Category Archives: Events

Events Posts

Playfield Clean Up Party This Weekend

Events, ,

Hope everyone is having a great Summer!  With the return of the sun, we will be having a kick off party to weed, mow, prune, and seed the current dusty knoll near the playground into a lush grassy play field for the kids when they return to school after Labor Day.

Cleanup-Pic

We need your families help and that of anyone available to assist this Saturday and Sunday morning.  Please contact Rick and Mark Koontz at johnsonkun@aol.com for more details.

Thanks!

Early Release Art Wizards Camp June 4

Enrichment
Wednesday, June 4th is an Early Release Day and we will be offering Art Wizards camp from 1pm – 3pm. The cost is $25 per child.
Click here for a registration form or hard copies can be found in the front office. All grades are welcome! The class is limited, so please sign up early!
Forms must be received no later than June 2nd.  Turn in to the front office. Any questions please contact Jennifer Schill at enrichment@schmitzparkpta.org

Important decisions made at May 15th PTA meeting

Issues, math curriculum, PTA Meeting, Singapore Math, Subjects, Vote
Thanks to the many members who attended Thursday night’s important member meeting or provided helpful input in advance on the historic decisions to be made! The full set of minutes will be ready soon, but as these decisions will affect us all and there is important work to be done, we thought a topline summary would be in order.
Math curriculum: As previously posted, after six years of investment in Singapore Math by Schmitz Park faculty, students, and parents, we are on the verge of having to adopt a different math curriculum, enVisionMath; a curriculum that many see as a step backward for our students.  By unanimous vote, the members at the meeting adopted a resolution calling on the School Board to protect and support our investment in Singapore Math.  
We also agreed to request the school board directors to consider the following alternatives:

  1. Reject the Math Adoption Committee’s recommendation of enVision and adopt Math in Focus as the new K-5 Math Curriculum.
  2. Approve a Dual-Adoption giving schools the choice to implement enVision – OR – Math in Focus
  3. Amend Policy No. 2020 on the Waiver of Basic Instructional Materials to allow Schmitz Park and other schools using, or desiring to use, a Singapore Math-based curriculum like Math in Focus to ensure funding will be provided from the district to support an approved alternative math curriculum.
PS as you can see, we are suggesting that SchmitzPark adopt Math in Focus, not Singapore Math.  However, MiF is a Singapore based Math program, merely tweaked to the American system, aligned with Common Core Standards, and with refreshed teaching and learning materials.
Budget: The members energetically discussed the budget proposal (posted previously here). One change was adopted to increase the contingency funding in the event that it becomes necessary for the Schmitz Park PTA to pay the full price of the Math in Focus curriculum (a $20,000 increase authorized). Then, after vigorous discussion, the members voted unanimously to adopt a budget of $320,000. The members further voted to develop a fundraising plan that addresses the one-time $80,000 expense that the curriculum represents.
Stay tuned for the full minutes and for specific ways you can help us meet the policy and budget goals that these decisions require.

PTA GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING TONIGHT

Events, Issues, math curriculum, PTA Meeting, Uncategorized, Vote

This is our last planned meeting of the school year and we need your vote!

Please join us at 6:30pm and lend your voice to some HOT topics including:

  • Help vote in the proposed budget for the 2014/2015 school year.
  • District math adoption: What is the difference between enVision (recommended by the committee for District-wide adoption) and Math in Focus (a newer, Singapore-based text)?  Hear from teachers and parents of Schmitz Park children who have benefited from the Singapore Math model.
  • What is the best way to keep Singapore Math at our school when the district has recommended enVision for all Seattle schools?
  • Help nominate next year’s board…we are looking for interested candidates for the following positions: Vice President, Assistant Treasurer, Legislative Chair, and Volunteer Coordinator.

FREE Childcare will be provided in the gym to school age children

Mariners Update – fantastic success!

Charitable Contribution, Cohort, Community, Events, Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Fun, Fund Raising, Kindergarten, Local, Second Grade, Sports, Third Grade, Uncategorized

We had our biggest turn-out ever to the event this year, and even got to see the Mariners extend their winning streak!

