Scam Emails Some scams may spoof the email of another officer to help make the request look legitimate. But there are things to check for before you reply:
Common Scams
Protecting Your PTA There are a few things you and your board should be doing in order to protect your PTA:
Money Handling Policy
Need some help putting your money handling policies together or updating them? Council's money handling policies is available for you to use as a sample. Still have questions? Contact Council Treasurer, Serena Xu. More Online Safety Tips & How to Report Internet Fraud US.gov Online Safety Remember: There is nothing more urgent for your PTA than to follow best practices and policies to ensure you don't get caught in a scam! Last month, on September 19th, Council held its first General Membership meeting of the 2022-2023 school year. We appreciate all the local leaders from across the district as well as all of the community partners who were able to attend!Continue reading below for a recap of the meeting. Meeting Recap:
The General Membership meeting began with the reading of a Land Acknowledgement, a small but important step in showing respect and honor for the Indigenous Peoples of the land that we work and live on, and their truth, stories, and histories, which we commit to protecting and preserving from erasure. Claudine Miller was presented as the nominee for Council’s Secretary, and was then elected into the role after a vote was taken. Region 6’s Area VP, Liz Nord, then officially installed the Council officers for the 2022-2023 school year. Thank you, Council officers, for your commitment to serving our local PTAs and our students! Interim Superintendent Michael Tolley took some time to share with us what his and Northshore Schools’ focuses will be going forward into the 2022-2023 school year. NSD’s mission of “strengthening our community through excellence in education by focusing on our school communities, school climate and welfare, and school systems” will be hopefully be achieved by strategic initiatives such increasing inclusionary practices, and determining the measures that will tell us what we are going to do to help our students be successful in their education. To hear more about these strategic initiatives, and to share your hopes, concerns, and questions with Mr. Tolley, please consider attending a Listen and Learn session. More information can be found at https://www.nsd.org/our-district/leadership/interim-superintendent/listen-and-learn . Council Business:
District and Community Partners:
Lastly, our Council chairs gave us updates on the important work that they are doing to advocate for and support our NSD students and local PTAs. We are very excited for all that they are doing, and we hope that you will join us this school year in advocating for all of our NSD students! Thank you to all who joined us for the first General Membership meeting of 2022-2023, and we hope that you will continue to attend our meetings! The goal is to have 5,000 members from across Washington State sign-up on October 26. This is a great day to invite your local community (local business leaders, community members, school board members, alumni of your school, and of course, your school’s family members) to join your PTA. This contest aims to grow knowledge and build membership by spreading the word about PTA, who we are, what we do, and why we do it as well as the knowledge that anyone can be a member of a PTA. How to Participate:
Update 10/17/22 Get ready to frame your ASK for The Great PTA Sign-Up Day (from WSPTA website)
Membership in a local PTA helps build community, gives each member a voice and vote in important matters, and counts towards our state membership numbers that we can use to show our strength when we advocate in Olympia on behalf of all children! Updating Online Join Links: All of WSPTA's communications will direct people to the Find Your PTA webpage, so please double-check to ensure that your PTA’s online join link is listed and correct. If your link isn’t listed or needs to be updated, you can email [email protected] with the correct information or complete this form. This is also a good time to verify that Council has your updated links on their Northshore PTA/PTSAs webpage. Email VP of Communications, Jenn Snyder to have your links updated with Council. Visit WSPTA for more information about the Great Sign-Up Day. Membership Resources: Visit Council's Membership page for more tips and links to past articles. Questions? Contact Council's Membership Chair, Kimberly Ortiz. What issues are important to your school community and students across the state? Take this poll to give us some input before Legislative Assembly. Please share with all your local PTA members. We will share results with Northshore PTA Presidents and Advocacy/Legislative Chairs. Survey closes on Monday, October 10th. More on Advocacy:
![]() A retreat is more than just a regular meeting; it is an opportunity to:
There are many things to consider when planning for your retreat. While board retreats can take place in person, many PTAs may find it best to plan a virtual retreat, which adds a few more items to that list.
![]() Great retreats also include a few key social elements that serve as ways to allow board members to connect, bond, and get to know each other, all of which work to help build a more cohesive team:
The extended nature of a retreat means that a board can have time for conversations and discussions with more breadth and depth. Consider some of the following discussion areas and questions as you build your board retreat agenda:
Finally, remember that some of the most important work will happen after the retreat ends as ideas are put into action. Take time through the year to reflect and check-in with one another regarding discussions, action items, and progress toward goals. ![]() Additional Resources:
As always, Council is here to help your PTA have a successful year! If you ever have questions, you can reach out to us anytime via email. Find a list of Council Contacts here. This summer, Council will be holding Office Hours on Wednesday, July 13th, from 12:00PM (noon) to 1:00PM. This is the perfect time to connect with Council, ask questions about the upcoming year, or even just stop in to say hello!
