Save the Date  for our School Board Candidate Forum on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2021!

We are working on finalizing the location and time. At this time we are focusing on planning an in person forum. Details will be posted as soon as they are available.

We are also gathering questions from the community to ask during the forum. If you would like to submit a question, please fill out the form below or email your question to advocacy@northshorecouncilptsa.org.

This is a great opportunity to get to know the candidates better before the November 2nd General Election. To register to vote, update your voter registration information, or learn more about what's on your ballot, visit Vote.WA.gov.

Below you will find links to Q&As from each of the eleven (11) Northshore School District School Board Candidates running in the August 2021 Primary Election. To view the responses, click on each candidate's image which will open a PDF of the Q&A. Note: These are best viewed from a desktop type device.

A message from our Co-VPs of Advocacy:
​To reach as many voters as possible and provide them another resource to make informed choices on their ballots, we invited the school board candidates to answer seven questions taken from the most common questions and themes we heard from PTA and community members. We know that candidates are providing information on their own websites and social media, but it can be helpful to have one place where people can access information on all the candidates to compare them more efficiently. We chose questions that cover a variety of interests and concerns from across the district. We emailed each candidate using the email address listed on the King County Elections page.   

​We asked candidates to submit their answers via a Google form by July 12th to allow us time to publish everyone’s responses before the ballots arrive in the mail. This gave candidates one week to respond. We recognize this was a short turn around but we were eager to get information to the voters of our district after having to pivot quickly after canceling our Zoom forums. The candidates’ answers are cut-and-pasted from the Google form so you will see their complete, un-edited answers. If they have any concerns about how their responses are presented, we have asked them to let us know, so that we may address the issue. We really appreciate that all of the candidates took the time to answer our questions.

Council's virtual school board candidate forums that were scheduled to be published later this month have been cancelled. 

For a statement as to why these forums have been cancelled, please see the video below from Council President, Jane Chiodo.

Our hope is to work towards hosting an in-person forum this fall before the general election in November.

For a written transcript of the video below, please click here.

Northshore Council PTSA Mission Statement
Northshore Council PTSA is a welcoming organization that works to support our Local PTAs and serve the children and youth of our community through advocacy, education, mentoring, collaboration, and leadership.​

Recently, Council has been sent several questions asking about our upcoming School Board Candidate Forum and felt it was best to address those questions publicly.

On June 22, 2021 at 7pm, the Northshore Council PTSA was scheduled to host the first of three scheduled Zoom Forums for each of the three open positions on the Northshore School Board. Unfortunately, all but one of the candidates pulled out at the last minute. We will leave it to the candidates to share their reasons. Due to this, the first recording was not able to be done. We are currently working on rescheduling this forum. 

Northshore Council PTSA has held many candidate forums in the past including school board candidate forums and most recently state representative forums in 2018 and 2020. Council volunteers have done their best to create a fair, non-partisan forum in which each candidate is asked the same questions and has the same time to answer the questions. Council took input from PTA/PTSA members as well as community members for these questions which represent a wide spectrum of issues and concerns from across the district. The three recorded Zoom Forums, though recorded on different days, would be all posted to our website on the same day and will not be edited or altered in any way.

Members of the community have asked about the possibility of us hosting an in person forum. Due to the short time-frame, we do not have time to find a venue and organize an in-person forum before the primary school board election, but we will consider hosting one before the general election. Click here to learn more about the format of Council's 2021 School Board Candidate Forum.

We hope that given another chance, all school board candidates will choose to participate in our Zoom Forums as it is important for voters to have the opportunity to hear about their experiences, views, and vision for the education of Northshore students in order to make informed choices.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to our Co-VPs of Advocacy by emailing advocacy@northshorecouncilptsa.org.

Thank you to everyone that attended our fifth and final membership meeting of the school year!  This meeting was especially impactful as there were over 55 attendees from our local PTA’s and community partners in attendance. 

Council Business:
The meeting kicked off with an approval of minutes from our March general meeting, before moving on to hear the Treasurer’s Report for the month of May from the Council Treasurer, Liz Nord. May’s report reflected income from membership service fees, as well as expenses related to the Spring Recognition Event, Moneyminder software renewal, WSPTA scholarship funds, WSPTA convention registration fees and awards.

Next on the agenda was an update to the Northshore Council PTSA Standing Rules. Changes recommended were: 

1. Add Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) as a Standing Committee and to the Board of Directors.
2. Add the Mental Health Committee as an ad hoc committee.
3. Remove Presidents and Principals Lunch and Spring Recognition Breakfast from the ad hoc committees as these items now fall under the VP of Events responsibilities.

