RED is on Safety Patrol this week.  Safety Patrol Schedule

NO SCHOOL on Thursday and Friday for Mid-Winter Break

Reserved Parking: Please note that there are parking spots at the front of the school marked Reserved. One of these spots is for the Health Room Volunteer. You are welcome to park here when you are helping out in the Health Room. If you would like to volunteer in the Health Room, please ask at the office. If you are not volunteering in the Health Room, please leave this spot open for the great volunteer who will be in the Health Room in case your child needs to go there. If you even park in this marked spot even briefly, you may take this spot from the volunteer.

There is also a spot marked for the PTSA Auction Winner, you will have the opportunity to bid on this spot at next year's auction. Until then, please leave this spot open for the winner from the last auction.
Health Room clothes: The Health Room is in need of donated clothes. If you have any clothes you are able to donate, please leave them at the school office. There is a special need for sweat pants, and jeans, both in mid-size. Thank you!

I'm happy to report that we have a winning team for Battle of the Books, the Sparkly Purple Nail Polish Goats! They will be competing in the district battles beginning February 27th. The battles continue through the 29th, so we will have to wait and see what dates we battle on. I also want to congratulate all of the competing teams.  Competition was fierce and I was excited and amazed by all of the teams. Great job!
Reminder, the winner of the Global Reading Challenge will be competing on February 23rd at 4:30 pm at the Redmond Library. Come cheer on our team!
We have added a new carpet and some bean bags in the Everybody room. It definitely makes the room brighter and cozier! The library staff is working hard to add a Graphic Novel collection to the library for 3-6th graders, in addition to approximately 130 new fiction, non-fiction and picture books. These should all be on the shelves by the end of February, beginning of March. We are excited about the additions! Much of the funding for all of this is from the proceeds from Scholastic Book Fair. Thank you for your support!
We are planning to celebrate Read Across America the week of February 27th-March 2nd. The Cat in the Hat will be visiting classes and we would like to have guest readers visit classrooms. Any parent, staff member, celebrity, or business person who would like to be a reader please let the library know! We hope to have enough readers to visit all of the classrooms. Also, students will be recording the minutes that they read that week. They will be recorded as 1 minute = 1 mile on a map of the United States in the library!  Let's make it all the way across!
Valerie Bonnie
Teacher/Librarian, Emily Dickinson/Explorer Community Schools

Ride a free tour bus chartered by our LWPTSA Council - join fellow parents and PTA members across Washington for the annual Focus Day in Olympia, the rally on the Capitol steps!

On Monday, February 20th, school is closed for Mid-Winter Break over President's Day - bring your kids and friends! This is a great opportunity to let the kids see how our government works! 

Buses leave at 7:30 AM SHARP from the Redmond Town Center eastern parking lot off 170th Ave NE, at the former Larry's/Top Food grocery store, between Cost Plus and Bartell Drug.  Buses will return at about 4:00 PM. More bus info at Lk WA PTSA Council, and Focus Day event info at WSPTA.

Your help is needed to shape 2012 Washington's legislative priorities in another very difficult economic climate. Join in the public rally, meet with legislators, receive updates on key issues, and network with fellow advocates - we do make a difference when we show up at the Capitol with many WSPTA friends!

Going? Please confirm your bus seat RSVP via e-mail - provide your last name, the number of adults and kids, and whether you would also like to join others meeting with your legislators. 

Please also register with WA State PTA so they may know how many people to expect. You can also purchase optional brown bag lunches from this site.  Dress for cold weather, we'll go rain, snow or shine (additional general info from past Focus Days). 

Questions? Contact Jason Rothkowitz, LWPTSA Council Co-Legislative Advocate (advocacy@lwptsa.net) or Dickinson Advocacy Co-Chair Andrea Stoppani (astoppani@dickinsonptsa.org). 

Science Night is still in desperate need of people to participate with demonstrations and/or exhibits. Science night is scheduled for March 15th 6-8pm. This can be a wonderful night of science appreciation and exposure. Help make this event successful for our children.

Can you, or someone you know, offer the kids a really cool experience? If so, please contact Heidi Schimke (hschimke@dickinsonptsa.org).

Please remember to add messenger@dickinsonptsa.org to the safe senders list of your email provider.  For help, go to www.safesenderslist.com. 

- Dickinson PTSA