This fall, in coordination with FOSB's Garden Committee, kindergarten and first grade classes, along with family volunteers, have spent time planting the tall square planters on the playground. Several afternoons have been spent reclaiming spent soil, removing dead stumps and finally planting a variety of new plants. This week, the classes have planted strawberries, kale, garlic and decorative cabbage. The excitement of digging was high, with dirty hands to prove it! Along with the excitement, was an extreme care for the delicateness of the plants. The kids showed remarkable gentleness while tucking the plants into their new home. Planting this time of year is a bit of an experiment; but our youngest students are up for the task! As budding scientists, they are looking forward to observing and nurturing the gardens over the winter months. At Friday Sing this morning, Amy's class also asked that our community help keep these plants safe by observing them, but not picking them or playing in the planters! Hopefully these planters will continue to grow and provide some much appreciated greenery on the playground.

As we go into this week off from school, I hope that we are all able to take time to connect. To connect to our community, to connect to our families, and to connect to nature. There is such beauty in the small gestures and the quiet moments, and we wish you many of both!

Direct Giving:

Direct Giving Update:

We are one week into our fall Direct Giving campaign. So far we have raised $11,375 toward our goal of $77,000. Thank you to everyone who has already contributed. 

The money raised in this campaign will be spent this school year on staffing, teacher grants, yearbooks, scholarships for camp, field trips and the Spring Enrichment Program (fka: WEP) and much more. If you are able, please consider donating. No gift is too small. Donations are tax deductible.

Click here to get more information, and to see our progress in real-time!

Background:

The Direct Giving campaign is the fall fundraising event for Friends of Salmon Bay (FOSB), our parent teacher organization. Instead of asking you to buy cookie dough, wrapping paper, or popcorn, we ask you to contribute directly to our efforts to support Salmon Bay School. 

FOSB works with Salmon Bay to close the gap between the programming that is funded by Seattle Public Schools and the support our students need. Your contributions to our Direct Giving campaign help FOSB support education at Salmon Bay in many ways: staffing; teacher grants; yearbooks; scholarships for the spring enrichment program (SEP), field trips, and camp; and much more. 

Ways to Donate:

If you are able, please consider donating to the Direct Giving campaign. No gift is too small! Donations are tax deductible. This year we are trying something new: Text2Fund.

• To donate by phone: Text FOSB to 71760
• Donate by check: Write a check payable to FOSB and deliver it to the school office, or mail it to FOSB Direct Giving, ℅ Salmon Bay School, 1810 NW 65th St, Seattle, WA 98117.
• Ask your friends and family to donate. Give donation information to others you think would be willing to support our school in exchange for never being asked to buy cookie dough, wrapping paper, or popcorn.
• Ask your employer to match your donation. If your employer matches employees’ charitable donations, they could double, triple, or even quadruple your contribution! FOSB’s tax ID is 91-1622350. 

Upcoming Events:

Soup for Staff - Monday, November 20th

Let's provide a meal for our hard working staff during conference week. Sign-up here to provide lunch items on Monday, November 20. Volunteer Katie Roberts will coordinate food drop offs and set up. Email KatieQRoberts@gmail.com with any questions.

4th Grade Movie Night - Thursday, November 30th at 6pm

4th grade Movie Night in the Cafetorium on Thursday, November 30th at 6pm. Bring a water bottle and blanket or something cozy to sit on. We’ll have some light snacks. Email liila.woods@gmail.com or syl@sylvialoh.com with questions and/or movie suggestions.

2nd Grade Winter Crafts & Cocoa - Friday, December 1st, 6:00pm-7:30pm

Second graders join your crew and come see the winter crafts we’ve got planned for you! Siblings welcome. Enter in the evening through the North doors on 18th; crafts will be in the cafetorium. (Gentle reminder kids need to stay in the cafetorium during the event.) Email Kim Kaino at kimkaino@yahoo.com with questions. Keep a lookout for volunteer sign ups!

