Mac's Notes

Dear Scottie Families,

We participated in an invigorating MLK March today in support of justice. Thank you for cheering us on, marching with us, and reinforcing our learning as we strive to live our vision to engage all learners, in partnership with family and community, to become informed, compassionate, global citizens. A huge Scottie Shout out to second grader Ben, and his teacher Ms. B. for representing McDonald as SPS communications and a local news station covered the event.

We are incredibly proud of our students who carried posters with messages of love, hope, and justice while singing, "What Can One Little Person Do" around TangleTown. Thank you for joining us in honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in this McDonald tradition.

Let's make it a great week!

Sincerely,

Zoe Facilla, she/her

McDonald International Principal

206.252.2900

zvfacilla@seattleschools.org

144 NE 54th ST, Sea WA 98105

https://mcdonaldes.seattleschools.org/

We will host our school tours for prospective families on Tuesday, January 28, from 6 pm to 8 pm. Please consider signing up to lead a tour in English, Japanese, or Spanish. Parents love to connect with current families.

If your child would like to volunteer to speak on behalf of their experience here at McDonald, please email zvfacilla@seattleschools.org with your interest. Please encourage this opportunity. We would love to welcome Spanish side and Japanese side experiences to our evening presentation. If your child can't join us in person, we are happy to create a video to share.

Breakfast and Lunch Menu available here

Why do schools need levies? State, local, and federal dollars fund school districts. There continues to be a disparity between what the state funds for education and what it costs Seattle Public Schools (SPS) to serve our students. So, every three years, the district asks voters to consider renewing expiring levies.

The district is asking voters to consider renewing two levies in the Feb. 11 election.

• Prop. 1 – The Educational Programs & Operations (EP&O) Levy continues funding for areas like student transportation, support staff, meals, special education, and student opportunities like athletics, music and art.
• Prop. 2 – The Building Excellence VI (BEX VI) Levy focuses on maintaining and improving school facilities. It funds renovation, repair and replacement of schools, as well as repairs to roofs, HVAC systems, and playgrounds. The capital levy also funds 90 percent of the district’s technology budget.

Ballots for the levy renewals will be mailed around Jan. 22 and are due to King County Elections by 8 p.m. on Feb. 11. Visit the SPS website to learn more about what the levies fund.

PTA Events Calendar 2024 - 25

Keep up with this year’s events by checking out the PTA events calendar on Google Drive.

SAVE THE DATE: AUCTION on MARCH 28th

Please save Friday, March 28th, 5-9pm, for our 3rd annual evening out and fundraising auction! Ravenna Brewing has again graciously offered to host us. It will be a fun evening to gather, enjoy ourselves, and raise some money for McDonald Elementary! We already have some fun auction items committed, but more than anything we want you all to enjoy a fun evening getting together - it promises to be a good time!

CALLING ALL AUCTION VOLUNTEERS!

Your help is requested for the success of our event at Ravenna Brewing! You can help us ask local businesses or friends for donations, you can offer a donation yourself, coordinate class projects, help with communications in advance, or offer day-of support (set up, during the event, and clean up).

Please email auction@mcdonaldpta.org if you’re interested in helping!

Thank you, McDonald community, for your incredible support in helping us raise our goal of $350K by January 10th to support funding our Instructional Assistants and interns!

We’re now just $100K away from reaching our year-end goal of $450K—let’s finish strong! Together, we can make it happen!

Click here to donate today

Thank you for helping us continue to support our school!

The McDonald Advocacy Team would like to recap a visit on Dec 13th to Olympia and implore you to join us on Monday Feb 17th in Olympia to advocate for funding. It will be one of the biggest in-person opportunities of the year. Please email advocacy@mcdonaldpta.org if you are interested.

On December 13th, passionate advocates from McDonald International School and Broadview-Thomson K-8 traveled to Olympia to meet with legislators and observe the Washington Senate Education Committee in action. The McDonald Advocacy Team extends heartfelt thanks to Danica Noble, Lauren Moussa, Ilana Singh, Marcelo Elizondo, Jackson Lum, and Lily Eakin for making this day possible. Here’s a recap of the day’s key takeaways and discussions:

Engaging with Elected Officials

Meeting our elected officials in person brought an incredible dynamic to our advocacy efforts. The conversations were lively and impactful, making it a challenge to condense everything, but here are the highlights:

1. Awareness of “The Big Three” Priorities, now rebranding to “Constitutional Three”: Special Education, Transportation, and MSOC

2. Budget Challenges Ahead

3. Advocating for Revenue Reform

4. Hope for Increased K-12 Funding

5. Understanding School Funding

To learn more about each of these topics and learn more about the meetings with legislators, read the full write up.

Calling all incredible McDonald International families! We need you

as host families for our current interns!

Calling all incredible McDonald International families! We need you

as host families for our current interns!

What does it take to be a host?

● A private bedroom for the intern for 2-5 months (no private

bathroom is required)

● Breakfast and dinner during the school week and most meals

on the weekends

If you're interested in hosting or exploring the option, contact our

Host Family Coordinator as soon as possible. You can also

download the host family FAQ.

This is a great opportunity for your kids and family to get to know

one of our wonderful interns better and learn about their culture and

for your kids to practice Spanish or Japanese. It's also a chance for

our interns to experience American life and practice their English.

Please fill out this form to sign up to be a host family!!

A collective of Seattle Elementary School coaches (including McDonald Coaches!) are having a free 2 hour Elementary School girls and non-binary (Gx) player clinic on Sat, Feb 1st. No experience necessary. This would be a great opportunity to meet other players and coaches in the community and learn the game, or polish one's skills before the Spring season starts.

If you have a Gx player who might be interested, please fill out this form. You'll get an email with more details before the clinic. Please share the form with other families who have a potentially interested Gx player.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Loriana Berman at lorianaberman@gmail.com or Carolyn Abram at ceabram@gmail.com

• January 20: No School Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• January 21: Hamilton International Middle School Open House, 6 pm to 7:30 pm.
• January 22: PTA Advocacy Meeting on Zoom, 6 pm to 7 pm.
• January 27: PTA General Membership Meeting, 6 pm to 7:30 pm in the Scottie Library or Zoom.
• January 28: Shinnenkai (Japanese New Year performance) in the gym from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
• January 28: Prospective Families Tour, 6 pm to 7:30 pm.
• January 31: Grades 4 and 5 Olympia Capitol Tour, 8:30 am to 2:25.
• January 31: Scottie Spirit Day: Everything But the Backpack Day