 2011-2012 PTO Presidents
February 2012 Dear Sprague Families,
Remember this time last year when you couldn't find a parking space because of all the snow? Who would have thought we would make it to February without a snow day! With the warm weather comes many more opportunities for children to shed the layers and leave clothing on the playground. Please check the lost and found in the coming weeks. All remaining items will be donated the week before February Break.
Snow or not there are many exciting things to look forward to in February. The month starts off with Walk to School Day this Tuesday, February 7th. At our PTO meeting this month we will be hearing from Sprague parents Andrea Giroux and Phyllis Theerman on the topic "Going Green." We'll get the lowdown on green initiatives at Sprague and town wide. Please join us on Tuesday, February 14th at 8:45 in the cafeteria. Also, throughout the month of February we will be collecting new pajamas in the school lobby as we participate in the Cradles to Crayons/Boston Bruins Pajama Drive. Please see this month's HeartBeat for all the details. We also wanted to make sure you were on the look out for the Heartsongs grade level student meetings. Yolanda Tong, the parent representative, will contact you if your child has shown interest in participating. This year the team is planning to enter two books into the Scholastic Kids Are Authors Contest: Our Garden Grows, and Sprague Has Heart.
Finally, we want to highlight the 5th grade versus Faculty Basketball game taking place this Thursday, February 9th. What better way to build our school community! Whether you are playing, coaching, cheering for the kids or your favorite staff member, in need of an easy dinner, or just interested in the half time show, you can't miss it. Fifth graders are out and about selling raffle tickets and car magnets to promote the big game. All are encouraged to make posters, wear your spirit gear, bring your loudness and good fun, and enjoy as a community while our 5th graders take on this right of passage.
As always, we encourage your comments, questions and suggestions. Thanks again for your commitment to our Sprague Community and let us know how we can help you get involved.
Best, Wendy and Catherine whgarber@comcast.net catherine.mirick@gmail.com
PTO Co-Treasurer Position for 2012-13 Are you organized, do you secretly love when all the cups line up and the plates are stacked in rainbow order? If so, then we have an opportunity for you and a like-minded friend! We're looking for two volunteers to share the role of PTO Treasurer for the upcoming school year. You will be fully supported by the current treasurers as you step into the role. This position is extremely flexible and you need not be an accountant to do it! Interested or want to learn more? Please contact Colette Aufranc coletteaufranc@gmail.com or Erin Majernik esmajernik@me.com.
PTO BOARD KUDOS CORNER A big thank you this month to our PTO Community Service Representative, Leslie Del Col. She has inspired the fifth graders and the rest of the Sprague Community to give back. Sprague's contribution to the Cradles to Crayons Pajama Drive will help kids get the essentials they need to feel safe, warm and valued.
FOR THE RECORD Please click here for Minutes of the Sprague PTO December 2011 Meeting Please click here for Minutes of the Sprague PTO January 2012 Meeting December 2011 Dear Sprague Families,
As we write this, the long Thanksgiving weekend is drawing to a close and it is hard to believe that December is only days away. (The sixty degree weather makes it even more difficult!). What an amazing fall we have had at Sprague!
As the year rolls on, Creative Arts and Science enrichment activities are kicking into high gear - last month Wingmasters came to our 1st grade classrooms and The Discovery Museum demonstrated properties of matter to our 4th graders. PTO sponsored buses are rolling on all sorts of field trips including Sturbridge Village and the Lowell Mills. Your support makes this happen.
Coming up in December, we have our last fall fundraiser - the Cookie Walk. This fun event is a great place to showcase your baking prowess - whether it's beautifully iced sugar cookies or simple chocolate chip. It's also a great event to stock up on a variety of cookies for the holidays. Help your child's classroom win the "Golden Cookie"!
