1st PTA Meeting -

next Tuesday September 20th 7 pm in the library.  Childcare will be provided in the gym for school age kids. We'll conduct our official PTA business, then join us for an informal get-together at Tacos Guaymas after the meeting!

Enrichment Classes are starting!

• Kung Fu Tuesdays and Thursdays 3-4pm (started 9/13, but still okay to join--happens all year)
• Spanish Wednesdays and Fridays 8:10-8:50am (Oct. 5-Dec. 14)
• Chess Club Fridays 3-4pm (Oct. 7-April 27)
• Ipad Animation Thursdays 3-4:30pm (Sept. 29-Nov. 17)
• Mad Science Wednesdays 3-4pm (Oct. 5-Dec. 7)
• Musical Theater Workshop Mondays 3-4:30pm (Oct. 3-Dec. 5)
• Piano Lessons Tuesdays (time scheduled with instructor)

Early Dismissal Wednesdays Circus Arts Series

Walk-N-Rollathon Friday September 30th

Green Lake Rocks!

Take 5 for kids and Take the WA State PTA Survey

Welcome Back!

We hope all of you have had a wonderful summer - so hard to believe that school is starting up again soon!

The first day of school will be September 7th and our new start time is 8:55. We are looking forward to seeing everyone when school starts up and at the Back-to-School Ice Cream Social on Tuesday September 6th from 3 -5 pm on the grass near the Ollalie garden. We will also host an informal parent coffee/tea get-together in the library on the 7th just after school starts.

School supply lists are now up on our website - www.greenlakedragons.org. However, we are also very lucky to be the beneficiary school of the Starbucks back to school supply drives at the Roosevelt Square, Wedgwood, and both University Ave Starbucks stores. Parents are still encouraged to provide the listed items if they are able, but additional supplies will be available for our classrooms from this supply drive.

Principal Bowers asked us to pass along the following message (and please note a request for volunteers to help get the school ready in her last paragraph below):

We hired three exceptional teachers over the summer. I asked each to share a little about themselves with you and here are their mini bios.

John Leahy (new upper grade teacher) comes to us with nine years of teaching experience, most recently in Kirkland for the Lake Washington School District. He has taught third, fifth, and sixth grades and is excited to put that knowledge together in a multi-age setting. John received his teaching credential and Masters in Education from Antioch University. He is also a member of the Green Lake parent community as the father of a first and third grader . When he's not working, John enjoys spending time with family, hiking, biking and Ultimate frisbee.

Sharon Worth (new 1st/2nd grade teacher) - I am excited about rejoining the Green Lake Elementary learning community. I am a former Green Lake parent who is thrilled to be returning as a teacher with the 1st/2nd grade team. The past year and a half I have been co-teaching in a K-2 classroom at BF Day Elementary. I began teaching in Bellevue Public Schools in 1990. I spent 9 years teaching middle school in Bellevue before joining Seattle Public Schools – a decision I made so I could be a part of my daughters experience at Green Lake Elementary. For 9 years I taught 6th grade math at Hamilton Middle School where I found I had a desire to tranfer my skills to a younger set of learners. Young children are a joy to teach! I live near Green Lake with my husband, two daughters who are at Roosevelt HS, our cat, and two chinchillas. I enjoy watching many and various Roosevelt HS sporting events, hiking and camping, making jewelry, cooking, reading and biking. My daughters have many fond memories of their schooling at Green Lake and I look forward to creating many fond memories for your young children.< /span>

Donna Gallagher (new librarian) grew up in the Seattle area attending both Ballard High School and the University of Washington earning a BA in Political Science with an additional emphasis on English Literature. After graduation I moved to Miami (attended night school to earn my teaching credentials) and taught 9 years in Miami as a classroom teacher, a Mathematics Curriculum Coordinator and finally the Technology Specialist (this sounds highly technical but it was NOT we used Apple IIe’s!).

After taking many years off of work to raise two daughters (still working on this J) I attended the University of Washington’s School Library Professional Program. Upon completion of this fabulous program my family was transferred to Washington DC (this is my husband’s fault as he works for NOAA). While in the DC area I was lucky enough to home-school my daughter Erin for the 4th grade, volunteer at the Library of Congress and take countless field trips to historical sights! My then teen age daughter Tristan resisted the home-school idea and chose to attend “Friends Meeting School,” (a small Quaker school). The following year both girls attended Friends while I volunteered in the library to provide library services for the students! My experience serving the school was fantastic and it was with genuine pleasure that I was able to develop some much needed programs and services for this little school!

