14100 SE Somerset Blvd
Bellevue, WA 98006-2399
Phone: 425.456.5800

Snow Program

Posted November 2
Registration is now open for Snow Sports 2012, otherwise known as the Wednesday ski bus. While the Somerset Snow Sports program has dissociated from the PTSA, the changes are very small. Your registration and check are now sent directly to SSCS, but the bus will pick-up at Somerset on Wednesdays from Jan 11-February 15. The $290 registration fee covers transportation and lessons. Season's passes and equipment are not provided or included, but there are discount passes available. To register by November 14, use the form below. If you have any questions, please contact Ruth Raskind at ruthraskind@yahoo.com. Can't wait to see you on the slopes.

 Registration Form

MAP Parent Information Session & "Tep Talk" (Coffee with Principal Teppner)

Posted Oct 28
Nov 2. The majority of our time will be with Somerset's ITCLs - Randi Peterson and Stephanie Wright, who will provide an overview of the K-5 MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) Assessment that all students took in September.

Additionally, Mr. Brian Teppner will be available to hear your thoughts on how to make Somerset an even better school, and to answer questions. (Please note this is not the time to ask specific questions related to your own child.) Coffee/tea and light refreshments will be served. We hope you can join us! Sponsored by the Ph.D. (Parenthood Development) Committee.

State Budget Preliminary Spending Reductions

Posted Oct 27
On October 27th Governor Gregoire released preliminary spending reductions to the State budget. Part of these reductions makes a $592 million cut to programs that benefit the well-being and education of Washington children, including sharp decreases in spending for children and family programs, early learning education, and downgrades to funding for K-12 public schools. She has asked all who care to review them. These will be finalized in November. For the full list of $4 billion in alternative cuts, CLICK HERE.

If you would like to voice your opinion about these reductions to the Governor's office, or to your representative, please visit http://somersetptsa.org/advocacy.html.

Our Library: Databases, Websites, & Resources for All - Wed, Oct 26

Posted by Kathy Franzel
Learn about our Library on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 6:30-7:30 PM. Databases, websites, resources for all! Kathy Franzel, Somerset’s Librarian, will show you the valuable websites, databases, and print materials that are geared toward your children and can be accessed here or at home through the Bellevue School District. Don’t miss this opportunity to view reliable, accurate and manageable databases and see just what we have here at Somerset for you and your children!

Your child can be dropped off in the gym for the Movie Night. The movie runs from 6-8PM so that you may attend the Library Information session while your children are watching the movie.

Legislative Assembly

Posted 17 Oct 2011 by F. Wiest
Somerset PTSA is the only PTA in Bellevue that had representatives for both teachers and parents at the WA State PTA Legislative Assembly this past weekend! Many thanks to Linda Myrick, Sarah Swann-Ketzel, and Francine Wiest for preparing and advocating for our kids at this past week's statewide forum. This forum allowed parents and teachers to engage deeply on a variety of education issues. The effort we put in today to push for what is needed in education will pay off for kids now in the future. To get more involved and have an impact, contact Sarah Swann-Ketzel for more info. Also watch eNews or check the website for links to more materials on legislative positions. Together we make a difference for our kids!

Fall Festival & Walk-a-thon: A SPECIAL THANKS!

Posted 17 Oct 2011 by S. Gogri
We want to shout out a special thanks to everyone who participated and supported our students and the PTSA during the Somerset Fall Festival & Walk-a-thon! Your donations helped raise close to $30,000 for our school. CLICK HERE to view all those we'd like to thank for your help!

School Portrait Day, Friday, October 21

Posted by M. Ketchum
Picture Day is Friday, October 21st. Log onto mylifetouch.com to select and pay for your student's picture package. Your Picture Day ID is LS111812YO. It's convenient and easy to do. Ordering photos online also enables youto select more than one background per package. A great way to get different looks for one package price!

For online orders, please print your confirmation code at home and send it to school with your child. You mayalso pay by check and send traditional order forms to school. These were sent home last week. If your childis absent on October 21, we have scheduled retakes and make-ups on November 18. Contact Karen Eng atkaren.a.eng@comcast.net if you have any questions.

Cookie Dough Sale

Posted 17 Oct 2011 by Donna Lee
Mrs. Fields/Red Apple Cookie Dough sale is going on now until Friday, October 21st. Sell at least 1 item and get a coupon for a buy one/get one Auntie Anne's pretzel. The top 2 classes in (K-2) and (3-5) with the highest total sales will win a class party! All proceeds benefit Somerset PTSA sponsored activities. If you have any questions, contact Donna Lee at da-lees@hotmail.com.

