Fairmount Park Community Newsletter

to connect every child to themselves, others, and possibilities

Welcome to 2026! We are so excited to welcome students back to school. Breaks offer an important opportunity for students to rest, reset, and consolidate the learning they’ve done—giving both minds and bodies time to recharge and make sense of new information.

As we begin the new year, we’ll ease back into routines, refresh friendships, and reconnect as classroom communities. Teachers will revisit previous learning to activate students’ knowledge before moving into new learning experiences. We’re looking forward to a strong start to 2026 and hope you are too!

In Partnership,

Sara Davis

As we return from our break I'd like to share a few reminders about safety around FPE.

Please do not use the alley for drop-off or pick-up. Many students and families walk through this area, and having cars go in and out creates unsafe conditions. In addition, using the alley blocks our neighbors’ access to their homes and workplaces. Thank you for helping us keep everyone safe and being considerate of our community.

Dogs on Blacktop: For everyone’s safety and comfort, please keep dogs off the blacktop during drop-off and pick-up. You are welcome to wait with your dog on the grassy field, but please do not approach your child's teacher and/or class with your dog on the blacktop.

Thank you for helping us keep arrival and pick up safe and smooth for all students!

reading buddies

Community connections grow through shared experiences. As we wrapped up 2025, students celebrated their Fairmount Park community in many joyful ways. Choir students showcased their hard work, band and orchestra marked the end of the first half of the year with concerts, and classrooms across the school celebrated winter with a variety of fun activities.

Salmon in Schools

Dear Fairmount Falcon Families,

My class wanted to share some pictures and information about the Salmon in the Schools Program we are launching this year.

We set up our salmon tank with help from Islandwood and went on a field trip to Carkeek Park (with Ms. Reed’s class) in early December. Then, right before winter break, we got 150 Coho salmon eggs from a hatchery in Issaquah.

The eggs hatched on December 29 and 30. Our PTA President Ryan, his son, and I, came into the building over break and got to watch some of the eggs hatch!

Now the salmon are in the “Alevin,” stage. They are getting their nutrition from the yolk sacks still attached to their bodies. Their bodies are still developing and getting stronger. They need to be in the dark most of the time and they are not swimming yet, but they are burrowing and hiding in the gravel.

My class is creating a bulletin board of the life cycle of a salmon to teach the school what is happening. Ryan does a LOT of the hard work of testing the water and cleaning the filters. We report to our water quality and how the salmon are doing each week to Islandwood.

Once the salmon get into the next stage of “Fry,” they will start eating and different classes will have turns feeding them.

Thank you to the PTA for introducing this project and funding it! The kids are learning a lot now about the life cycle, and we are also learning how important salmon our to our region.

Sincerely,

Ms. Britt and the First Grade Student in Room 129

January 19 - No school in honor of MLK
January 20 - Incoming Kinder Tour - 8:30-9:15 a.m.
January 26-29 - 5th Gr. to Islandwood
January 30 - PTA sponsored Glow Party
February 6 - K-3 Bingo Night
February 16-20 - No school, Mid Winter Break
February 26 - 5th grade field trip to SCT
March 3 - 5th Gr. to Camp Long with DNDA
March 10 - Incoming Kinder Tour - 5-6 p.m.
April 13-17 - No school, Spring Break
May 1 - 1st grade field trip to SCT

Daily Schedule 🕗

7:40 a.m. – Playground opens.
7:40-7:50 a.m. – Breakfast is served.
7:50 a.m. – Warning bell; students able to enter the building.
7:55 a.m. – School begins.
2:25 p.m. – Dismissal (1:10 p.m. on Wednesdays)
2:35 p.m.– Buses depart (1:20 p.m. on Wednesdays)

Tardies and Absences

Tardy - If your child arrives after 7:55 a.m. please go to the office to check in before they head to their classroom.
Absence - Please contact our attendance office anytime your child will be absent from school.