We hope you will join us for our December PTO meeting on Tuesday, the 13th at 8:45 am in the cafeteria. Beth Brown, the district-wide head of Elementary Special Education, will lead a discussion on special education in Wellesley schools - both at Sprague and throughout the district. Additional presenters will include Dr. Goodwin, ISS teachers Patty Weismer and Barbara Ohanian and parents of children in the ISS program. This will be a great opportunity to learn about the special support programs that are happening in Wellesley.
As always, we encourage your comments, questions and suggestions. Thanks again for your commitment to our Sprague Community.
See you soon at Sprague, Catherine and Wendy catherine.mirick@gmail.com whgarber@comcast.net
PTO BOARD KUDOS CORNER Special thanks this month go to Elise Rodino, our Enrichment Officer. She oversees the Environmental Education program, the Walk to School program, and classroom Art Appreciation. Her efforts also bring amazing creative arts and science programs to each grade level to support the curriculum. Thank you Elise!
FOR THE RECORD Please click here for Minutes of the Sprague PTO October 2011 Meeting. November 6, 2011 Dear Sprague Families,
There is only one word to describe the month of October at Sprague: SPECTACULAR (and we are not talking about that surprise snow storm). The Sprague Fall Family Festival, Nature Walks, Picture Day, Summer Reader's Breakfast, Parent Socials, Halloween Parade, Fundraising and Community Service Activities and Family Night at the Scholastic Book Fair -- just to name a few -- were opportunities for students, staff and families to experience Sprague at it's best. While it may feel like we are steamrolling into November, we would be remiss not to reflect back and thank the entire Sprague Community for helping to organize, attend, and support all of these activities.
As we head into November, our next Walk to School Day will be this Tuesday November 8. It is a great way to encourage more exercise in our daily routines!
We hope you will join us at our PTO meeting this month on Thursday November 10th at 8:45 am in the cafeteria. Come after drop off, grab a cup of coffee and join us as we hear from our local town government elected officials. The panel will show us how the town budget is crafted and in particular the relationship to the school budget, how decisions are made, and how best to make your voice heard in the process. This will be a great opportunity to get all of your questions answered. Click for a sneak peak at the presentation slides and handouts about the budget process.
The November Heartbeat contains full descriptions of the many community, enrichment, social, and fundraising programs planned for the months of November and December so we encourage you to read it closely. There are also many opportunities to get involved, so please do!
As always, we encourage your comments, questions and suggestions. Thanks again for your commitment to our Sprague Community.
Best,
PTO BOARD KUDOS CORNER A big thank you this month to our PTO Treasurers, Colette Aufranc and Erin Majernick. They have done a wonderful job managing the fall dues collection, establishing our annual budget, completing our tax forms and keeping us on track so we can keep our community well informed.
FOR THE RECORD Please click here for Minutes of the Sprague PTO September 2011 Meeting. October 2, 2011 Dear Sprague Community,
What We've Done - Community Building Wow! 20 days of school completed! The energy and enthusiasm that we have seen as friends old and new come together as a community is amazing. The Ice Cream Social was a great success with kids and parents getting a chance to congregate and enjoy each other's company. Our first Walk to School Day last week was a record-breaker! We had the most kids EVER participating and collecting their "footies." Join us this Wednesday for International Walk to School Day. We want to continue encouraging more exercise in our daily routines and with your participation, we hope to beat our record once more!
What's Coming Up As we head into October, we have a busy slate of school-based social and fundraising events and we are looking to continue the huge participation we have seen so far this year. Our first PTO meeting is this Tuesday at 8:45 am in the cafeteria. Please come on in after drop-off, grab a cup of coffee, and join us as we get an update from Dr. Goodwin, talk about PTO and school goals for the year, and hear from our amazing treasurer, Colette Aufranc.
Social Line up your babysitters now for our Parent Socials! These socials are wonderful, low key evenings for parents to get together and mingle with other same grade parents. Also in October, our Fall Festival will be a great afternoon of chili, hot dogs, crafts, and games for the whole family. See details on all these events in the HeartBeat.