Fall Festival & Walk-a-thon, October 5

Posted 20 Sep 2011 by M. Ketchum
Are You Ready for Some Family Fun? The Somerset Elementary Fall Festival & Walk-a-thon, October 5th, 5-8PM will feature family friendly fun, including booths, face painting, games, catered BBQ (pre-order) and more! There's still time to register and donate for the Walk-a-thon and Fall Festival at Somerset Elementary on October 5th from 5-8 PM. It's not too late to join the fun and it only takes a few minutes to register, pre-order dinner, donate and volunteer online! You can also download forms from the PTSA website and drop them with your check in the PTSA box in the office.

Peter Brown, Author, October 5

Posted 24 Sep 2011 by M. Ketchum
Peter Brown, well-known author and illustrator of children's picture books, will be kicking off Somerset's start to our yearly fun-filled look at 20 books nominated for the 2012 Washington Children's Choice Picture Book Award. Peter's book, Children Make Terrible Pets, is one of the 20 titles all K-3rd grade students will get to see and hear before voting on their favorite choice in March of 2012. Parents are invited to join all the K-3rd graders in the gym on Wednesday, October 5th at 9:30 am to meet this author of sought after books like Chowder and The Curious Garden. Peter will share his newest book, You Will Be My Friend during his visit, compliments of University Book Store.

Come hear where Peter gets his inspiration and how he goes about writing and illustrating his whimsical stories! If interested in purchasing one of his books and having it autographed, please CLICK HERE.

Washington State PTA's 2011 Issues Survey

Posted 14 Sep 2011 by M. Ketchum
What is most important to children in our community? Let us know what you think by CLICKING HERE and taking this Washington State PTA survey. Your opinion matters and will help shape our advocacy for the next year. The survey closes on September 25th.

Washington State PTA lobbies on behalf of all of PTA and PTSA members for the well-being and education of our state's youth. Delegates will be meeting this October to adjust WSPTA's 2-year platform and they need feedback. Representatives from local PTAs and PTSAs, as well as the councils, will be considering adding six issues (early learning, juvenile justice, opportunity gap, school zone signage, charter schools, and highly capable) and amending our teacher compensation priority.

General Meeting, Sept 13

Posted 28 Aug 2011 by M. Ketchum
Somerset PTSA has several General Membership Meetings each year. Our first is at the school on September 13th @ 8PM, right after the first "Meet the Principal" event. Our General Membership meetings are a great way to find out what is going on at the school and provide input to our budget and programs. These meetings are only successful with your participation - we cannot function as a PTSA without our members. Additionally we have monthly Board of Director meetings. The BOD monitors our programs and expenditures and this year will also be working on developing guiding principles for our PTSA. Please click for the Agenda, Budget with proposed additions, and Standing Rules with proposed updates.

Tyee Information

Posted 28 August 2011 by M. Ketchum
For OUTGOING 5th grader parents of students going to Tyee: Taking Care of Business at Tyee (TCOB)
Sept 1st, 1-3 PM (6th grade)
Sept 2nd, 8-noon and 1-3 PM (7th and 8th grade)

Where can I get more information? Please review the TCOB packet arriving by mail soon AND please check the Tyee school website for the most recent and up-to-date information about forms and fees. The forms on the Tyee School Website are NOT in the paper packet coming via mail, so you need to use both the paper packet and the school website to be ready for TCOB.

http://www.bsd405.org/Default.aspx?alias=www.bsd405.org/tyee

How can I help? Please review the TCOB information and fill out forms before arriving. Also, please consider volunteering for a shift at TCOB. We still need volunteers. It is a great way to get involved and connect with staff and other parents at the school.

Please contact Sonia Batra, at Sonia.Batra@enterworks.com if you can help.

6th grade orientation (WEB) - UPDATED TIME
The time has changed from what was previously communicated. The day and time is:
Sept 1st, 8AM - 1PM (Lunch provided by the school)
A flyer from the school should arrive via mail soon.

Back to School Supplies

Posted 24 May 2011 by M. Ketchum
Click here to download the 2011-2012 SCHOOL SUPPLY LIST. If you ordered kits in the Spring, it will be available in your child's classroom.

We Want You!

Posted 23 May 2011 by F. Wiest
Planning is underway for next year's fabulous activities, community-building events, and more. Now is the time to start thinking about how you would like to be involved. All of our committees need volunteers - moms, dads, grandparents, alums, and staff! If you have an interest, we likely have a committee that could use your help, so please contact any PTSA officer or President-elect, Francine at SomersetGames@gmail.com to get involved even if you are not sure exactly where. There are big jobs, little jobs and "when-you-can-squeeze-them-in" jobs, daytime events, evening events, and much more!

