NewsNotes for Thursday,
September 22, 2016
Hello Alameda
Families!
I love this time of
year! The mornings are crisp and cool while our
afternoons have been beautiful and sunny. The
leaves are starting to change, and many classes
are already out and about on field trips enjoying
our lovely Portland landscape in the fall. The
kindergarten classes even saw an owl on their
field trip the other day and have the pictures to
prove it! Please remember to send your child with
a jacket for the cool mornings and in case it
rains. We do try and go outside several times a
day, year around. With that said, we collect many
a jacket off of the playground every afternoon,
and the lost and found is located right outside
the cafeteria for those who are missing
items.
Please also help us by
keeping dogs off of the field, and by reminding
anyone you see with a dog to pick up after their
pet. We need everyone to help us keep our field
safe and clean for all. We are definitely enjoying
the soccer weather and have added tetherball to
our recess activities. I will be enjoying a few
challenges at tetherball this week and cannot wait
to get rolling on our dance party
Fridays!
As we turn the corner
into October, we are gearing up for Run for the
Arts through Young Audiences. Young Audiences is a
non-profit arts organization that works to inspire
young people and expand their learning through the
arts. Since 1977, Young Audiences has helped
schools and students raise funds for in-school
arts programs with Run for the Arts. The money
raised through the Run will be used for
performances, workshops and residencies with
professional teaching artists, field trips, and
art supplies. Your child’s participation in
the Run is voluntary; however I hope you will
encourage him or her to join in, have fun, and
support our school. I also invite you to help out
by volunteering before, during, or after the run
with our Run for the Arts school
coordinator.
Please help your child
by: Â
1. Reading the Run for the Arts Sponsor Sheet that
your child brings home. Â
2. Authorizing your child’s participation by
signing the “Parent/Guardian
Agreement” and filling in a t-shirt size for
your child. T-shirts are one of the potential
prizes your child can earn. Â
3. Registering your child to collect online
donations on runforthearts.ya-or.org.
Students can collect donations online, collect in
person donations, or choose to do both. Â
4. Assisting your child in collecting sponsorships
from family, friends, and neighbors by sharing the
online link or by collecting in person donations.
Online donations can
be given at runforthearts.ya-or.org
Our pledge drive starts Friday, September 23rd and
goes through Monday, October 10th. Our run date
this year is Tuesday, October 11th. Please see
your child’s teacher for further information
and please sign up to help!
We are excited for all
the fun activities coming up for the school in and
out of the classroom.
Thanks for all you do
to make Alameda a great place to
learn!
Best,
Eryn Berg
AP, Alameda
It’s true! The PTA seeks a yearbook
coordinator. Go solo or team up with friends and
make the yearbook happen!
It’s easy to work with our yearbook company
- you just have to collect and send photos. No
formatting, no copy, just coordinate with
professionals who handle everything.
Contact the PTA soon. What’s school without
a yearbook?
Contact:
Devani Scheidler
PTA Co-VP Fundraising
971-506-0098
scrip@alamedaschool.org
Show your school spirit! Showcase our new logo or
go retro and choose the schoolhouse logo on
selected products. Samples will be available
Monday mornings at the scrip table and at all
school events!
- Hoodies
- Tshirts
- Running shirts
- Raglan hoodies
- Totes
Place your order online with your credit card
at http://myshirtbin.com/collections/alameda-elementary.
Or go old school and place an order via our paper
order form and cash or check. Return your
order form and payment to the classroom or office,
or stop by the scrip table on Mondays.
Orders due Friday, October 7th. Delivery to follow
in approximately two weeks. Choose classroom
delivery or pick up.
Fridays are school spirit days - get Alameda gear
and represent for the Alameda Eagles!
Questions?
Devani Scheidler
alamedascrip@gmail.com
971-506-0098
Want to
raise money?
Feeling lazy?
Try these one and done fundraising programs.
They raise thousands for the Alameda PTA each
year.
AmazonSmile
Every qualifying order you make at Amazon.com can
raise money for the Alameda PTA. Go to www.smile.amazon.com
to link a new AmazonSmile account to your existing
Amazon.com account, and begin all your Amazon
shopping from smile.amazon.com
from now on. All your existing benefits transfer,
including AmazonPrime. Start today!
Fred Meyer Rewards
Go to the Fred
Meyer Community Rewards page and register your
rewards card to earn money for the Alameda PTA for
every qualifying purchase each time you use your
rewards card.
eScrip
Go to www.escrip.com to
register and earn money every time you shop at a
designated merchant.
Did you know that
dues, donations, and volunteer hours contributed
by Alameda PTA members:
- Enrich the
school curriculum with in-school and
after school offerings in geography (Passport
Club), science (Family Science Nights, Science
Fair), life sciences (Garden Committee), writing
(writer celebrations), and reading (Battle of the
Books)?
- Engage students in
service and stewardship to their
school and community through the Green Team,
Clothes Closet, and landscape/garden cleanups?
- Support
Alameda teachers and staff
with
materials purchases, professional development, and
staff-appreciation events and activities?
- Advocate
for better education for all children and
youth in Salem and
Washington, DC through the Oregon and National
PTAs?
Join the PTA today to help us continue our
partnership with Alameda’s dedicated
teachers and staff in nurturing the learning and
development of our children. Annual membership
dues are $25 and are
tax-deductible.
In addition to
supporting programs that benefit Alameda students
and all children, Alameda PTA members receive
access to the PTA online directory (beginning
October 1), enrollment in the Oregon statewide PTA
and National PTAs, a vote on decisions affecting
PTA activities and policies, and the opportunity
to serve on the PTA board.
