GREEN TEAM RECYCLING KICKS OFF MONDAY 09-26-2011

THE GREEN TEAM will begin collecting your recycling every Monday morning starting this Monday.  Please bring in all bottles, plastic and glass (please separate the dark from clear) and soda cans.  Look out for the big GREEN BINS by the valet drop off point and also by the gate leading to the ramp.  We are hoping this will turn in to a major fundraising event for our school, so not only are you helping the environment by not throwing this stuff in the trash, but also you are supporting the school’s efforts. Every little helps, the grade that brings in the most will win an ICE CREAM PARTY at the end of the semester.

We would also like to thank the girl scouts Troup #1955 many of whom kick started the recycling effort last Saturday morning when they picked up 13lbs of recyclable materials – 6lbs of which were cans which we are able to turn into money for the school – and 13bls of trash from the beaches of San Pedro during the Costal Cleanup event. THANK YOU GIRL SCOUTS!

PTA MEMBERSHIP DRIVE UPDATE

We are off to a great start this year.  We are already up to over 220 members.  Want to see how close your child’s classroom is to winning one of those Lakeshore gift cards for their teacher?  Check out the numbers below. 

Room 1                66%

Room 2                56%

Room 4                57%

Room 5                74%

Room 6                  9%

Room 8                 44%

Room 10               32%

Room 11               53%

Room 12               35%

Room 13               39%

Room 15               52%

Room 17               62%

To become a PTA member, simply fill out the envelope that went home in backpacks the second week of school, or visit us in the parent center to sign up.

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT: TUES, SEPTS. 27TH 6-7:30PM

The PTA will host a bake sale for Back to School Night and roll out our merchandise for your shopping pleasure.  Don’t forget to visit us, after you’ve learned all about what our children will be doing this year from your child’s teacher. 

We are in need of some baked goods, so if you find yourself with a little time on your hands, and baking is your thing, we would be very grateful for your efforts.  If you are able to contribute to our bake sale,  please contact Rosalba Mendez at volunteers1@mwpta.org, or drop off your goodies in the Parent Center Tuesday morning.  Thanks very much for your help.

FRESH AND EASY

SHOP, SHOP, SHOP till you drop.  Save your receipts of $20 or more, dated between Sept.15^th and December 31^st.  Don't forget we earn $1.00 for every $20.00 you spend at Fresh & Easy.  Please turn your receipts in at the Main Office or the Parent Center.

BOX -TOPS & LABELS FOR EDUCATION

We are collecting Box-Tops and Labels for Education in the Parent Center.  Participating products for Labels for Education are:  Campbell's Soup/Products, Dannon Yogurt, Pace Salsa, Pepperidge Farm, Post Cereals & Treats, V8 Products, Gladd Products and several magazines from Time Inc. (People, Time, All You, Health, Southern Living & Cooking Light).  Make sure you turn in the UPC code for Labels for Education.

Pancake Breakfast: Saturday, Sept. 24th, 8-11am

We are looking forward to a great event yet again this year.  Join us for our 26^th annual Pancake Breakfast, catch up with some old friends and help us welcome new ones.  Rock out with Haywire, get your face painted by our Girl Scouts, or pick up a tree from our Cub Scouts, meet our local fire fighters, and our School Board Representative – Bennett Kayser, check out the booths by the garden committee, the produce collective and many other organizations from our neighborhood.  Tickets will go on sale on Monday morning, buy them presale any morning this week to avoid waiting in line at the breakfast.  Children are $4 and adults are just $6. We need your volunteer power to make this event a success, so please sign up by clicking bit.ly/pancakemwpta or visit us in the parent center in the mornings.

Fresh and Easy: 9/15-12/31

Save your Fresh & Easy Receipts of $20 or more for a donation to our school.  For every $20, Mt. Washington gets $1.  Last year we raised over $2,000 from Fresh and Easy.  Encourage friends and other family members, organizations, sports teams and the entire community to donate their receipts to our school.  Even if they shop at different Fresh & Easy stores, their receipts will still count.  The receipts must be dated between September 15^th and December 31^st of 2011.  The more you shop the more our school makes!!!

Just drop your receipts off in the parent center or Main Office in the labeled boxes.  When available, discount coupons for Fresh & Easy will be in the Parent Center and Main Office, hopefully the one attached to last week’s flyer made it safely out of your child’s backpack to you.  We look forward to seeing you at our Shop Night at Fresh Easy on Wednesday, November 9^th, 2011 from 4:00pm to 8:00pm.  Stop by the Parent Center to volunteer for our Shop Night or visit http://www.mwpta.org/volunteer to sign up. 

