Teacher Holiday Gifts & Potluck

Portside Parents,

December is a busy time for all of us. The PTO would like your help support making this a holiday season a great one for the teachers at Portside. After all they care for our children every day! For the past 3 years we have coordinated a group gift from families and organized a potluck lunch to show our appreciation for all that they do for our kids. Last year we did gift cards to Target and Christmas ornaments. We discussed the idea at our last PTO meeting and decided to do it again!!!

How: We (PTO) will take donations for the gifts from now until 6pm on Friday December 14^th. If you want to contribute please leave your donation in the locked tuition box next to the office with your name and email and your child’s name and room attached. There is no required donation amount, but as a reference, most families contributed b/w $10-30 per child last year. You can donate less or more as your budget allows. Again this year the money will go to gift cards and if we get extra we can add something additional (i.e. ornaments or stockings). There is no obligation so if you don’t want to participate that is okay too.

The PTO will coordinate the funds, purchase and wrap the gifts. We will sign all of the cards with the names of those who contributed. If you have a great idea or also want to help put the gifts together please email me. We will have a sign up sheet for the Potluck luncheon. Stay tuned.

When: We will give the gifts on December 20^th. If you would like to help out giving out the gifts you can email us. I will also email everyone after we have compiled everything so you know what we got.

 

Last year the PTO and families also contributed baked goods on the night of the children’s holiday party so that everyone could enjoy a treat after the performance which is also December 14^th. We will have a sign up out for that as well.

If you have questions please feel free post on the blog http://portsidepto.blogspot.com/ post on our facebook page Portside Parents group or email the PTO at juliegoldman@gmail.com or leschwartz44@hotmail.com.

Thank you, Laura Federico, Julie Goldman and Jasmine Nguyen

SHHHH SHHHHH Keep it a secret!!!

Teacher Appreciation Lunch: 10/26/12

We are planning our first teacher appreciation lunch of the new school year on Friday, October 26th.  Please sign up to bring something by posting in the comment section of the blog or just send an email to juliegoldman@gmail.com letting us know what you plan to bring (so we don't end up with too many of one type of dish.)

Let's show our teachers how much we appreciate all of their hard work!
Thanks for your support. 

Fall PTO Meeting

Save the date for our first fall PTO meeting

Tuesday, Sept 25th @ 6:00pm

Come meet other parents and find out more about the PTO. 

If you need childcare for the evening, please post here, email Laura at: leschwartz44@hotmail.com, or let Maureen or Melinda know by Friday, Sept 21st. 

We look forward to seeing you there! 

Upcoming Carnival!

Portside is having a school Carnival & Open house July 28, 2012 from 11:00-3:00.

They are looking for anyone that  might want to help.
They are also looking for ideas and/or resources.
They already have Lizzy's fancy feet sending out a princess and facing painting. They also have Jumba Juice coming out. They are thinking of pony rides and a petting zoo. Maybe a bounce house.

Please let us/them know if you have any ideas.

Teacher Appreciation Lunch

Teacher appreciation lunch is this Thursday
(It is also teacher appreciation week)
So tell your teacher how much you appreciate them!!

This is what we have after we posted on facebook:
If you are interested in helping out please sign up by emailing back or posting on the blog:

(There are 17 teachers so 1 or 2 for each item would be ok)

Please leave items in the break room to the right of the office in the morning (put in fridge labeled if needed)

Italian theme:
Baked Pasta (red sauce-no meat): Natalie
Additional Pasta Dish:
Meatballs: Laura
Another main dish (Ie: ravioli, tortalini, etc...)
Salad:
Garlic Bread: Charmaine Yueng
Italian Soda:
Other beverages:
Dessert: Jasmine and Karin Sturgis
Fruit: Karen Zanotto
Paper plates, napkins and silverwear?



Thanks

Rummage Sale Items

Note from Natalie who is arranging the rummage sale:

Hello All Portside Parents!
The rummage sale is quick approaching and I have had a great number of parents volunteer to help; I am very thankful for that.  Even if you aren't coming by to help on the sale day, please bring any rummage sale items that you have and drop them off Friday evening or Saturday first thing in the morning.  We appreciate any items we receive and all proceeds will go towards the school outdoor equipment and other school supplies.  We will also have a side table selling baked goods.  We are hoping for a very successful sale this Saturday……come by to check out the sale and say HI!!  Tell all your neighbors and friends!

