B.F. Day Newsletters

Important Information For Families For Start of School

August 29, 2025,

Dear B.F. Day Students and Families,

I am so excited to officially welcome you to the 2025-2026 school year! I hope you have enjoyed the warm weather and long days of summer and that you are eager for the beginning of the new school year. It was so exciting to get to greet and meet so many of you at this week’s socials. Inside the building, we’ve been busy engaging in professional development and excitedly preparing for the arrival of your students. It’s so fun to watch classrooms transform for the start of school. Hooray Staff!

We also want to thank our PTSA partners for beautifying our playground with fresh paint, spreading fresh wood chips, and more. Thank you also for providing treats and coffee for staff throughout the week. Staff felt the appreciation and care and it made the transition even sweeter. Our parent volunteers were also a huge help for our social events. Thanks for all you do to support this amazing community! If you haven’t connected with our PTSA yet, you can check out the PTSA Website.

Class Lists & First Day of School

Class Lists: Class lists and teacher welcome letters were shared on 8/28/25. If you did not receive a letter and need to know who your student’s teacher is, please email Ms. Sonja at smhaas@seattleschools.org. She will be able to help you.

First Day of School

• The first day of school for 1st-5th grades is September 3. Supervision begins on the playground at 7:35 a.m. Students should be lined up with their teachers by 7:50 a.m. and are in classrooms doing morning routines by 7:55 a.m.
• The first day of school follows a full day schedule, not an early release. Pick-up will be at 2:25 p.m. Please communicate with your student’s teacher what your pick-up plan is so they get your child to the place you expect them to be: with the buses, parent pick-up, or another plan. We can relieve a lot of stress for your family with your help.
• Drop off and Pick-up: Thank you for using Fremont Ave to park for pick-up. Our buses uses Linden and the street is very narrow. Reducing traffic to just buses keeps us safe and traffic moving, allowing our buses to get started on their routes on time. Picking up your student? Thank you for meeting your child on the playground at their classroom spot.

Boys & Girls Club Transportation: If your student is going to the Wallingford Boys & Girls Club after school program, families will need to request bussing through Transportation. The best way to contact them is through emailing transdept@seattleschools.org . You can also try calling, however, this time of year there is often long hold time. The # is 206-252-0900. You will need your students ID#, which you can find on their Source account. Once they confirm your student’s place, please inform the office as we will have to make a temporary pass for them to ride until Transportation is able to input them into the system. You can email the Attendance line at bfday.attendance@seattleschools.org

Every day is a device free day at B.F. Day: If your child has a smart watch or phone, please remind them to have it in their backpack and turned off once they arrive at school. If you need to get information to your student during the school day, please call the office at 206-252-6010 and we’ll make sure they get the message.

Join the B.F. Day lunch and recess student support team! We have an opening for a paid lunchroom and playground team member. This position is 10 hours a week, between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Join a great team and help students have a safe and fun experience during their lunch and lunch recess period. Positive behavior management experience is plus. If you, or someone you know, is interested, please reach out to me at kmeckert@seattleschools.org and add playground supervisor to your subject line.

Staffing updates: We are so lucky this year to have an additional staff member supporting our multi-lingual learners. Zewdi Gabreamanuel joins B.F. Day three days a week this year as a bilingual assistant. You can read short notes from our new staff in my summer newsletters.  Other new to B.F. Day staff include: 

• Ms. Banta, Resource Teacher
• Ms. Segura, Art teacher
• Ms. Tobi, Counselor
• Teacher Jeff, Extended Resource
• Ms. A, Extended Resource paraprofessional

Transportation: If your child is riding a bus to/from school, you will be notified directly from district Transportation with bus information.

School lunch and breakfast are available for purchase. Breakfast is $2.25 and lunch is $3.80.  There are also opportunities to qualify for free or reduced lunch. Please visit the district Culinary Services for more information about school meals. 

Free and Reduced Priced Lunch applications can be completed now on the district Culinary Services page. Paper copies are also available in our office.

Classroom School Supplies Drive: At B.F. Day, instead of asking families to bring in supplies, we ask for monetary donations to buy the supplies at the school level. and at a discount, ensuring students have exactly what they need. We request payments for your student’s supplies for the 2025-2026 school year on a sliding scale of $40-$60 per student. Please be sure to identify your student when making the payment by entering their name in the available fields. It is okay to pay for multiple students on the same purchase to avoid multiple service fees. Please not all students on the same “name” option. Visit the direct SchoolPay link to donate.

School supplies donations are different from the PTSA Direct Drive, which happens later in the year and supports B.F. Day in a variety of ways that support teaching, learning and student enrichment activities.

Special Welcome From Our Specialists

The Librarian, Art, Music and PE teachers, who teach all of our students

• From Mr. D:  Hi there! Welcome to the B.F. Day Physical Education Program from Mr. D! I’m starting my 19th year in our mighty little gym, and I can’t wait to start moving again. So plan on soccer, scooters, parachutes, Shark Attack, Turtle Tag, and any other amazingly fun game you can think of. No experience needed! And don’t forget, there are big prizes for classes who remember to wear rubber sole shoes that cover your toes and keep you from slipping when you come to the gym!

• From Ms. Bethany: Welcome back, B.F. Day musicians!  My name is Ms. Bethany and I am starting my 5th year here at B.F. Day, my 9th year in SPS, and my 21st year as a music educator!  I am so happy to be back this year and I can’t wait to make music with you all again very soon. There are so many exciting things in store for us this year.  We will be singing, moving, listening, playing, and creating in community throughout the year, and I am really looking forward to hearing what YOU are interested in learning about over the next ten months.  I am working on arranging some fabulous music residencies and other special opportunities for all of us … stay tuned for more information! Please look for information about Elementary Instrumental Music later this month for our upper grade students.  

• From Ms. P: Welcome back to B.F. Day! I’m Jaimee Papineau, also known as “Mrs. P.,” and I’m excited to start my 14th year here as your Reading Support Teacher and Librarian. The library is a place for us to learn more about ourselves and others, and I can’t wait to share my love of learning and reading with everyone. To help your child have a successful year, please set up a consistent spot at home for their library books and remind them to return them each week. Reading at home is a great way to connect with your child and build strong literacy skills, so thank you for your support!

• From Ms. Segura: I will be your new art teacher! I am so excited to meet you all and share with you my love for visual arts! This will be my 1st year in SPS schools, but my 2nd year teaching. I also work as a Teaching Artist with the Seattle Art Museum for their school field trips, so it is possible we have met before if you had attended a school field trip to the Seattle Asian Art Museum or the Olympic Sculpture Park last year! I can’t wait to get creating with you all so soon.

B.F. Day Upcoming Events and Activities

• September 3: First day of school for 1st-5th grade; family meetings for K and Pre-school
• September 6: Kindergarten Playdate 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. 
• September 8: First day of school for Kindergarten and Pre-K, short optional presentation for K families. in the library from 8:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.
• September 14: PTSA’s B.F. Day Family Picnic 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at the upper uppers. School merchandise will available to purchase!
• September 17: Chat with the Principal 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. in the library

Stay up to date with news and events by visiting our school website.

We are looking forward to a fantastic school year! ~ Warmly, Kristen Eckert; Interim Principal

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