We made it to May! Thank you for your incredible support of the SFT PTA this year, because of you, we created so many memories for our kiddos and school community.
I'd like to list those here so that you know exactly how far your support went this year. Each of these initiatives is led by or supported in some way by PTA. If YOU want to get involved in helping to coordinate any of these memories next year, please connect with us. See you next year!
Family Fun Luau, Homecoming Parade, FUN RUN, Reflections & Citizenship Contests, Skate Parties, Class Parties, Book Fairs, Why Cook Wednesdays, Conference Meals, Holiday Lights Contest, Spring Movie Trivia Auction, Community Cares Support, Family Fun Movie Night, Teacher Grants, Big Idea Grants, Field Trips, Variety Show, Trailblazer of the Month Recognitions, Community Carnival, STEM Family Fun Night, Yearbooks, Kindergarten First Day & Round-up Support, Field Day, School Bulletin Board, Teacher Appreciation, Field Trips, Chat n' Chew, 3rd Grade Bike Rodeo, Spirit Wear, 6th Grade Celebration, Assemblies, Newsletters, Website & Social Media.
Follow along on Facebook, Instagram, and the SFT PTA Website!
“There’s no place like Santa Fe Trail”
We are fortunate to have such a great team of teachers, educators and care staff…. So, it’s time to dedicate a week to appreciate them in a wicked oz-some way. Each of our teachers, educators and care staff are "Unusually and exceedingly peculiar and altogether quite impossible to describe.” And so, it seems appropriate to celebrate these splendiferous individuals with a week of over the rainbow fun. Here is how you can participate:
- “Chalk the Walk” over the weekend of May 2-4… add in some fun wicked and oz themed quotes if you feel so moved!
- Check out the Google form containing each teacher, educator and care staff favorites and bring in a personal gift or card to show your personal gratuitous side.
- ️Add to the “Yellow brick road” wall of compliments! The PTA is providing “bricks” of yellow construction paper on which you or your child can write a personal note for as many teachers, educators and care staff as their heart desires! Students and families can place these in the big blue “mailbox” by the front office. The yellow “bricks” will be available in the front hall by the front office over the week of April 29-May 2 as well as May 5-9 for you or your student to grab at your convenience.
Thank YOU for all of your help in celebrating the splendiferous SFT Teachers, Educators and Care staff. For we know… “it’s not where you go… it’s who you meet along the way” and “because we know them, we have been changed for good.”
Contact Amanda Connell, Staff Appreciation Chair for more information at 913-530-3662
Congratulations to the 2025-2026 SFT PTA Board! If you are interested in chairing a committee or assisting in a co-chair role next year, please see below for available opportunities.
2025-2026 Board
- President: Jennifer Harms
- Vice President 1 (Membership & Classroom): Dani Bloss
- Vice President 2 (Student Programming and Family Events): Jay Vaglio
- Vice President 3 (Ways & Means): Ginger Perrenoud
- Secretary: Karen Reynolds
- Treasurer: Tammy McMahon
Committee Chairs & Co-chairs Needed!
Contact Us Here if you are interested and would like more information about these roles.
- Bulletin Board
- Teacher Appreciation
- Holiday Lights Contest
- 3rd Grade Bike Rodeo
- Legislative
- Cultural Arts Assemblies
- Book Fair (*Co-chair)
- Reflections & Citizenship Contests (*Co-chair)
- Yearbook (*Co-chair)
The Susan Dixon Volunteer Award is given annually to honor the life of Susan Dixon, a Santa Fe Trail parent and PTA member who died of cancer in 2003. The award is given to a PTA volunteer who exemplifies Susan’s giving nature and uplifting spirit. Candidates for the award are:
- Normally, but not exclusively, a volunteer whose youngest child is graduating from sixth grade.
- Normally, but not exclusively, a volunteer whose child(ren) attended K-6 at Santa Fe Trail.
- A volunteer who has been an active member of PTA for all/most of the period their child(ren) attended Santa Fe Trail.
Any individual (parent/guardian/teacher or staff) in the Santa Fe Trail community can submit a nomination for the Susan Dixon Volunteer Award by completing this nomination form. If you know a Santa Fe Trail PTA volunteer who you think should be considered for the Susan Dixon Volunteer Award, please nominate them! Don’t assume someone else will do it!
- Nominate here! https://forms.gle/BLj9KnW8dYeCaVnd7
- NOMINATIONS ARE DUE MONDAY, MAY 9th, 2025.
- The awards committee will review all submissions and select the recipient of the award.
- The award will be presented during the last PBIS Assembly in May.
Pre-order School Supply Packs for the 2025-2026 School Year Today!
We are excited to announce that the SFT PTA has partnered with EPI to offer convenient, pre-packaged school supply packs for the 2025-2026 school year! No more hunting down every item on the list - school supply packs are tailored to your child's grade and include everything they need.
