Welcome to an exciting new school year!
So many positive changes abound! Hopefully your child has made some new friends in class, a new friend in their teacher, and TWO new friends at the front office, Mr. Larsen and Ms. Murtha! PTsO is excited for the upcoming year and the chance to work with such a great team as well as your amazing kids!
Right off the start, I would like to extend an invitation to everyone to attend our PTsO meetings, scheduled for the THIRD Tuesday of every month at 8:45 in the SVE Library. There will be one exception to this in October when we will be on Fall Break, so we will move the meeting to the fourth Tuesday of October. Come, bring your coffee and a friend. We have some really important work to do early in the year, so the meeting this Tuesday will be a big one! We will present the upcoming budget, take questions/concerns and vote to approve, amend, or reject it. We will be discussing upcoming projects and committees for the year and looking for LOTS of help! Start thinking now about getting involved: Yearbook, Boxtops, Teacher Appreciation, Community Outreach, Birthday Club, Spirit and Special Events, Dad’s Club or STEM Volunteering!
We also know that this community has tremendous talent and resources, the problem is, we don’t know about all of them! If you have ideas for ways that PTsO, SVE, or your child’s teacher could use your unique talents, please let us know! Email us at sverocks@gmail.com and let’s find a way to put great talent to use!
We will be doing a lot more fundraising this year than we have in the past. The simple reality is that we have spent the past 18 months being reactive; we were caught off guard by the drastic changes in Douglas County after the failure of the bond issue. We don’t want to be in that position again, so our fundraising will be proactive from here on; we want to plan and be prepared for the future. We want sustainability in the programs we implement and the people we use to implement them. We hope you will be a positive part of that! We also hope that you will use the PTsO fundraising efforts this year to encourage your child to be an active part of their education. Talk with them about why we are fundraising and let them have some ownership and pride. In the past 18 months, students raised enough money to expand literacy funding and purchase and implement a new math program; newly released test data will confirm that those programs are working (TREMENDOUS credit to the teaching staff at SVE!) and students should own that and be proud! Fundraising for the year will include frozen food sales, Move-A-Thon, restaurant nights, Poinsettia sales, an adults only casino night, and the wildly popular Secret Santa Shoppe.
One of the things we are most proud of is the fundraising effort put forth last Spring for the science program. I am happy to report that PTsO was able to pay for 100% of the new Douglas County mandated science curriculum. We will also be working closely with the new administration to continue the science commitment with a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) lab. This first of its kind (we think!) at an elementary school in Douglas County will give your student the chance for meaningful hands on scientific exploration. And isn’t that what school is all about?
We are looking forward to a great year! We hope you will join us!
Stacie Winslow