$60,000 from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods’ Large Project fund was awarded to the Kimball Elementary PTSA “to create a global learning community by fostering inclusion and support, leadership development, and providing programs and classes for parents.”
The awarded funds will be matched by a portion of an additional $1.9 million in community matching (cash, volunteer labor, donated professional services, and donated materials).
Some program background from the news release:
The Department of Neighborhoods’ Large Projects Fund annually provides cash awards of up to $100,000 to neighborhood organizations committed to building a better community. The funding is matched by locally raised money, donated materials, and volunteer labor. The 2009 awards range from $28,000 to $100,000 and communities have pledged to match the city’s $1.3 million contribution with resources valued at nearly $1.9 million.
. . .
Since the program was created 21 years ago, the Neighborhood Matching Fund has awarded over $42 million with a community match of more than $64 million. Projects have involved nearly 65,000 volunteers who have donated over 400,000 work hours.
Keyunda Wilson at Van Asselt is trying to get a Neighborhood Grant to bring a play structure to Van Asselt Elementary @ the African American Academy.
To be eligible for the grant and to bring a community playground to this area we need 25% of the pledges to come directly from the neighborhood! I need to have pledged commitments by Friday the 28th.
Time is short: the 28th is tomorrow!
Ways you can pledge to help:
With your time: join the Playground Committee, attend a planning meeting, help design the playground
With materials: lending or buying tools and equipment, providing snacks for the builders
With labor: paint or assemble the play structure
With organizing: contact and recruit other people in the community who may be interested in the project
If you’d like to help, email Keyunda at krwilson@seattleschools.org or pwfowler@seattleschools.org with your name, address, phone number, and the number of hours you are willing to pledge and/or kinds of volunteer activities or items you can pledge. Or call 206-252-7500.
Keyunda Wilson, a teacher at Van Asselt Elementary School, writes to let neighbors know that the knock at the door this afternoon may not be from an annoying alarm system or magazine subscription salesman:
Van Asselt Elem. staff members will be going door to door today, 8/19 from 3-5pm, passing out flyers and sharing information about our plans to bring a community playground to the African American Academy building. We are applying for a grant and one of the requirements is that we get community members and neighbors to commit to helping us. Ways that you can support us would be to attend a planning meeting, donate snacks or building materials on the day of the build, help build the play structure, help gather signatures of commitment, etc.
Look for the dedicated staff members in your area and please show your support!
If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact Keyunda by email at krwilson@seattleschools.org or by phone at 206-252-7505.
The Seattle School Board voted this week to approve final recommendations for a new student assignment plan. Under the new plan, students will have initial school assignments based on their home address. They will still have the option to apply to other schools, and open choice seats will be available at all high schools.
Assignment area boundaries have not yet been defined; the assignment maps will be made available for public comment this fall.
A separate motion relevant to Beacon Hill proposed that Cleveland High School be designated as an “option school” under the new assignment plan. Cleveland’s STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) program would then be open to applications from students throughout the District. According to the District, STEM high schools “offer a four-year course of study with a focus on preparing students for academing and professional futures in science, technology, engineering and math.”
Since a STEM school would not necessarily be the right choice for all students living in the Cleveland attendance area, designating it as an Option would allow these students to have a comprehensive attendance-area high school option while still having access to Cleveland’s STEM program if they wish.
The Board is scheduled to vote on the Cleveland motion on July 1.
Alison Reese and her proud parents celebrate her graduation from Seattle University School of Law. Photo courtesy of Alison. Congratulations and best wishes to Alison Reese, a Beacon Hill neighbor who graduated this year from Seattle University School of Law with a J.D. degree!
The Beacon Hill Blog would also like to congratulate all of the other Hill neighbors who graduated from high school, college, and beyond. Good work and may you have much success ahead of you!
Photo by David Goehring.Back in the day, community newspapers used to publish announcements when local residents graduated from high school or college. We’d like to do that, too. If you are a Beacon Hill resident and graduating from high school or college this year, please send us your name, school name, which type of diploma or degree you’ve earned, and a graduation photo by June 15. We’ll post the graduation announcements we receive shortly after that.
The African American Academy African Dance Troupe were a blur of motion at a Martin Luther King celebration at Mt. Zion Baptist church, 2003. Photo courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives.The African American Academy (AAA) on South Beacon Hill will hold a Juneteenth celebration on June 19 focusing on the life, purpose, and accomplishments of the Academy. The AAA program has been discontinued and the Van Asselt Elementary program will be housed in the AAA building next school year, after a century at their previous site.
The Academy program first opened as a K-5 school in 1991 at the new Colman School (now Thurgood Marshall) and eventually became a K-8 at Sharples (now Aki Kurose). The current AAA building was specifically designed for K-8 use and opened in 2000.
The Juneteenth event, “Celebrating the Life of the Academy”, is on Friday, June 19 from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m. at the African American Academy, 8311 Beacon Avenue South.
Seattle Seahawks Defensive End Lawrence Jackson surprised Beacon Hill International students with $20,000 worth of new books on Wednesday. L to R: Beacon Hill teacher Andy Pickard, Lawrence Jackson, Librarian Mary Thompson, and Principal Susie Murphy.Beacon Hill International School recently received $20,000 in new foreign language books for their library, as part of the Symetra Heroes in the Classroom MVP Award, which provides funding to enhance and support learning at Seattle schools.
