Multi-Arts Update-- April is The Month of Monarch Drama!!

April is going to be a very dramatic month here at Maple Elementary! Check the schedule below to see when your child(ren) will be performing on the Maple Stage (room 154)!
April 1 @ 1:30 pm: B2’s Goldilocks and the Three Bears
April 6 @ 2:45 pm: C2’s Rumpus in the Rainforest
April 8 @ 1:30 pm: B1’s Goldilocks and the Three Bears
April 8 @ 2:45 pm: C1’s Rumpus in the Rainforest

April 12 @ 10:20 am E3's Pirates from Grammar Island
April 13 @ 10:20 am: E1’s Pirates from Grammar Island
April 13 @ 2:10 pm: A1’s Aesop’s Fables
April 14 @ 10:20 am: E2’s Pirates from Grammar Island
April 14 @ 2:10 pm: A2’s Aesop’s Fables

April 27@ 9:30 am: F3’s American Revolution
April 27 @ 11:00 am: D3’s Geology Rocks
April 28@ 9:30 am: F1’s American Revolution
April 28 @ 11:00 am: D1’s Geology Rocks
April 29@ 9:30 am: F2’s American Revolution
April 29 @ 11:00 am: D2’s Geology Rocks

Please continue to help your child(ren) with line memorization. Simply saying the lines a few times every night works wonders! If you have questions or would like to help out, please let me know. I can always use help with getting students into their costumes during the 10 minutes right before each performance. Kate Baker Multi-Arts Specialist 206.252.8364 kabaker@seattleschools.org

A Word from Maple Nurse Kurose on Head Lice

Head Lice comes and goes in cycles. This seems to be a particularly bad year, throughout the community. Please check your children’s heads at least once per week for nits and lice. If your child does have an active case of lice, please consult with your health care provider or pharmacist for recommended treatment. Treat the hair and remove nits before he/she returns to school. After treatment, you should check the student’s head twice a day for two-three weeks. Let your school know if your child has lice. Keep long, dangling hair tied back or up to help prevent the spread of lice. For more information, contact your school nurse. Meredith Kurose, RN/ School Nurse, (206) 252-8317, 252-7285 or 252-2957.

Come See Betty Patu on Saturday Morning at Tully's!

We'll be meeting on Saturrday at the Tully's at 44oo Rainier Ave S. Director Patu is very much on our side and would like for as many parents and teachers to come on Saturday as we can to talk about how we can strategize to get the funding we deserve. Already, several parents and staff have said that they are able to come-- thanks!

See you there this Saturday at 10am.

This just in: A Strong Call to Action by School Board Director Patu

We're only asking for FAIR funding.

Hi Marcia,

The only way they are going to pay attention is for many of the parents and staff to come to the next board meeting and raise "Heck" This school district only listen to people when they come in force. Please organize your school and try to have as many parent and staff sign up to speak at the next board meeting. The next board meeting will be on April 6, at 6:00 pm Here is the phone # 206 252 0040 Theresa to get on the agenda to speak. I fine this to be more affective! We as the SE district are treatly unfairly in terms of how the district distribute funds to school. I will support your effort as your representative and director for our district 7, but I need lots of you to speak out in concerns of the inequity of distributing funds. Please come to my Saturday community meeting so we can talk about a strategy to get your funds back.

Have a blessed day!

Betty Patu
Dist. 7

Donate to Maple Elementary PTSA using PayPal!

Hello Maple Families,

We are excited to offer a simple way for the community to donate to the Maple Elementary PTSA. Simply click on the 'Donate' button in the previous post and your donations will go directly to the Maple PTSA non-profit bank account.

Maple Elementary PTSA uses the funds to support our quest for academic excellence and provides Maple staff with resources they otherwise would not have.

Thank you on behalf of the Maple PTSA! No matter how small, your donations have a huge impact on our academic community!

Donate to Maple PTSA via PayPal

A response to a Maple Parent by School Board Member Betty Patu

Dear Lisa Giannini,

Thank you for your email, yes, I am very concerned about the funding of Maple and I am looking into this matter to see if there is differences in how they distribute funds. I hear your concerns and believe me it is also my concern, because if this is happening then I have to do something about it. Please know that I will get to the bottom of this situation.

Have a blessed day!

