Happy April, Thunderbirds! Spring is a busy time here at Trailwood, and we can't wait for all of the fun just around the corner! Our committee chairs are hard at work planning some amazing activities for the final weeks of school, so be on the look-out for more information on these events coming soon. And, please remember that we need volunteers to make many of these activities successful! Consider donating your time and talents to make these last two months of the school year amazing for our kiddos!

April is also special here at Trailwood because we have the chance to celebrate many of our staff members on their respective appreciation days! You'll find the specific dates below. While PTA will be recognizing these special days with treats for staff, please feel free to also share your appreciation with a thank you card or email to those staff members who make such a difference at our school!

As always, please reach out with any questions you might have! I can't wait to see you at one of our fun events coming up soon!

Cara Peterson

caraelizabeth1@yahoo.com

Librarian’s Day: April 4, 2023

Paraprofessional and Aides Appreciation Day: April 5, 2023

Flight Time: April 6, 2023 at 3:15 pm

No School: April 7, 2023

No School: April 10, 2023

Specialists Day: April 11, 2023

PTA Meeting: April 11, 2023 at 8:15 am

Kindergarten and 1^st Grade Musical: April 11, 2023 at 2:15 pm and 6:00 pm

Parent/Guardian Chalk the Walk: April 12, 2023 from 6:15 - 7:30 pm

Student Celebration Morning: April 13th, 2023 at drop-off

Flight Time: April 13, 2023 at 3:15 pm

Kindergarten Round-Up: April 13, 2023 at 6:00 pm

3^rd Grade Market Day: April 14, 2023

Food Service Appreciation Day: April 14, 2023

Orchestra Festival at SMS: April 18, 2023

Papa John’s Dining Partner Night: April 18, 2023

Flight Time: April 20, 2023

Principal’s Day: April 21, 2023

JCPRD 2023-2024 K-6 Enrollment: April 24, 2023

Band Festival at SMS: April 25, 2023

Administrative Professionals Day (aka Shereen Day): April 26, 2023

Flight Time: April 27, 2023

Spring Choir Concert: April 27, 2023

3^rd Grade Bike Safety Day: April 28, 2023

As you know, it’s spring assessment season. So, we have some fun surprises planned for morning drop-off on Thursday (4/13) to show our students that we believe in them and are so proud of their hard work!

Want to lend a hand in our efforts? Meet outside of Door 16 on Wednesday evening (4/12) between 6:15 - 7:30 pm and help us “chalk the walk” with some encouraging words and pictures for our students to see when they arrive to school on Thursday morning!

Feel free to contact Cara Peterson with any questions you might have! We are looking forward to celebrating our awesome kiddos on Thursday morning!

We have so many amazing events and activities that happen throughout the school year here at Trailwood! But, we need volunteers to keep them going! Please take a look at the committees below and consider chairing one of them! Many of them have a low time commitment and can be completed with a friend. And, this year's committee chairs will fill you in on all the details you'll need to be successful! Easy peasy!

Please reach out to Jamie Reasons or Cara Peterson if you would like more information on any of these activities. And, thank you for helping us keep these fun Trailwood traditions going!

Last week, the legislature wrapped up the regular session at 4:30 am on Friday morning. They will have a two week break and resume for the veto session on April 26th. Historically this “veto session” is not used for passing new legislation; however, the K-12 education budget still remains undecided.

One last push: Find your legislators at ksleglookup.org and contact them before April 26th! Watch our TW PTA Facebook page after April 26th for more updates! 

ACTION ALERT

K-12 Education Funding: Email your Rep and Senator NOW to ask them to approve a K-12 education budget that 1) complies with the KS constitution to provide the full base aid or “Gannon” funding for schools, 2) includes FULLY funding special education,* and 3) is a “clean” bill that doesn’t bundle policies like vouchers** with the budget

The K-12 education budget was placed into House Sub. for SB 113. which REDUCED by $215 million funding for the 2024-25 school year. It also expanded a current voucher program that gives a tax break for donations to scholarships used to send students to private schools. The legislature adjourned without taking action on this bill, but they will have to pass a budget when they return. 

BILLS THAT PASSED AND ARE HEADING TO GOVERNOR 

ACTION ALERT

Flat Tax:House Sub. for SB 169, a tax package that includes a 5.15% flat tax rate, passed. House Sub for SB 169 adds more benefit for the top 20% of income earners, while components that benefit low- and middle-income Kansans were watered down compared with the previous version. Stay tuned as we analyze how this new tax package will impact revenue and/or school funding.

