Seaton Families,
I hope you all had a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving break. We are so grateful for the tremendous generosity and participation in this year’s Seaton Bee-Market, your donations, volunteer hours, and community spirit helped make the event a true success. A special thank-you to our Seaton PTO for arranging 100 turkey donations for our families. Your support continues to strengthen our school community and ensures all of our families feel cared for and connected.
We’d also like to extend a huge shout-out to our DC SCORES team for placing 3rd at the citywide Poetry Slam! Their original piece, “We Are From the DMV,” beautifully captured their pride in our community, their roots, and the spirit of Seaton. We are incredibly proud of their hard work, creativity, and leadership. Thank you for continuing to support our students as they shine both inside and outside the classroom.
Principal Torres
School News and Updates
Fall Family Listening Sessions
Parents are invited to attend Family Listening Sessions to learn about our school goals, share ideas, and meet other families!
- Mandarin In Person – December 4 from 8:15 to 9:00 AM
- Amharic In Person – December 4 from 3:15 to 3:45PM
- English Virtual – December 10 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM. Families will be able to join here: Join the Teams Meeting Here.
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Day-Off Camps at Seaton
The Seaton PTO is excited to announce that DC Way will be offering day-off camps during winter break and additional days throughout the school year at Seaton! DC Way will run their popular soccer and art camp on the following dates:
- December 22–23, 29–30, 2025 (Winter Break)
- Friday, January 2, 2026 (Winter Break)
- Monday, January 26, 2026
- Friday, February 13, 2026
- Thursday–Friday, March 12–13, 2026
- Monday, April 6, 2026
This camp is only open to Seaton students and friends. 👉 Register here
Special Offer: DC Way is offering a 20% discount for Seaton students! Use code SEATON20 at checkout for day-off camps—whether at Seaton or any other DC Way location.
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Giving Tuesday.
The PTO’s biggest fundraiser of the year is tomorrow, Giving Tuesday. Last year we raised nearly $20,000 from parents, grandparents, teachers, friends, distant family members, and people off the street who want to help support all of the work we are doing here at Seaton. This year, our goal is $15,000, and we hope we can count on your support to meet it! In addition to supporting an amazing cause and getting a huge bang for your buck, all donors, no matter the amount, will be entered into a raffle to win tickets to Maxwell Park’s annual sparkling wine tasting in December, or a $50 gift card to Ivy & Coney. The link to our fundraiser is here, and this fundraising toolkit includes everything you need to help us spread the word.
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KC Lewis Playground Park Improvement
Please see the attached notice regarding the KC Lewis Park Improvement Community Meeting hosted by DPR, DGS, and DC Public Schools. The meeting is a great opportunity for families to share feedback on the future playground for the Seaton swing site. The meeting will take place on Tuesday December 2, 2025, at the St. George’s Episcopal Church from 6:00 to 7:30 PM (160 U Street NW).
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K.C. Lewis Survey
K. C. Lewis Field and Playground, located at 235 W St. NW in Ward 1, is scheduled for improvements, including upgrades to the field, basketball courts, playground equipment, and other park features. This park will serve as the Seaton Elementary School playground during our swing space years (2026–2027 and 2027–2028).
The District of Columbia Parks team would like your input on which playground equipment and design options would best support our students. Please share your thoughts! Click the link below to view the park improvement slides and complete a short survey based on your opinion of what will work best for Seaton Elementary’s K. C. Lewis swing space playground.
Survey Link: https://forms.office.com/g/ndDUR77hGF
For more information, please review the linked park improvement visual slides.
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Scholastic Book Fair
The Scholastic Book Fair is back at Seaton from December 8 – 12. The book fair will run in the lobby each day from 8:15 to 9 AM and from 3:15 – 6 PM. Students with cash or an eWallet may shop independently during any open hours. Families are welcome to browse and shop together before or after school.
Families can set up a student eWallet or anyone can shop online and have purchases delivered directly to Seaton at our link: https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/seatonelementaryschool
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School Nurse Update
We currently have a rotating school nurse supporting Seaton. Our rotating nurse is Nurse Wellington and you can reach her at lawanda.wellington@dc.gov. She will be at Seaton 2-3 times a week.
Please continue to share any health or dental forms with Ms. Daisy at gloria.torrento@k12.dc.gov or the Seaton Enroll email at SeatonESEnroll@k12.dc.gov.
The School Nurse will be conducting hearing and vision tests throughout the month of December for all students.
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Drills for December
There will be one drill for the month of December: Fire Drill.
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Attendance Committee Updates
The Aspen Parent Portal to submit absence/tardy excuse notes is now live on the Seaton Website (Click attendance form on the Seaton website).
