Founded in 2020, the Southeast Seattle Schools Fundraising Alliance (SESSFA) is a cooperative of Southeast Seattle public school PTAs and PTOs that believe in the power of sharing resources and strengthening relationships across our Southeast Seattle education community and beyond.
Serving more than 6,700 students at 17 elementary, K-8, and middle schools, SESSFA is volunteer-run by representatives from each of our member schools. Collectively, we work to ensure that all young students in Seattle Public Schools District 7 have the opportunity to benefit from PTA/PTO-funded materials and programs regardless of which school they attend. With SESSFA's community-funded support, Southeast Seattle schools have greater access to resources that enable critical investments in allowing every student to reach their fullest potential.
1. Public schools in Seattle's South End are home to larger than district-average populations of students of color, multilingual learners, and students from low income households. 81% of students attending SESSFA's 17 Southeast Seattle public schools during the 2024-25 school year are Black, Indigenous, Asian, Hispanic/Latino, Pacific Islander, or multi-racial. 31% are multilingual learners receiving English Learner services, and 51% qualify for free or reduced lunch. Source: WA OSPI
16 of our 17 SESSFA Seattle Public Schools are classified as Title I—a federal U.S. Department of Education program that provides financial assistance to public schools with high numbers or high percentages of children living in low-income households.
2. Though all Seattle Public Schools are facing budget shortfalls, historically underserved student populations are at greatest risk of experiencing opportunity gaps due to insufficient education funding.
3. Southeast Seattle public schools rely on community support to help fund items like school supplies, books for school libraries, academic support, translation and interpretation services, extracurricular opportunities, field trips, snacks, and more.
4. Since 2020, SESSFA has raised more than $1.5 million in critically-needed local education funding for participating SESSFA schools with the generous support of donors in our neighborhood and throughout Seattle. The SESSFA Move-a-Thon fundraising drive is our largest annual fundraising effort.
Gifts to SESSFA can be made online through secure donation platform Give Lively. To give by mail, please make checks payable to our fiscal partner SESEC with "SESSFA" on the memo line and mail to:
SESSFA at SESEC
2524 16th Avenue South | Suite 306 | Seattle, WA 98144
Donations are tax deductible and eligible for corporate matching. For more information about gifting, including details about donor advised funds, business procurement funds, and matching gifts, please contact Meghan Bedell at SESSFA_info@sesecWA.org.
The fifth annual "High 5 for Year 5" Move-a-Thon fundraising drive led by the Southeast Seattle Schools Fundraising Alliance will kick off on Monday, March 31, and run through Wednesday, April 30, to benefit approximately 6,700 students attending 17 elementary, K-8 and middle schools in District 7 of Seattle Public Schools. To connect with SESSFA about press opportunities or press materials, please contact SESSFA_info@sesecWA.org.
The Southeast Seattle Schools Fundraising Alliance (SESSFA) is a group of 17 public school PTAs and PTOs from the South End of Seattle that have partnered to establish a collective fundraising model. In order for SESSFA to successfully pool and distribute jointly-raised funds, the Southeast Seattle Education Coalition (SESEC)—an education advocacy nonprofit focused on serving Southeast Seattle communities—serves as our fiscal partner and conduit for holding and disbursing funds to each of our 17 individual non-profit PTAs and school groups. Through this partnership, SESSFA is able to utilize the SESEC Give Lively platform and EIN status to ensure all donations to SESSFA are tax deductible.
SESSFA’s Equitable Distribution Formula uses Seattle Public Schools enrollment numbers and demographic data to prioritize greater percentages of SESSFA funding for populations furthest from equity in education. Equitable Distribution Formula inputs are sourced from Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) School Report Cards. Points are assigned based on the number of students in select demographic groups (e.g., race, special education support, homelessness, low income, etc.). For more information, please contact SESSFA_info@sesecWA.org.