This time is designed to support our local PTA/PTSA leaders as you begin to navigate membership, programs, and managing your organization for the upcoming year. We hope you will join us! Join Zoom Meeting https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86598668645 Meeting ID: 865 9866 8645 Passcode: *available upon request* If you have questions and need to connect with Council prior to this, please visit our Contact Page for a list Council Officers and their emails. ![]() Awards are a great way for PTAs to show their community how much they appreciate them and to celebrate the dedication of those who support your PTA's mission and goals! Many PTA's do this through WSPTA's formal volunteer award recognition program which allows for local PTAs to award for outstanding educator, advocate, student advocate, and volunteer (Golden Acorn), as well as the honorary life membership award. Because volunteers are at the heart of everything PTA, Council is excited to share in the celebration of our local Northshore PTA Award Winners! Please note, we know this is a busy time of year and many PTAs have not yet had the chance to submit their award winners to us for recognition. If you would like to add to our list, email [email protected].
Updated 7.6.2022
Council Business: The meeting kicked off with an approval of minutes from our March 21st general meeting, before moving on to hear the Treasurer’s Report for the month of April from Council Treasurer, Serena Xu. Next on the agenda were updates from Council President, Jane Chiodo, which included:
Our VP of Communications, Rachel Fitzgerald, then shared with everyone the importance of updating the contact information for positions being filled for next year in your PTA. If you are an officer next year, please update your contact information before July 1st, 2022. This information will be used to contact you by council board members that want to support your PTA. It is also how you will be on the list to receive communications from council, including the council newsletter, that will keep you updated on events and happenings in our district. Remember to update officers in memberplanet as well! ![]() The Council business portion of our meeting ended with a farewell for Dr. Michelle Reid who will be leaving Northshore School District at the end of June to serve as the Superintendent of the Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. Jane Chiodo read a letter with messages of appreciation from Council leaders for all that Dr. Reid has done for our district over the years. Click here to read the thank-you letter. District and Community Reports:
After the updates were given by the community partners there was a reminder to the local PTA attendees to please remember to fill out the end of year survey from Council. This survey lets us know how we can better serve your PTA with your valuable feedback. We will be taking survey responses up until midnight on Friday, June 17th. ![]() Last, but certainly not least, the evening ended with our 2021-2022 Spring Recognition Event! This event was hosted by First Vice President and Awards Committee Chair, Mary Khouzam. The event included performances from the Woodinville High School String Quartet and the Canyon Park Middle School Advanced Drama Class. Two of Northshore's Reflections artists were also able to showcase their submissions which received awards from National PTA! The highlight of the event was celebrating all the achievements of our local PTAs/PTSAs that make us #PTAProud. Council would also like to celebrate the local award winners in a future blog. To include your local recipients, please complete this form. During our Spring Recognition, Council was also honored to present this year's Council Recognition Awards. Congratulations to the following eleven (11) individuals: 🌟 Golden Acorn: Diana Christiansen 🌟 Golden Acorn: Jennifer Drury 🌟 Golden Acorn: Rachel Fitzgerald 🌟 Outstanding Educator: Steven Hopkins 🌟 Outstanding Educator: Peter Schurke 🌟 Outstanding Advocate: Clark Combs 🌟 Outstanding Student Advocate: Esther Kim 🌟 Outstanding Service: Jane Chiodo 🌟 Outstanding Service: Melissa Kline 🌟 Outstanding Service: Pauline Wray 🌟 Honorary Life Membership: Tracy Jokisch Click here to learn more about each of our 2021-2022 Council Award Recipients. Special thanks to Council Members Jane Chiodo, Jennifer Drury, Rachel Fitzgerald, Mary Khouzam, and Claudine Miller for their work to make this event a success! Many volunteer hours were spent reviewing nominations, selecting recipients, organizing the slideshow, arranging for student entertainment, and surprising the award winners - all to make our 2022 Spring Recognition Event a memorable one!! We want to thank all the volunteers, district employees, and community members who attended this meeting and all the previous meetings held this year. We hope you will continue to join us for our General Membership Meetings in the 2022-2023 school year.
For a full list of our upcoming meetings and events, check out our Calendar.
Remember to check out our 2021-2022 Reflections Virtual Art Showcase featuring all 267 Northshore artists who qualified for Council!
To learn more about Reflections and how to promote the PTA program at your school, visit our Reflections page. Each year, Washington State PTA recognizes the work of individuals, PTAs and Councils across the state via a variety of awards, including Leadership Academy and the Awards of Excellence Program. Some of our amazing Northshore PTAs submitted applications and were recognized for their efforts at the 2022 WSPTA Annual Convention held May 20th-22nd. Awards work to celebrate the efforts of local PTAs and Councils in a variety of different areas. The criteria reflect a strong knowledge and application of best practices and the submission process can be rigorous. These awards are truly reflective of the dedication and strength of these PTAs and the powerful contributions they make in their communities. This year's recipients included:
Congratulations to our award-winning Northshore PTAs!
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Northshore Council PTSA is a welcoming organization that works to support our Local PTAs and serve the children and youth of our community through advocacy, collaboration, education, engagement, leadership, and mentorship.