| Message | Two more items:
1. Please help our librarians, Julie and Rusty, by returning ALL LIBRARY BOOKS ASAP -- either Friday or Monday. Thank you.
2. The following Arrow article got truncated -- here is the full article. It's a nice reminder of our many accomplishments this school year:
PTA Wrap Up
It seems like just a few weeks ago that we were all fresh-faced and energetic, eager to support and get to know our new principal, excited to welcome a larger student body and family community, and glad to see the kids back in school. While the school year seemed short, we have accomplished a lot as a PTA community.
Whether you've come to an official PTA meeting or not, you are the PTA and together we have built community, raised funds, sponsored enrichment opportunities for our kids, and advocated for our schools.
Perhaps the most important role of our PTA is to give direct support to the school and classrooms.
This year we enabled:
- Teacher Grants: $500 for established teachers, $1000 for new-to-Ohlone teachers
- Principal Grant: $10,000 to fund the Ohlone staff retreat, computer system, Brain Conference registration, & play producer stipend
- Junior Museum and Zoo: $10,000 in funding brought almost 100 Junior Museum and Zoo science classes to our classrooms
- Oskar and the Big Bully Battle: social problem-solving play performances for all classes
- MP Room sound system: installation
- Incoming-Kinder Assessments: hospitality & welcome committee for parents during the assessments
- Library Donations: management and tracking of monetary donations for library purchases
To make such direct support possible, we managed various fund-raisers and vendor partnerships:
- eScrip (up 30% calendar-year 2009 over 2008)
- Kepler's book fair
- Banana Seed book fair
- GreenZebra coupon books
- book swap/used book sale
- CitizenPip lunch kit sales
- Kepler's ongoing donations (mention "Ohlone" at checkout, year-round)
- CheekyMonkey Toys (holiday promotion)
- Restaurant Fundraisers at Fresh Choice, CPK, The Counter, Chevy's
A large role for PTA as a local, state, and national organization is advocacy for kids and schools. At the school level, we were able to advocate in the following ways:
- Measure A (parcel tax): PTA endorsement, campaign donation, school community outreach
- PTA Council (PTAC) participated with all PAUSD PTAs in roundtables, surveys, and discussions with Superintendent Skelly and Board of Education members
Most of us feel that Ohlone has a truly engaged and energetic community. The many volunteers in our PTA have worked to support community-building through a long list of family events and projects:
- Back to School Picnic, Spring Fling, Ice Skating Party, Pancake Breakfast, Bingo Night, International Night
- Room Parents
- Lunar New Year activities & parade
- May Fete Parade
- Staff Appreciation Week
- school directory
- Fifth-Grade Promotion events
- Hospitality at meetings and events, Parent Coffees, Meet-the-Principal Coffees
- New Families e-mail group & playdates
- Yearbooks
- Supporting the efforts of the Farm Council, Core Values Committee, and Site Council
- Supporting the PiE campaign at Ohlone
- Communications: new website, enhanced eNews, online Arrow newsletter, school sign board
Still more PTA volunteers and funds made possible many enrichment opportunities for our kids and community:
- Opera performances for all classes: Daughter of the Regiment, Elixir of Love, Pirates of Penzance
- Family Science, Math, Literacy, & Orchestra Nights
- Reflections Art Program
- Ohlone Art Show
- Foreign Language Classes (more than 150 students in 13 classes learning 6 languages)
- School Play: Revolution
- Parent Education events: Online Safety, Dr. Ken Ginsburg
- Noon activities: art, board games
- Afterschool Writing Academy
- Middle School information night
- After-School Programs: Basketball, Chess, PAPPA Art
As always, the health and safety of our community and of our environment were a large factor in our efforts:
- Support for the 3rd Grade Bike Rodeo
- 2 Walk/Roll to School days, commute alternatives program, carpool maps
- New composting program
- E-Waste Collection Day
- Participation on district-wide Sustainable Schools and Traffic Safety Committees
- 3 school-wide Lice Checks
We want to thank:
- our PTA Executive Board members
- our MANY volunteers, including our Room Parents
- our dues-paying members, both parents and staff
- the families who came to events and participated in fundraisers
Lastly, a special thanks to Lillian Hom, who's finishing her 2nd year as PTA president (among so many other hats she wears at Ohlone and Jordan). We encourage you to come to the first PTA meeting of 2010-11 in September to help us kick off another community-centered year of support, enrichment, advocacy, fund-raising, enrichment, and friendship.
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