Please note that this is the same form used for late arrivals and that no documents can be uploaded onto the portal at this time. Physical notes can still be dropped off at the front office. Please reach out to Mr. Mercado if you have any questions at (abel.mercado@k12.dc.gov)
New Tardy Procedure:
Ms. Daisy and/or Ms. Hill will be in the lobby from 8:45-9:45 inputting tardies in real time. Please make sure you check in with them if you are late. If for some reason they are not in the lobby, please fill out the tardy book that will be on the table.
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Did you know that every classroom has a parents chat in WhatsApp?
Room parents and the PTO send out important messages through these groups, and they’re a great way to stay in touch with other parents in your child’s class. They are also used to set up playdates, share birthday party invites, organize class gifts, and more. To join your classroom groups and connect with other parents:
- Look for your child’s teacher under “Groups you can join”.
- Click on the teachers name
- Click the Join Group button
- Please reach out to president.seatonpto@gmail.com if you have any questions!
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After School Key Dates
No After School on Friday December 19 due to the Winter Break.
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BEE Well Family Resource Padlet:
The BEE Well team has created a Padlet to provide families with easy access to helpful information and supports. The Padlet includes details about the BEE Well team, mental health resources, community services, back-to-school tips for families, and additional helpful tools.
You can access here: https://padlet.com/mpatel158/seaton-bee-well-resources-for-families-bs9yq64mnibpq7ba
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DC Public Library – DATABASE ACCESS VIA CLEVER UPDATE
As you may know, the DC ONE Card was retired by DCPS on September 30th. DCPS students historically, used the DC One Card to access many of the DCPL databases available to them via Clever.
DCPS students will now use:
- Username: DCPS {StudentID}
- Pin: StudentID
- For additional information, refer to the Student Access FAQ
If your student doesn’t know their StudentID or Username, their teacher or the office can share that information with families.
PTO News and Updates
Seaton Families,
December is a very busy month for the PTO. Read on for more about afterschool club enrollment and day-off camps, the Book Fair, and numerous volunteer opportunities in the coming weeks.
But first… the PTO’s biggest fundraiser of the year is tomorrow, Giving Tuesday. Last year we raised nearly $20,000 from parents, grandparents, teachers, friends, distant family members, and people off the street who want to help support all of the work we are doing here at Seaton. This year, our goal is $15,000, and we hope we can count on your support to meet it! In addition to supporting an amazing cause and getting a huge bang for your buck, all donors, no matter the amount, will be entered into a raffle to win tickets to Maxwell Park’s annual sparkling wine tasting in December, or a $50 gift card to Ivy & Coney. The link to our fundraiser is here, and this fundraising toolkit includes everything you need to help us spread the word.
Our next PTO meeting is Wednesday, December 3, from 5:30-6:30 PM. Pizza and childcare will be provided. We’ll hear updates from Principal Torres and a recap of the December 2 community meeting on the swing space (if you’re interested in attending that meeting, the information can be found here.) We will also hear from a DCPS representative about safety and lockdown alerts. If you can’t make the meeting in person, you can attend the meeting remotely, details here.
The interest form for teacher-led Winter afterschool clubs is now open. The PTO’s AMAZING afterschool committee has put together an incredible line-up of afterschool club options for the winter session, starting the week of January 26. All details about these offerings, including sign-up information, can be found on our website. We are starting the enrollment process with the interest form for teacher-led clubs, so teachers can make roster decisions for those clubs before sign-up for vendor clubs starts in January. If your child is interested in a teacher-led club, please fill out the interest form by December 12.
Sign-up for Day-Off Camps at Seaton is also open. If you need child care over the winter holidays, we have you covered with DC Way’s Soccer and Art Camp at Seaton (and code SEATON20 gets you 20% off.) Camp will be held over the holidays on December 22, 23, 29, 30 and January 2. Camps will also be held at Seaton on DCPS days off on January 26, February 13, March 12 & 13, and April 6.
The Scholastic Book Fair is back at Seaton from December 8 – 12. The book fair will run in the lobby each day from 8:15 to 9 AM and from 3:15 – 6 PM. We need volunteers to help staff set up and break down the fair and to staff it each day – it’s an hour or less and it’s really fun to help students purchase new books! You can sign up here.
Get excited for the Winter Wonderland Dance on December 12! This special event for 2nd – 5th graders will be held from 7-9 PM on Friday, December 12. Drinks and desserts will be available, and all students must be accompanied by a responsible adult. If you are attending the dance with your child, please consider signing up for a volunteer slot here to make sure the dance is a success! And even if you are not attending, we can especially use extra hands with set-up from 5-7 PM, to transform the cafeteria into a magical venue for our little Stingers.