To purchase a
membership and/or make an additional
tax-deductible donation to the PTA, visit our online
store. (If your family is not yet listed in
our directory system, you’ll be prompted to
register first.) You can pay using a credit or
debit card or PayPal, or you can print out an
invoice you can send in with a check (you can send
it in in your child’s backpack or drop it
off in the PTA box in the school office).
Thank you in advance
for your support! Let us know if you have
questions; you can contact us both at ptamembership@alamedaschool.org.
Wendy Chou and Erich Stiefvater
Membership Co-VPs
Alameda Elementary PTA
Unfortunately, CHESS
CLUB IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED to any new members.
You can
go on a waiting list through Mr. Sisk, but as
of now the chess club is at full
capacity.
One of the ways Alameda
students are reducing waste at lunch is by sorting
out their food scraps. We're estimating that on
some days there is almost 80 pounds of food
separated out! To do all of this, parent
volunteers are needed to monitor the food scrap
bin to ensure there are no contaminants (like
paper napkins, packaging,
garbage).
It's fun to watch the
kids at lunch, and help them learn this new
routine. Click on the link to sign up for a lunch
shift or two. http://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b084caeab22a02-organics
We'll be in touch to
make sure you know all you need to
know.
Our School, our PTA, and
our Foundation are now all on one unified website.
Please take a few moments to check out the new
site and
bookmark it for future reference. If you have
comments, questions or suggestions you may send
those to our PTA VP of Communications, Cara
Haskey, at vpcommunications@alamedaschool.org. This site is still a
work-in-progress and we strongly encourage you to
check back frequently for new additions as well as
the latest updates on events and happenings at
Alameda.
Each year the PTA
invites 3-4 guest speakers to come to Alameda and
present topics of interest to parents. As we plan
for our 2016-2017 meetings and beyond we would
like to know a little bit about your experience
with PTA meetings in the past and what topics
would be of most interest to you. Please complete
the very quick online survey at: http://www.pps.net//cms/module/selectsurvey/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=111
Join us for the next
meeting of the Alameda School Foundation. We will
be talking about our upcoming House Parties
fundraiser and progress on Auction planning.
Foundation Monthly Meeting
Thursday, September 29, 2016
7:30 -8:30 p.m.
Mars: 2393 NE Fremont St
All parents (including dads!) are welcome, so grab
some friends and join us.
If you have any questions, please feel free to
contact Foundation President, Jennifer Mannhard,
at foundation@alamedaschool.org.
The Alameda School Foundation raises money to
supplement the school's budget for teaching and
staff positions at Alameda School and contributes
to the PPS Equity Fund to help less fortunate
schools. Your tax deductible one-time or recurring
donation makes a difference. Funds help preserve
adequate staffing for smaller class sizes and
crucial programs like music, art, P.E. and
specialized library services.
Get ready for Picture
Day!!! Students individual portraits will be taken
during the school day next Friday morning,
September 30th. You will find order forms in your
child's backpack at the beginning of next week.
Please return these to your child's teacher by
Friday morning (no photocopies please, extra order
forms will be available in the office next week).
If you know you will be absent or your child is
sick, there will be a picture retake day in
November, you can keep your form until
then.
Please email me at pictureday@alamedaschool.org
if you have any questions.
Come one, come all!
Students will be back in the Alameda Discovery
Garden this Fall, and to get it ready to go with
new soil, compost, and bark chips, we are hosting
a work party on Sunday,
October 2 from 10am-1pm. We hope you
and your family can join us. Please save the
date!
SAVE YOUR CHILDREN'S
BOOKS!!!
For the 4th year,
Portland Public Schools is teaming up with the
Children's Book Bank to collect books for children
that might not have very many or any books in
their homes. Together we collected over 30,000
books from nearly 80 schools and businesses in the
community. Those books were delivered to 5,000
children in Portland Public Schools! This year
we’re hoping that The Children’s Book
Harvest will be even more successful so that we
can serve more children with beautiful, engaging,
and fabulous literature to stimulate their
interest in reading and help nurture them as
learners.
This year’s
Children’s Book Harvest begins on October
3rd and lasts through parent-teacher conferences
until November 10th. Please scour your home
bookshelves for outgrown books that you can bring
in to the school. We can use books for babies and
toddlers but especially books for elementary and
middle school aged students. We take board books,
ABC and 123 books, shape, color and animal books,
picture books, chapter books, and Spanish language
books. We cannot use old library books unless they
are in very good condition. We also cannot use
coloring books, dictionaries, encyclopedias,
textbooks or activity books.
Thank you for
supporting the Fourth Annual Children’s Book
Harvest!
This
year, we're trying something a little different.
The first general assembly meeting for our PTA
will be an Alameda PTA Programs & Resources
Fair. We'll have representatives from nearly
all of our PTA programs in one location so you
can learn more about the exciting opportunities to
enrich your child's education and build a
stronger community.
Please join us
Wednesday, October
5 in the School Library from 7-8
p.m. Free childcare is
provided.
**SAVE THE DATE**
Mark your calendars for Alameda's Fall Family
Movie Night on October 7, 2016. Admission is
FREE!!! Doors will open at 6:00pm, and the
movie will start at 6:30pm. Movie title will be
announced next week! Popcorn and snack sales will
benefit the Alameda PTA.
Questions? Contact Katie Haraguchi at
vphospitality@alamedaschool.org. We hope to
see you there!
Parent Informational TAG
Night - DATE CHANGE!!!
Thursday, October 13th
(previous date was the 12th)
6pm in the Alameda Library
Do you want to learn
more about the Talented and Gifted nomination
process or have questions about TAG in general? If
so, please plan to join Mr. Lurie, Ms. Berg, and
Mrs. Caton on October 12th. If you have a question
in the meantime, contact Mrs. Caton at ccaton@pps.net.
