Happy April, Thunderbird Families! Spring is officially here and this last quarter is a busy time here at Trailwood. So many fun events just around the corner! Our committee chairs are hard at work planning some amazing activities for the final weeks of school, including our ever popular Carnival! Be on the look-out for more information on these events coming soon. And, please remember that we need volunteers to make many of these activities successful. Consider donating your time and talents to make these last two months of the school year amazing for our kiddos!

April is also special here at Trailwood because we have the chance to celebrate many of our staff members on their respective appreciation days! You'll find the specific dates below. While PTA will be recognizing these special days with treats for staff, please feel free to also share your appreciation with a thank you card or email to those staff members who make such a difference at our school!

We’d like to extend a big thank you to everyone who contributed to our fun Trailwood Auction a couple of weeks ago! Whether you bid on and/or purchased an item, attended our event in person, volunteered in some capacity, made a donation, or spread the word about our event, you helped to make the night a great success for our school. The funds raised will help us continue to provide our students and staff with amazing opportunities at Trailwood. THANK YOU for your incredible generosity!

Jamie Reasons

4th Grade Field Trip to Ernie Miller: April 2, 2024

Para, Clerical and Aides Appreciation Day: April 3, 2024

Librarian’s Day: April 4, 2024

3rd Grade Field Trip to Old Shawnee Town : April 4, 2024

6th Grade Field Trip to IWMS to See Descendants Musical: April 5, 2024

PTA Movie Night: April 5, 2024 at 6:30 pm

Solar Eclipse: April 8, 2024

PTA Meeting: April 9, 2024 at 8:15 am

PreK and Kindergarten Kick Off: April 11, 2024 at 6:00 pm

No School: April 12, 2024

No School: April 15, 2024

South Area Orchestra Festival at SMS: April 16, 2024

Papa Johns Dining Partner: April 16, 2024

Specialist Day: April 17, 2024

6th Grade Musical: April 18, 2024 at 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm

3rd Grade Market Day: April 19, 2024

Principal’s Day: April 19, 2024

PTA Poker Night: April 19, 2024 at 7:00 pm

1st grade Fieldtrip to SMESL at SMS: April 23, 2024

Shereen Day (Admin Professional): April 24, 2024

South Area Band Festival at SMS: April 24, 2024 at 7:00 pm

5th Grade Fieldtrip to the School of Economics: April 26, 2024

Trailwood Carnival: April 26, 2024 at 5:00 pm

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040B48AAAB22A1F58-48800905-trailwood

Hey Room Parents! Thank you for all you have done this year for the teachers and students! We are having Jarvy’s Shaved Ice May 24th from 10:45am-2:15pish. This is in lieu of an end-of-year party in the classroom. I will get to sign-up for a time to bring down their class! I will also need volunteers to help keep the classes on track coming to the truck. Will send up a sign-up soon for interested people! Thank you! 

The Kansas Legislature adjourned the regular session at 4:30 a.m.  April 6th for a several-week break, without passing a K-12 Education Budget.

The Good News: Increasing special education funding* is not off the table yet this year!  Last week, the Kansas Senate rejected SB 387, a flawed education budget bill. While the bill allocated $77.5 million in new special ed. funds for one year, it changed the formula to count local discretionary dollars as a portion of the state’s  spending – an accounting maneuver that moves money around instead of adding funding. 

While the Kansas House narrowly passed SB 387, a bi-partisan group of reps rejected it, showing broad support for K-12 education and special education. That is big!  If anyone contacted their legislators on this issue over the last few weeks, consider this an advocacy win! 

• HOT off the press:  Select members of the House and Senate Conference Committee met late into the night on April 6th and will present this new version of  SB 387- called CCR for 387- that all legislators will vote on when they return for April 25th. 

• 3-MINUTE ACTION ITEM: Thank our SMSD legislators who voted NO on SB 387, protecting special education funding AND ask them to support any new version of the bill only IF it includes the full funding of special education now and in future years.

• Send an email to all SMSD area legislators using this easy email link and template bit.ly/SMACSB387  It is a great time to contact your legislator now while they are on break. 

Other Good News:

• The poorly written voucher bills of this session appear to be dead. 

• The “flat tax”, which threatened public education funding due to massive revenue loss,  also appears dead. Of note, the Senate and House unanimously passed a large tax bill at the midnight hour (actually 4:30 a.m.). While it is not as drastic as the “flat tax”, there are still some concerns about the revenue impacts. It is unclear if the Governor will veto or sign it into law. Learn more about it here and here. 

• A bill was defeated that would change rules around how local school boards are governed. 

• A bill was passed to allow districts more flexibility on how they count enrollment numbers. 

