School Year Updates To Families | July 30, 2025

Greetings Families,

In this week’s update:

• Introductions to our new Counselor, Art teacher, and Special Education Resource teacher
• 5th grade teaching team update
• Extended Resource teaching team update
• Library update from Ms. P
• Link to the family feedback survey
• Upcoming dates and events

I’m excited to introduce our newest B.F. Day staff to you! Ms. Banta was hired in the spring, and this summer we’ve been able to hire Ms. Tobi as our counselor, and Ms. Segura as our part-time art teacher.

• We are welcoming Ms. Banta as our new full time resource teacher! Ms. Banta, originally from California’s Bay Area, has worked in elementary education for the past seven years. She spent two years as an instructional assistant in a resource room, followed by five years as a resource teacher. In her free time, she enjoys knitting, reading, and spending time in nature. Ms. Banta is excited to join the BF Day community and looks forward to the year ahead.
• Welcome also to Ms. Tobi Nussbaum, our new school counselor! Ms. Tobi joins us with over 10 years of experience in PK-5 education as both a child therapist and school counselor.  She is deeply passionate about creating learning spaces where every child feels safe, seen, and celebrated. A short note from Ms. Nussbaum, “I take a strengths-based, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive approach to my work. I truly believe that when children feel connected and understood, they’re ready to learn, grow, and thrive. In my role as school counselor, I lean into my training in Positive Discipline, child development, neuro-affirming and inclusion practices, and strong family-school partnerships. Outside of the school day, I love to garden, make art and write poetry, take long walks in the woods, and spend time with my very sweet cat, Izzy. I can’t wait to meet the students, families, and staff at B.F. Day Elementary!”
• A big welcome for Ms. Tahlia Segura, our new art teacher! Before she earned her Master’s in Museology at the University of Washington, Ms. Segura taught at an elementary school in Arizona. She has been teaching students ages kindergarten through 8th grade at the Seattle Art Museum while completing her newest degree. A short note from Ms. Segura: “My name is Ms. Tahlía Segura and I use she/her pronouns. I grew up in Tucson, Arizona and moved to Seattle, WA for graduate school in 2022. I’m so excited to join B.F. Day Elementary as the new Visual Arts Specialist! I love to draw and paint, and learn about art from different time periods and places around the world. Some of my favorite art comes from children’s book illustrators, like Quentin Blake who drew the illustrations for Matilda by Roald Dahl. I’m looking forward to meeting you all soon!” 

5th Grade Team Update:

As you know, in the last days of school, B.F. Day was informed that we had to make reductions in staff due to changes in enrollment. Based on that reduction, we’ve had to make some adjustments to our teaching assignments. Our student enrollment projections indicate that a teacher from our primary grades will need to move to the 5th grade position. Based on those numbers, and in an effort to avoid split-grade classrooms, and through thoughtful conversation with our building leadership team, we will be moving a 1st grade teacher to 5th grade.  

I’m excited to announce that Ms. Brooke Dawson will be partnering with Ms. Hogue on the 5th grade team this year. Ms. Dawson is a dedicated and experienced educator who knows our students and families, and brings a strong commitment to student growth and a passion for teaching. She has experience serving students in intermediate grades as well as primary. I will be working closely with our 5th grade team to support and ensure a smooth transition and to continue the strong tradition of academic excellence in fifth grade—especially in math, where we know many of our students thrive and seek challenge. I am confident that Ms. Dawson will bring great energy, care, and skill to her new role, and we look forward to a fantastic year ahead.

Update to Special education staffing: Ms. McMillan has accepted a position at Nova high school, as much as she will be missed here, we wish her all the best in this new adventure! That said, we are hiring for our next Extended Resource teacher. I’ll keep you posted on this position as we make our way through the hiring process.

Attention B.F. Day Readers! Our next summer library session will take place Monday, August 11 from 3-5 p.m. in the B.F. Day Library.  Story-time will be at 4:00 p.m. Please enter up the back stairs through the south parking lot.

How are you doing with your Summer Reading Challenge?!  There’s still lots of time to read!  If you lost your challenge charts, copies and reading support information can be found on the Library webpage.

Family Survey: It’s been lovely to read about your families and things you love and hope for our school community. If you haven’t had the opportunity to complete the survey, please complete online.