Check out All the Great Choices for After School

We are truly fortunate to be able to extend yet again this year the many after school programs available to our children, right here on our campus. Please see our list below for the programs and classes; some are sponsored by PTA and some by STAR Nova. There is something offered every day, for every budget.  Flyers will be sent home in your child’s backpack to sign them up, or you can download them by clicking here.

Monday:

Plein Air Painting class by Eagle Rock Center for the Arts
Oct. 10-December 15th
3:00-5:00, meeting location tbd
$150 for 10 week session

Musical Theatre presenting "Cinderella"

grades K-1 3:00-4:00

grades 2-6 4:00-5:00

Star Nova Class 

Homework Class (Monday-Thursday)

grades 2-6 3:00-4:00

grades K-1 4:00- 5:00

Star Nova Class

Tuesday:

Kids Yoga with Gabrielle Benoit

Oct. 11-Dec. 13

1:45-2:30

grades 1-6

$70 for 10 week session

Sewing Art and Fashion

grades K-1 3:00-4:00

grades 2-6 4:00-5:00

Star Nova Class

Fitness Fun (Tuesday-Friday)

grades K-1 3:00-4:00

grades 2-6 4:00-5:00

Star Nova Class

Wednesday:

Hightouch Hightech After School Science Program

Sept. 28-Nov. 16

Group 1- 2:45-3:15 and Group 2 - 3:30-4:00

$56 for 8 classes

Hip Hop

grades K-1 3:00-4:00

grades 2-6 4:00-5:00

Star Nova Class

Thursday:

Mt. Washington Children’s Chorus

Starting Oct. 6th

grades K-6 2:45-3:45 in the MPR

$50 for the school year

Skateboarding "build and skate"

grades K-1 3:00-4:00

grades 2-6 4:00-5:00

Star Nova Class

Friday:

Chess Club 

Oct. 7- April 27

2:30-3:30 at lunch pavilion

$10 registration fee (parent volunteers appreciated)

Cooking

grades 2-6 3:00-4:00

grades K-1 4:00-5:00

Star Nova Class

Ecostation Wildlife

grades K-1 3:00-4:00

grades 2-6 4:00-5:00

Star Nova Class

*All Star Nova Classes begin week of Oct. 3 through Dec.2

For more information please contact Nicole at programs@mwpta.org

SIGN UP TO BECOME A ROOM REP

The Room Rep serves as the closest link between our PTA and the school and to assist the teacher with classroom events.  If you are interested in volunteering as a Room Rep, or as an Assistant, please, visit our website, mwpta.org or click on the link: bit.ly/roomrepsignup to sign up.  Classrooms 6, 12, and 15 do not have any Room Reps.  You can also sign up in the parent center with Anvi Kevany, our Room Rep and Volunteers Coordinator.  The Room Rep and Volunteer Orientation will be held on Monday, October 3rd, 8:30 to 9:30 am.  Thank you very much to all off our room reps in advance, we could not do this without you!

A Few Needs our Parent Center Has:

If you could help us out in donating the items below, we would greatly appreciate it and we would not have to spend our children’s money on them.  Thank you very, very much for your generosity in advance!

• Coffee (ground please)
• Creamer
• Hot cups and lids
• Reams of paper
• Office supplies such as: clear tape, staples, white out, glue sticks, rubber cement and pens
• Trash bags

PTA MEMBERSHIP DRIVE: 9/12-10/31

Our membership drive kicks off on Monday, September 12^th and will continue through October 31^st.  Look for the flier and attached envelopes in your child’s backpack to come home Monday or Tuesday.  Fill it out, include your $5 membership fee and return it to your child’s teacher, the office or the parent center.  Alan Palmer, our membership coordinator, will have a table set up after school this week starting on Monday, you can sign up in the parent center in the mornings as well.

The first classroom to reach 100% membership, meaning each child has at least one adult member, will receive a $100 gift card for their teacher to Lakeshore Learning.  The second class will receive $75, and the third class will receive $50 to Lakeshore. Even though the drive is till October 31^st, our contest will end as soon as we have our first, second and third place winners. Best of luck classes!  

