e-Bark Aug 24, 2026

Garfield High School Newsletter


IMPORTANT DATES :

  • Aug 20: Teen Life Center clinic reopens
  • Aug 24-26: Soccer Tryouts GHS Women's soccer
  • Tue Aug 25: Black families mtg with Superintendent (JSCEE) 6:00 - 8:00pm
  • Wed Aug 26: Welcome Garfield for new students 6pm
  • Wed Sept 2: First day of school 8:45am
  • Wed Sept 2: Welcome Back Parents social 8:30 AM 
  • Sat Sept 5: Back-to-School Jam! Free community event 11:00-3:00pm
  • Mon Sept 7: Labor Day - NO SCHOOL
  • Tue Sept 15: PTSA Board Meeting 6:30pm 

Seattle Public School District Calendar

Subscribe to the PTSA CALENDAR

Welcome from our Co-Presidents


Parents and Guardians,

A warm welcome to our newest members of the Bulldog community, and welcome back to all of our returning families! We hope you had a wonderful summer.


First, thank you for signing up for the PTSA newsletter—whether that was yesterday or eight years ago! You can expect a weekly newsletter directly from Dr. Hart, typically on Friday evenings, as well as a PTSA newsletter every other week. You may notice some overlap (by design—we don’t want you to miss anything!), but there will also be plenty of different content, so we encourage you to read both.


New this year… What’s App Groups for parents by Graduation Year! As always, please reach out anytime with questions, suggestions, frustrations, or simply to say hi at president@garfieldptsa.org.

We’re looking forward to a great year together!


With appreciation,

Gabrielle Ventenbergs and Sarah Bruemmer

2026–2027 GHS PTSA Co Presidents

Welcome to Garfield Orientation for New Students Aug 26


This event is an opportunity for students new to Garfield to meet administrators and staff; hear what we are excited about for the coming school year; and get a chance to tour the building. 



Wednesday, August 26, from 6:00–8:00 p.m. in the Quincy Jones Auditorium at Garfield.

No registration required, just show up. Incoming students and their families are encouraged to attend. This is a wonderful way to hear more about the great opportunities at Garfield.


First day of school Parent social Wed Sept 2 8:30am

PTSA is hosting a Parent/Guardian Social on the first day of school at 8:30 a.m. under the flagpoles at the front of the school. Stop by for coffee and a breakfast pastry, and stay for the GHS Drumline performance. It’s also a great opportunity to connect with seasoned GHS parents and ask questions. And if we don’t know the answer, we’ll help you find someone who does!

Join the New Garfield Parent WhatsApp Community!

To help everyone stay informed and connected, we are launching an official Garfield Parent WhatsApp Community.


👉 Click here to join: Garfield HS Seattle Community

  1. The Announcement Channel: You will automatically join this channel.
  2. Join the Chat Discussion for all Grades
  3. Find Your Grade: Once inside, browse the groups and join the two specific chats for your child's graduation year. - Each grade has an "Updates News" group (read-only for news) and a "Chat" group (open for discussion questions, and sharing knowledge).

We look forward to building a great community together!

SPS Black Families host Supt. Shuldiner

Tuesday, August 25 (JSCEE) 6:00 - 8:00pm

Join the first quarterly meeting of the 2026-2027 school year for Black families and families raising Black children.

Collaborate, listen to student voices, teach, and learn together. Partner with SPS to support our children’s academic standards, practices, learning environments, opportunities, and resources. Be part of change, focus, and opportunity for Black students in SPS. Connect with the Superintendent and each other. Please register and help us with the food 🍱 count.

Back to School Jam Sept 5


Open to the entire community!

Saturday Sept 5th @ Garfield, 11:00am to 3:00pm

Please join us and other community orgs for FREE food, fun, music and School Supplies! Everyone is invited, please spread the word!


