News and Updates

We need parent volunteers for Vision and Hearing Screening

Lake Washington Public Schools provides annual vision and hearing screening for all elementary school students. However, they would not be able to provide this service without PTSA volunteers, who help district health specialists with the screening.

This year we will be screening students on Thursday, November 15th. We need approximately 25 parent volunteers to help between 8:30 and 12:00. Please use this link to sign up, and reach out to Robin Martin, our hard-working chair for this event, with any questions. Thanks! 

Our first dining out community event is Tuesday, November 13th at MOD Pizza

Skip cooking, meet up with friends, AND bring in donations to RHE PTSA! All you need to do is go out for pizza.

Dine in or take out from MOD Pizza in Totem Lake on Tuesday, November 13th (all day), and they will donate 20% of your bill back to our PTSA to support important programs at our school.

You will need to print out and bring this flyer or show it on your phone to be eligible. Can't wait to see you there!

Save the date: Bingo Night is Friday, November 30th!

Mark your calendars! Bingo night is Friday, November 30th. This is one of our students' favorite events.
 
We'll have pizza, beverages, and baked goods available for purchase, tons of great prizes, and seriously amazing raffle items.

Bingo cards are $1 each and doors open at 5:45pm.  

We need a number of parent volunteers for this event. This is a fun, high-energy event. 

Do you have a middle schooler? We also need a crew of middle school volunteers to help check bingo cards. They also get free pizza! Sign yourself up as a bingo card checker and write their name in the notes section. 

Sign up here or, feel free to reach out to your Bingo night co-chairs: Kirsten Freiheit and Rachel Ingalls.

Photographers needed! Help make our yearbook great. 

Don't worry, you don't need to be a pro. We just need a few parents to help out by snapping photos at our events and sending them to our yearbook staff. Attending anyway? Then this could not be easier. Just sign up here and send your photos along when you are done.

What happened to the after-school enrichment program?

In the past, the PTSA has sponsored an after-school enrichment program in which private vendors provided classes at our school, with parents paying the cost. Every year our board re-evaluates the programs we sponsor to make sure that they continue to align with our PTSA's values and that they are reasonable, given our limited volunteer time. 

Last spring, our board voted not to continue with this program for the 2018-19 school year for a few reasons:

First, the program consumes a lot of volunteer time; it takes approximately 10-15 volunteer hours of work per week just to run the program. We also need a parent volunteer present at every class, and it is difficult to find parents are willing and able to do this. 

Second, as a PTSA, our first priority is to serve EVERY child at our school. This program simply cannot accomplish this goal. As the cost of classes continues to increase, they become harder for many parents to afford, and they cannot serve our students who rely on busses to get home. 

And finally, the program is burdensome to our school staff who must give up their time and classrooms to provide space for classes.

We apologize for not communicating this decision more clearly and we always invite members to offer feedback on our programs. Please feel free to reach out by email, to speak up at general meetings, and to complete our annual end-of-year survey to make sure your voice is heard. 

Thank you!
Mara Fetters and Julie Young 
RHE PTSA Board Co-Presidents

Our annual appeal and movie night were a big success! Thank you! 

If you haven't yet, you can still Donate Now.

Important Dates:

11/13 - RHE Dine Out event at MOD Pizza Totem Lake

11/15 @ 8:30am - 12pm - Vision and Hearing Screening

11/30 @ 5:45 - 8pm - Bingo Night