I am an avid reader with a love of children’s literature and I am thrilled to be a part of the Green Lake community! I CAN’T WAIT to meet all of our students, share my passion for literature and mutually explore all that reading and literacy has to offer! < /span>

Please note:

We are in process of completing student assignments. We have students we are adding from our waitlists and dropping those that have left us. You will be receiving a packet from the office by next Friday, September 1 which will include many items that will need to be returned and your students classroom assignment. Staff is gearing up and have been attending trainings and meeting throughout the summer to plan for our new MAGIC program.

Our building is coming together although there is still a lot of work to be done in Kindergarten and B pod. We will need as many volunteers for the afternoon of the 1st and 6th as possible to help wipe down chairs and desks and walls and move furniture around for teachers. The up swing of all this construction is that we will have a better heating system and new lights for B pod and an updated fire alarm system.
Please let us know if you would like to be taken off this e-mail list or if you know of anyone who would like to be added.

Kelly Crow and Lisa Hofferber

Your PTA Co-Presidents

  *  Green Lake Information Night, June 8th at 7:30 PM (NO childcare)

  *  All-School BBQ, June 10th @ lunchtime

WALK and ROLLATHON: Thank you to all the volunteers at the Walk-and-Roll-athon!!  Many hands made light work, and despite the raindrops, the kids had fun and raised a bunch of money for our wonderful school. 

Remember your pledge sheets MUST be turned in no later than Friday, June 10th in order to be counted towards the Big Shoe and individual prizes.  We of course will still accept pledge money after that day, but it will not be counted toward any of the prizes. 

VOCAL MUSIC CONCERT AND SANTORO’s BOOK FAIR:  Come see your child, all their classmates and all the students at Green Lake Elementary school share the music they have been learning in Vocal Music class sponsored by the PTA.  Performances will be in the gym at 2:15 pm and 7 pm.

Before you watch your child sing, come support the school by purchasing your favorite books at the Santoro's Book Fair in the library!  The bookfair will continue on Tuesday, June 7th.

GLES FAMILY BBQ June 10th: 14 Volunteers needed to: help cook and/or serve at the BBQ during lunch time.  Many of you have done this before and it is greatly appreciated.  We have a great menu this year and it is a Western theme.  If you will let me know by email, in person or you may leave a message.  My direct line is (206) 252-5351.  Thanks much in advance. 

Cost is: Adults $4.00 and children $2.75.  Ms. Parks will be selling tickets in the mornings, Mon. thru Thurs. If your GLES child usually eats school lunch, he/she will only have to enter their pin number.  The child’s cash price is for siblings who might be coming. 

CAR SEAT RECYCLING NOW AVAILABLE IN SEATTLE: Ongoing car seat recycling is now available in Seattle thanks to a partnership between CoolMom and Goods for the Planet. This means that you no longer need to wait for a car seat drive, you can recycle your seats 7 days a week and free up room in your garage!

Do you have a car seat that:  Has been in an accident?  Is 6 years or older? Has had its straps washed or bleached?  Please remove the fabric cover and straps.  Goods for the Planet can accept the buckles, soft foam, hard foam, plastic and metal bits.  Fee: $8.  Goods for the Planet, Unionhttp://www.goodsfortheplanet.com/,  now offers car seat recycling! 525 Dexter Ave. N near Seattle Center/South Lake.

PTA GENERAL MEETING:  Please come to the last PTA General Meeting on Tuesday, May 24th at 7:00 PM.  We will be voting on the new budget, some current budget items, have a guest speaker from SDOT, and presenting some awards.  There will be childcare in the gym as usual.

WALK-n-ROLLATHON: Get those sneakers ready! Our annual Walk-and-Roll-athon is taking place on Wednesday, June 1st! The Walk-and-Roll-athon is a major fundraiser for the school and one of the most fun all-school events of the year! All of the children will walk or roll a 1/4 mile course on the playground, collecting pledges from friends, neighbors, grandparents, etc. for the number of laps completed. This year we hope to raise $20,000 to support a number of school priorities, and if we reach our goal, Principal Bowers has agreed to dye her hair Greenlake GREEN!

Pledge packets were sent home last week - please encourage your students to secure pledges from friends, family, and neighbors in support of their laps walked/rolled. The class that raises the most money wins the coveted BIG SHOE! Individual prizes for most laps completed (classroom by classroom), and two grand prizes: one for the most laps completed and one for the most dollars raised school-wide.

