Have you seen the crocuses and daffodils staring to bloom? 🌷The plum tree buds blushing pink? 🌸 The birds chirping a little bit louder and more joyfully? 🐦
Spring is a time for growth, coming together, and celebrations! This month’s newsletter features ways in which we are supporting each other, playing together, planning and raising funds for future experiences, and literally planting a garden!
We hope you can join us for an event this month!
Table of Contents
- Supporting our community in the face of immigration enforcement
- Donate: Help 4th graders paddle on the Duwamish
- Donate: Support outdoor education for next year’s 5th graders
- New Expressive Arts Group opportunity for 4th and 5th graders!
- Get ready to bid! FORE online auction opens soon!
- Updates from the Roxhill Garden! 🌱
- Family Fun Night Volunteers Needed!
- Make your voice heard: Meet the new SPS superintendent
- Upcoming Events
- Principal Bruno’s School Updates
Supporting our community in the face of immigration enforcement
At our February meeting, we joined together to hear from Principal Bruno, Ms. Binkow, and Nurse Ann about how our school will respond to immigration enforcement actions at or near our school. You should know that it is SPS policy to limit access to school grounds and never share any student or family information without a judicial warrant.
We’ve put together a new page on our website of resources for immigrant families and community supporters to help. It includes:
- More details about our schools policy for responding to immigrant enforcement
- Links to resources including Know Your Rights guides and trainings
- Resources for any families needing support during this difficult time
If your family needs support 💖
We encourage you to contact the front office. There are many resources available and families eager to help.
If you are interested in being involved in efforts to respond to enforcement activity or support our neighbors, email friendsofroxhill@gmail.com to receive potential future information about meetings and requests for support.
Donate: Help 4th graders paddle on the Duwamish
The River Access Paddle Program will be partnering with Roxhill Elementary School for their annual curriculum on the History of the Duwamish. We are so excited to be bringing learning to life. This is a big lift for the school, families, and River Access Paddle Program and we are dedicated to the importance of experiential learning.
One of our teachers is dedicating $250 of her classroom grant funds. We are asking families who are able to pay what they can (suggested donation $20).
Please enter “Roxhill 4th Grade trip to the Duwamish” in the purpose box.
Donate: Support outdoor education for next year’s 5th graders
The outdoor school experience is one that is remembered for a lifetime. This year, our budget has gotten much tighter. In the past, we received a state grant that helped offset the cost of camp, but those funds have been cut from our state budget. Now, the cost of camp is looming over our already tight budget. We want all of next year’s 5th graders to continue to have this opportunity, so we need our community’s help.
The funds raised will be used to cover the cost of outdoor school, including tuition, transportation, and substitutes.
And see this story shared on the West Seattle Blog!
New Expressive Arts Group opportunity for 4th and 5th graders!
4th and 5th grade students have a new opportunity to participate in Expressive Arts Group Therapy from April 20 – June 12. Groups will meet once weekly during their regularly scheduled art class.
This small-group experience uses art, storytelling, and play-based activities to support emotional expression, coping skills, and peer connection in a developmentally appropriate way.
The group will be facilitated by Brettyn, the school-based mental health therapist with Neighborcare Health Clinic. Participation is voluntary and parent/guardian permission is required.
To learn more or express interest, please contact Brettyn by April 6 at brettyn.gibson@neighborcare.org, (206) 548-5981, or text (253) 218-4049.
Get ready to bid! FORE online auction opens soon!
The Roxhill Auction launches online on Monday, March 23 and runs until Friday, April 3. There will be great items to bid on including Kraken tickets, a kayak tour, zoo passes, a meadery tour, coffee shop gift cards, birthday parties, great local restaurants, and more!
Make sure to follow @FriendsOfRoxhill on Instagram and Facebook for auction announcements and reminders! The auction is online-only this year.
More details available on our auction page.
…and it’s not too late to sponsor or donate an item!
- Become a Sponsor – If you own a business or can forward this along to one, sponsorships are still available before March 23! All sponsors get thanked and promoted online.
- Donate items for the auction – It’s not too late to help us raise funds by donating an item, ticket, experience, gift certificate, etc. Collecting items through March 9.
Updates from the Roxhill Garden! 🌱
Things are warming up as we prepare to welcome spring in the school garden. Much gratitude goes out to our volunteers and their families who swung by to help prep beds, move mulch, and weed during our work party on January 31.
Thanks to their hard work, the garden is in a great place for our students to grow in this spring. Several classes have already selected seeds to start in their classrooms, including broccoli, watermelon, pumpkin, okra, cantaloupe, bok choy, squash, cauliflower, and marigolds. And we’re looking forward to having volunteer-led classes this month to learn about the foundation of every garden, soil! There we will explore our garden beds by testing their soil compositions and learning what our plants need to thrive.
If you have any interest in helping host classes, work parties, or sharing your thoughts on what else you’d like to see growing in our garden, please e-mail us at FriendsOfRoxhill@gmail.com. If you have any seeds or plants that you’d like to share, donations can be dropped off at the front desk.
Family Fun Night Volunteers Needed!
We can’t wait to see you at Family Fun Night! We will need lots of volunteers to help manage food and various activities. Watch out for an upcoming email with spots to sign up.
Make your voice heard: Meet the new SPS superintendent
Families have multiple chances to meet, hear from, and give feedback to Seattle Public Schools’ new superintendent Ben Shuldiner this month during a community engagement tour.
This includes two easy-to-attend options for our families:
- Tuesday, March 31, 6:30–7:30 p.m., West Seattle Elementary, 6760 34th Ave SW
- Thursday, April 2, 6–7:30 p.m., Virtual (link TBD)
It’s important for family feedback to drive SPS policies, and so making our voices heard during these sessions is important!
Upcoming Events
Roxhill Community Meeting – Mon., March 9 at 6pm
Monday, March 9, 6 – 7:30pm
Roxhill Elementary School Art Room
Come connect with other Roxhill families, get school updates from Principal Bruno and friends of Roxhill, and get the details on upcoming events this spring!
Pizza, childcare, and Spanish interpretation are always provided.
Playground Playdate – Sat., March 14 at 10am
Saturday, March 14, 2025: 10am –12pm
Roxhill Park Playground (aka “Castle Park” across from Target)
Come see old friends and meet new ones during our monthly school playgroup meetup!
Family Fun Night – Fri., March 27 at 5:30pm
Friday, March 27, 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Roxhill Elementary School
Join us for a night of music, arts & crafts, games, pizza and more!
Principal Bruno’s School Updates
This year, Principal Bruno has started to share important school news every school week. These messages are not to be missed!
- February 6 Family Update – Skate Night celebration. Ms. Math & Ms. Turner’s classes work at E.C. Hughes park. Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) practice. Reminder: No Stuffies, Toys, or Tech from Home Please!
- February 13 Family Update – Black History Month assembly, student author visitors from Denny Middle School, 1st grade Dance of the Cohos performance, student fasting and free Iftar meals for families, use Metro Flex transit service to get to school, limiting immigration enforcement activity at school
- February 27 Family Update – Budget season, free Iftar meals, and building student independence