Cascadia Elementary’s after-school enrichment program currently faces two challenges:
1 – Seattle Public Schools (SPS) building restrictions: SPS has a strict building permit and vendor approval process. Any outside vendor programming can begin on school property only once SPS has approved the vendor and building use.
Due to the timing in SPS approval of the vendors and related building use, all enrichment programs offered by outside vendors will be delayed until at least early October. The PTA does not control this timing and will communicate updates to families as we learn more. Please note, choir and Monday basketball are unaffected as they are led by Cascadia staff.
2 – Volunteer support: Having volunteers on site is critical to the coordination, administration, and management of all after-school enrichment programs.
Once vendor and building approvals have been provided by SPS, volunteer support will be critical to support the after-school enrichment program. Each day, 2 volunteers are needed to be present at the school, for two hours after school, every day from Monday through Friday. If we do not have a sufficient number of volunteers step up to assist by September 16, 2023, the programming will be cancelled. This is a basic safety issue for the children participating in the programming.
Please reach out to volunteers@cascadiapta.org to volunteer or sign up through SignUp Genius. Please note that ALL after school volunteers must have an approved SPS volunteer background check prior to volunteering.
The Cascadia PTA has worked hard to coordinate and oversee this program, but ultimately do not run the program. These programs rely on volunteers, vendors, staff, and the PTA partnering together. We urge you to consider volunteering to ensure these after-school programs can be offered.
We will email families and post updates on the Cascadia PTA website as additional information becomes available.
Update: Due to low enrollment, choir is now canceled.
