News

Whittier PTA Board Meeting
October 14, 2025
7:00pm Whittier Library & Zoom

Meeting Called to Order at 7:05 PM

Welcome & Call To Order

• PTA Dashboard (slide presentation) 
• Table & Zoom Chat Introductions

President Update

• This Year’s Overview (Volunteers, Goals, Meeting Structure, To Dos, Work Cadence) 
• Dashboard Review 
• Membership Update
  • Currently 95 members
• Volunteer Update
  • Open volunteer opportunities
  • System change for the volunteer process at SPS. Now the staff have to send us the volunteer information. 
  • Tip: Email your child’s teacher and say you want to be involved and they will add you to the system. 
  • Note: This requirement does not apply to afterschool/PTA 
• October To-Do List
• PTA Dashboard
  • Q: You can find this information on the website, correct?
  • A: Yes. We will post the presentation and this information is available on the website
• Fundraising we are at 33% employer matching is coming in
• Revised Budget
  • Increased expenses for the Spring Fling
• Building Leadership Team (BLT) Overview
  • Need 2 new parent members (2-year term) starting 2026-2027
• Wildchat editors- Ellen and Andrew
• School Board Meetings & Election
• STEAM Lab Funding Proposal – $1,300 to update the STEAM Lab

Teacher Panel

• Principal Waters- Facilitate
• Mr. Keener (Kindergarten)
• Ms. Leming (Fourth Grade)
• Ms. Newcombe (Librarian 0.5 FTE Whittier)
• Ms. Hansen (First and Second split)
• Ms. Schelenberger (First Grade)
• Ms. Lauren Johnson (Social Worker 0.5 FTE Whittier)
• Question: Is there a 1-pager teachers could share with parents about how they are teaching math. I want to help my kids but don’t want to introduce confusion. 
  • YES: Envision Curriculum provides 1-2 page overview of each topic. Ask your teacher if you haven’t seen it. Look in the teacher’s newsletter for suggestions. Check folder for takehome Tues. 
  • If we see concerns we will reach out about it
• Question: Are there areas that you see could be improved and how we could support you in that process?
  • Keener- Currently figuring out ways to get parents into the classroom. 
  • Lauren- We have a nice community based program at Whittier. We are a highly academic school. They do a lot of hard things during the day. As a social worker, work with kids that are having a hard time getting the hard things done and break down what is making it hard. 
  • Principal Waters- Would love to get Snorkel painted. 
    • Advocacy- school allocations, city/schoolboard and other priorities
  • Newcombe- Do some of the basic Math games
• Question: How are families doing with the state of the world?
  • Lauren- Office Care Committee, ways for people to reach us. We have Friday food bags, care closet, community
  • General feelings of anxiety- we focus on social emotional learning
• Question: Concern about worksheets not completed, what’s the best way to communicate those kinds of concerns?
  • Email and/or TalkingPoints. 
  • We sometimes send home work that we haven’t completely checked. We do have some form of knowledge check that we ask kids to do. 
  • Question framing- what information do you want to know from the teacher? Also, ask your child to tell you about something they brought home, like “tell me about how you did this? On your own, with a group?
• Question: Incorrect answers or spelling errors, do I correct it as a parent?
  • No. We are trying to minimize the anxiety, so they will make progress, do things/try things and not try to always be perfect. 
  • Goal is for productive struggle, feel small wins meaningfully. 
• Question: MAP Testing, what is it and how are you leveraging it here? 
  • Adaptive test- so gets harder as you get answers correct. 
  • It’s a part of learning, it’s one piece of information we use. 
  • If your kids are feeling good about it, that’s great
  • If your kids are feeling not good about it, that’s great- lean into that with them. 
  • We use it as a bullet point, it is going to create an anxiety- the MAP test is not necessarily the greatest view of a students ability. 
  • Parent teacher conferences in November with more info about testing/assessments
• Question: Each grade has a focus of what they are working on, can you each describe that for your class?
  • Keener: Focus on reading and identifying where each student is at. 
  • Waters: Kindergarten, the focus is on how do you be in school. How to be a student.
    • First and Second Grade: How to be a learner, take ownership of your learning, the rigor of the classroom environment is pretty intense. 
    • Third Grade: How do I read to learn
    • Fourth Grade: I am a student, how am I in charge of my learning, how do I have voice, agency and develop habits.
    • Fifth Grade: How do we get you out and ready for what’s next (Practice the skills). 
• Question: What happens when there is a friendship conflict? How should I support my kid?
  • Approach with curiosity, ask more about what happened, how did it make them feel, what did they do about it? Did they talk to someone at school?
  • Give students choices, calm down and then ask questions so they decide what to do. 
  • We want students to be advocating for themselves. 
    • I’m so sorry to hear that. What do you think would help solve that problem? Please talk to your teacher about it. 
  • Kids are all wanting to be good friends and good humans and this is the place they are learning how to do that. 
• Question: Do we have grades at this school? Report cards?
  • No grades, there are scored standards. 
  • Teachers spend a lot of time on them
  • Find in the Source
• Highly Capable: 
  • District standards are now aligned with the state. HC can be advanced in either subject (doesn’t have to be both)
  • Looking for volunteer math tutors- to sign up, see the email
• Question: Are vibes good or are vibes bad?
  • Construction was a challenge
  • As a district we are a little bit adrift w/o leadership at the top.