Parent Bill of Rights: HB 2236 would require school districts to adopt policies that guarantee that parents can remove their child from a lesson or class based upon objections to the course material. This passed late last week as well, and it is uncertain if the Governor will veto this weaker version of a similar bill that she vetoed last session.  Action item: Contact the Governor and/or your legislators with your thoughts *as parents* about this bill. There was very little input from parents on this issue, so they should hear from us.

Gun Safety Education in Schools: HB 2304 requires schools use the NRA’s Eddie Eagle Program. Moms Demand Action opposes this bill because research shows the NRA’s program isn’t effective (including research compiled by American Academy of Pediatrics). Action item: Contact the Governor and/or your legislators if you have opinions on this bill.

BILLS PASSED

Sports Participation for Female Transgender Athletes: HB 2238 prohibits transgender girls from competing on female sports teams from kindergarten through college. The governor vetoed the bill, but both chambers voted to override the veto last week, so the bill is now law.  There is talk about  federal policy around this issue, which would preempt state law if enacted.

*A Note About Special Education Funding: In several different voucher bills over this last month, legislators included one year of special education funding; sometimes using temporary federal COVID funds or existing K-12 funds, instead of a long-term fix that provides additional funding to meet the full state obligation for special education. That’s why it’s important to advocate for full funding of special ed. in a “clean” bill that doesn’t tie it to policy. 

**A Note About Vouchers: See above about SB 113. There were several other failed attempts to pass various voucher bills over this last month, all the way up to a midnight debate on SB83 on Thursday/Friday last week. The bills all failed thanks to tremendous advocacy efforts across the state!   While these bills are officially now dead, there could still be attempts to add voucher provisions to the K-12 Education budget. Let your legislators know you support a “clean” budget bill (see action item above) and oppose including vouchers with the budget. This is a particularly concerning way to create a law because when added to a budget bill at the end of the session, the public does not have a chance to provide testimony/input and legislators don’t have a time to understand the full fiscal impact nor debate the provisions/add amendments like they would with a stand-alone bill that is vetted through the regular process.

Calling all dancers, singers, gymnasts, martial arts, comedians, actors, and more! Whatever your talent, we want to see it! Please join us for our annual Trailwood Talent Show on May 22! We will have two acts - a morning act starting at 9am, and an afternoon act starting at 1pm. There are two ways to sign up for the Talent Show - online via this link or by filling out a paper form available in the office. Please reference the attached flyer and submissions guidelines below. You can contact Faith Brown with any questions. 

Click here to see the flyer!

Guidelines:
* All acts must be family friendly
* No profanity, offensive or suggestive phrases
* Performances are limited to 2 minutes or less (group acts can be a little longer)
* Participants can be in 1 solo and/or 1 group act
* If accompanying music is part of the act you will need to submit either a link to the song in Apple Music or iTunes, or email an MP3 to Dave Brown. Include the specific start and stop times for the 2-3 minutes of the song used for the act.

Thank you to all the room parents this year for taking care of class parties, snacks, yearbook pages, sign ups, and all the other things you do! We have a change in our Kona Ice truck date. The new date is Tuesday, May 16th, from 11:00 am - 2:30 pm. A sign-up genius link will be sent to teachers to get their chosen time to visit the truck. Remember, this replaces the in-classroom end of year parties. Thank you for all you do!

Four Trailwood students received state awards for their Reflections submissions, and they will be honored at the Kansas state awards celebration next month! See the flyer below with details.  

Lily King

Brynn Weiss

Brecklyn Harrison

Maxwell Deane

We have officially approved some spring mini-grants! We still have additional funds in the budget and will put that towards a wish list of items for the Maker Space (awaiting the dream list from Mrs. Williamson). 

Physical Therapy - Twister Game 

(for moving and learning in physical therapy)

1st Grade - SumDog 

(SumDog is an app for 1st graders to learn math skills with 6th grade buddies)

Maker Space - Maker Space Cart and 10-Port Charger 

(for organization and security of devices)

Music Room - Blue Rocker Speaker With Additional Microphones

(a portable PA system)

One of our favorite events of the year, the Trailwood carnival, is coming! We hope you'll join us on May 5th from 5:00 - 8:00 pm for an evening of games, rides, face painting, yummy treats and more! Tickets will go on sale soon, so be on the look-out!

But, this event cannot happen without volunteers (and lots of them)! Please take a look at the SignUp Genius here and find a 30 minute time slot that works for you! 

