Congratulations to all the students who made it to the Council Level for judging!!

​CONGRATULATIONS to all our talented Northshore artists who participated in Reflections this year!  The students demonstrated creativity and passion while keeping with the 2023-24 theme of "I am Hopeful Because..." 

Judging Results:
There were 51 State Qualifiers who continued on to Washington State PTA for further judging. There were also 9 pieces that received the honorable Judge's Choice Award.

​More Information
Learn more about Northshore PTSA's Educational Speakers & Community Events Grant Program.

Questions? Email ​[email protected]

​You are invited to join our Council Emergency Preparedness (E-Prep) Chair meetings. Anyone in the PTA/PTSA is welcome to attend. The online meetings are held on the first Tuesday of each month starting on Tuesday, October 3, 2023.

We encourage local PTA/PTSA E-Prep chairs to attend and or Presidents and/or Vice Presidents or delegates. In this meeting we share and obtain updates from the NSD Safety team and discuss opportunities where the PTA can provide support to our schools in the areas of emergency preparedness, safety, and security.  

​We look forward to seeing you. Feel free to contact Council E-Prep Chair Robin McKenzie if you have any questions at [email protected].

Learn more about E-Prep and how to get involved. 

Parent Education Presentation
The evening started with a presentation from Lake Washington Institute of Technology and Cascadia College titled “Community & Technical College: Preparing Students for Their Future”. This parent education event was organized by Brenae Brix, Council’s VP of Secondary Support, and included a Q&A session. For anyone wanting more information or to bring this presentation to their school community, email Brenae at [email protected].
 
Council Business
Following the presentation, Council business was accomplished. We approved the March 20,2023 General Membership Meeting Minutes, presented the April 2023 Treasurer’s Report, reported that our Annual Corporate Renewal was completed, and updated our membership that we had sent in a donation to the Washington State PTA College Scholarship Fund in accordance with our budget. We also held an election for Council’s 2023-2024 Office of VP of Events. We are excited to announce that Melissa Bennett was elected to this role! We are still looking to elect a Secretary as no nominations were submitted. To find out more about this position and other volunteer opportunities for next year’s Council, visit:  http://www.northshorecouncilptsa.org/council-blog/council-volunteer-opportunities-for-2023-2024.
 
Council Co-President, Rachel Fitzgerald, then gave the following updates and reminders to the membership:

• Local PTAs were asked to update their newly elected officers into memberplanet and into Northshore Council’s Contact Document: http://www.northshorecouncilptsa.org/council-blog/time-to-update-2023-2024-leaders-contact-information-with-council.
• A thank you card from Northshore School Board Director McGourty was read out that thanked Council for the staff appreciation video that was put together for NSD and included thank you messages from Northshore PTA members to Northshore Staff. View the video here: http://www.northshorecouncilptsa.org/council-blog/we-appreciate-northshore-school-district-staff.
• They also gave a recap of Washington State PTA’s reimagined convention. This year the annual event was broken up into two separate parts. The first was a virtual business meeting on April 29th and 30th where Members elected the 2023-2025 Board of Directors and voted on changes to the Washington State PTA Bylaws. The second was the in person spring conference on May 5th and 6th which had several leaders from PTAs and PTSAs in Northshore in attendance. The in-person event was not only a lot of fun, but a great opportunity to receive annual training and connect with PTA leaders from across Northshore and the state!
  