Betty Patu
Dist. 7

An Open Letter to SSD Administrators by PTSA Co-President, Jen Moore-Arterburn

Dear Administrators,

My name is Jennifer Moore-Arterburn, and I am a Maple Elementary parent and PTSA Co-President, and it has recently come to my attention that Seattle Public Schools recently released their enrollment projections for 2011-2012, and Maple Elementary was not granted the funding that is awarded for schools exceeding 450 students. For more than the last ten years, Maple enrollment has consistently been in the 460s and 470s. For 2011-2012, however, enrollment was predicted at 451. More troubling than that is that for budget purposes our enrollment was inexplicably 'rounded down' to 450. And more troubling than that is that 450 is the exact cut-off number for schools to receive additional funding. I cannot but assume that this was a calculated move on the part of SPS to purposely cut funding to Maple.

I want to understand why our 451 enrollment projection was rounded down at our southend school, while Adam Elementary, a northend school, was projected with 454 and was not rounded down. Maple is a Title I school with limited family and community resources and needs that funding in order for our students to succeed. I respectfully ask for you to explain the process for projecting enrollment and distributing funds; our Maple community needs evidence that the process is a fair one and that disparities will be addressed.

I look forward to continuing this dialogue in order to address the Maple community's concerns.

Respectfully,
Jennifer Moore-Arterburn

Read first! Then Call the District and MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!!!

Dear Maple Friends and Families,

We need your help to get in calling and reaching out to as many other Maple families as possible. We are budgeted for far less money than we were budgeted for this year. We are afraid that Maple is being unfairly targeted, because other schools with similar enrollments and/or demographics are getting more money than we are. More money results in more teachers and supplies for our kids. Please read below for further information. Then, forward this letter or post it on your Facebook page. Finally, call or e mail these three District staff members with your concerns:

Betty Patu, School Board Member (206) 252-0040 bpatu@seattleschools.org
Michael Tolley, Executive Director Schools P-12 (206) 252-0150 mftolley@seattleschools.org
Susan Enfield, SPS Superintendent (206) 252-0180 saenfield@seattleschools.org

Tracy Libros, Manager Enrollment & Planning, (206) 252-0511, trlibros@seattleschools.org

Use the talking points we’ve provided.

Seattle Public Schools (SPS) recently released their enrollment projections for 2011-2012, and Maple Elementary was not granted the funding that is awarded for schools exceeding 450 students. This is important because Maple currently has 461 students, and our enrollment has historically (10 years or more) been 460 to 470 students. Despite this enrollment trend at Maple, SPS Central Office projected Maple enrollment at 451, which was then 'rounded down' to 450; this enrollment number is important because it determines funding for staffing and programming. Only schools with enrollments of more than 450 students are able to fund a full-time Assistant Principal and part-time Certificated Teacher, resources that are critical to the success of Maple students and families.

One of our biggest budget concerns is that schools with similar enrollment projections are receiving the funding for schools with an enrollment of more than 450 students while we are not. For example, Adams Elementary School has a projected enrollment of 454, yet that number was not rounded down as it was for Maple; as a result, Adams is funded for the 2011-2012 school year for an Assistant Principal and a .5 Certificated Teacher. Adams is a north-end school with greater community and family resources, and while we laud the resources awarded to Adams, we also strongly believe that our Title I school deserves the same important budget consideration.

Other Talking Points:
· If we lose .5 teacher position, will cut down on PE (can only keep current PE teacher by assigning him .4 special ed., which will cause us to lose PE hours)
· What is the process for distributing district money fairly?
o We want to have evidence that the process is a fair one and want to know that disparities will be addressed.
· Though Maple’s current enrollment is 463, the district has projected enrollment at 451 for next year. For budgeting purposes, the enrollment has been rounded down to 450, which means that we are not funded for the Assistant Principal position and a .5 FTE certificated teacher position.
· Schools with similar enrollments are receiving more.
o Adams (projected enrollment: 454) is funded for Assistant Principal and a .5 certificated teacher, though it is a North End school with greater community resources than Maple.
· The funding for the Assistant Principal position (.5) at Maple currently funds Teacher Support person (Support Teacher funded through Performance Management),
o Terri Netke breaks down and tracks test data, which allows Maple to maintain its data-driven academic focus.
o Supports newer teachers.
o Facilitates professional learning communities
· Waiting to see if enrollment numbers go up is not a good option.
o Enrollment has been 460+ for more than 10 years
o Other schools are not being made to “wait and see”
o Waiting will make it difficult for us to keep teachers we have.
· If we lose .5 teacher position, will cut down on PE (can only keep current PE teacher by assigning him .4 special ed., which will cause us to lose PE hours)

Family Market Night is back!!!

Maple’s Annual Family Farmers Market Night is Thursday, April 14th from 5:30 – 7:00 PM. Spend your “market bucks” and take home a free bag of fresh fruits and vegetables for your family!