Each year, schools compete for the MVP Award by developing program proposals to enhance student achievement. BHIS developed the “Heroes at Home” program, which empowers parents, especially non-native English speakers, to assume a more active role in supporting their child’s literacy learning.
The MVP Award funds have been used to purchase hundreds of new books and audio recordings in languages such as Chinese, English, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese for this program.
Heroes at Home will also feature new weekly Family Library Days, in which parents will be invited to volunteer in the library to help children with book selection and check out.
Congratulations to Beacon Hill International School!
BHIS students celebrated the opening of
the International School program last September with a parade of flags. Photo by Bridget ChristianVia Erin on the mailing list:
The kids at Beacon Hill International School (BHIS) need your help! As you all have heard, the Seattle Public School is facing some challenging times with their budget and many of our programs are being let go due to limited resources. Seventy-five percent of the students at BHIS are either on free or reduced lunch. Many of our families are bilingual and English is not their first language in the home. BHIS PTA pride itself on actively engaging communities and families to support and provide programs to our elementary kids that they would not otherwise have the opportunities to participate. For example, after school choir and cooking classes for the Kindergarteners.
You can help BHIS kids in several ways in your normal day-to-day purchases. The BHIS PTA funds many school extras such as the 4th grade music program, after school sports, and much more. There are many retailers who will make donations to BHIS PTA, with just a few simple steps taken by BHIS families and friends. Please share this information with grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors and other friends whose purchases may also be able to benefit your student’s school. You can start now and have your purchases benefit the school even over the summer time and then through next year!
Safeway Club Card
Log on to www.escrip.com and go to “Sign up†to register your Safeway Club Card number to benefit Beacon Hill Elementary PTA (8560956). You have the choice of registering 3 organizations, and if you do choose 3, then the donation made will be split between the 3, thus each would get just 1/3. If you’ve lost your club card you can call Safeway at 1-877-723-3929 to get your club card number using your phone number, and then enter your phone number at the store credit/debit machine to get your club card savings and earn a percentage for your school each time you shop. You can also register major credit cards with Escrip when you sign up. A percentage of all purchases made using your registered cards will be remitted to BHIS PTA, ranging from 1% to 3% depending on your shopping volume.
Office Depot
Use BHIS’s School ID #70107436 every time you make a purchase at Office Depot and a percentage of your purchase will be emitted to BHIS. This offer only works for purchases made at a store, and does not work for on-line orders.
Red Apple Grocery on Beacon Hill
Save and turn in all of your Red Apple receipts, and 1% will be donated to BHIS. The total donation by Red Apple to the school maxes out at $500 per year, but we have been far from achieving that goal for the past several years. We will be sure to let you know if we get there so you’ll know to stop saving receipts. This is only valid for receipts from the Hilltop Red Apple on Beacon Avenue. Be sure to keep saving receipts over the summer, and give it to Nancy Fujimoto at Beacon Hill International School, 2025 14th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98144.
Box Tops for Education
Each Box Top for Education (the small pink symbol found on cereal, cracker, and other boxed products) is worth $0.10 to the school. If you’re buying products that have this symbol, please tear off the pink box top symbol and turn it in to Nancy Fujimoto at Beacon Hill International School, 2025 14th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98144.
You can send your Red Apple receipts and Box Tops weekly or monthly – whenever they start to build up. Find a spot on the fridge or window sill to save them, and just staple or clip together. These are easy ways that your usual shopping habits can help earn money for our school without asking you to make any extra donations!! The PTA greatly appreciates your effort to take advantage of the opportunities above, so that your purchases can benefit BHIS kids through the programs funded by the PTA. Please also remember to share this information with friends or family who may be willing to do the same for BHIS.
Every penny you spend in your day to day purchases supports programs and services that help our kids reach their potential and build a stronger community. Thank you in advance for helping your school!
From Hazel (in response to a question from Quinton):
Yes, your donation is tax deductible. PTSAs are 501 c 3s
From Shelly, clarifying:
If you do choose to make a donation to BHIS, you should be clear on whether it is a donation to the school itself or the PTA at the school. It’s confusing, but they have their own individual tax ID numbers that are used for donation purposes. As current treasurer for the BHIS PTA, I’d be happy to answer any further questions regarding donations.
If you do have questions for Shelly, drop us a line and we’ll put you in touch.
Charlie Mas, candidate for school board director. Photo courtesy mas4schools.com.With the coming departure of Cheryl Chow, longtime Beacon Hill neighbor Charlie Mas has announced he is again in the running for the office of Seattle Public Schools Board Director, a position he was a candidate for back in 2001.
I’m running for the Board because I want to do the work. The Board’s duties of making policy, overseeing the management of the District, providing accountability and representing the public aren’t getting done. If the voters let me, I’ll do the job.
I want the District to walk the talk. Standing up for accountability and community engagement are positive and supportive of the direction the District is trying to take.
You can find out more about Charlie through his campaign website.