I want to remind each person what they have signed up for.  Below is a list of helpers:

Karin - dropping off pricing stickers (you can leave these in Julia's file, or drop them off to us at 5pm on Friday)
Karen Z - dropping off a table (please label your table with your name and come to pick it up at noon on Saturday)
Karen Z - baked goods (drop these off Friday evening or Saturday morning)
Shannon - baked goods (drop these off Friday evening or Saturday morning)
Harriet - baked goods (drop these off Friday evening or Saturday morning)

Gretchen, Laura, Julie and Natalie - Receiving items on Friday evening and pricing
Laura, Julie, Natalie, Jasmine - Setup 6am
Brad, Gretchen, Huy - 8am-10am
Eric W and Natalie - 10am-noon
Evelyn and Natalie - cleanup at noon (Evelyn 11am-cleanup)
Natalie and Sunny - take leftover items to Salvation Army/Good Will

It isn't too late to sign up to help or just show up! 

THANK YOU ALL!!!

Notes from Last Week's PTO Meeting

Here are the notes from last week's PTO meeting held on April 25th, 2012.

• Good feedback on Kinder Speaker from February. Would like to have another speaker maybe a behavioral expert? Maureen and Melinda have resources through the City of Davis if we have request.

• There are a few new teachers: Ms. Amy in Early learners, Ms. Amber O. in Early Learners, Rachel is no longer a permanent teacher in Toddler but she will be a substitute, Christy will be in Toddler MWF and Rilla will be in Toddler T Th.  Bianca is a new floater and will help out in all the class rooms. The PTO will work to get the new teachers pictures taken and up on the wall. Viktoria is now in the Preschool Room since Monday the 30th will be Jessica's last day before she goes on Maternity leave.

• In addition to the new play structure in toddler the school bought new sand and water tables for Preschool and Toddler and new mats for the slides.

• Garage Sale May 5th, Still need people to volunteer Especially during sale time. PLEASE BRING YOUR DONATIONS ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON WHEN YOU PICK UP YOUR STUDENT FROM SCHOOL. WOULD BE HELPFUL IF YOU PRE PRICED WITH STICKY NOTES BUT IF NOT THAT IS OK TOO. THIS WILL BE OUR BIG SPRING FUNDRAISER TO WORK TOWARDS A NEW PLAY STRUCTURE IN THE EARLY LEARNER/PRESCHOOL YARD.

• Teacher Appreciation week is May 7th. The PTO will host a teacher appreciation lunch on Thursday May 10th. Look for sign ups on the blog or facebook.

• Mothers Day Tea is May 11th in the morning. Come in and get a pastry and tea and sit and eat with your child at drop off

• PTO will plan a summer BBQ to get parents and kids together. Friday or Sat in July or August.

• Last day of "school is May 25th" and Preschool graduation will be at 6:30 at the boat house. Please DO NOT ARRIVE EARLIER THAN 6:20 AS YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO COME IN TO THE BUILDING.

• Summer Program Curriculum Starts on the next school day the 28th. It will include Montessori curriculum and also lots of fun themes  (Stay tuned to hear more from your child's teacher)

• Please prepare your child for summer by bring extra clothes for water play, applying sunscreen in the morning.

• Check your file folders some are very full

• If you would like more information about your child's day such as potty time, nap time, and lunch (Early Learners or Preschool). Please talk to their teacher and tell them you would like them to fill out a note. They will be happy to do it at your request.

• If anyone would like to be in charge of a fundraising event please contact Laura or Julie via facebook or the blog. 

Rummage Sale Info from Natalie

Hello PTO parents of Portside Montessori,

A signup sheet is up in the lobby of the school and the rummage sale flyers will go
out to all parents this week. If you are able to help, please sign up for whatever you
can. We appreciate all the help we can get.
A couple of notes on the signup sheet:

•We will need help with pricing items that are dropped off on Friday. We ask
that all items are dropped off between 5 and 7pm on Friday. We appreciate
it if items are brought already priced, but if that isn’t the case, we’ll need to
take care of that. We will be storing items in some of the back rooms and in
the Toddler playground; just on the other side of the fence for easy set up the
next morning.

•If anyone has a wardrobe rack, please let me know. This will make for easy
display of any clothing brought to the sale. I will be bringing tons of hangers.

•I will be bringing a 30x60 folding table, and Melinda and Maureen have a
couple other tables, but if anyone has a card table, that would be very helpful.
Just make sure your name is written on the underside, and please pick it up
by noon on Saturday.

•If anyone has any crafts they would like to donate to the sale that would be
fantastic. Also baked goods are always easy and usually go fast.

•We will be providing an e-waste disposal at the sale as well. Bring any
electronics that you need to dispose of and we will get credit for this and
Melinda and Maureen can write off that cost.

•I will be posting as many signs as I can and will be posting an ad on
craigslist.org, facebook and a local news channel on Thursday and Friday the
week of the sale.

Thanks so much for helping in any way you can. If there are any questions or
suggestions please feel free to email me.
Natalie
natalie.johnson@mac.com

Next PTO Meeting!

