Dear Thurgood Marshall Families,
Friends of Thurgood Marshall Elementary would like to welcome new and returning families to our school community. While the start of the 2020-21 school year is very different than normal, we know collaboration between parents/guardians, teachers, and school administration will continue to be incredibly important to make this a great year. We would like to make you aware of a few updates as well as a few upcoming virtual events.
What is “Friends of Thurgood Marshall Elementary”?
- During the 2019-20 school year, Thurgood Marshall PTA Board members proposed a transition from a formal Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to a type of Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) known as a site council. This change was approved by PTA members at our June 9 meeting. Our PTO site council is named Friends of Thurgood Marshall Elementary (FTME) and operates under our former non-profit 501c3.
- Changes to the structure of our organization include the following:
- Instead of registering members and collecting dues, our site council automatically includes every parent, guardian, teacher/staff member and administrator at our school.
- Membership is free. This is one important step towards our goal of equity and inclusivity, and we hope you’ll be inspired to participate.
- FTME will continue to do the things families have told us they value most: coordinating bulk purchase of school supplies, coordinating our after-school enrichment program and scholarships, holding community-building events, providing classroom grants for every teacher, and more.
- We are working on updating our website, email addresses and accounts to reflect our name change. We ask for patience during this transition.
- We will be working to draft updated bylaws for our 501c3 and a charter for the site council. We are looking for community input and help- if you would like to learn more or help out, please let us know!
Upcoming events (Zoom links have been sent by Katie May- check your email for these!)
Please feel free to attend either session (or both!) that makes the most sense for your family!
- Thursday, September 3rd at 6:30 pm
- Tuesday, September 8th at 6:30 pm, especially families with students in Kindergarten
Actions to take:
Feel free to contact any of us with your questions. We look forward to seeing all of you soon.
Best regards,
Friends of Thurgood Marshall Elementary Board
Chantel Hazlewood, President – chazlewo@gmail.com or PTA@tmlink.org
Aaron Schneider, Vice President – durstann@yahoo.com
Kristi Hendricksen, Secretary – khendrickson33@yahoo.com
Todd Roehl, Co-Treasurer – treasurer@tmlink.org
Sandra Millard Fundraising Co-Chair – giving@tmlink.org
Melissa Carper, Fundraising Co-Chair – giving@tmlink.org
Donna Dugan, PEACE Academy Teacher Liaison – ddugan@seattleschools.org
Sarah Gese, Teacher Liaison – sdgese@seattleschools.org