The Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) Board of Directors is an elected group of individuals that serve as representatives for parents, teachers, guardians, students, and staff at Washington Elementary School.
We improve the quality of our school’s educational experience by creating community-building events, raising funds to meet budgetary requirements, and providing a welcoming environment for all members to participate.
As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and as dictated by our by-laws, we are required to publicize our meeting minutes and financial statements. We strive to be a transparent organization that is inclusive to all members. We work closely with the Santa Barbara Unified School District and Washington Elementary School faculty and staff.
Every parent, guardian, and staff member is automatically a member of the PTO organization. There are no fees or dues required – simply being registered at Washington Elementary School makes you a member! We annually elect our Board of Directors and seek parent volunteers throughout the year.
Meetings are held on a monthly basis during the school year and all PTO members are invited to attend and encouraged to participate.
The mission of the Washington School Foundation is to contribute financially to improve and support the quality of education and facilities at Washington Elementary School.
The vision of Washington Elementary School is to be a community learning organization that unites the strengths and talents of students, parents, and staff into a single learning organization focused on: rigor, relevance, and an attention to the “whole child.”
Strong Academic Program: Create a challenging, relevant, and engaging instructional program provided by a staff working interdependently and in conjunction with parent and community volunteers that allows all students to master grade level standards.
Enrichment & Arts: Create and sustain a comprehensive and standards-based enrichment program that includes the areas of science, visual art, physical education, and instrumental music. This program is meant to extend, enrich, and deepen the core academic program.
Parent Officers
Erin Baer, President
Jory Zusmer, Vice President
Shelley Eschleman, Communications Chair
Megan Fleming & Lisa Standring, Treasurer
Secretary
Rachel DePass, IT Chair
Staff Representatives
Arielle Curry, Principal
Kim Sheriff Brown, Assistant Principal
Rotating, Teacher Representative
Rotating, Teacher Representative
Aside from donating to PRIDE, the best way to make a difference as a parent at Washington is to get involved! Contact president@washingtonschoolpto.org if you’re interested in volunteering. Or, join one of the committees below:
PTO Meetings are held every month from 6pm-7pm on the following dates. Everyone is invited to PTO meetings, please join us!
Arielle Curry, Principal: acurry@sbunified.org
Kim Sheriff Brown, Assistant Principal: ksheriffbrown@sbunified.org
TK:
Elizabeth Mortensen: emortensen@sbunified.org
Kindergarten:
Jennie Rodriguez: jrodriguez@sbunified.org
Kimberly Winckler: kwinckler@sbunified.org
Karen Slotnick-Lastrico: kslotnick-lastrico@sbunified.org
First:
Ali Angelopoulos: aangelopoulos@sbunified.org
Nancy Lusk: nlusk@sbunified.org
Meredith Llewellyn: mllewellyn@sbunified.org
Second:
Isabel Esparza: iesparza@sbunified.org
Heather McBurnie: hmcburnie@sbunified.org
Heather Voltz: hvoltz@sbunified.org
Third:
Kim Baron: kbaron@sbunified.org
Bridget Berg: bberg@sbunified.org
Bettina Chin: bchin@sbunified.org
Heather Grosch: hgrosch@sbunified.org (GATE)
Fourth:
Caitlin Garcia: caitlingarcia@sbunified.org
Aimee Kielborn: akielborn@sbunified.org
Raquel Frausto: rfrausto@sbunified.org
Cathy Neushul: cneushul@sbunified.org (GATE)
Fifth:
Gizelle O’Loughlin: goloughlin@sbunified.org
Samantha Prendergast: sprendergast@sbunified.org
Jennifer Griffith: jgriffith@sbunified.org (5th/6th GATE)
Sixth:
Augustin Camarillo: acamarillo@sbunified.org
Kaye Cantu: kcantu@sbunified.org
Jackie Bluestein: jbluestein@sbunified.org (GATE)
Specials:
P.E.:Victor Vargas: vvargas@sbunified.org
STEM: Justin Mack: jmack@sbunified.org
Music: Cynthia Vong: cvong@sbunified.org
Art: Andrea Lashua: arlashua@sbunified.org
Resource Specialist:
Ken Greenberg: kgreenberg@sbunified.org (grades 4-6)
Maria Rivera: mrivera@sbunified.org (grades TK-3)
Whitney Alegria: walegria@sbunified.org (reading specialist)
Library:
Linda Szumski: lszumski@sbunified.org
Office Support:
Rosa Cavaletto: rcavaletto@sbunified.org
Irma Camarillo : icamarillo@sbunified.org
Tuition is not required at public schools, but there are still many financial needs that are provided by the families in attendance. Without the PTO Foundation support, Washington cannot afford many of the educators and educational resources our children benefit from each year.
In addition to our Pride Campaign at the beginning of the year and Move-A-Thon in the spring, there will be many other smaller opportunities to give back to the school and to the foundation. However, Pride is the cornerstone for setting the budget and we want to make sure that our incredible resources at Washington receive full funding.
The Washington School PTO publicly posts its budget every year on our website and include a graph of how the funds are distributed each year. In short, the majority of the funding goes directly to support our assistant teachers, physical education program, science technology engineering & mathematics (STEM) program, and variety of other in-classroom support items and programs.
Many families chose to set up monthly payment plans with recurring payments that occur for a preset number of months. Click on “Donate” in the upper right corner of the PTO website to learn more about how to setup recurring payments.
Your sealed envelope or online donation is only opened by the PTO treasurer and your family’s name and donation amount are not shared with anyone other than the treasurer.
Please do. Each years’ budget is independent from previous years.
PTO is so thankful to our 2024-2025 business boosters!