If you are interested in helping on the day of the Walk-and-Roll-athon, please contact one of our volunteer coordinators, Jonathan Alberts, jalberts@u.washington.edu, or Kara Mattaini, kmattaini@comcast.net. Any questions can be directed to the WRT chairperson, Daiga Galins at Daiga.galins@lakesideschool.org.

 

SPRING CLEANING IN THE GLES GARDENS: Just a reminder that Green Lake Elementary School could really use a big turn out to clean out the beds around the school. The Spring Clean-Up will be from 10 a.m to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 21st, rain or shine.  If the parent community keeps the school tidy it keeps the district from having to use chemicals to keep the weeds out - which is a good thing for all the critters at the school including our children.

I've heard from the District that they have 6 other schools doing Spring Clean on this date so tools from them will be limited.  So if you can bring your own that would be great.  It's always a good idea to slap some identification on them.  Most of our work will be weeding with hand tools.  And buckets are always handy.

 

We will also have an "Adopt a Week of Watering" sign up.  We need to make sure all of our beautiful new native plants in Olallie survive this Summer. 

 

Child care with fun games will be provided at the playground so bring the kids. Come for the day, an hour or just stop by and pull a handful of weeds.  All help is welcomed! Thanks for your support!  The Green Lake Garden Club.

 

 

BEFORE/AFTER SCHOOL ENRICHMENT CLASSES: The PTA would like your input on our before/after school enrichment classes. Please take a moment to complete the survey http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MRBLFCM and help us determine which classes to offer next year.
 

LOST AND FOUND: Clothing, jackets, accesories, etc are overflowing from the Lost and Found closet in the front entry and starting to accumulate on the benches in the halls.  PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE check for your children's clothing- before/after school any day, at the PTA meeting, on Young Author's Day, day of the Giant Magnet, etc.  You have until Friday, May 27th to look for your lost items.  If you do not claim them by that afternoon, they will be washed and donated.  We will do the same thing at the end of the school year with any new items that accumulate.

 

INTERESTED IN HELPING WITH ON-SITE COMPOSTING? If you are interested in helping GLES with on-site composting (this would be a 'year round' endeavor) under the district guidelines, please contact Tamar Schamhart at tamarschamhart@yahoo.com for more information.

 

SUMMER CAMPS: If you are still trying to figure what camps your child might enjoy this summer, please check our website for newly added information.

  

 

 

Cynthia Cozza and Kelly Crow

Your PTA Co-Presidents

REMINDER:  Parents of 4th Graders, remember your child will be leaving for Islandwood on Monday, April 25th (the day we return to school).  If you have any questions, tomorrow will be the last day to ask your child's teacher.

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY by Green Lake Elementary School and Seattle Public Theater will be playing at the Bathhouse Theater on Friday, April 15th at 7pm and Saturday, April 16th at 2pm and 7pm. 

 

The kids got to see a snippet of the play this afternoon and it was fantastic.  The preview left us wanting to see the whole play.  Lucky for everyone, there are three showings this weekend listed above.  Some of you might have gone this evening to the premier/final dress rehearsal.

 

Tickets are on a first come first serve basis and by donation. $10 is the suggested donation amount per ticket, but please pay what you are able to. Open to the public as well so tell your friends and family. There will be a small number of center seats reserved for "donors" (people who donate over $20 per seat). Please come early as there is a limited amount of seating. Concessions will be available for donations as well.  On Friday, April 15th, there will be a special extra presentation by the K-2 Drama Class before the performance at 7pm.

 

Hope to see you all at the play. Any questions can be directed to Molly Goldman, molly.goldman@gmail.com.   

 

 

LOST AND FOUND: Clothing, jackets, accesories, etc are overflowing from the Lost and Found closet in the front entry and starting to accumulate on the benches in the halls.  PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE check for your children's clothing.  We have been able to return only a fraction of the items to those whose names were inscribed on them.  It's still cold out there and there are LOTS of jackets in the closet - you might need them for Spring Break with this weather!

 

We typically donate the remaining clothing at the end of the school year, but we may need to do that sooner since there is nowhere to store the items.  We'll let you know when we set everything out for a last chance peek before donation time.

 

Have a great Spring Break and well see you all back in school on Monday, April 25th.

  

Cynthia Cozza and Kelly Crow

Your PTA Co-Presidents