5th Grade Dinner & A Movie- Thursday, December 7, 5:30-8:00pm

Fifth grade families- please join us in a community potluck followed by a movie in the SB cafeteria. Sign up for food or snacks here and send your movie ideas to Katie & Dawn! KatieQRoberts@gmail.com and Quest4Grace@gmail.com

Announcements:

FOSB November Board Meeting

FOSB held its November board meeting last night; thank you to all who attended! Our meeting minutes will be available here.

At the beginning of each meeting, a member of the community reads a land acknowledgement. We are including a connected action with our land acknowledgement each month this year. This month’s action is to learn more about the Pocahontas Reframed Film Festival, which is held each November in Virginia, and find a film from a previous year that you are interested in watching that is available elsewhere, like 2021’s Home From School: The Children of Carlisle, which is available to watch for free on Kanopy with a Seattle Public Library log in. If you would like to suggest a connected action for future months, please reach out to fosbchair@gmail.com.

Volunteer Opportunity: Evening Lantern Festival

Long-time Salmon Bay families know and love our yearly lantern festival held with the Elementary grades. Students have been hard at work creating lanterns in art class for the past few weeks to use for the celebration. The last Friday Sing of the year before winter break, December 15, will again be an in-school Lantern Festival, open to the community. For many years Salmon Bay families have gathered at Salmon Bay park in the evening after the Lantern Festival to sing songs by lantern light. Mary Kay, who used to run this event, is no longer working with the school and thus will not be leading the community in song. If an evening event is going to take place, we need community help to lead and to coordinate the event - and to figure out how it evolves this year. If the lantern festival is a valuable experience to you, and you are able to coordinate or want to support the effort, please email FOSB co-chairs at fosbchair@gmail.com.

Community and Engagement

Some important work we’re doing this year in our FOSB Board Meetings is centered around serving all families in our community. SB parents, Erin Dury and Liz Hunter are working to sketch up a plan for reaching and engaging as much of the Salmon Bay community in a conversational survey. We expect to spend most of this year on community and engagement and would like this exploration to be open to all ideas of what ‘community’ and 'engagement’ mean to folks. More info is captured in the November board meeting notes shared above. Please contact Erin Dury to get involved, or reach out to FOSB Chairs Julie and Caitlin.

From the PIE (Parent Information Exchange) Committee

What is PIE? We are a group of parents and guardians who want to share, collaborate, and support each other in raising our kids and building community. We sponsor parent education events throughout the year, including hosting guest speakers, film / documentary screenings, panel events, book discussions, and more. We have gathered a library of books on parenting-related topics. This library cart is located in the school’s front lobby. We have begun collecting an online library of resources as well. Topics that we delve into include: substance use, gun violence, racial equity and justice, physical and emotional health. Other topics that we would like to raise are: environmental justice and menstrual awareness. 

Ways that you can be involved:

1. Volunteer to disperse info on our meetings and events to your parent friends, cohorts, and grades. We’ll provide the blurbs with details, so all you need to do is copy and paste or share at in-person gatherings.
2. Donate books or share online resources that you find supportive and helpful.
3. Take on one task related to an event. Examples: pick up food or drink at a local vendor, email admin to confirm dates and spaces for events are available, arrange spaces prior to events. 
4. Share ideas, resources, and expertise for events.
5. We welcome other offerings that you can think of!
6. Please email fosbpie@gmail.com.

Student/Family Learning Support Committee

We would like to offer the following rubric as a resource for parents. If this is helpful to you, please bring to your teacher conferences. See Rubric here.

Calling All 2nd Grade Families

We are attempting to make a single grade email list in Google Groups. If you are not yet a member of Salmon Bay 2030, please email KatieQRoberts@gmail.com to be added. We will use this to share info about upcoming 2nd grade events and community gatherings. Thank you!

Have your kids outgrown their Voom bikes?

Mr G is running his bike unit and he is looking to add bikes to his inventory. He is particularly interested in Voom bikes. If your child has outgrown their bike you would like to donate it, please talk to Mr. G or contact fosbchair@gmail.com.

