Please join us for our next PTSA General Meeting on Wednesday, January 16. The Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools, Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson, will be our special guest speaker. In addition, Debra Zawada, a representative of the University of Washington's Do-It Program, will discuss transitioning to post-secondary academic programs and career planning. We will meet at 7 pm at Meany

Thank you to those members who signed up at our last general meeting to be on the Task Force which will work closely with the district to implement the recommendations of the outside review of Seattle Public Schools' special education services. Co-President Nancy Speer will be contacting you shortly to set up the Task Force's first meeting. The PTSA board has decided that the task force will be our

Upcoming events are scheduled for Wednesdays, 7-8:30 pm, except where noted, at schools throughout the district. Check our website www.seattlespecialedptsa.org and future newsletters for changes and updates.

• Jan. 16 - Dr. Goodloe-Johnson and UW Do-It Program, Debra Zawada - Meany MS
• Feb. 13 - Extracurricular Options and Summer Camps - Graham Hill
• Mar. 19 - Sex Education for Our Kids w/Britta Saltonstall and the OSPI Special Ed Ombudsman Kristen Hennessey - Graham Hill
• Apr. 16 - Positive Behavioral Support
• May 21 - Awards, Elections

Focus Day is the once-a-year advocacy event that Washington State PTA members host in Olympia to provide our legislators a chance for straightforward, one-on-one conversation with us. Please reserve the date, Wednesday, Feb. 13, to join us this year. Focus day resources are now available on the WSPTA Legislative page (see link below).

Our PTSA plans to participate in this important event to make our legislators more aware of SPS special education issues. If you are interested in joining our PTSA group, please contact Diana Gardiner at gardiner@speakeasy.net. Hope to see you there!

Thanks, parents and teachers, for joining us! We now count 108 members! Because of this swell, we've already exceeded last year's membership numbers. (It didn't even take the whole school year!) Our work around the recently issued review (Special Education & the District) will be better as more people join. Not only will each member's input make a difference, but the new Task Force will be supported by more and more people. We encourage you to take time to personally invite parents and teachers you know in your school to join us. -- Diana Gardiner, Membership Chair

If you became a member of our PTSA last year (2006- 2007) but have not yet renewed your membership, please do so now. Failure to renew means that this will be the last issue of the newsletter you will receive. We want you back and we want to keep you informed. So, take the time to renew!

We invite all our members to tell your school-based PTA/PTSA or other parent-teacher organization about our PTSA and the activities/presentations it sponsors. Please ask your school-based organization to consider making a donation to our PTSA, which derives all its funding from membership dues (only $12 per person, $7.75 of which go to the state and national PTA) and donations. Please contact Nancy Speer (nancyspeer@comcast.net) to obtain a letter of introduction from our PTSA to your school-based organization.

Several of our members have made individual donations totaling $305 to our PTSA. We greatly appreciate your generosity and support.

On occasion, a member will communicate with us seeking advice or insight into a particular issue regarding their child's special education services. For example, a parent/guardian might want to know what they should do if their child is not receiving the services outlined in their IEP. While we always encourage direct communication with the PTSA board members, we would like to also encourage all members to make such inquiries and share their experiences/advice on such issues via our Yahoo Group. Our lively Yahoo Group is a forum where participants can find announcements of PTSA meetings and other school-related events. Members also can post comments, queries, or articles. To join, please contact Nancy Speer at nancyspeer@comcast.net.

Our PTSA will elect new officers at our May general meeting. Several of our current officers have already served for two years and will be required by our bylaws to step down. It's not too early to starting thinking about becoming more involved in managing our PTSA. A nominating committee will be forming soon to develop a slate of candidates. Please contact Co-President Nancy Speer if you are interested in serving on the nominating committee or running for office.