Garfield Spirit Wear

T-shirts, Crewnecks, Hoodies & Duffel Bags

  • Product takes 2-3 weeks for printing
  • Ship direct to your home or
  • Pick-up at Garfield High School

product is printed by National Achiever

https://tinyurl.com/GarfieldSpiritStore

Garfield Virtual Tour - video shorts


Have you seen the What I like about Garfield Video shorts? Take a peek at some of the people who make GHS so special!


Follow us on Facebook and on Insta to see these short interviews with teachers and students as they are posted.

or watch them on the Garfield PTSA YouTube Channel


Facebook Group for Garfield Families


Did you know there is a Facebook group where family members can ask questions of each other? It's a private group different than the public PTSA page. Comments are open so we can all help each other out with information.

Garfield HS (Seattle) Families

Video: Understanding and Supporting Executive Function and ADHD in High Schoolers


March 2026 PTSA hosted a presentation with Garfield Counselors and guest speaker Dr. Groves: Understanding and Supporting Executive Function and ADHD in High Schoolers

You can now watch it on YouTube (special thanks to our student videographers)

 

Sports at Garfield

Soccer Tryouts Aug 24-26 on the GHS turf


M, T W 3-4:30pm

Bring water, cleats, shin guards and running shoes to all days of tryouts.

make sure to complete forms in Final Forms. Follow on instagram.com/ghs.wsoccer/

Fall Sports

All student athletes must be registered with a current sports physical uploaded into FinalForms prior to tryouts or any athletic participation.

  • Have a WIAA approved medical provider fill out this sports physical form: Signed Physical

Pro-tip: register your student for every sport they are interested in, to ensure you receive timely, relevant information.

Follow your GHS sport of interest on Instagram for additional updates and events, like “Captain’s Practices”!

Garfield Teen Health Center provides Sports physicals!

The GTHC re-opened on August 20th for in-person care. Students can get a sports physical and so much more physical and mental health care at the GTHC, a hidden gem in our school! Follow them on insta @garfieldteenhealthcenter


To schedule call: (206) 987-7210


More info on Teen Health Center webpage

IN THE COMMUNITY

Community news items are included as helpful resources for our families.

These postings are not endorsements

FREE SAT prep materials from Tutor.com via Seattle Public Library. Tutor.com offers the full Princeton Review SAT prep course entirely for free with your library card. Questions? Stop by the library and ask.

University of Washington Study on Assessing Child Friendliness of Seattle

The University of Washington Population Health Initiative and the City of Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development are collaborating to learn how the city can become a more child friendly place. They want to gather insights from parents about their experiences raising children in Seattle.

If you are interested in sharing your perspective, please fill out this five-minute form University of Washington Study on Assessing Child Friendliness of Seattle – Fill out form

Physician Assistant Career Exploration



Odessa Brown Children's Clinic is hosting a VIRTUAL Physician Assistant Career Exploration Session on Wednesday August 26 from 12-1pm. I've attached the flyer with more info and how to RSVP.


Please feel free to share with folks in case we have any Bulldogs (or Bulldog family members!) who are interested in learning more about careers in healthcare! Register here

Please visit the Garfield PTSA website for more in depth school news and calendars.

Write to us at info@garfieldptsa.org

Follow us on Facebook and on Insta

WhatsApp Community


Subscribe to the PTSA calendar - instructions and link.

It's the easiest way to keep track of school events, important dates, theater, music and more.

Join the Garfield HS PTSA

Members need to renew their membership each year.

We make it easy—click the link below, check the top box and any other appropriate boxes, then submit! https://garfieldptsa.org/signup/

No PTSA "dues" or other financial barriers to PTSA membership exist at Garfield. Instead we ask for contributions to our Annual Fund from families who are able.

PTSA funds are used to support school activities, clubs and so much more.

If you would like to be removed from this newsletter please use the unsubscribe button below ⬇️. If you have graduated you will be moved to the Alumni list we can do that!

Thank you for being a member.