  

Council Committee Reports
The next part of our meeting was our Council Committee Reports.
Spring Recognition Celebration: Updates from Mary Khouzam. This event will be held on June 6th from 10:30-12:30 at Brightwater Community Center. Updates included reminding local PTAs to contact their President in order to RSVP and to submit their award recipients for recognition at the Council level. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSekeNRBGfw7qzuQNA1alhcZq4DZkQirh3Ht8vJSgpWIkFVSQw/viewform
Special Education Chairs: Laura Staneff reported on their recent meeting with Assistant Superintendent Obadiah Dunham discussing supports for neurodiverse students and gave an update on where they were at in the process of forming of a new Special Education PTSA in NSD.
Membership: Kim Ortiz announced that Membership across Northshore PTAs is at 101% of last year with a total of 5521 members! There were special shoutouts to Shelton View PTA, Bothell High School PTSA, and Frank Love PTA for having the highest percent increase of members. We also gave a reminder to local PTAs to utilize the end of the year database checklist provided by WSPTA: https://www.wastatepta.org/pta-leaders/leader-resources/leadership-guides/
Advocacy: Jennifer Drury reported on her recent meeting with fellow Council board member Melissa Kline and School Board Directors Amy Cast and Sandy Hayes where they discussed overcrowding and communication between city and county councils and the school district. There were updates about the upcoming school board elections including working with the incoming Co-VPs of Advocacy on hosting a candidate forum. Jen also let us know that Washington State PTAs Legislative Session Scorecard is available to see what passed and what didn’t and that a draft of the conclusions of the Student Wellness and Safety Task Force from Northshore Schools is available to view.
Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Chair: Cherry Holmes gave a recap of our parent ed event “Northshore Panel Discussion: Beyond Black and White” in partnership with RARE. Feedback from attendees was that they really appreciated the event.
 
We ended the meeting with some timely calendar reminders.

• May 15 is the last day to submit award nominations for Council’s Awards.
• Friday May 20 is the last day to sign up for group registration for the National PTA Convention which is virtual.
• A Grant Cycle will be held right at the start of next school year with submissions due on September 4.
• Washington State PTA will host an Autumn Leadership Launch on August 25-26. Registration should open soon.

To see our full calendar, visit http://www.northshorecouncilptsa.org/calendar.html. We will be updating this page over the summer to include events for 2023-2024 so please make sure to check back often and read your summer eNews to keep up-to-date on all things Northshore Council PTSA!
 
We want to thank all the volunteers, district employees, and community members who attended this meeting and all the previous meetings held this year. We hope you will continue to join us for our General Membership Meetings in the 2023-2024 school year.
​

District and Community Partners:
We welcomed NSD’s Director of Food Services Juliana Fisher as our guest speaker. Ms. Fisher shared with us that about 2500 NSD students qualify for Free and Reduced rate breakfasts and lunches, but unfortunately only a fraction of them are currently enrolled in the program. As a result, Food Services is partnering with schools to make sure that all families are aware of the benefits and services to their students, and to encourage them to sign up if they qualify for the program. Ms. Fisher also shared with us that Food Services has faced some recent challenges due to the COVID pandemic and the impact that it had on providing meals at all schools. The main challenges have been a decrease in staffing, as well as supply chain issues. These issues have impacted the capacity for menu varieties, scratch cooking, cultural access, increasing vegetarian/vegan options, and cultural/linguistic/emotional access. Recently, Food Services created and implemented a picture food menu for our schools, which has been a hit with some of our students! Thank you, Ms. Fisher, for joining us and sharing with us how NSD Food Services continues to feed our students in our schools!

Council Business:
Council Treasurer Serena Xu presented the February Financial Report for review and approval, as well as the proposed Council budget for the 2023-2024 school year. Many thanks to the Council Budget committee (Mary Khouzam, Rachel Fitzgerald, Serena Xu, Brenae Brix, and Melissa Kline) for all of your hard work in helping create and proposing the new Council budget! Serena also shared with us that the Standard of Affiliation (SOA) is complete, and all elected Council officers have completed all of their required training, including PTA and the Law. Speaking of the SOA, Council Board member Diana Christiansen shared that 6 NSD schools participated in our SOA Raffle Drawing. The participating schools were Lockwood Elementary, Innovation Lab High School, Woodin Elementary, Frank Love Elementary, Cottage Lake Elementary, and Canyon Creek Elementary. The winner of the SOA Raffle Drawing is Lockwood Elementary! Congratulations, Lockwood! 