To find out what opportunities are available, CLICK HERE! There are plenty of opportunities to jump in and serve. Many of these committees have past chairs ready to stay on the committee and will be around for lots of assistance. Thank you in advance!

School-Based Donations Advisory Committee

Posted 29 May 2011 by Jacque Coe, Apr,
Director of Communications & Community Engagement
Last year, the School Board found that Policy 1460, which prohibits private donations to fund certificated staff for an individual school or program, was not being followed consistently through the District. Policy 1460 was established to avoid inequities which result between schools with differing fund raising capacities. The Board placed a one-year waiver on Policy 1460 while they took the policy under review. Meanwhile, a committee made up of representatives from PTSA (one from each high school attendance area), principals, teachers, BSF and community members formed to examine a number of equity models. The committee has also discussed Policy 1460. The BSD-PTSA Joint School-Based Donations Advisory Committee will give its report to the School Board on Tuesday, June 7 at 4:30 pm. For more information, visit the committee page HERE.

2011 Legislative Summary

Posted 29 May 2011 by M. Ketchum
$1.7 billion in cuts put districts in a tough spot. More than $1 billion was cut from direct instructional support. Continued operational improvements are on hold. Cuts to salaries have to be negotiated.

With these cuts, our public schools have a tough road ahead. The budget just passed by the legislature continued significant cuts made earlier this year when expected revenue came up short. Gone are the student achievement fund (about $900 million) as well as money that funded smaller K-3 class sizes (about $200 million). This means kids lose access to extended learning time like summer school and after-school tutoring, early learning and all-day kindergarten. And yes, classes will be much more crowded.

State funding for early learning and kindergarten was preserved – that's good news. But those funds only reach a small percentage of children, and many districts used their achievement funds (I-728) to expand those important programs and to give more students access to help. The legislature did budget for slightly smaller K-3 classes (1 student less) at high-poverty schools.

Most of these cuts were expected, but that doesn't mean they hurt any less. Not expected was failure to get operational policy improvements through – they had broad support and were extremely low or no cost – but they got caught up in politics around changing layoff policies. They would have helped make better use of extremely limited funds.

Also not expected were cuts to K-12 "general apportionment" (this is a pool of money that pays for "basic education.") The legislature opted to pay in less money for salaries, leaving districts with another $179 million to deal with. Many in the media reported teachers and support staff are taking 1.9 percent pay cuts, and administrators 3 percent cuts. School staff are district employees, though, and their salaries are set by locally negotiated contracts. Each of the 295 school district will have to decide whether to reopen and renegotiate contracts, cut from programs, or do a combination.

Ramona Hattendorf
Government relations coordinator
Washington State PTA
www.wastatepta.org
rhatttendorf@wastatepta.org
(office) 253-565-2153
(mobile) 206-778-8623
2003 65th Ave. West, Tacoma, WA 98466

Bellevue School District Update 2011

Posted 28 March 2011 by M. Ketchum

One question that keeps on surfacing is how our district has been impacted by the Edujobs legislation. As you may recall, this fall the U.S. Congress passed Edujobs legislation that provided Washington State with $208 million to create new jobs in K-12 education. The Legislature has now reduced the state's contribution to the K-12 budget by exactly the same amount; $208 million. Therefore, Bellevue along with all other districts in the state faced a reduction in state funding equivalent to the increase in federal funding and therefore did not benefit from the federal dollars.

Since the beginning of the school year, the State legislature has reduced funding for schools three times - October, December and most recently February. Just before the mid-winter break, details were released in Olympia regarding the third state supplementary budget for the 2010-2011 year. Together these supplementary budgets reduce Bellevue School District's general fund budget by approximately $1.4 million. The total cuts include a loss of approximately $1.2 million in K-3 class size reduction funding and a loss of about $200,000 in grade 4 class size enhancement dollars. We will use the funds accessible to us in the District fund balance to address the $1.4 million budget gap caused by the reduction in state funds. Additionally, federal budget deliberations currently underway in Washington DC involve proposed cuts to Federal funding for education that could impact Bellevue. Our colleagues in Financial Services are working hard to monitor developments in Olympia and gather ongoing information about the state and federal cuts and how such cuts may impact the remainder of the 2010-2011 budget as well as our budget for next year.

Jacque Coe, APR
Director of Communications and Community Engagement
Bellevue School District

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