February 2024 Newsletter
Table of Contents:
Message from Friends of Roxhill
Denny Middle School Open Houses
Roxhill Open House for Prospective Families
Lost and Found
Neighborcare Health
Friday Food Bags
Health Information from Nurse Ann
Kings’ and Queens’ Team
Global Reading Challenge - 2/9
Friends of Roxhill PTO Community Meeting - 2/12
Roxhill Park Family Meetup - 2/24
Dine Out Fundraiser at Ounces - 2/28
Skate Night - 3/7
Roxhill Girls on the Run
Carpool Connections
Volunteer Opportunities
Important Dates
Message from Friends of Roxhill
Thank you Roxhill families for joining us at Family Fun Night last Thursday!
We hope you had a good time, whether you were dancing to music with DJ Hero, playing board games with friends or making paint brushes with natural materials with Erin from EcoArts.
Thank you to the community organizations who joined us: Seattle Housing Authority, Neighborcare, West Seattle Food Bank, Delridge Farmer’s Market, Delridge Neighborhoods Development Association and the YMCA.
Our bake sale was a great success. We raised over $600, which will go towards funding other fun school events. Save the date for March 7th when we will host Skate Night at Southgate Roller Rink. We hope to see you there!
Denny Middle School Open Houses
5th grade families: If your student lives within the Roxhill Elementary attendance area, they will be assigned to Denny International Middle school. (You can check the Source to verify your student's school assignment for next school year.)
Denny will be hosting a daytime school tour and evening open house in February.
Tuesday, February 6
Denny Middle School Daytime Tour
8:30-9:30 am
No appointment needed. Description of school offerings followed by a guided school tour.
Thursday, February 8
Denny Middle School Open House for Prospective New Families
5pm
Guests will have the opportunity to meet teachers and staff as well as learn about all the different opportunities and experiences available to students and families.If you are interested in attending Madison Middle School, you will need to submit a School Choice Form. Dates for Open Enrollment School Choice are February 1 - February 29. See the SPS website for more details. https://www.seattleschools.org/enroll/about-our-schools/school-choice/
Roxhill Open House and School Tour for Prospective Families
Thursday, February 15
9:30-10:30 am
Prospective families are invited to meet with Roxhill Principal Susan Lorow and our RoxStar teachers to learn about the school and take a tour of the historic E.C. Hughes building, which is home to Roxhill Elementary. Please share with your friends and neighbors.
Lost and Found
Lost and Found will be cleaned out on Friday February 16th @ 3:00pm. Any items left after this time will be donated.
Neighborcare Health
We are here to improve the health and wellbeing of our Roxhill students through free medical, mental health, and dental services. We understand that it can be very difficult to pull students from school to attend appointments for their primary clinics. We are here to make it easier and efficient for you and your child by ensuring they receive the necessary care they need without missing school.
Neighborcare Health provides a wide range of services to our students and families of Roxhill. We are located in the front of the school 5 days a week and we welcome all students of Roxhill to sign up!
Vaccinations, including flu shots
Annual well-child check-ups
Dental services: cleaning, fillings, sealants
Treatment of common injuries and illnesses (allergies, rashes, sore throat, etc.)
Help with managing ongoing health conditions
Camp or sports physicals
Health insurance enrollment assistance
Assistance for families seeking a primary care provider and a health care home
Please take our SURVEY or email our HCC for an appointment fardosa.warfa@neighborcare.org
Friday Food Bags
Neighborcare Health needs volunteers for the Friday Food Bag program!
Roxhill is continuing the Friday Food Program this year, sending students home with a bag of snacks, produce and easy to prepare food for the weekend. Fardosa, the Health Care Coordinator at Neighborcare, needs help filling the bags with produce and delivering them to student classroom cubbies.
You MUST be an approved SPS volunteer. Fill out the application here: Apply or Renew - Seattle Public Schools (seattleschools.org)
Volunteer sign up: Friday Food Bag Prep and Delivery — Signup Sheet | SignUp.com
Health Information from Nurse Ann
Dental Health Update:
‘When children’s oral health suffers, so does their ability to learn’ (Holt, K. , Barzel, R. 2013) [https://www.mchoralhealth.org]
With many thanks to families, students, teachers, Neighborcare School Based Dental Clinic, Public Health Seattle King County, and community dentists, 75 of our 89 second and third graders had dental screenings the first half of this 2023-24 school year. 55% of families took advantage of our school-based screening programs.
We look forward to continuing to build our partnerships, making dental health care accessible for all Roxhill families.
Guiding Good Choices:
Join other West Seattle and Roxhill families in Guiding Good Choices, a culturally and linguistically matched FREE online workshop for parents of 7-14 year olds to support strong families and healthy decision making by youth as they move from childhood to teenage years. The groups are on-line, and families receive a gift card for successful completion.
Also, a similar program, SAAF-T (Strong African American Families-Teen), a program developed specifically for African American families. ‘Parents and youth love this workshop!’
Call Barbara Hal to sign up 702.403.8180
Kings’ and Queens’ Team
On January 6, a small group of students from the Kings’ and Queens’ Team went on a field trip to PCC in Columbia City to cook lunch with Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz.
Here is what 5th graders Metkel Wolday and Lyric Bradford had to say about the visit:
Cooking Lunch with Police Chief Diaz
Seeing the chief and other police felt scary and nerve racking at first, but then we knew we were safe, and not alone because our friends were there and the teachers at our school, well most of them, were there, too. We gave the chief an interview and these are some of the things we asked him.
Roxhill Students: How long have you been working for the police department?
Chief Diaz: As a chief for three years and police officer for 27 years.We know that’s crazy.
Roxhill Students: What inspired you to do this job?
Chief Diaz: Honestly, I just wanted to help people, I wanted to serve.