PTO meeting next Wednesday April 25th @ 6:00pm. Try to let us know by Friday the 20th if you need child care or at the latest by the 23rd. Lots to discuss including our big garage sale fundraiser coming up on May 5th. Looking forward to seeing you there.  Make sure to check out the new play structure in the toddler area! 

Rummage Sale Coming Soon!

RUMMAGE SALE!
Save your rummage sale items!  We will be having a rummage sale to benefit Portside Montessori on May 5th.  Proceeds will go towards supplies and yard equipment for our childrens' school.  We will be asking for you to donate your things as well as your time for helping on the day of the sale.  Signups for volunteering will go up within the next week. 


Ideas of items to donate:
baby/kid gear(strollers, carseats, bumbo chairs, swings, bouncers, high chairs, blankets,diaper bags, pack n plays, bassinets, exer-saucers, carriers)
baby/kid clothing& lightly used shoes
adult clothing
maternity clothing
bikes
yard supplies
tools
electronics (working)
cameras (working)
home décor
antiques
DVDs & CDs
Cookbooks
Cooking utensils
Kitchen appliances
Furniture (smallstuff, drop off day-of only)
Books (both adult andkids)

Teacher Alicia needs jar lids

Teacher Alicia is planning an art project and is requesting jar lid. Any lids you have are appreciated. Please bring them by Monday, March 5th.

Teacher Appreciation Lunch - next Wednesday!

Laura had the great idea to have a teacher appreciation lunch next Wednesday for LEAP DAY!

When Wednesday Feb 29th.

Sign up to bring something below:

Menu: Sandwiches, Salads and sides!17 teachers
Roast beef: Laura Federico
Turkey: Velrose White
Ham:
Rolls: Natalie Johnson
Cheese, lettuce and tomato:
Condiments:
Pasta Salad: Gretchen Daues
Fruit: Nadien Menke
Chips: Karin Sturgis
Cookies: Nadien Menke, and Karen Zanotto
Drinks:


Thanks! 


ADDITIONAL UPDATE: Natalie Johnson has volunteered to head up the spring rummage sale fundraiser!  Way to go Natalie!  She will keep us posted when she has more information. 

Healthy Children Article

Check out the link below shared  by parent Jasmine Nguyen:


http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/Pages/default.aspx

It's sponsored by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The site addresses many important issues, such as nutrition, sleep issues, behavioral concerns, toilet training, etc. Topics that pediatricians simply cannot cover at length in a 20-30 minute well child check.  I particularly like the article about Growing Independence: Tips for Parents of Young Children

Notes from PTO meeting held February 1, 2012

Guest Speaker Melody Bosley, Kindergarten teacher at Southport Elementary School, spoke about Kindergarten readiness. 

• Curriculum taught in this district is "Open Court" for reading and "Math Expressions" for math. 
• For Kindergarten, there is a 20-1 student teacher ratio. 
• Social aspects are so much more important than academic aspects of preparation.  Knowing how to share, to sit quietly for longer periods of time and to not cry when parents drop off are very helpful. 
• Academic preparation - "well-prepared" kids can write their letters, numbers and their names.  Ways to help your child prepare include lots of reading, singing, counting, etc. 
• By the end of the year, students will read a minimum of 34 "site words" and write numbers 1-30. 
• There is some comfusion about birthday cut offs for starting kindergarten.  Check back at the Washington unified school district for more informatio.n: http://www.wusd.k12.ca.us/   As of the meeting, the website showed a Dec. 2nd birthday cut off, but the laws are changing and we think the website may just not be up to date. 
• We discussed after school care options, which vary by school site. 

Other notes/announcements:

• Melinda announced that the outside structure for the toddler room has been ordered and they are just waiting on a delivery date. They also ordered a water table for the preschool and toddler room and some new mats with the money raised from the cookie dough fundraiser.
• February 10^th is parent's night out – sign up at Portside if you want childcare.
• Brad wanted to remind parents of preschoolers to please drop off either before 9am or after 9:30, as to not interrupt “group time.” He is working hard to get the pre-schoolers ready for Kindergarten. Thank you for understanding.
• Hang on to anything you may wish to donate to the spring rummage sale!  All proceeds will benefit the PTO.  Date to be announced. 

Thanks for Laura Federico for arranging our guest speaker this month! 

We will announce our next meeting as soon as we set a date, probably sometime in mid-March.

As always, if you have an idea for an event/activity for the PTO, let us know and we can try to make it happen! 

It is so nice to see parents at the meeting and we would love to have even more parents getting involved!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here is an update on some upcoming events:

The cleanup day that was scheduled for January 21st has been cancelled until further notice.  As soon as Maureen or Melinda announce something, we will spread the word.

Our next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 1st at 6:00pm.  A kindergarden teacher from Southport Elementary will be there to talk about kindergarden readiness and we will be discussing spring events.  Let us know if you need childcare.