Chair & Lead Update

• Treasurer’s Update (Bryan) 
  • Annual Give and a few expenses (Taproot Theater, Kindercat Pizza and tshirts) – net of about $60,000
• Hospitality Update (Melissa)
  • Sept provided dinner to the staff on curriculum night
  • Room Rep Coordinator (Kathleen)
    • Fifth Grade Appreciation is needed
• Outreach (Emily)
  • Helping Hands annual gift card drive to support families. Starts in November
  • Multicultural belonging group getting together for dinners, whatsapp group
  • Caregivers of neurodiverse- meetup on playground
  • Caregivers of diverse youth
• EDI (Rachel)
  • Disability awareness month
  • Highlighting the special ed teachers and program and wishlist to fill need gaps to support them 
  • Invite everyone to monthly meetings- third Tuesday at someone’s house. edi@whittier.seattle.org
• Fall Carnival
  • Need volunteers to sign up
• Fundraising (Allie)
  • Annual fund is at about $84,000 going to stop sending out emails. Matching should come in- goal is $130,000. 
• Spring Fling (Kate) 
  • March 7. Class bucket and class art volunteers. 
    • Laura and Emily are coordinating class art
    • Hanni is coordinating the buckets
    • Next planning meeting is on Oct 22 at Laura’s house
• Ice Skating event (Bonnie)
  • Signup coming soon, last year 180 people showed up. Wednesday of Thanksgiving Break
• Book Fair (Snigdha)
  • Same time as the parent teacher conferences
• Programs (Emily)
  • Need volunteers on Monday
• STEAM Lab (Kate)
  • TBD

Voting (for PTA members) 

• Approval of September 2025 Meeting Minutes
  • Noelle motioned to approve
  • Allie seconded
    • Approved
• 2025-2026 Revised Budget
  • Katheen motioned to approve
  • Snigdha seconded
    • Approved
• STEAM Lab Funding Proposal
  • Katie motioned to approve
  • Megan seconded
    • Approved

Kudos & Thank Yous

Many kudos and thank yous given (on slide)

Meeting Adjourned 8:35 pm

Whittier PTA Board Meeting
September 9, 2025
7:00pm Whittier Library & Zoom

Meeting Called to Order at 7:04 PM

Welcome & Call To Order

• PTA Dashboard (slide presentation) 
• Table & Zoom Chat Introductions

President Update

• This Year’s Overview (Volunteers, Open positions, Goals, Schedule, Programs/Services, Meeting Structure)
• September To-Do List 
• PTA Work Cadence (Oct-May)
• Dashboard Review – 58 members today (over charter minimum, less than last year’s 166); Annual Give update
• PTA Membership and Volunteer Refreshers
• Standing Rules Updates – voting on WA State and National PTA recommended changes
• Revised Budget – voting on changes to approved budget due to change in cost of Spring Fling 
• Communications Chair – implications of this role not being filled
• Event Planning Worksheet – made available to members planning PTA events
• Community requested update – Plymouth housing development community meeting request 
• School Board – meetings and elections information
• District Superintendent – info re Superintendent search

● Principal Watters’ Report –By Morgan Leming (4th Grade teacher) and Trilby Cohen (Reading Intervention Specialist) in Principal Watters’ absence.

• Update on how the first week of school went. Construction disruption has been minimal and full playground access is expected October 6.
• New staff – Devlyn Habib (He/She) is the new enrichment coordinator and math intervention and extension coordinator. STEAM lab will be used by teachers at their election for specific units with Devlyn’s support. Use of the STEAM lab will be communicated to parents in the teacher’s weekly communication.
• Math intervention and extension will be run by the classroom teacher with Devlyn facilitating volunteers. Teachers may choose to have volunteers run Gen Ed, while the teacher works with kids who need intervention in small groups, on a unit by unit basis.
• Math agency was not extended for an additional year because it did not meet community needs. We were not required to make the last payment in the amount of $20,000, which per PTA approved budget will be used to fund this new staff position for the 2025-26 school year.