Council Nominating Committee member Cherry Holmes presented nominees for Council Executive Officers, and a vote was taken to approve the nominations. Our new Council Executive Board for the 2023-2024 school year are as follows: 

President - Rachel Fitzgerald
Vice President - Grace Jurado
Treasurer - Brenae Brix
Co-VP of Advocacy - Holly Muenchow 
Co-VP of Advocacy - Terra Droney
VP of Communications - Jennifer Snyder
VP of Elementary Support - Diana Christiansen
VP of Secondary Support - Jennifer Drury

Congratulations, new Executive Board members!

We currently have two Executive Board positions that we need to fill. Those positions are Secretary and VP of Events. If you like keeping accurate records and creating meeting minutes and newsletters, or if you love throwing parties or events, please consider throwing your name in the hat for one of these roles. ​Council will continue to seek volunteers for the OPEN positions of Secretary and VP of Events with the goal of holding an election at our General Membership Meeting on May 15, 2023.

Advocacy Chair Jen Drury gave thanks to all of those involved in advocating for the best superintendent candidates, and thanks, also, to all of those who spent time during this last Washington State Legislative Session advocating for the Special Education bill, which passed in the Senate. Thank you, advocates! Half a dozen of advocates, including parents, spent much time in Zoom meetings with our legislators, and 2 dozen NSD parents, students, Superintendent Tolley, NSD school staff, and school board members traveled to Olympia on February 20th to meet with our state legislators and shared their voices in advocating for things that impact our students and our schools. Thank you for all of your advocacy!

On behalf of the Grant Committee Chair (Grace Jurado, who as unable to join us), Mary Khouzam shared that another round for grant application submissions was open until March 24th, and the Council Awards Nominations form will be available soon.

Reflections Chair Jasmine Fry shared that online showcasing is now available on Council’s website, and several NSD students did well! Carissa P. from Leota Middle School is advancing to National Reflections for Videography. Congratulations, Carissa! 

After several other committee updates, including info for an upcoming Mental Health Fair on May 23rd at Skyview Middle School, and a reminder that the Washington State PTA Convention will be held in May at the Bellevue Hilton, Co-Chair President, Mary Khouzam, brought our meeting to a close by reminding us that planning for Council’s Spring Recognition Even is underway, and details will be shared shortly. To help determine the time of day that works best for attendance, Mary shared a link to a poll asking us if a morning event time or an afternoon event time works best for each of us. 

Thank you to everyone who took time to join us!

​

​Navigating Teen Mental Health: Cher Anderton
Thursdays 7:00PM - 8:30PM​

March 2 - Teen Behaviors and Knowing the Red Flags
March 9 - Supporting Teens Through Transitions & Changes

Each session will have a one-hour presentation followed by 30 minutes of Q&A. 
​
The Zoom link for both sessions: 
https://psychnexus.zone .us/j/84932350238

​
​Recordings will be made available after each session. 
​ This is intended for middle school and high school parents. Attendance is capped at 300. 

In partnership with Northshore Council PTSA, Woodinville High School PTSA, Canyon Park Middle School PTSA, Timbercrest Middle School PTSA & Kenmore Middle School PTSA.

​Northshore School District is proud to host the 2023 Virtual College & Career Fair on Thursday, February 9 from 6:30-8:30 PM. This event will be filled with valuable information to help families plan and navigate post high school options, and is intended for all Northshore High School students and families, but is open to all.

Participants can attend 3 live sessions on February 9th. There will be an opportunity for Questions & Answers.

​Over 15 virtual sessions will be offered, and topics include:

• College Application Process
• Paying for College
• Transfer, Tech, and 2-Year Programs
• Apprenticeships and Career Colleges
• ...and so much more!

Questions Regarding Registration? Email Lisa Allen at [email protected].

This event is proudly sponsored in partnership with Northshore Council PTSA's Secondary Support and Northshore Schools Foundation.

