Volume 19 Issue 32
Thursday, May 15, 2025

Principal
Katie May
School Hours:
7:55 a.m. - 2:25 p.m.
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Early Release Wednesdays
7:55 a.m. - 1:10 p.m.
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Attendance
If your child is absent from school, please contact the main office at
(206) 252-2800, or
email thurgoodmarshall.attendance@seattleschools.org,
and notify us of the absence and the reason for the absence, so we can keep accurate attendance data.
All visitors to school MUST check in at the office upon entering campus. We ask that parents not enter the building during arrival or dismissal unless they are entering for a meeting, to help us avoid congestion in the hallways for our students.
REMINDER
Contact information for Thurgood Marshall’s YMCA Program:
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Channing Campbell, YMCA Program Director, 206-718-3484, Ccampbell@seattleymca.org
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Jimmy Welfare, YMCA Site Director for Thurgood Marshall Elementary, 206-841-1022, jimmywelfare@seattleymca.org
What are ACEs?

ACEs are adverse childhood experiences. These are things that happen to us as children, which can impact us both as children and in our future as adults. These stressful experiences can influence both our mental and physical health.
John Legend, working with California Surgeon General Dr. Burke Harris, posted a video about ACEs on X (formerly Twitter). You can view it here: https://twitter.com/johnlegend/status/1392911272652378113. The website https://numberstory.org/ is a great place to learn more about ACEs and also find resources to help.
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Two-thirds of us (and our children) have experienced at least one ACE. There are additional experiences that can also impact us such as discrimination, racism, poverty, and separation from a caregiver due to immigration or foster care, for example. This does not need to determine our quality of life or our outcomes. Learning more about the toxic stress these experiences can cause and getting help for this stress can change the course of events, whether you are an adult or a child who had these experiences. If you are a parent, getting support for yourself will benefit your children.
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At Thurgood Marshall, we continue to see the impacts of various types of ACEs on our students. This can cause students to withdraw, to struggle with self-regulation resulting in behavioral outbursts, and to become easily overwhelmed by life’s challenges. It can also cause somatic issues such as headaches and stomachaches. Even very young children can be impacted by stress.
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At the Blue-Ribbon Schools Conference in Washington DC last week, we heard from Dr. Christopher Willard, a clinical psychologist and educational consultant with a specialty in mindfulness. He talked about ACEs, but he also shared about PCEs—Positive Childhood Experiences. Researchers have found no matter how much adversity adults experienced in their childhood, we are less likely to suffer the consequences of ACEs if we have also had many positive childhood experiences. To raise healthy children, who will later become healthy adults, it is really important for our children to have these positive experiences. So, what are the things that support children in this way?
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Feeling able to talk to your family about feelings;
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Feeling your family stands by you during difficult times;
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Enjoying participating in community traditions;
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Feeling a sense of belonging in high school;
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Feeling supported by friends;
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Having at least two non-parent adults who took genuine interest in you; and
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Feeling safe and protected by an adult in your home.
The great news about this is that in spite of difficulties your children may have experienced, there are ways you can help them to overcome these challenges and support them to become healthy adults. You can find resources for support at https://numberstory.org/heal-myself/. You can also reach out to Ms. Matsui, our school counselor, for local resources. Additionally, King County’s Crisis Connections is available 24 hours to help connect you to many kinds of resources. You can call 866-427-4747 or visit https://www.crisisconnections.org/get-help/ to learn more.

Calendar
​​Friday, May 16
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Assembly
8:00 am
Friday, May 23
Move-a-thon
Friday, May 23
Spring Dance
6:30–8:00 pm
Monday, May 26
Memorial Day
No School
Thursday, May 29
Instrumental Music Concert
6:30 pm
Friday, May 30
Jewish American Heritage Month Assembly
8:00 am
Monday, June 2
Volunteer Tea
2:45 pm
Friday, June 6
Last Day of Spring Enrichment Session
Friday, June 6
Juneteenth Backyard Reading Party
5–7pm
TM Playground
Thursday, June 12
Fifth Grade Promotion
5:30–7:00 pm
Friday, June 13
Field Day
Monday, June 16
FTME Board Meeting
6:30–8:00 pm
Wednesday, June 18
Last Day of School
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Congratulations TM Ultimate Frisbee Team!

Thurgood Marshall's Ultimate Frisbee team defeated Cascadia Dragons on Saturday to finish their season as division champions. Go Bullpups!