Fundraising As with any organization, the PTO needs funds to cover all the wonderful enrichment, support and activities that we do. We cluster most of our fundraisers in the fall so that the funds are available to support our year-long programming. To keep you informed, a quick summary of our fundraising efforts is listed below. Our first major fundraiser, our annual PTO dues appeal, began on Friday. Each family should have received a packet containing our letter, a copy of last year's treasurer's report and a pink return envelope in their youngest kids backpack on Friday.
This coming Friday, kids will bring home materials for our Sally Foster Gift Wrap fundraiser and then in November, the Scholastic Book Fair comes to Sprague. Our last major fall fundraiser is the Cookie Walk in December. To learn more about our fundraising activities, please click here. All these, combined with our spring auction, provide the funds to support the curriculum enrichment activities, library books and much of the new technology that our children benefit from every day. Your support is what enables Sprague to continue being the best learning environment for our children.
Kudos Lastly, we want to thank our fabulous PTO Executive Board. This group of parents stepped up when asked last spring to lead the PTO this year and they have already put in countless hours. Specifically, Angie Gakidis, our fearless Communications Officer, collects information and with the help of Jennett Murphy, puts out the indispensible weekly email blasts. Sarah Greene, our always cheerful Social Officer, has jumped in with both feet to plan the Ice Cream Social, Fall Festival, and Parent Socials. We have all had enjoyable evenings thanks to Sarah! The last officers I'll highlight this month are DD Marcoux and Andrea Doglioli, our Ways and Means aka Fundraising Officers. Their work has been mostly behind the scenes so far, but it is ramping up over the next two months. Thank you to these ladies and the rest of the Executive Board.
See you soon at Sprague! Catherine and Wendy August 2011
Dear New and Returning Families,
Please mark your calendars and join us for these events to kick off the school year: Spruce Up Sprague on Monday Aug 29th at 9-11 am and 4-6 pm Volunteer Opportunity! Bring your family, gloves and gardening tools for planting, weeding, pruning and debris cleanup. The more volunteers young and old, the faster we can accomplish this project. Come for however long you can. Snacks and drinks provided! Please contact Colleen Conroy clarkee@comcast.net or Laurie Diamond diamondlaurie@yahoo.com to volunteer. Kindergarten and New Family Tour and Popsicle Playdate on Monday Aug 29th at 2-3:30 pm Kindergartners and New Families (grades 1-5), please join us any time between 2:00 - 3:30 pm for a casual social gathering on the Sprague playground while the kids enjoy popsicles and play time. A tour of the school, including the library, art room, cafeteria and more will begin at 3 pm. We look forward to seeing you! Teacher Appreciation Luncheon on Tuesday Aug 30th at 12 noon Volunteer Opportunity! Please join us in providing lunch for our teachers the day before school starts. Provide a salad, dessert, or drinks. To volunteer, please contact Rebecca Cahaly rebecca@tellalian.com, Janet Giesser janetgiesser@comcast.net or Lori Goldenthal lorigoldenthal@gmail.com. Thank you! First Day of School on Wednesday Aug 31st at 8:30–12 noon dismissal First Day of School PTO Parent Welcome Coffee on Wednesday Aug 31st at 8:30 am The Sprague PTO warmly invites you to join us at the front of the school right after drop-off for coffee, conversation and a light breakfast. We look forward to seeing returning friends and families and to meeting all of our new families! Back to School Night on Thursday Sept 8th at 6:30-8 pm First PTO Meeting of the Year on Tuesday Oct 4th at 8:45 am Our email is always open… Catherine Mirick catherine.mirick@gmail.com Wendy Garber whgarber@comcast.net
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Banner painting of Sprague by Margaret C. Flitsch
Sprague School - 401 School Street, Wellesley, MA 02482
Banner painting of Sprague by Margaret C. Flitsch
Sprague School - 401 School Street, Wellesley, MA 02482
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