View Ridge Elementary PTA

📚 Support View Ridge Elementary by shopping at Third Place Books (Ravenna) on Friday, February 13!...
All day long, 20% of your pre-tax purchase will be donated back to our school when you shop in-store, online, or by phone.
For online orders, be sure to check the box indicating your school is hosting a book fair and enter “View Ridge Elementary” at checkout.
The bookstore is open from 9am to 9pm.
A great excuse to pick up your next read and give back at the same time.

🔦 Staff Spotlight: Meet the Third Grade Team Series 🔦...
🦦 Ms. Janna Redman: My hope is to help students build a love for learning and community! I always loved school growing up, and I hope to help others feel that joy.
📖 Favorite children’s book: I love Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. I still remember checking that book out at the library over and over again :) I also used to read all the Nancy Drew books. Books are the best.

🩴Fun fact: I love flip flops, cozy clothes, and being outside as much as possible. I also have the best dog, Walter the Springer Spaniel. I have LOVED being both a teacher and parent at View Ridge and have taught in Seattle and Issaquah for 14 years. My most favorite thing in the world is spending time with my family.

📚 Yearbook Cover Art Contest Winners! 📚...
We received so many wonderful entries for this year’s Yearbook Cover Art Contest—thank you to all who participated! Congratulations to Bella, whose artwork will be featured on the cover of our 2025–2026 yearbook.
Our back cover will feature the runner-up artwork by Leonie — congratulations to both artists!
Order your yearbook:
Visit www.buytheyearbook.com
Search for “View Ridge Elementary” or use school code 731609
Photo submissions still needed!
We’re still collecting photos for the yearbook and would love your help. If you’ve captured great moments from field trips, after-school activities, classroom events, or school celebrations, please share them!

📚View Ridge Elementary has nine teams competing in the Global Reading Challenge, a citywide reading program for 4th and 5th graders that combines teamwork, reading, and book trivia fun. Students form teams, read a curated list of selected books, and then compete by answering questions about those books in trivia-style battles. It’s designed to encourage reading for pleasure, build comprehension skills, and make reading a team adventure.
Our teams will showcase their reading knowledge at the school-wide Battle of the Books on Monday, February 2 at 1:30 PM in the cafeteria. Families are welcome — please mark your calendars and come cheer on our readers!
Volunteers needed: We need parent help with setup, managing the competition, cleanup, and treat donations.
If you’re available 12:30–3:30 PM, please DM and I'll send you the information!
Winning teams from our school will go on to regional and district-level competitions — dates and times coming soon.

🔦 Staff Spotlight: Meet the Third Grade Team Series 🔦...
🦦 Ms. Julie Miller: Each year my students learn a class affirmation. The first two lines are: “I can be anything I want to be. I am an important person in this world.” My hope is that my students carry those words through their school year, but also beyond the classroom walls and beyond their View Ridge years. You can bet I will always be cheering for them!
📖 Favorite children’s book: I always start the school year by reading Gooseberry Park by Cynthia Rylant. It’s a wonderful animal friendship story, and we adore the characters. I also love the picture book, The Girl Who Ran. It tells the story of Bobbi Gibb, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon in 1966.
🏃🏼‍♀️Fun facts: I have taught at View Ridge for 23 years, and both my kids attended View Ridge (now 8th and 12th grade). I’m a runner, and my longtime running partners are former View Ridge moms. We’re currently training for the Paris Half Marathon this March!

🎟️🌟 Auction Tickets On Sale Now 🌟🎟️
Buy your tickets now for our "Glow Back to the 90s" Annual Auction on March 14 at the UW Center for Urban Horticulture from 5-10PM.
🔗 https://event.auctria.com/75f16821-0f0b-4443-aed1-79c2fef986d7/
Early Bird SPECIAL - The first 40 tickets sold save $25!
🎸🎙️Did we mention there will be a live 90s cover band?!
Dust off your neon, charge up your glow sticks, and get ready to party like it's 1999 and raise money for VRE!

🦦👕Our online Otter Shop is open for a limited time — a great chance to grab school gear for spring 👕🦦
What’s in the shop?
T-shirts, sweatshirts, and hats for kids and grown-ups, plus a few extra Otter favorites.
Shop dates: January 19–30
Shop link in the recent Otter Know or DM for link!
This is the last online shop of the year, with the widest selection and personalization options. A small selection of items will be available at PTA events later on. The gear will be available for pickup at school or front porch delivery about 6 weeks after the shop closes.
Thanks for showing your Otter pride and supporting our school 💙

🔦 Staff Spotlight: Meet our Academic Interventionist 🔦...
🦦 Kristi McQuillan: This is my second year at View Ridge, and I love being an Otter. I’m an Academic Interventionist working with small groups of Kindergarten, 3rd-grade, and 4th-grade students in math and literacy. My job is to meet kids at all points along their learning journeys—those who need extra processing time, repetition, and practice, as well as those ready for more challenge and rigor. The small-group setting lets me really understand each child’s strengths and sticking points, and that deep connection is what fuels me. Nothing compares to the moment a tough concept finally clicks and a student lights up with pride and new confidence as a growing mathematician or “literary agent.”
📖 Favorite children’s book: I was a mystery kid. Nancy Drew led me to Agatha Christie and then Sherlock Holmes. I even roped my family into endless rounds of the board game 221B Baker Street so I could play detective.
🖊️ I loathe pencils. I do everything in pen—even crosswords and math puzzles. Pen is bold and confident, just like my approach to life.

🍿 Movie Night #1 Was a Success! 🍿...
Grades K and 1st, family, and friends gathered last night for a free community event and had a blast! They enjoyed popcorn and brought their cozy blankets and pillows to enjoy Ratatouille. Thank you to Sarah and Lindsay for volunteering, planning, and making this night a success!
Join us at our next movie night!
💯 2nd-3rd - Yes Day - Thursday Jan 22nd
🐉 4th-5th - How to Train Your Dragon - Thursday Jan 29th

📢 Your Voice Matters 📢
The 2026 Washington State legislative session began Monday, January 12, and education funding will once again be on the table. This is a critical budget year, with a shared goal of preserving the K-12 education funding that was hard-fought last session.
Join us in Olympia on Monday, January 19 for WSPTA Focus Day. Families and children are welcome to attend, meet directly with elected officials, explore the Capitol campus, and see advocacy in action alongside PTA families from across Washington State. Interested in attending, need carpool support, or want to join the meeting with District 46 legislators? Contact Kristine Highlander at [email protected].
If you weren’t able to attend recent legislative forums, recordings are available and links were sent in the recent Otter Know Newsletter:

December 15 – District 46 Pre-Legislative Education Forum
January 6 – District 43 Education Forum with OSPI Superintendent Reykdal
❗Two-minute advocacy opportunity:
Advocacy doesn’t require travel. It takes 1–2 minutes to send the Washington State PTA form letter urging lawmakers to protect K-12 funding during the 2026 legislative session: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/protect-k-12-funding-in-the-2026-legislative-session/

📚✨ View Ridge Elementary School Tours ✨📚

Join us to learn more about our warm, neighborhood school—strong academics, social-emotional learning, and a community where every child is known.

👋 Meet our principal and kindergarten teachers
📅 Jan 8 & Jan 12
🕓 4:00 PM
📍 School library, 7047 50th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98115

All families welcome!

❄️ Wishing you and your loved ones the coziest and most magical season ❄️..
School will be back on Monday January 5th, 2026! We are excited for all the continued learning, community love, and otter growth in 2026. Be safe in your travels, stay healthy, eat some delicious food, and make 💙 memories!