Move-a-thon Friday May 23rd

Let’s get ready to MOVE! Each year our students run, skip, roll, walk, or dance in laps around the playground to fundraise for Self-Help for school field trips and the annual 5th grade camp adventure!​This is the ONLY time our school will ask you to help us with fund-raising!
Donate:
Donate funds through June 13th by using the link below! Share the link far and wide! Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends!​
https://tinyurl.com/4nvbk73m​
Volunteer:
Volunteer to cheer on students and help coordinate the effort!

















































Music at Thurgood Marshall

Families of Thurgood Marshall Music Students:
Please join us for a concert to celebrate the musical learning achievements here at Thurgood Marshall Elementary. The concert will be Thursday, May 29th at 6:30 PM in the Thurgood Marshall Elementary Cafeteria.
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Students should arrive at 6:15 to get tuned and seated. Students should wear clean school clothes, and they can dress up if they choose to. Students should bring their instrument and their method book.
The concert will last until approximately 7:15 PM.
I look forward to seeing you there!
Sincerely,
Dan Yarr, Elementary instrumental Music specialist.


Join us for the Juneteenth Backyard Reading Party

We are kicking off your family’s summer reading with our Juneteenth Backyard Reading Party! Please join us on June 6th from 5-7 PM on the TM Playground. We will have a potluck, activity stations, and a book exchange! Feel free to bring a used book that your child has outgrown so they can exchange for something new to read. Adults – you are included! You can also bring a book you’d like to exchange and we will have a table for adult books in a separate area. Families may also want to bring lawn chairs, blankets, and outdoor play equipment.




Get Grocery Help This Summer With SUN Bucks!

SUN Bucks, also known as Summer EBT, is a federal program that supports families who lose access to free school meals over the summer months. Families will receive an allotment of $120 for each eligible child to help cover the cost of groceries when school is out of session. Similar to SNAP (Basic Food), SUN Bucks can be used to buy food at grocery stores, farmers markets, and other locations.
SUN Bucks works in tandem with the Free Summer Meals program to support families when school meals are unavailable. Click this link for more information: https://www.hungerfreewa.org/summerebt
Real Dogs Read

I have registered our school for Real Dawgs Read. This is a summer reading program that all of our students are eligible to participate in. As they read books, they become eligible to earn UW Husky gear. We will be receiving journals for students to log their reading. They can also log it online here: https://www.washington.edu/realdawgsread/home/steps/

Non-English Language Books Available!

Did you know that our public library collection includes books and materials is a wide range of non-English languages? Check out this great resource to learn more!
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Thurgood Marshall Family Directory

Interested in reaching out to other Thurgood Marshall families? The Thurgood Marshall Family Directory is now available! Thank you to Zack Stednick for all his hard work on this project.

Please pay for your student’s school supplies, if you can!

Every year, Friends of Thurgood Marshall (FTME) bulk-purchases school supplies for every student based on lists provided by our teachers so every child has all the supplies they will need for the year (except backpacks and water bottles) starting on the first day of school.
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For 2024-2025, the cost of school supplies is $55 per student.
This includes the actual per-student cost of supplies plus some padding (based on program costs from prior years) to account for the fact that not every family in the school can contribute to the cost of this program. If you can contribute something but $55 is too steep, please pay what you can. If you are able to contribute more than $55 per student, FTME will gratefully accept your donation and invest it back into this and other programs to benefit the school!
How to pay for school supplies:
Option A) Pay online by PayPal, credit card, or debit card. Scan this QR code or go to https://tinyurl.com/FTME-supplies. Make a one-time payment of $55 per student, or whatever you can afford. Select “School supplies” from the “Use this donation for” dropdown menu. You can enter your student’s name in the note field.
Option B) Pay by check. Make a check out to “FTME” for $55 per student, or whatever you can afford. Please write “school supplies” and your student’s name in the memo field. You can drop this check off in the Main Office at school.
Thank you!
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Join the FTME Board!

Have you ever wondered how you can get more involved at Thurgood Marshall? Please consider joining our FTME Board!
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We are currently recruiting for a Co-Chair or a Vice Chair, two Fundraising Co-Chairs, and members at large.
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If you are interested in joining us please reach out to us at board@tmlink.org.
School Lunch Menu

Here is the link to current school menus (Breakfast and Lunch): https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/culinary-services/menus/

