Meeting Highlights

• Thank you to the 29 people who joined us for part or all of the meeting tonight! 
• We welcomed our new Principal, Mary Freitas, who shared that the District is communicating with neighboring school districts about plans to reopen school buildings - information will be shared with the community as it comes. Goal is to get kids back in the school building - safely!
• Fundraisers will be different this year: our biggest one is usually the Fun Run in fall, but this year it'll be a Read-a-thon in the winter. We're continuing to encourage Shop with Scrip and Amazon Smile, as well as using PayPal for direct one-time or monthly donations. And look out for info about Holiday Catalog sales in late October/November. 
• We're anticipating that we won't be able to raise the revenue we have in years past because of all the challenges of 2020, but we want to sustain our support of teachers and staff while working toward educational equity by doing things like purchasing the school supplies for all students and making the yearbooks free of charge to all students. Therefore, we passed a budget with a deficit of around $21k! If you can make a donation or raise funds for the PSO, that will help us cover more of our expenses this year, leave some reserves in the bank, and ensure we can continue expanding the ways we support our Westgate community!
• We also know that parents and families need more support this year. We're looking for volunteers to help develop a survey to go out to Westgate families so we can understand what families' priorities are and then plan for how we can meet those needs! Please contact Laurie if you're interested in helping.
• Our first Volunteer event is the Westgate Cleanup on September 26 from 10am-12pm. Cleanup details and sign up here.
• Foundation for Edmonds Schools Virtual Run/Walk 5k is coming up on 10/3-10/4. Register and join the Westgate team here.
• Enrichment activities and resources are being compiled by Selina, our Enrichment Chair. Some free STEM, movement, and learning resources have been posted on the website already. Please share any other good resources you've found!

These monthly meetings are a chance to get involved, share your perspective, ask questions, and make suggestions. The PSO depends on you -- the Westgate Community — to get involved. Please join us at our next meeting on October 21 from 6:30-7:30. 

​Full (draft) Meeting Minutes available here.