Annual Fund Extension and Appeal

Hi Cascadia Families,

We are so appreciative of the high participation in our annual fund and the many families who donated so generously – thank you! Unfortunately, we missed the goal by $40,000 and will be experiencing a significant budget shortfall. We have decided to extend our annual campaign through November 20 so we can continue to fund the programs that support our students and enhance their educational experience.

We understand that with the stress of losing our buses, some families may have forgotten to donate, neglected to ask their employer for a match, or not given as generously as they are able. If this is you, please consider making or increasing your donation through our website or by making a check out to Cascadia PTA and sending it to school (they can be collected in the office).

We recognize that Cascadia is a public school and asking parents to stretch themselves financially should not be the state of things, however, our schools are vastly underfunded in Seattle. The Cascadia PTA helps to address the shortfall by raising funds and supporting staffing, curriculum, and other school costs to provide what many of us would consider basic education.

Did you know:

• our school is not given a full-time librarian or counselor from the district? The school fully pays the librarian’s time and the PTA augments the counselor’s salary – this allows our voracious readers to go to the library weekly and have the support of a professional adept at dealing with the struggles of our Hi-Cap and 2e students.
• our I-Lab program (for 1st and 2nd grade) leads students through problem-solving in our maker space? The curricula align with the science in both grades, enhancing learning and allowing kids to practice failing and trying again.
• there are about a gazillion organisms in a shovelful of dirt? Our garden program for 3rd and 4th grade is yet another time when we provide students with hands-on learning to complement science and serve learners who need to touch things and move.
• in some schools, only 5th graders can play an instrument in school or you need to win the lottery to get in? The PTA adds hours to the instrumental music teacher salaries so that any 4th and 5th graders who want to are able to participate – and we only ask for a $100 donation from those families.
• our school isn’t funded enough to cover all the school supplies and curriculum manipulatives that teachers need for their lessons? The PTA provides classroom grants to teachers for supplies (otherwise teachers pay or students go without), purchases materials for learning, and maintains opportunity grant and professional development funds to further support the staff.
• the Cascadia PTA wants kids to have fun at school? We organize and/or help fund grade and school-wide events for kids to have fun with their classmates and help families connect.

We don’t want to have to cut our programs.

If you’re looking for more to do (and what parent isn’t?):

• Please become a PTA member. We will be making our budget for next year soon and voting to endorse the upcoming school levies and only members can vote on these issues. Our next general meeting is in January.
• Add Cascadia PTA to your Amazon Smile account, so a portion of anything spent at Amazon goes to our PTA.
• Lookout in the coming weeks for advocacy guidance on who to contact about increasing funding for our schools.