Calendar

Join LWPTSA Council’s Special Education Group (SEG) for our March meeting in person! We will kick off at 6:30 pm with extended family networking and small group conversations. At 7:15 pm, we will shift to a conversation with the LWSD Special Services Team. We will explore a variety of questions relevant to families and supporters of students with special needs including:

• How do I know if my student should be evaluated for special education services?
• What do I do if I decide my student should be evaluated?
• What can I expect from the evaluation process?
• What is a 504? IEP? IHP?
• My student has a special education plan: Now what?
• How can I support my special education student’s teachers?
• What should I do if things aren’t going well?

The evening will wrap up with Q&A. We are looking forward to this great opportunity to hear from LWSD! Please send questions to the SEG Chairs Huma Zarif and Kaity Mason at specialeducation@lwptsa.net.

Childcare is available! Contact specialservices@lwsd.org with your student’s name and age ASAP.

Lake Washington PTSA Council is excited to co-sponsor a special event, along with Lake Washington School District: Come hear from Erin Jones, local and national award-winning educator and author of the book Bridges to Heal US: Stories and Strategies for Racial Healing.

At this free, interactive speaking session, families and educators can expect to learn about strategies to help you move your community toward racial justice. Child care is available on-site. Can’t attend in person? Request the Teams link when you register. You won’t want to miss this incredible opportunity.

Register for the event here

Download a PDF flyer to share

Erin Jones is a biracial, transracial adoptee who was born in Saint Paul, Minn., where she was adopted by parents who had been raised in Northern Minnesota. Her father took a teaching job at the American School of The Hague in the Netherlands, where Erin was raised and where her parents taught for over 30 years. By the time Erin was 17, she could speak four languages and had played soccer, basketball and softball in 10 countries. Upon graduation from high school, Erin returned to the United States for college. She attended Bryn Mawr College in suburban Philadelphia, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Literatures of the African Diaspora in English, French and Spanish. She later earned her teaching certificate from Pacific Lutheran University and another certificate in Language Immersion instruction from Concordia College.

Erin has worked as an athletic coach, a substitute teacher, a classroom teacher, an instructional coach, a state assistant superintendent and a school district executive. Erin has earned awards as Most Innovative World Language Teacher, the Washington State Milken Educator of the Year, a White House Champion of Change, and the Inaugural Hanford Education Leader. Erin ran to lead the Office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2016 and lost that race by 1%. Her loss propelled her into full-time consulting on issues related to equity and public speaking at conferences, in schools and at churches. Since 2017, Erin has spoken to 500,000+ students and provided training and keynotes to a similar number of adults. She has three TEDx Talks and recently published a book, “Bridges to Heal US: Stories and Strategies for Racial Healing.”

Erin has been married for almost 30 years to her husband, James, a high school teacher and head football coach. They have three adult children: one who is a para-educator and football coach, one who serves as the communications and project manager for an education foundation, and one who works for an independent video game design company.

We ask each of our local PTA presidents and their school principal to attend this yearly event, designed to help lay a foundation for building a strong partnership between our schools and PTAs. Principals are required to attend this event. If your PTA’s president is unable to attend, another board member should be designated to participate.

Lake Washington PTSA Council, in coordination with Lake Washington School District, is hosting our 7^th annual welcome event for our new and international families. Click for map of event location: 16250 NE 74^th Street, Redmond WA 98052

This is a great opportunity for families to learn about the school district, ask questions, and meet other LWSD families. Whether you’ve moved from a different county or from a different country, this event is for you!

For more information, visit this page.

National PTA is seeking a theme for the 2025-2026 Reflections Program Year. 

Washington students at schools with an active PTA/PTSA may submit their theme ideas (with parent/guardian authorization) via this form. The Washington State PTA Programs Committee will select a top 5 to submit to National PTA. The top 5 will be announced in November after the submission deadline.

The student who submits the ultimate winning entry will receive $100 and have their theme presented at the National PTA Convention in 2024.

Please review the past themes listed here, as repeat themes will not be considered. Please direct any questions to ptaprogdir@wastatepta.org.

The submission form itself should take about 5 minutes to complete. Here’s a brief summary of what you will find on the application form, to assist with your preparation:

• Student Name
• Student’s Theme Idea
• Student Address
• Student’s School
• Parent/Guardian Contact Info
• Local PTA Name

Need help navigating the application? Here’s a 5-minute video that walks through the process.

Planning to be Future-Ready: High School Course-Planning Pathways

Guest Speakers:

Nyla Fritz, LWSD Director, Secondary Teaching & Learning

Kate Atvars, LWSD College & Career Readiness Specialist

Topic: Join us to hear from two of our district leaders, who will discuss the various high school course-planning pathways available to LWSD students.

JOIN THE ZOOM SESSION HERE

The Lunch & Learn series consists of short presentations and discussions on topics of interest to all community members, from noon – 1 pm on select Thursdays online via Zoom. Grab your lunch, log on, and learn with us! Event links will be shared on our website calendar, social media and newsletters close to the event dates. Topics and featured speakers are subject to change and will be updated as they are finalized.

Joint Advocacy Session: LWSD & PTA Legislative Priorities

Guest Speaker: Barbara Posthumus, LWSD Associate Superintendent

Topic: Join us as we welcome Barbara Posthumus, LWSD Associate Superintendent of Business and Support Services, to discuss how the school district and PTA legislative priorities can work in tandem — and find out how you can get involved.

Join the Zoom session here

——————————— The Lunch & Learn series consists of short presentations and discussions on topics of interest to all community members, from noon – 1 pm on select Thursdays online via Zoom. Grab your lunch, log on, and learn with us! Event links will be shared on our website calendar, social media and newsletters close to the event dates. Topics and featured speakers are subject to change and will be updated as they are finalized.