischner will email families an update on the school’s staffing changes, how we will be addressing the impact and why staffing adjustments are happening at our school. In follow up to the email, he will be discussing the staffing adjustments with families who are interested and able to attend at 5:30 pm Tuesday, September 25 in the school library. This is before the special Trudy Ludwig presentation, which begins at 6:30 pm. Information will be posted here on the blog when it is available. If you would like to contact the Seattle Public School District directly, you can email staffing@seattleschools.org.