All items were approved by a unanimous voice vote.

Our VP of Communications, Rachel Fitzgerald, then shared with everyone the importance of updating the contact information for positions being filled for next year in your PTA. If you are an officer next year, please update your contact information before July 1st, 2021. This information will be used to contact you by council board members that want to support your PTA. It is also how you will be on the list to receive communications from council, including the council newsletter, that will keep you updated on events and happenings in our district. Remember to update officers into memberplanet as well!

​District and Community Reports:
School Board Director David Cogan shared an update in regards to Northshore School District that included, but was not limited to:

• For the 2021-2022 school year, all Northshore students, K-12 will have two options for attending school:
  • In person, full time, 5 days a week – This will include mask wearing, social distancing, hand washing, increased ventilation, extra facility cleaning and Covid batch testing for those giving consent.
  • Northshore Virtual Program – daily 70% synchronous instruction from Northshore teachers with Northshore curriculum, 30% asynchronous learning.  The virtual program will not be offering IB classes. 
• NSD is improving inclusive education:
  • North Region schools received a 2019/2020 grant to increase the percentage of students educated in the least restrictive environment.
  • Ruby Bridges and Kokanee Elementary Schools were recognized as Washington State Inclusive Education Demonstration Sites and are consulting with the UW Haring Center for Inclusive Education.
  • This funding was extended for the next 2 years.
• Melissa Reily, NSD Director of Equity and Pedagogy, won the Gallagher Howard M. Coble Scholarship for under-represented educational leaders.
• NSD filed with OSPI their Academic and Student Well Being Recovery Plan
  • To address student needs resulting from school building closures and extended time in remote learning due to COVID-19 pandemic.
  • This is used to distribute the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.
• Working on the framework for the next NSD 5 year Strategic Plan to begin around June 22.
• Meetings with State Legislators to discuss changes that COVID 19 has had for students, families and districts.
• Happy to report that approximately 1000 students have been vaccinated through vaccine clinics offered through NSD partnerships.

 
 Lauren Lewis, acting NSD Partnerships and Volunteer Coordinator, reported the following:

• Lauren Lewis will be filling in for Natalie Campbell until the Fall.
• Bothell High School vaccine clinic is happening on 6/12, looking for 12 more volunteers.
• Community Serve Day will be on 8/22 this year:
  • All elementary and middle schools are participating for outdoor work, not high schools.
  • Things may change with some opportunities to work within buildings at some point but for now just keep an eye out for any communications regarding updates from the district.
• Conversations with the Board was held earlier tonight. Those events are now starting to return in person so continue to watch for in person events.
• Currently working with the district with the calendar.
• Graduations are being held June 14, 15 and 16! As a district we are looking forward to supporting everyone in a safe way.

Carmin Dalziel, representing the Northshore Schools Foundation, gave an update that included but was not limited to:

• They have three main causes:
  • Inspire learning
  • Remove barriers
  • Build skills for life
• Working on starting a Facebook page for jobs for Northshore teens, for real companies to post opportunities for kids.
• Excited and hopeful that they will partner with the middle schools for career day again next year.
• There are classroom grants available for the Fall. 
• The Northshore Gives Platform has also been a great resource for Senior class projects and raising money for smaller projects at schools or classrooms within the district.
• Continuing to support ethnic studies.
• Removing barriers is what NSF is known for. This year they allocated a CARE team opportunity budget for each school. In total, $105,000 was given out to families in need this year. For more information, please reach out to Heather Erickson.
• Basic Needs Aid still goes on this year. This fund is designated for families facing a hardship or crisis that are in need.
• Still supporting Threads and Treads with a monetary donation.
• There will be a donation drive for school supplies again.
• Just had a fun gala and there will be a wine walk in October.

​After the updates were given by the community partners there was a reminder to the local PTA attendees to please remember to fill out the end of year survey from Council. This survey lets us know how we can better serve your PTA with your valuable feedback. We will be taking survey responses up until midnight on Friday, June 25th.

Our Council President, Jane Chiodo, then shared a personal message of thanks to the council as well as the local leaders and community partners. Click here to read that message.

​Last, but certainly not least, the evening ended with our 2020-2021 Spring Recognition Event! This event was hosted by our Co-VP of Events, Mary Khouzam and Karrie Palis. The theme was "Thank You for Making Lemonade". This was such a fitting theme since all of our local PTA’s did exactly that this year, when handed lemons, they made some lemonade!