If you were there or not there’s a few things you should know

1) They missed our call out in the Welcome section, yet made up for it with an extra special message as you can see in this picture

Mariners Welcome Schmitz Park Elementary
Mariners Welcome Schmitz Park Elementary

 

 

 

 

2) Congratulations to Dorienne Raynolds for selling the most tickets – please look out for your prize

3) A hilarious shout out to Robert Ruvkun (and family) for your awesome dancing that was captured on the big screen! If you missed it, here’s a link to a previous camera moment of his

4) We are very happy to say we raised over $2k from this event and had a lot of fun doing it.

5)  Be sure to join us next year!

 

PTA Budget for discussion at May 15 meeting

Issues, math curriculum, PTA Meeting, Uncategorized
It’s the last planned member meeting of the year and we’ve got some big decisions to make.
Key issues:
  • Schmitz Park’s legacy of excellence in math, and what we can do to preserve it.
  • The PTA budget for next year.
We hope you can join us to learn about these critical options, partake in the discussion and vote to ensure we map the best path for our children. Follow the link below for the budget proposed by the budget committee and recommended by the board. Please note the budget proposes a very significant increase in expenditures. Stay tuned to the Schmitzville Blog for additional information in advance of the discussion.

may-15-2014-budget-proposal

(this spreadsheet is password protected. members should receive the password via e-mail today May 14. Check your e-mail for the password, or send an e-mail to board@schmitzparkpta.org to request it).

Excellence in Math – future in question

Fund Raising, Issues, math curriculum, PTA Meeting, Subjects, Uncategorized

Seattle Public Schools will adopt a new math curriculum for the 2014-2015 school year. The Math Adoption Committee reviewed the final 3 programs and will recommend envision as the program to implement.

Rick Burke, a Math Adoption Committee Member states in his post at Save Seattle Schools, “Although the public feedback clearly favored Math in Focus, the program ranking [was] based on the CCSS-based evaluation criteria. MIF, following the Singapore framework, was noticeably advanced compared to the CCSS topic pacing. “

Thanks to years of commitment from Schmitz Park faculty and PTA support, Schmitz Park’s proven use of Singapore Math Curriculum has our kids entering middle school with a solid understanding of math. They are consistently at an advantage over non-Singapore math students in their grasp of the curriculum.

What did it take to make this happen? First, the school leadership, with PTA support, successfully lobbied the school district to grant a waiver, to give the school permission to use a different curriculum. Second, PTA supporters contributed over $180,000 over the past several years to pay for the curriculum and materials.

Next steps? If the school board adopts the recommendation, we will be faced with two choices:

  1. Use the school district’s new math curriculum, and risk leaving our legacy of excellence in math behind
  2. Go through the process of lobbying the district for another waiver, and raise $30,000 a year (plus a one-time $30,000 fee in the first year) to provide our own curriculum again

We need your help now to continue our legacy of excellence! Help us convince the school board of the importance of our tradition. Here’s how:

Marty McLaren
MS 11-010
PO Box 34165
Seattle, WA 98124-1165

Let us know you are taking action, and stay in touch as this issue develops. Send a message to PTA Legislative Chair Derek Birnie.

Certified First Aid course

Cohort, Events, Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Kindergarten, Learning, Second Grade, Third Grade, Uncategorized
First Aid image
First Aid

Certified First Aid course this Saturday, April 26 at the school 9am to 1pm.

We have a few open spots, so if you’d like to learn how deal with choking, broken bones, CPR, fires, earthquakes and more… please join us by emailing me [President@SchmitzParkPTA.org]. You get the reduced price of $60 per person, and you receive a certificate at the end of the session

Bike to School Day – May 7th

Cohort, Events, Fifth Grade, First Grade, Fourth Grade, Fun, Kindergarten, Second Grade, Sports, Third Grade, Uncategorized

BTSD_2inch_Color
Join the Fun!  Ride with your children to school for National Bike to School Day, on Wednesday, May 7th.  We will take a group photo of the participants in front of the school at 8:30am followed by refreshments and light snacks in the cafeteria.  For more details, see the BTSD_EventDetails_SchmitzPark flyer.  And if you want to lead a group to ride down to school, please contact Mark Wainwright at mwainwright@mac.com.