Hello Blakely Families,
I hope this newsletter finds you well as we continue through this solid stretch of March. I want to take a moment to celebrate something wonderful we witnessed this past Friday. When the snow began falling, our students showed us what it means to find joy and balance in unexpected moments. They played together, made typical PNW snow sculptures (muddy, melting, off balance), and embraced the magic of the day—but they also stayed focused on learning and continued to tackle hard things in the classroom. We were so proud of how they handled the unexpected weather change with such maturity, flexibility, and enthusiasm. I had many staff members share this sentiment with me Friday after school, Go Bulldogs!
Thank you in advance for reading the information below:
MakerFaire Updates: Donations & Volunteers Needed
Thank you so much for the overwhelming response to our donation requests! We are thrilled to share that we no longer need cardboard donations. However, we are still looking for many other items on our MakerFaire materials list, so please check the list and send in what you can.
We're also seeking volunteers to help make MakerFaire a success in three key ways: helping sort and distribute materials ahead of time (this will happen on 3/25), supporting students during their building on the day of the event, and assisting the night of MakerFaire. If you're interested in volunteering in any capacity, please contact the office or reach out to the PTO. We'd love to have you join us in celebrating our students' innovative thinking and problem-solving skills!
Attendance Challenge Round 2: Let's Tackle Tardies Together
Our daily attendance skyrocketed in February and continues to climb—currently in March, we're averaging 95.7% of our students attending daily. We are so proud of this commitment to being present and ready to learn.
For our next Attendance Challenge, we've shifting our focus to tardies. At Blakely, the morning is filled with relationship building, connection, and predictability to help our students prepare for learning. Ensuring that students arrive by 7:50 each morning sets them up for success and helps create a focused start to the day.
Here's how the challenge works: Each day that 90% or more of our students are here by 7:50 (meaning 30 or fewer students are tardy), we will add a tally mark to our challenge tracker. Our goal is 10 days with 90% or more of our students arriving on time. When we hit that goal, we will celebrate together as a school community!
Arrival & Dismissal Safety Reminder
To prioritize the safety of all our students, we want to remind families who use the parking lot loop for drop-off and pick-up: Please have ALL students enter and exit the vehicle on the curbside. This ensures that every child stays safe during these busy transition times.