How it works:
- Order NOW at the EPI School Supply Pack Site: Use School ID: SAN316
- Cost will increase $5 after May 21.
- Pick up your supply packs at Meet the Teacher Night in the SFT gym right before the first day of school.
- Note: supply packs do not include headphones, water bottles or backpacks.
The Santa Fe Trail Elementary PTA is delighted to announce the winner of the April 2025 Trailblazer of the Month Award: Mrs. Kate Husted!
Mrs. Husted is a veteran SFT kindergarten teacher who expertly juggles the charming chaos of a roomful of precious and precocious 5- and 6-year-olds with grace, firmness and compassion. In the words of one parent, “Kindergarten teachers are rockstars, and Mrs. Husted has taken it to another level!” Parents and guardians whose littles have had Mrs. Husted for kindergarten express gratitude that she was their child’s introduction to school and the parents’ own introduction to elementary-school parenting. CLICK HERE to view the full article.
Congratulations to SFT's very own, Grace Beecher (4th grade)! Her submission won at the district level of the Reflections Contest and has also won the Award of Excellence at the Kansas State Level Reflections Contest in the category of film production at the intermediate level.
We are excited to share that Grace's piece has moved onto the National PTA Reflections Contest, which will be announced by mid-May. Good luck Grace! We are so proud of you!
Greetings SFT Families!
We are moving into our final month of school. Our instruction continues so that students can achieve mastery of the priority standards and show needed growth. We will be doing our Spring Benchmark testing which includes Math and Reading MAP tests, and the Acadience tests through May 14. All grades will be testing so please check your teacher newsletters for dates for your students. Be sure they get a good night’s sleep and eat a good breakfast, so they have the best chance at showing us what they have learned on the tests.
Please remember that school attendance remains very important for students to succeed even this late in the year. Our school percentage of students who were chronically absent was about 9% for the month of March. This is the percentage of students missing ten percent or more of the school days due to absence for any reason.
Thank you to all the families that planned, worked on, or donated items to make the Carnival a great success. Thanks to the PTA for giving bands to all SFT students to make it accessible for everyone. Jennifer Harms and her PTA team created a great experience from start to end. It was wonderful seeing the community together enjoying the evening!
We want to thank our families who team together with us to be sure our students are set up for success each day. We are going to have a great month of May! Together, we are our wonderful SFT Family.
Educationally Yours, Ms. Leiker
May Lunch Sign-up
Below is a link with available slots to sign up for a lunchtime visit with your child for each grade level (K-6) for the month of May. We only have two family slots per grade level per date since we are so limited on space. (If more than one person is coming for the same child, only one person needs to sign up for the slot. Example would be both parents or grandparents.) When you arrive for your scheduled lunch visit, please first check in with Ms. Jones in the office to get a sticker, and then you can meet your child down in the cafeteria. Remember, photos cannot be taken in the cafeteria in order to respect those students with no photo release.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094AABAE22AB9-56513427-maylunch
Circle Drive
We can work together to keep everyone safe! Drivers – Please remember that you may not turn left into the circle drive during arrival and dismissal times. Approach heading east and turn left only to avoid holding up traffic at the intersection or walkers that may be nearby. Pre-K & YMCA Parents – Please do not park in in the circle drive during school drop-off (7:50-8:10) and pick-up (3:00-3:20) so our car line can keep moving forward.
Proper Footwear
For safety reasons, please assist us to be sure students have the proper footwear each day. Flip flops and slides are not safe and should not be worn to school. Students have opened doors and scrape the skin off the tops of their feet, tripped and fallen over their floppy flip-flops, slipped right out of them or stubbed their toes kicking a ball. Students go out to recess each day and many classes also do movement breaks in the room throughout the day. Crocs need to have the back strap down to help secure them. Ms. Fescoe would like you to remember that tennis shoes are needed on PE days so students can safely participate in all the activities.
Attendance
Please remember to call the Attendance Line at 913-993-5088 before 8:30 a.m. any day your child will be absent or tardy. We appreciate you remembering to do this so office staff and complete attendance and move on to work with students. If you child has an appointment, please get a note from the provider for your child to turn in at the office.
2025
May 1 --> Pre-K Meet and Greet 4 pm
May 2 --> 3rd Grade Bike Rodeo
May 5-9 --> Teacher Appreciation Week
May 6 --> Skate Party
May 9 --> Field Day
May 16 --> Field Day Rain Date
May 20 --> PBIS Assembly 2:30 pm
May 22 --> Last Day of School: Pre-K
May 22 --> Yearbook Signing 8:45 - 9:15 am
May 23 --> Last Day of School: Early Release K-6 at 12:30 pm
Connect with SFT PTA!
Email: sftptapresident@gmail.com
Location: 7100 Lamar Avenue, Overland Park, KS, USA
Facebook: SFT Trailblazer Connection | Facebook
Website: www.sftpta.org