If you have any questions, please contact Catie Ebert or Cara Peterson.

Tell us about your family!

Hello Trailwood! We are the Brown’s - Dave, Faith, Gwyneth, Charlotte, Naomi and Arabella (Bella). Our four daughters ages 9 through 17  have all gone to Trailwood. Gwyneth is a Junior at SM South and loves choir, track and cross country. Charlotte is in 8th grade at Indian Woods and enjoys track and music. Naomi is a current 6th grader and loves tennis and dance. Arabella is in 2nd grade and loves dance and playing with her sisters and cousins. Dave runs his business, Browne Amplification, building and designing guitar, amplifiers and pedals. Faith works at ScriptPro as a Software Release Manager. 

What makes your family unique?

Music is a big part of our family. Dave is a guitar player and toured as a guitar tech for several years before starting his business in the music industry. Faith grew up playing the violin and cello in the KC Youth Symphony. We enjoy incorporating music into daily life and seeing our daughters find their own love of music. A nine year age range between our oldest and youngest creates an interesting dynamic. We look for opportunities that all four girls will enjoy and often divide and conquer. We love that our older girls still love joining their younger siblings for traditions like the Carnival and T-bird Trot.   

Where is your family originally from? What is your heritage?

Dave grew up in Tucson, AZ and Faith grew up in KC, MO. Dave’s heritage is Norwegian and Faith’s is British.   

How did you end up in the KC area? What brought you to Trailwood?

This year is our 12th year at Trailwood. When our oldest was 5, we toured several local elementary schools and fell in love with Trailwood. We received a warm welcome from Mrs. North and saw parents decorating bulletin boards in the halls and reading to students. We knew then this was the right school for our family. 

What are your favorite places to visit?

We love visiting our friends in the Pacific Northwest, Anna Maria Island and Table Rock Lake.   

What do you like to do as a family?

Locally, we have a family tree in a local park we love to visit on nice days. We love spending time on the lake and tubing. Skyjo is a card game our whole family enjoys, and currently Bella is the reigning champ in the Brown household. 

Do you have any restaurant recommendations?

Date night - Tailleur on Main. Family meal - BRGR 

What are your favorite local events?

Celebration at the Station (Memorial Day at Union Station), Armour Hill garage sale is a family favorite, Plaza lights tour 

Thank you to everyone who helped provide our wonderful Trailwood staff with a yummy salad lunch! We love showing our teachers and staff how much we appreciate them!

Third grade will participate in Bike Safety Day on Friday, April 28th from 2:00 - 3:00 pm. We will have two OP police officers coming in to speak to our 3rd graders, and then we’ll head outside for some fun bike related activities. Please send your 3rd grader to school with their bike and helmet if they have one! 

Our many Trailwood events could not happen without the support of our wonderful committee chairs and their teams of volunteers! Please thank these amazing committee chairs for sharing their time and talents with us during the month of March!

Movie Night: Victoria Savich

Spring Flight Time: Amber Hipp

Spring Flower Sale: Kellie Harvey

SMS Athletic Liaison: Liz Monahan

Staff Appreciation: Holly Davidson and Jen Pontier

Mini Grants: Micah Botsford

Dining Partners: Lindsay Weiss

It's not too late to purchase a yearbook for the 2022-2023 school year! Yearbooks are a fantastic way for kids to reminisce on all the fun they had at Trailwood Elementary!

Yearbooks are $12 each and will be delivered by the end of the school year. Simply log into the directory, and you can purchase your child's yearbook, as well as pay for their yearly activity fee.

If you have any questions, please contact Lori Tritsch.

Looking for some fun summer camps for your students? Shawnee Mission South Raiders 2023 Summer Camp schedules can be found at the link below.

Summer Camps

We'd like to thank these awesome volunteers who gave of their time during the month of March as Wingmen!

Jack Monahan

There is still time to be a wingman before the end of the year! Sign up to volunteer in your child's classroom here.

The spring book fair will be Wednesday, May 10th - Friday, May 12th. Students will have the opportunity to shop this Buy One Get One Free sale during their library times!

This fall, we hosted our 1st annual Thunderbird Bowl-O-Rama as a fundraiser for the spring book fair. We are pleased to announce that, thanks to the generosity of those who participated in and sponsored that event, each child will receive $10.00 to spend at the book fair! Thank you, Trailwood community, for your continued support of our students!

5101 W 95th St. 

Overland Park, KS 66207