Belonging practice

Overview of the purpose they served in last years meetings and what they included. It was led by EDI Co-chair last year but can be taken up by any community member.

Chair & Lead Update

• Treasurer’s Update (Bryan) 
  • Intro – Bryan is the new treasurer.
  • The only expense during the summer was Konstella renewal. 
  • Once the new board members are approved in today’s meeting signors can be updated in the bank account
  • Financial review was completed. Report must be signed by reviewers who should contact Bryan.
• Hospitality Update (Jess)
  • Report on pre-school start activities – staff room restock, back to school gifts to staff, meals for staff for back to school tri days, tears and cheers
  • First staff appreciation is in September – Chipotle 
  • Next month will be 5th grade, signups will be sent
• Outreach (Emily)
  • Report on pre-school activities – Kindercat popsicle playdate, Kindercat welcome Pizza party
  • Mentorships – 14 families volunteered to mentor new whittier families. The office will assign families to mentors and new families will have the choice if to reach out.
• EDI (Emily)
  • EDI committee meets every third Tuesday except this month which will be Wednesday. 
  • EDI meetings work on belonging groups to address different groups within our community with unique experiences. To receive the first meeting information reach out to Emily.
• Room Rep Coordinator (Sara)
  • Room Reps still needed for Baldi and Leming classes. 
  • Room reps coordinate communications from the teacher, staff gifts etc.
• Fundraising (Aliie)
  • Annual Give will be condensed to September this year.
  • Moved to fully digital, with raffles every Friday.
  • Currently at $32,082 (25% of goal). 
  • Employer matching welcome.
• Spring Fling (Kate) 
  • Still no char, the event requires two co-chairs.
  • In the past we had a block party, which is no longer an option. Due to the move to a venue, we also need to have a caterer. Kate and Allie researched options and found Stoneway Auto and Pyramid catering to be the least expensive option that still meets community needs.
  • Other options considered were too mall, too expensive, already booked for the desired date etc.
  • Due to the increased cost of hosting the event, ticket prices will need to increase, but this is accounted for by food provided, as opposed to food available for purchase when the event was a block party with food trucks.
  • The event would still require a $7,000 budget increase, and a corresponding fundraising goal increase, which is reflected in the amended budget.  
• STEAM Lab (Kate) Once Devlyn is fully onboarded we will have work parties for volunteers to help prepare the room in coordination with Devlyn. We are hoping this will be ready to preview on curriculum night, September 25.

Voting (for PTA members) 

• Approval of 2025-2026 Board: 

• Katherine Lindsay, President 
• Anika Anand, Vice President 
• Dafna Amster Kahn & Mary Ann Rozance, Co-Secretaries 
• Brian Wold, Treasurer 
• Allie DeLong Thomas & Renee Hartnett, Fundraising Co-Chairs 
• Melissa Ivancevich & Jess Twardzik, Hospitality Co-Chairs 
• Emily Schweiger, Outreach Chair 
• Aisling McCarron, Events Chair 
• Laura Zingg-Wadsack & Natalie Gromoff, Programs Co-Chairs 
• Kyle Hiatt, Legislative Rep 
• Seeking Volunteer, Membership Chair 
• Kristin Laughlin, Volunteer Chair 
• Rachel Wold & Jill Muscatel, EDI Co-Chairs

• Sara Lukas motioned to approve
• Theresa Miranda Blockney seconded
  • Approved

• Approval of May 2025 Meeting Minutes
  • Ashley Schiavone motioned to approve
  • Anika Anand Blockney seconded
    • Approved
• Approval of the amended 2025-2026 Standing Rules
  • Theresa Miranda Blockney motioned to approve
  • Kristin Laughlin seconded
    • Approved
• Approval of the 2024-25 Financial Review Results
  • Snigdha Rege motioned to approve
  • Kristin Laughlin seconded
  • Approved

Kudos & Thank Yous

• Brian – Summer Treasurer on-boarding 
• Financial Review committee members 
• STEAM Lab Volunteers – Curriculum planning 
• Dafna, Sara, and Aisling – Back to Business planning 
• Back to Business day-of volunteer crew! 
• Emily S. – Popsicle Playdates & Kinder Welcome 
• Hospitality – Staff Lounge Restock, Welcome lunch and staff gifts 
• Laura & Natalie – Summer Programs planning!

Meeting Adjourned 8:30 pm