Volunteer Opportunity: Teacher Snack Shack

We are hearing lots of gratitude from the teachers who are enjoying the snack shack at school. We are looking for more volunteers to bring snacks, drinks and Keurig pods to school on Fridays. Feel free to drop snacks in the front office or the Volunteer Coordinator office. Sign-up for snack delivery here.

School Crossing Guard Needed

Seattle Schools is hiring crossing guards at multiple locations including Salmon Bay! Crossing Guards work 2 hours per day/ 10 hours a week, starting at $18.69 an hour. You can find out more by clicking on this link.

At the October FOSB meeting SB parent, Otto Loggers, put forward the idea of delivering a flier to each door within a couple-block radius announcing the position opening. Otto has pulled names and mailing addresses into a spreadsheet, and is hoping that someone else is able to take the baton from here. Are you that person? Contact fosbchair@gmail.com. 

At the November FOSB meeting members voted to move some money in the FOSB budget to be available to pay for background checks for anyone applying for the position. Also, SB parent, Cynthia Anderson, suggested that this might be a position that is well paired with another part time position at Salmon Bay.

Keep those ideas coming! How else can we help get this important position filled? Contact fosbchair@gmail.com. 

Stay Connected

Set yourself up to stay aware of FOSB events this school year! Sign up here to receive FOSB emails as they are released. Go to the Events page, click Subscribe to Calendar at the bottom right, and select the type of calendar you use (Google Calendar, iCalendar, Outlook, etc). Or follow us on FaceBook for more info about meetings and events.

School Reminders:

The following dates, activities & announcements pertain to the school and come from information provided by school staff/teachers/admin. We are pleased to include them as reminders to our community, but this may not be an exhaustive list of everything the school has planned. Please check with your student’s teacher(s) or office staff for more information.

Order School Photos:

School photos are available for viewing/purchase for your student(s). You will need their student ID number; student ID numbers can be found on the Source. Follow this link to view. Picture retakes are scheduled for November 28th.

• Missed picture day? Students who missed picture day should plan on getting a photo taken on makeup/retake day. Families can preorder photos here. (deadline to preorder is the night before, 11/27)

• Preordered photos and would like a retake? If you preordered portraits (ordered without viewing) and would like a retake, your student can return their portrait package in exchange for a complimentary retake replacement.

Winter Middle School Athletics Info:

Basketball starts on December 4th. Winter season is quickly approaching. Specific practice days are not scheduled yet, but teams will have 2 practices per week and a game on Saturdays. Please use the following links to get yourself set up for the season. Email Ms. T at ejtelford@seattleschools.org (with questions and/or digital copies of paperwork).

Basketball Interest Form here.

Middle School Athletics Paperwork here.

Middle School Transcripts:

Parents of Middle Schoolers who need transcripts sent to other schools (transfers, High School, etc.) must have a transcript request sent to Salmon Bay from the respective school, or go through Ravenna Solutions. 

Salmon Bay Holiday Community Giving Program

Our sixth annual Salmon Bay Holiday Community Giving program is here! For families new to the school, this program provides a way for our families to support each other during what can be a very challenging time of year. From November 17th through December 13th, our community will be collecting gifts for those families in our school who could use some help this holiday season. We’re forwarding this message from the school so everyone who would like to participate, either as a recipient or a donor, has the details.

To Get A Gift: Please return a request form to our school counselor Rob (rabright@seattleschools.org) or our school social worker Allie (aeash@seattleschools.org) by November 10th. Your information will be kept strictly confidential.

To Give A Gift: We will send out a Sign-up Genius on November 16th with all wishes listed. Simply purchase what is noted and return the unwrapped, labeled item one of three ways (direct ship/drop off/porch pickup) no later than December 13th, and we’ll handle the rest. Full details will be available on the Sign-up Genius. If you have any questions, please contact Jacqueline Anderson (jacqueline_anderson@outlook.com) or reach out to our school counselor Rob or social worker Allie. 