The event included performances from Skyview Middle School's symphonic band, orchestra, and choir as well as a performance from the Bothell High School Bel Canto Choir. 

The highlight of the event was celebrating all the achievements of our local PTAs/PTSAs as well as the recipients of their Recognition Awards. Council was also honored to present this year's Council Recognition Awards. Congratulations to:
   

    🌟 Outstanding Educator: Natalie Campbell
    🌟 Outstanding Advocate: Cathi Davis
    🌟 Outstanding Student Advocate: Diya Gupta   
    🌟 Outstanding Service: Melissa Kline
    🌟 Golden Acorn: Lauren Lewis
    🌟 Golden Acorn: Liz Nord
    🌟 Honorary Life Membership: Nancy Chamberlain

Click here to learn more about each of our 2020-2021 Council Award Recipients.

Thank you to our Council Awards Committee Members Diana Christiansen, Rachel Fitzgerald, and Karrie Palis for the beautiful awards presentation and speeches given during the event!

​Thank you to all that attended this fun evening!  It was a fun night with lots to celebrate for making it through this unprecedented school year!  Looking forward to our next membership meeting in the fall.  Have a wonderful summer and enjoy this much deserved time to relax with your families.

Thank you to all that attended our fourth membership meeting of the school year! Each general meeting provides us with an opportunity to connect with our wonderful local PTA leaders and community partners and learn more about the great things happening across our district.

A little bit of fun:
We started off our meeting with a 30 minute “social” time. We invited all to join us to chat with Council and other local PTA leaders. We had great conversations and learned that “Flight” was the most desired superhero power in our fun poll!

Guest Speaker:
Our guest speaker this month was Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid who graciously answered questions regarding the upcoming shift to hybrid learning in NSD. A great range of questions were asked including but not limited to: how PTAs can support the return to classrooms, the thinking behind the hybrid model, vaccination progress for teachers, when the learning model will be decided for Fall, what hybrid will look like for those 100% remote, and the latest updates on SBAC testing. We thank Dr. Reid for taking the time to join us during such a busy and stressful time.

Council Business:
After approving our minutes from our January general meeting, we moved on to hearing the Treasurer Report for the month of February. We then moved on to learning about our 2021-2022 preliminary budget. Our budget committee worked along with our Treasurer, Liz Nord, to evaluate what our needs would be for next year taking into consideration the decrease in memberships that we had experienced in 2020-2021 possibly continuing next year. A few changes were recommended, such as lowering our income expectations and cutting costs where we could (obtaining a smaller PO Box, lowering line items such as hospitality, grants, office supplies, etc.). We also added line items for our new DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) position and our new Mental Health committee. The preliminary 2021-2022 budget was approved by a unanimous voice vote.

Next up on the agenda was electing our 2021-2022 officers! Thank you to our hardworking Nominating Committee, Grace Jurado and Liz Nord, for putting together a rocking slate for next year! Liz Nord read the Nominating Report. The self-nomination period was held with no others submitting their names for nomination. The election script was followed with a reading from the WSPTA bylaws. A motion was cast to accept the slate as presented, seconded, and unanimously approved by a voice vote.

Congratulations to our incoming 2021-2022 officers!!

• For the Office of President: Jane Chiodo
• For the Office of First Vice President: Mary Khouzam
• For the Office of Co-Secretary: Pauline Wray
• For the Office of Co-Secretary: Cheri Hardin
• For the Office of Treasurer: Serena Xu
• For the Office of VP of Events: Karrie Palis
• For the Office of Co-VP of Advocacy: Diana Christiansen
• For the Office of Co-VP of Advocacy: Jennifer Drury
• For the Office of VP of Communications: Rachel Fitzgerald
• For the Office of VP of Elementary Support: Grace Jurado
• For the Office of VP of Secondary Support: Brenae Brix

Council Reports:
Tracy Jokisch, our Emergency Prep and Safety Co-Chair, gave us an update regarding the bulk purchase of Stop the Bleed kits for district schools. There will most likely be over 500 kits ordered in total, which will include 2 kits per school contributed by Council. In conjunction with the Stop the Bleed effort, Clark Combs, district Eprep specialist on the district Safety and Security team, has been offering virtual ACT training to staff.

Diana Christiansen, our Council Vice President of Advocacy, gave us an update regarding the exceptional attendance by WA State PTA members at this years National PTA Legislative Conference. It was great to see big representation especially at “Hill Day” when attendees met directly with legislators and their staffers. Check out our NPTA LegCon recap here!

