February 2022 – CHERRY CREST ELEMENTARY PTSA

Afterschool Classes: Sign up now for spring sessions

Spring programs are open for registration! Most classes start at the end of March.

Most class offerings are from local businesses who are long-term partners with Cherry Crest. We are so excited to welcome them back to provide enrichment opportunities for our students.

Visit our After School Activities Page at http://afterschool.cherrycrest-ptsa.org to learn more.

Mark April 1st for Walk-a-thon 2022

Cherry Crest PTSA spends over $100,000 each year to fund extra General School Assistant hours in all 23 classrooms and curriculum enrichment: field trips, author visits, engineering projects and more for all 525 students. Funds contributed by families through the PTSA provide these pivotal supports for our children. We are so grateful for all our families’ assistance in strengthening our children’s educational experience at Cherry Crest!

More details will come home soon, but be sure to mark your calendar to join your children on Friday, April 1 from 2:30 to 4:30pm at Cherry Crest’s track as we encourage exercise, engage with one another and enable PTSA to invest in each student’s future! If your business would like to contribute as a sponsor, please contact walkathon@cherrycrest-ptsa.org for details.

Food Drive 3/7-3/11 at Cherry Crest

Cherry Crest is hosting a Food Drive the week of March 7-11 to benefit Renewal Food Bank in Bellevue.

This food drive is organized by 5th graders from Girl Scout Troop 41164 as a part of their Bronze Award service project to raise awareness for food insecurity in our community. Troop 41164 has girls from both Bennett and Cherry Crest, and are hosting a concurrent food drive at Bennett Elementary.

Food drive donations (see http://t.ly/UNVU for list) can be dropped off in the marked collection bins located in each of the grade-level wings, in the entrance foyer, and outside the covered area in front of the school. These donations will be gathered by the girls daily and delivered to Renewal Food Bank at the end of the food drive.

Clothing Donations needed

Ms. Connie and Ms. Kathy in the Main Office would love to stock the Clinic (Nurse’s office) with clothing for students who have an unexpected need for fresh clothes during the school day. New or gently used, clean clothes welcome!

Volunteers needed this Friday for the Bookfair

Volunteers needed to make our book fair a success!

• Friday, March 4th, after school from 2:30-5:30pm (Older kids can help too!)
• March 7th–10th during sales times

As a volunteer your BSD background check must be current and you’ll need to comply with BSD’s vaccination requirements.

Click through for full details!

PTSA General Meeting Tonight, March 8 at 7:00pm

Please join us at our Cherry Crest PTSA General Membership meeting, Tuesday March 8th, via Microsoft Teams. Principal Steere will discuss various topics including the ‘Time Capsule’. We invite all families and community members to attend (PTSA membership is not required!).

Cherry Crest’s School Counselor, Mykela Fantone, will join us to discuss the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum and the supplemental lessons she provides our students throughout the year. Learn the importance and why behind social-emotional learning, understand the district-wide curriculums used at the elementary level and see how you can access more information to reinforce these lessons at home. Questions? Contact your PTSA Co-President at president@cherrycrest-ptsa.org

Scholastic Book Fair is next week!

Please watch your child’s backpack for information about this year’s Scholastic book fair.

All sales benefit our library and are used to buy books.

• March 7-10th sales at lunch and after school
• Lots of bargain books $5 and under
• Buying online directly through Scholastic can also support our school!

Note! eWallets and credit cards will be used for all purchases.

Click through for full Book Fair details!

Parent and Caregiver Education: Positive Discipline

Sahara Pirie from Sound Discipline facilitated a workshop on “Parenting with Courage and Connection”. The recording (https://youtu.be/Cg39NabLWTA) is available now through April 4.

You can also access the Self-Regulation Tools (https://www.sounddiscipline.org/self-regulation-tool-cards/) and handout (https://bit.ly/33lZmaW). If you attended the workshop or view the recording, please fill out the survey (https://bit.ly/3BgSok5) afterward.

For more in depth information, consider registering (https://bit.ly/3BhXv3n) for Sound Discipline’s upcoming 6-week workshop on “Parenting with Courage and Connection” starting March 31.

Art Reflections Update

Congratulations to 5^th grader Veda Ramachander whose Poem “Me and My Pencil” has been awarded an Award of Excellence at the Bellevue PTSA council level of the Art Reflections Program. Her entry will now go forward to the state level.

Thank you for all who took part in the program and all those who supported it

Volunteers Needed For Bookfair March 7-10

March 7th – 10th will be this year’s Scholastic Bookfair and we need several volunteers to help in the library. This year all sales will be done by e-wallet or credit card, making it much easier for volunteers and staff. There will also be set up on the 4th and take down on the 11th .There are a variety of ways to help, and it is fun to work with other parents during this event. As a volunteer you will need to meet the BSD background check and vaccination requirements, so contact us right away.

Please sign up to volunteer here (https://bit.ly/3uOXqD4) and contact bookfair@cherrycrest-ptsa.org with any questions.