School Calendar Dates:

• November 20th - 22nd: No School (Teacher Conferences)
• November 23rd: No School (Thanksgiving)
• November 24th: No School (Native American Heritage Day)
• November 28th: Picture Retakes

Community Announcements:

The Intersection of Autism & LGBTQ+ Identities -

Tuesday, December 5th at 6:30pm

The Loyal Heights PTA and UW Autism Center present "The Intersection between Autism & LGBTQ+ Identities." Join this virtual conversation about the intersectionality of neurodiversity and gender identity. Learn how to affirm, support and advocate for your neurodivergent LGBTQ+ or LGBTQ-exploring child(ren). Hope you can join us!

When: Tuesday, December 5

Where: VIRTUAL

Time: 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

RSVP: Sign up by 12/3 here.

Questions: specialedchair@loyalheightspta.org

SPS Board Proposal Information

A group of SPS parents/caregivers from across the city have come together to share information about upcoming SPS Board proposals, and to figure out actions to support our schools and students. The group formed a group called All Together for Seattle Schools. Find out more on their website here.

Seattle JazzED

Click here to learn more about the mission of Seattle JazzED! Here is more information about upcoming events: 

Open Enrollment for Winter Programs:

Winter registration is live! In addition to new seasons of JazzSprouts, Foundations, and Connections, students in grades 8 to 12 can sign up for new Exploration ensembles, including Drumline and New Works. No auditions are required. 

Youth Hosting Jam Session:

On Thursday, December 14, students participating in our Jazz Lab: Gigging and Mentoring program will be hosting a jam session open to peers in the community. Middle and high school musicians are invited to join for the evening are encouraged to RSVP.

Community Art Camps

Creativity camps for everyone at In The Making studio in Ballard. A fun, freeing space dedicated to finding joy in the act of creating in community with others. Work past “I can’t…” and “I’m not…” and embrace “yes” and “I wonder” when you play with color and materials. Currently offering after school camps for kids on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, adults on Fridays and all ages on Sundays. You can find more information here.

Seattle Public Safety Survey:

What is the survey and why am I taking it?

The purpose of the survey is to solicit feedback on public safety and security concerns from those who live and/or work in Seattle. A report on the survey results will be provided to the Seattle Police Department to help them better understand your neighborhood’s safety and security concerns and community-police dialogues will be held in May-August 2024 to provide opportunity for police-community engagement about the results.

More information on the Seattle Public Safety Survey which is part of the Seattle Police Department’s Micro-Community Policing Plans (SPD MCPP), can be found on the SPD MCPP website here.

Take the survey here.

The survey is being administered from October 15th through November 30th and is available in Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, English, Korean, Oromo, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya and Vietnamese.

Please circulate this information to your friends, family, co-workers and community members and feel free to post the information on your social media. To access the 2023 Seattle Public Safety Survey flyers in all 11 languages, please click here.

If you would like to work with a Seattle University researcher to set-up outreach and assist in the facilitation of the survey to your communities or organizations, or you would like more information about the survey, please do not hesitate to contact the SPD MCPP research team by emailing Elaria Zakhary at Ezakhary@seattleu.edu.

Center School Information

Is your 8th grader thinking about high school? The Center School will be hosting another open house in February for prospective students and families. Thursday, February 15, 2024 at 5:30-7:30 p.m. There will be student led tours and information sessions for both students and parents. For more information on The Center School, we invite you to watch the virtual school tour video. Please contact Amy at amylarkinfields@gmail.com with any questions.

Lost & Found!

The lost & found is overflowing!

Please check to see if you recognize anything.

Friday Sing

Singing Count on Me is always a favorite. Thanks Mark!

New Growth!

Members of Jenny's K/1 class work on planting strawberries & kale on the playground!

New Growth!

Members of Gabi's kindergarten class work on planting cabbage & garlic on the playground!

We'd love to include photos from in & around the school!

If you have one you'd like to share, please submit it to fosbnewsletter@gmail.com.

Have something to add?

To add any updates, news or events to the newsletter, please email fosbnewsletter@gmail.com.

Did a friend forward you this email? Click here to sign-up yourself! 

Past emails will be archived here.

SPS Safe Schools Hotline: 206-252-0510.

The Seattle School District Safety and Security Department is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.