MWE GARDEN COMMITTEE

Looking into the year ahead…

The Garden Committee will hold it’s first meeting of the year on Wednesday, September 14th at 8:15 a.m. in the Library. We hope to involve many new parents this year and would like to invite you to join us.

This year the Mount Washington Elementary School Garden Committee will continue to provide the Edible School Garden Project to all K-6 students, working with teachers to offer an integrated hands-on program targeting math, science, language arts, nutrition and art experiences in the garden. Each class will plan, plant and maintain their organic edible garden throughout the 2011 –2012 school year.

This year in addition to the regular Edible Garden Project we would like to build compost bins and integrate them into the classroom garden curriculum. This is a volunteer organization and your help is needed!

The committee will also hold several Campus Beautification events and continue to work with Julie Prejean of the Tree People to further develop a plan for establishing a Mount Washington School Orchard and an Outdoor Reading Garden on the lower yard.  Please click bit.ly/gardentimeline to see our timeline, and click bit.ly/gardenvolunteers to download the volunteer form for the Garden Committee.

The produce collective will be up and running this Thursday, September 15th.  To receive a box of organic goodness this week, please visit www.eroots.org.

GRAND REOPENING: THE MWE PARENT CENTER!

Did you know about the Parent Center?!  Newly renovated by our wonderful volunteers, the center is open for ALL parents to enjoy.  Please stop by any morning, grab a cup of coffee, share stories, BUY MERCHANDISE, become a PTA or FOMWS member, sign-up to volunteer, make a donation, learn more about our events, or offer to help our teachers with paperwork.   We are so lucky to have this resource, so please help us to enjoy it!  The Parent Center is open in the mornings after drop-off until approximately 10:00 a.m.  We hope to see you there!

WELCOME TO THE WOLVES' DEN!

Beginning on September 13^th, the Wolves' Den is OPEN for business!  Formerly known as Snack Shack, concessions and limited supplies will be available after school for a fee.  NOW OPEN 5 DAYS A WEEK from 2:35 – 3:05.  Healthy snacks are provided for a fee (range $.50 – $2.00).  This is a very popular program and also a great PTA fundraiser, so please support our efforts!  If you are able to volunteer for the Wolves' Den, please sign up by clicking bit.ly/wolvesden , or at the parent center.

PTA OFFICERS & CHAIRPERSONS

What to make a huge impact at MWE? We are seeking a couple of Officers to serve on the Executive Board as well as Chairpersons for several events throughout the year.  If you have the drive to take your school volunteerism to the next level, we need you!  The Executive Board meets on the first Wednesday evening of each month and free childcare is provided.  Positions available are not elected, but by Presidential appointment.  Inquire at: president@mwpta.org.

ROOM REP VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

The Room Rep serves as the closest link between our PTA and the school and to assist the teacher with classroom events.  If you are interested in volunteering as a Room Rep, please, visit our website, mwpta.org or click on the link: bit.ly/roomrepsignup to sign up.  You can also sign up in the parent center with Anvi Kevany, our Room Rep and Volunteers Coordinator.  The Room Rep and Volunteer Orientation will be held on Monday, September 26, 8:30 to 9:30 am.  Thank you very much to all off our room reps in advance, we could not do this without you!

SAVE THE DATE FOR OUR PANCAKE BREAKFAST: SEPTEMBER 24th

We are looking forward to a great event yet again this year.  Join us for our 26^th annual Pancake Breakfast, catch up with some old friends and help us welcome new ones.  Rock out with some great bands, get your face painted by our Girl Scouts, or pick up a tree from our Cub Scouts, meet our local fire fighters and much more.  Tickets will go on sale the week of the 19^th, look for our flier then too.  We need your volunteer power so please sign up by clicking bit.ly/pancakemwpta or visit us in the parent center in the mornings.

INTRODUCING THE GREEN TEAM

Our school will participate in a recycling program this year in an effort to be more green and to generate some extra income through the PTA.  The program will kick off in a few weeks, stay tuned for more info coming your way soon.  For now start saving your plastic bottles and cans so that we can have a great kick off week.

Welcome to School Year 2011 - 2012

We would like to extend a heartfelt welcome to all of our new families to Mt. Washington Elementary School, and a hearty welcome back to all of our returning families.  As our children gear up for all the new excitement and challenges of this school year, we have lots of great events and activities planned through out the year to support them.  Please visit our website and check out our calendar for up to date information.  We are looking forward to a GREAT YEAR !