Meeting Recap:

The General Membership meeting began with the reading of a Land Acknowledgement, a small but important step in showing respect and honor for the Indigenous Peoples of the land that we work and live on, and their truth, stories, and histories, which we commit to protecting and preserving from erasure. 

Claudine Miller was presented as the nominee for Council’s Secretary, and was then elected into the role after a vote was taken. Region 6’s Area VP, Liz Nord, then officially installed the Council officers for the 2022-2023 school year. Thank you, Council officers, for your commitment to serving our local PTAs and our students! 

Interim Superintendent Michael Tolley took some time to share with us what his and Northshore Schools’ focuses will be going forward into the 2022-2023 school year. NSD’s mission of “strengthening our community through excellence in education by focusing on our school communities, school climate and welfare, and school systems” will be hopefully be achieved by strategic initiatives such increasing inclusionary practices, and determining the measures that will tell us what we are going to do to help our students be successful in their education. To hear more about these strategic initiatives, and to share your hopes, concerns, and questions with Mr. Tolley, please consider attending a Listen and Learn session. More information can be found at https://www.nsd.org/our-district/leadership/interim-superintendent/listen-and-learn . 

Council Business: 

• After the minutes for the August 2022 Board meeting were presented for review, Council Treasurer, Serena Xu, presented the 2021-2022 Financial Review, the July 2022 Treasurer Report, the 2021-2022 End of Year report, and the proposed 2022-2023 Council Budget, which was then approved by vote. 
• Council Co-Chair, Rachel Fitzgerald, then presented proposed edits to the Council Standing Rules and Policies to keep our Council compliant with changes made by National PTA regarding Nominating Committees and membership. Proposed edits were accepted by vote. 
• Council Co-Chair, Rachel Fitzgerald, also presented the Council's Mission Statement and the Goals & Objectives which were approved by vote. 

District and Community Partners:

• School Board member Amy Cast gave a brief update on capital bond and levy projects, as well as letting us know that projects will be broken down into phases.
• NSD Community Partnerships and Volunteer Coordinator, Marco Garcia, shared that religious and medical exemptions will now be available for people interested in volunteering in our schools who are not fully vaccinated against the COVID virus. For more information on how to sign up to volunteer, as well as how to apply for a religious or medical exemption, please visit https://www.nsd.org/get-involved/volunteer/become-a-volunteer . Background checks are also currently experiencing delays, so get your volunteer application in as soon as possible! Lastly, Marco was excited to share that he was invited by the NSD Racial and Educational Justice department to share his story as a Black Latino, in honor of Hispanic and Latino/a/x Heritage Month. To watch a recording of Marco’s presentation, and to learn more about Hispanic and Latino/a/x Heritage Month, please visit https://www.nsd.org/our-district/who-we-are/racial-educational-justice/monthly-observances/post/~board/observance/post/hispanic-heritage-month
• Carson Sanderson joined us as a representative of the NSD Hi-Cap Parents Council, and shared with us the mission and focus of the Hi-Cap Parents Council, as well as how they are advocating on behalf of the Hi-Cap students in our schools. To learn more about the NSD Hi-Cap Parents Council, visit https://hcparents.blogspot.com/p/join-list-make-sure-you-stay-informed.html
• Carmin Dalziel with the Northshore Schools Foundation shared with us some of the work that the Foundation is doing to support our NSD students. Some of the work includes providing grants programs, classroom grants, and grants for PTAs (which are currently available), the Skills4Life Podcast, which is a weekly short podcast for parents and guardians of high school teens, and the Foundation Works program that serves and supports NSD families and students experiencing hardships with one-time grants. For more information about Northshore Schools Foundation, visit https://www.northshoreschoolsfoundation.org/who-we-are . 

Lastly, our Council chairs gave us updates on the important work that they are doing to advocate for and support our NSD students and local PTAs. We are very excited for all that they are doing, and we hope that you will join us this school year in advocating for all of our NSD students! Thank you to all who joined us for the first General Membership meeting of 2022-2023, and we hope that you will continue to attend our meetings!​