We got an update on the Reflections program. 55 pieces were forwarded to the state competition and we were waiting to hear results. (Results now in - check them out here!) The Council Reflections Celebration website was a big hit allowing many families – as well as family and friends around the country! - to experience all the works of art from artists all over the district. Next year’s theme was announced as, “I Will Change the World By…”.

Diana Christiansen and Karrie Palis announced that our Council Recognition Awards Nominations were open. They are looking for nominations for the following awards: Outstanding Educator, Outstanding Advocate, Outstanding Student Advocate, Outstanding Service, Golden Acorn, Honorary Life Membership. They are also looking for members to join their committee to review nominations and select winners.

Melissa Kline gave an update regarding membership. Three (3) PTAs had reached 100% staff membership and, in total, we have reached 4,826 members which is 62% of last year’s number. Melissa also gave an update about the newly formed Mental Health Committee. The committee had their first meeting recently, at which they discussed goals and things they would like to work on which included communicating about mental health awareness programs.

Lauren Lewis, our Council F.A.C.E. (Family and Community Engagement) Chair, talked about the Equity Inventory Committee, which was established to assess where our Council stood in regards to equity and diversity. The goal of the committee was to look at all facets of our operation through a DEI lens and then to make suggestions on areas that we could improve on. Lauren was also working on finding a presentation about how to navigate the US high school system that could be offered to families in our district that speak other languages or who have moved here from other countries. Natalie Campbell, the District Partnerships and Volunteer Coordinator, said that we could partner with her and Elizabeth Meza to bring something like this to the district. It was also noted that through the Council Educational Speaker and Community Events Grants program, Woodin Elementary was offering "Guide to Helping Your Children Succeed in Elementary and Beyond", presented by Sistema Escolar, USA, to district parents.

District and Community Reports:
School Board Director David Cogan presented an update in regards to Northshore School District that included, but was not limited to:

• NSD would be live streaming athletic games so all could watch from home
• The lock update project at all schools was complete
• A district Math program was adopted
• The Capital Bonds Planning Task Force is underway

Natalie Campbell, NSD Partnerships and Volunteer Coordinator, reported the following:

• Following up on the Mental Health Committee Update, Natalie said that the district was drafting a mental health webpage that was more robust and easier to navigate
• She had been working on childcare options for families during hybrid learning
• She reminded us to check out the Safety Protocol document as well as the English/Spanish videos on the district website
• As of right now, volunteers are not allowed on school campuses

Carmin Dalziel of the Northshore Schools Foundation gave updates regarding her organization and their work to support NSD:

• Each school in the district has a “Care Team” to help families that have helped at least 261 families since October
• Because kids will be returning to school, backpacks will start to be provided for those that need them
• NSF and volunteers have found homes for some 18,000 donated books!
• NSF was partnering with all district middle school PTA’s to bring a Career Day to all middle schools
• The Foundation’s “All In For Kids” fundraising event was be moving forward as a virtual event

Our last guest was Patsy Treece of the Citizens for Northshore Schools group to talk about Bond and Levy support. Her group’s purpose is to give citizens information about the bond and levies on the ballot and to urge them to vote. Bond and levy votes only happen every four years. Bonds need 60% to pass and levies need 50%. She was looking for volunteers to serve the group and was particularly interested in adding diversity so that all voices could be heard. She also asked if PTAs could add a line item to their budgets to help support the Citizens group. Learn more about Citizens for Northshore School here.

Our next membership meeting will be held on Monday, June 7th. We hope to see you there!

​In lieu of an in-person Candidates Forum for the upcoming November election, Northshore Council PTSA has created a virtual forum where education-related questions were gathered from Northshore community members and then compiled along with candidate responses.

​Check out our Northshore Candidate Forum 2020 below to learn where the Northshore candidates stand on education issues important to you! Click here to download and print.

Council welcomes your feedback and questions! Please contact Northshore Council VP of Advocacy, Diana Christiansen at advocacy@northshorecouncilptsa.org.

What is advocacy?  Advocacy for the PTA is supporting and speaking up for children, families, and schools!   

• Helped spread the word about something a classroom or school needs?
• Invited others to an event at school or in the community that might benefit them?
• Met with school leaders to discuss a topic of importance to the district?
• Attended a school board meeting and/or serve on the school board?
• Sent a message to your members of Congress?
• Encouraged someone to vote in an election?
• Joined and/ or supported PTA?

 
All of these actions and many others are Advocacy! 

​This year, Council will have lots of opportunities for your PTA/PTSA to advocate for children! Check out our Advocacy Page for more information.

Looking to get started now? Try to black out our Advocacy Bingo board!