Get involved right from the start of the year - kids, too

Bagley could use some helpers to kick off the school year with a few easy activities. It's a great way to meet other parents and get into the swing of things. From our fearless PTA co-presidents:

Hi DBE families,

We're recruiting help in making the start of the school year successful. A short amount of time by a few of you will make all the difference. Here are a few of the opportunities:

Thursday, August 23: Back to School Packets: Join a few parents for an hour or two to collate the August mailer to our families. You'll get the inside scoop on the August Buzz and time to socialize with other parents. Children are welcome. We'll meet in the cafeteria at 10 a.m. 

Tuesday, August 28: First Day Packets: In preparation for the first day, our fabulous secretary, Randi Olson, needs help collating the packets that go home with families on the first day of school. Again, this is a great time to socialize with other parents. Children are welcome. We'll meet in the cafeteria at 10 a.m. 

Wednesday, September 5: First Morning of School and Welcome Coffee:

How to get connected to Bagley

For your reading pleasure, here's an updated re-post from last year.

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The PTA & Daniel Bagley staff communicate with parents using several different methods, and the fastest is by email - join the vlist to stay up-to-date.

The vlist is an email forum for Daniel Bagley parents that is sponsored by the PTA. It’s an easy way to stay connected and keep informed of what’s happening in and around Daniel Bagley. Join via: www.danielbagley.com/happening_vlist.htm.

Other means of communication you'll see:

Playdates, portables, and websites

First, don't forget to check the blog for answers to all your 'new Bagley family' questions - most of the posts from last summer are still relevant.  Search by the labels on the sidebar.  There is info on lunches, recess, afterschool activities, the PTA, class sizes, curriculum night, and much, much more.

Websites:  You might have noticed that we have two websites - the PTA one (danielbagley.com) and the brand new SPS one (bagleyes.seattleschools.org).  Volunteers are hard at work transitioning to the SPS site, but meanwhile, you will probably notice some outdated information, or might have some trouble navigating to the pages you want.  For now, your best sources of information about Bagley are probably:

Kidmail Thursday!

Thursday is kidmail day.  Check backpacks tonight for a broad assortment of goodies (or tomorrow, if there are technical glitches or time management issues!).  Today's will be especially loaded because it's the first one of the year.  Look for a Baby Buzz mini-newsletter - you can opt out of hard copies for the Baby Buzz, and you really should to save lots of time and paper and money, but everyone is getting paper versions this first time, jogathon information, Free Money contest details, art news from Ms. McNeer, and lots more.

Parent volunteers spend a few hours every Thursday morning photocopying, stapling and sorting the kidmail.  If you want to stop by clip 'n' chat to help out, drop by the first portable between 9:30-11:30 on Thursday mornings.  Little kids welcome, too!

Why you really should join the PTA, and some of those other forms you need to complete

Amidst the stack of papers you received with your teacher assignment letter last week, you will notice a goldenrod colored page that says 'Join the PTA!' on one side, with a Family Information Form on the other.

Even if you don't plan to join the PTA (and you should), please complete this form!  It will ensure that your contact information is included in this year's family directory.  Other benefits of this form:

Bit and bites from this morning's playdate (waitlist, teachers, after-school classes, etc.)

Thank you to all the families who came out to our New Family playdates!  It was wonderful to see all the new (and older) students making friends over the last two weekends.  We estimate that there were about 25 families who came out today, and about 25 last weekend as well.  That's a pretty good representation of the new Bees.

Here are a few thoughts on some of the items that came up this morning:

The Bagley Buzz!

Hot off the presses, a new edition of the Bagley Buzz is here!  Our school's newsletter is issued mostly-weekly, with a super-sized 'Big Buzz' once a month, this year prepared by Heather (thanks, Heather!).

Most of us get the Buzz by email (you should get on the vlist to make this happen), but if you opt-in for hard copies, you'll receive them in kid mail.  I *think* Big Buzz is hard copy for everyone anyways.

Anyhoo... since I have no idea how to post a PDF on Blogger, I have uploaded it to my googledocs, so if you want to find it, try viewing it here.  It will not automatically open in a new window, since I don't know how to do that, either.  Maybe the link will work.  If not, someone should tell me and I'll come up with Plan B.

Staying in touch with Bagley happenings

The PTA & Daniel Bagley staff communicate with parents using several different methods, and the fastest is by email - join the vlist to stay up-to-date!

The vlist is an email forum for Daniel Bagley parents that is sponsored by the PTA. It’s an easy way to stay connected and keep informed of what’s happening in and around Daniel Bagley. Join via: www.danielbagley.com/happening_vlist.htm.

Other means of communication you'll see:

• mailings from the Seattle School Board
• the Buzz - weekly Bagley newsletters (http://www.danielbagley.com/happening.htm)
• kid mail - information from the principal, teachers and the PTA sent home in your child's backpack
• Daniel Bagley's website (http://www.danielbagley.com/)
• The Bagley google calendar (http://www.danielbagley.com/happening_calendar.htm) - you can add it to your gcal
• SPS website (http://www.seattleschools.org/) - procedures, waitlist, school year calendar including early dismissals, professional development days, holidays, etc.
• The Source (https://source.seattleschools.org/pub/login/index.html) - your child's school records will be available here once you register
• Bulletin boards by the front doors
• Emails from your class parent liaison
• The reader board at the corner of 80th & Stone Ave N

You can also email the PTA officers with questions; their addresses are at http://www.danielbagley.com/pta.htm

Don't forget to join the PTA and support our fantastic community! You will receive membership information just before school starts. We have reached 100 percent PTA membership for the past four years, meaning that we have had at least as many adult members of the PTA as there are students in the school. Thanks to our incredible, tireless PTA and parent volunteers, Daniel Bagley is able to offer an enhanced educational experience through programs such as classroom tutors (aides), vocal music, health and fitness, art, family fun nights, and much more. This is even more important now, in light of the recent budget cuts.