Last April, a monumental piece of legislation (HB 1230) was passed in the state of WA, requiring all K-12 school districts to share information about the secure storage of firearms and prescription drugs on their websites and digital communications to families. The National PTA has voiced their support in working with organizations like the Be SMART campaign  to raise awareness about safe firearm storage as outlined in this PTA Resolution. They have committed themselves to the spreading awareness that secure storage is an adult responsibility and is essential to preventing unauthorized, unsupervised access to firearms by children.  

The Be SMART campaign is a non-profit, public education program that was created to increase awareness on how secure gun storage—storing guns locked, unloaded, and separate from ammunition—can save the lives of children. This campaign educates parents, caretakers, gun owners and non-gun owners alike, on how they can ‘Be SMART’ by taking these simple steps:

Secure all guns in homes and vehicles

Model responsible behavior 

Ask about firearms in other homes your child visits 

Recognize the role of guns in suicide 

Tell your peers to Be SMART

Provide educational resources regarding safe gun storage to prevent child gun deaths and injuries on your school PTSA webpages. This can include links to resources like the Be SMART campaign, the King County Public Health Department’s Lock it Up Program, and/or statistics about gun violence in Washington.

Please email newcastleptsa.president@gmail.com if you would like to attend VIRTUALLY.

Principal Chat

Please join Dr. Wood for a chat about all things Newcastle Elementary on Friday, November 17th, at 9:30am. All are welcome! Coffee and treats will be served. Check in at the front office.

Food Drive - November 6 to November 17

Newcastle Elementary will be collecting food for the Issaquah Food and Clothing Bank to benefit individuals in our community who are food insecure. We are collecting the following items in regular sizes: 

 

Peanut butter, jam/jelly, cereal, oatmeal, granola, canned chicken/spam, pasta/pasta sauce, chili/canned soup, canned pasta, individual snacks for kid’s lunches, ramen, diapers all sizes, baby wipes, adult incontinence supplies, and shampoo.

 

Newcastle Lions: Help us help our community! A convenient time to donate would be during conferences. A thermometer will be posted in our hallway to show our progress! Let’s surpass our goal of 400 items! 

 

South-End Thanksgiving Drive

 

The schools participating will be Apollo, Briarwood, Maple Hills, Newcastle, Maywood, and Liberty.  For additional information, and to sign up to donate any items, please take a look at the sign up HERE. Please reach out to president@maywoodptsa.org with any questions.  Thank you!