Upcoming Kindergarten Events: Have you enrolled your incoming Kindergarten student in our Kick-off to Kindergarten (previously known as Jump Start? If not, please email Ms. Haas at smhaas@seattleschools.org and let her know the name(s) of your student(s) and that you plan to attend.  We also have a few kindergarten play dates scheduled this summer. Join us on the B.F. Day playground August 16 and September 6 from 10:00-11:30.

Important Dates:

• August 11, Summer Reading with Ms. P in the library from 3 – 5 p.m.
• August 16, Kindergarten Playdate 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. on the school playground
• August 20, 21, and 22: Kick off to Kindergarten from 9 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
• August 24: PTSA Beautify B.F. Day from 9 – 11 a.m.
• August 27, Pre-School Popsicle Social from 4 – 5 p.m.
• August 28: K-5 Ice Cream Social from 4 – 5 p.m. and Class Lists Posted
• September 3: First day of school for 1st – 5th grade; family meetings for Kindergarten
• September 6, Kindergarten Playdate 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. on the school playground
• September 8: First day of school for Kindergarten and Pre-K

I’ll be out of the office on Friday for a vacation day. I’ll be at Chief Sealth High School all week next week for the SPS School Leadership Institute.

Warmly,
Kristen Eckert
Interim Principal

Greetings B.F. Day Families,

Thank you for the kind and welcoming emails! It’s always a lot to get up and running in a new school, and I appreciate the care and patience from so many. This message includes some timely information that I’d like you to have including the PTSA meeting link for tomorrow evening, and information about interview training for staff and family members interested in participating in hiring teams.

PTSA President has invited you to join a video meeting on Google Meet.

First, I want to share the link to the PTSA meeting tomorrow. I’m looking forward to seeing you and your students! View link on the PTSA Website: July 10 at 7:30 p.m.

Training Opportunities For Our Community

Secondly, I have been working with our central office partners to get some interview training opportunities for our community. One option is tomorrow, July 10. A second training will be available next Thursday, July 17. Interested staff and family members only need to attend one training. The trainings are about 45 minutes and will be on Microsoft Teams. 

• Option 1: July 10, at 10:30 a.m. – 11:15 ish. This training wasn’t originally open to staff and families, but they’ve made an exception for our community, which is the reason for the short notice. 

• Option 2: July 17, at 4:00 p.m. -4:45 ish (This is the latest available time – I asked)

I will be inviting up to two parents to sit on each of the interview teams for our counselor and art positions. Our interview teams should represent the diversity of our school community as best we can with trained participants from staff and families. 

If you are interested and available to attend one of the training options, please email me directly at kmeckert@seattleschools.org, and include:

• Which training you would like to attend, 
• The best email for the training link
• A little information on which populations you represent as a family member (i.e.: BIPOC, LGBTQI, SpEd, HC, Mulit-lingual, etc…). 
• The grades to which your student(s) are rising 
• Your availability to sit on upcoming interview teams. I’m hoping to schedule interviews for at least on of our open positions next Friday, July 18th, but may also be looking at days the last week of July.  

Warmly, 
Kristen Eckert She/her
Interim Principal, B.F. Day 
Cell: 206-549-6120

Dear B.F. Day Families and Staff, 

I want to take a moment to say hello and share how excited I am to be joining B.F. Day as your interim principal. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to visit B.F. Day as part of a leadership learning walk with Dr. Jerid Morisco. I was struck by the warmth and positivity of the school, and by the great teaching and learning happening in classrooms.  

Since then, I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with Dr. Zisko and Seattle Public Schools Regional Executive Director of Schools Tim Moynihan, both of whom speak very highly of this community and have offered their support through this transition. I know there’s a lot for me to learn, and I’m eager to get started so we can navigate the summer strategically and set ourselves up for a strong start to the 2025–26 school year. I come to you as an experienced elementary school leader, having served as an assistant principal for the past nine years—most recently at Hazel Wolf K-8 and Catharine Blaine K-8. I’ve also worked at Graham Hill, View Ridge, and Wedgwood elementaries.  

Each of these schools has faced significant challenges, including staffing reductions. I have experience navigating and finding workable solutions to the challenges these reductions present—both the technical aspects and the emotional toll they can take on a community. My values are, and always have been, racial equity, social justice, building positive relationships, and having strong advocacy for public schools. I lead with my heart, and my previous students, staff, and families will tell you I am compassionate, caring, and capable. I’ll be sending out more detailed information next week about opportunities to meet in person before the school year begins. I look forward to partnering with you and meeting students in the fall. 

Warmly, 
Kristen Eckert; Interim Principal, B.F. Day Elementary