We also asked him if he had done a robbery and murder investigation, and he said yes. We know, that’s spooky.
Chief Diaz had also invited a special guest, Gerald Smiley, and we interviewed him, too.
Roxhill Students: What was it like to be a baseball player?
Gerald Smiley: I loved it. It taught me a lot about life, teamwork, how to compete and how to handle adversity when things don’t go my way and find a way to continue to be the best that I could be for myself and my teammates.
Roxhill Students: What inspired you to play baseball?
Gerald Smiley: My brother.
Now, let’s talk about the food we cooked. Noodles that had tofu, vegetables, and eggs. We also ate delicious salad. It had red pepper, peanuts, carrots, and red cabbage. It was spicy and creamy. The last and final food that we had made was a dessert that we did not like as much even though the chef said it was better than a cupcake. We thought it was with slimy bananas, and icky coconut. It was salty and not sweet.
When we got close to leaving, we did not want to leave. It was so much fun.
Have a great day ROXSTARS!
Global Reading Challenge
Roxhill will hold its in-school competition of the Global Reading Challenge on Friday, February 9, at 12:30 in the library. Good luck to all the 4th and 5th grade teams of students who have chosen to participate in this question/answer competition about the eight Global Reading Challenge titles!
Enjoy this month’s library song!
Friends of Roxhill PTO Community Meeting
Monday, February 12
6:00-7:30pm
Roxhill Cafeteria
Friends of Roxhill is our school’s non-profit parent/teacher organization (PTO). We are parents, community members, and teachers who work together to support the education and enrichment of our multicultural public school.
Everyone is welcome and all ideas are encouraged!
Our meetings are usually on the 2nd Monday of the month from 6–7:30 p.m. in the Roxhill cafeteria. This is a great way to connect with Principal Lorow, parents, caregivers and teachers in the Roxhill community. Pizza and childcare will be provided. Spanish interpretation will be available. Interpretation for other languages is available upon request. Email friendsofroxhill@gmail.com with questions.
Roxhill Park Family Meetup
Saturday, February 24
10:00 am-12:00 pm
Come play at the park with other Roxhill families! We will meet at Roxhill Park (across from Target) rain or shine so kids can play and families can get to know one another. Coffee will be provided. Bring a snack to share (optional).
Dine Out Fundraiser at Ounces
Wednesday, February 28
4:00 - 9:00 pm
Join us for our next dine out fundraiser at Ounces. A percentage of sales will be donated back to our school. Tell your server you are a Roxhill supporter.
Skate Night
Save the Date
Thursday, March 7
6:00-8:00pm
Southgate Roller Rink
Join us for a night of fun roller skating with Roxhill families and staff. There will be food and drinks for purchase and a Bake Sale benefitting Friends of Roxhill.
Roxhill Girls on the Run
March 25- May 23, 2024
Mondays and Thursdays 2:30 pm - 4 pm
The Girls on the Run 8 week Spring Season is right around the corner. We are excited to start practices for the Roxhill Elementary team! Practice will be at the school playground and covered area. Girls on the Run is so much more than running.
The program is designed to enhance girls’ social, psychological, and physical skills and behaviors. Its research-based lessons teach critical life skills like managing emotions, helping others, making intentional decisions, and resolving conflict. Lessons are delivered by volunteer coaches who completed extensive training focused on fostering an inclusive environment,celebrating individual achievements, and creatively integrating movement in a fun and motivating way. Any reference to “girls” includes gender-expansive and non-binary youth.
A celebratory 5K fun run at Renton Memorial Stadium on May 19th will cap off the season. Partial and full scholarships are available to any participant that requests it. Contact Coach Norma at norma.avalos@gmail.com (Roxhill Coach) with any questions or contact the program directly at program@girlsrun.org. Connection and teamwork build confidence and resilience in our participants. Girls on the Run provides a safe and inclusive space to thrive and flourish—register your child today!
Visit www.gotrpugetsound.org
Carpool Connections
We receive frequent requests for transportation help and try to coordinate carpools and walking buses by introducing families to each other. Please email friendsofroxhill@gmail.com if you can help with any of the following.
Current requests:
1st and 5th grader in need of a driver to and from Trenton and 25th Ave. SW
1st grader in need of a driver to and from Delridge Way SW and Kenyon St.
2nd grader in need of a driver to and from SW Holden St. and 24th Ave. SW
Please fill out the following form if:
You need help getting your child to or from school.
You would like to volunteer to drive or walk another student to or from school.
Your contact information will not be shared without your permission. Please contact friendsofroxhill@gmail.com with questions.
Volunteer Opportunities
All volunteer opportunities that take place on school grounds or field trips will require you to fill out a volunteer application through SPS. Apply here or check your status as a returning volunteer. Direct all questions about your SPS application to Office Assistant Christy Pudduck cspudduck@seattleschools.org.
We are currently looking for volunteers to help with:
Friday Food Bag Prep and Delivery (Fridays at 12 noon)
Childcare during FORE Meetings (2nd Mondays of the month)
Making coffee for Roxhill Park Family Meetups (4th Saturdays of the month)
Skate Night (March 7)
Want to get more involved with Friends of Roxhill?
Fill out our volunteer interest survey to learn more about what we do and how you can help.
Important Dates
February 6 - Denny Middle School Daytime Tour, 8:30-9:30am
February 8 - Denny Middle School Open House, 5:00pm
February 12 - Friends of Roxhill PTO Community Meeting, 6-7:30 pmFebruary 19-23 - Mid-winter break, including Presidents Day (no school)
February 24 - Roxhill Park Family Meetup, 10am-12pm
February 28 - Dine Out Fundraiser at Ounces, 4 - 9pm
March 7 - Skate Night
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