The Bad News: Because the Legislature has not yet passed a K-12 education budget, they will have to vote on this important issue when they return for the “veto session”, which doesn’t allow for amendments, expert testimony, nor adequate time for citizen engagement. Watch our Facebook page for updates- which may call for support of or opposition of- the new CCR for SB 387. Anything could still happen- this is THE critical time for public education funding, so stay tuned! 

*For more detail about state special education funding, click on this link and scroll to bottom. Note that SMSD uses about $10 million of our general fund budget to cover the state shortfall for special education, impacting ALL students in our district.

For questions, contact Emily Sebelius  

We'd like to thank these awesome volunteers who gave of their time during the month of March as Wingmen!

Mathew Hoelting

Leif Peterson

Bradley Osborn

Mark Botsford

Chris Cheatham

There is still time to be a wingman before the end of the year! Sign up to volunteer in your child's classroom at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090944A8A82EA7FF2-trailwood3#/.

First of all, THANK YOU to everyone who helped to make our 2024 auction AMAZING! Final numbers are still rolling in, but we had an incredibly successful (and fun) event! Whether you purchased a ticket, bid on items in our live or silent auction, shared information, helped to put together a grade level basket, bought a raffle ticket, helped with set-up, or offered to be a party host, YOU contributed to our PTA's mission of supporting the students, families and staff of Trailwood Elementary. We couldn't do what we do without you!

We'd also like to give a big shout-out to our dedicated auction committee members! Planning for this event begins months in advance, and we are so appreciative of their time and energy. Please give the following individuals a big thank you the next time you see them: Karen Badgett, Jennifer McCabe, Lindsay Weiss, Brianne Stockman, Jessica Horner, Jamie Reasons, Heidi Saunders, Lori Tritsch and Cara Peterson. We'd also like to extend our thanks to the following individuals for their extra help along the way: Sarah Filipovits, Crystal Friend, Matt Weiss, Katie Culbertson, Rachel Crabb, and Catie Ebert.

Let's also recognize our WONDERFUL auction sponsors! 

Gold Sponsor:

Kansas City Mom Collective (Trailwood Parent - Sarah McGinnity)

Silver Sponsors: 

Browne Amplification (Trailwood Parent - Dave Brown)

Travel Magic by Leigh (Trailwood Parent - Leigh McCabe)

Schields Farm (Trailwood Parent - Tennille Schields)

Bronze Sponsors:

KC Property Experts (Trailwood Parents - Adam and Jen Pontier)

LeaderOne Financial (Trailwood Parent - Lisa LeGrande)

We have some super fun parties happening this spring and summer (for both kids and adults!), and we would love for you to join us! These are great ways to connect with your connect with your Trailwood community outside of school. Purchase your tickets until April 15th at https://one.bidpal.net/twauction2024/browse/all. (While there, check out our few remaining unsold auction items available now!) 

Looking for some fun summer camps for your students? Shawnee Mission South Raiders 2024 Summer Camp schedules can be found here.

Save These Dates, 6^th Grade Parents! 

There is nothing but fun and farewells coming up this spring. Grab the tissues and mark your calendars!

• Friday, April 26^th  
  6^th Grade Gives Back at Trailwood Carnival
   Watch for a sign-up genius for kids to run the popcorn machine and hand out snacks 
   
• May 17^that 11:30 am
  High School Senior & Trailwood 6^th Grade Reunion and Kickball Game 
   Lunch provided; parents welcome to join this long-standing community tradition
   
• Beginning May 20^th through Last Day
   Stop by the front hallway displays to play “Guess That Baby” and see the staff portraits
   
• Tuesday, May 28^th
   Trailwood Talent Show 
  6^th Graders present their class gift & Blues Brothers skit 
  (If your child wants to be part of the skit, please see Shereen’s April 4^th parent email) 
   
• Wednesday, May 29^th 7:30 am – 9 am **PARENTS! DON’T MISS THIS ONE!**
   Last Day Breakfast
  Please join us for breakfast, where we’ll watch the 6^th grade slide show, hear snippets from the kids’ Last Will and Testament, shower the teachers, and say goodbye to Trailwood.
   
• Wednesday, May 29^th
   Gather at Meadowbrook Park after school (big park shelter by clubhouse and large playground)
   Casual party in the park; popsicles and yard games 
   

Please Help us Make it Special!

We need several volunteers to make these last few events really special for the kids. If you haven’t had a chance to jump in yet, please do! Email Megan Foreman at foremanmeg@gmail.com to volunteer. We promise a job that fits your talents and availability.

Needs include: 

• Techy types to assemble the slide show (needed ASAP)
• Crafty types to make banners and invitations for the last day celebrations, and to create the baby photo “guess who” display
• Hosty types to help with the last day breakfast and park party
• Gifty types to organize class gift and teacher gifts

Order Your Student Portraits 

Reminder that you can order your student’s personality portrait and/or the Thunderbird collage on the PTA Website  

5101 W 95th St. 

Overland Park, KS 66207