PTA News Splash 9/20/18

Thu, 09/20/2018 - 5:32pm

We hope all of you are settling into this new school year.  Your PTA is very excited about all the programs and events that we have planned!  A big thank you goes out to Rachel Tarp who organized the Ice Cream Social last Friday!  We had an amazing turn out and hope everyone who attended enjoyed reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones! 

PTA WEBSITE: Our newly revamped PTA website is an excellent resource for staying up to date on all things PTA!  Please check it out at http://daytonoakspta.org . Here you will find contact information for all the board members and committee chairs, membership information, our calendar, and much more. 

 

PTA GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS: Please mark your calendars for the PTA General Membership Meetings.  We encourage all PTA members to attend at 7PM in the Media Center:

  • Wednesday, September 26 (Budget Vote)
  • Wednesday, November 28
  • Wednesday, February 27th
  • Wednesday, June 5th (Board Election)

 

PTA budget: is currently available on the website for review https://daytonoakspta.org/publications/.  We encourage everyone to attend the first PTA general membership meeting Wednesday September 26, 2018 at 7 PM in the Media Center, where PTA members will be able to vote on the budget.

Join the PTA:  Membership forms were sent home in Thursday folders, or you can go to the membership link on our website: https://daytonoakspta.org/membership/ to print the form or join online using PayPal. 

BACK TO SCHOOL SURVEY: Would you like to volunteer at the school, get involved in the PTA, or just express your ideas about what's important to you?  We strongly encourage parents to take a moment to complete the PTA Back to School Survey  .

Room Parents Wanted: Becoming a room parent is a great way to get to know the other students, families and teacher of your child’s homeroom class. Responsibilities of a room parent include:

  • Being a source of communication for the DOES PTA. The room parent is responsible for sending email reminders to parents about upcoming events, field trips and need for volunteers or donations within 24 hours.
  • Assisting the teacher with classroom activities and events (this is grade and teacher dependent)
  • Organizing class gift collections e.g. teacher’s holiday gift Class room parents are selected by the DOES PTA and the administration.
  • There will be 1 Room Parent per class. In cases where more than one parent volunteers to be a room parent, every effort will be made to ensure parents who have not had a turn being room parent in the past will be given opportunity to do so. Each room parent will be provided a class email list by the DOES PTA. To volunteer, fill out the PTA Back to School Survey or contact Melissa Tsang at secretary@daytonoakspta.org by Friday, September 28.

 

FUN RUN: We need business sponsors for our upcoming Fun Run, our big fundraiser for the year!  The PTA offers businesses promotional opportunities in exchange for sponsorship.  There are 4 sponsorship levels ($1,000, $750, $500, $250). Depending on sponsorship level, business logos may appear on the PTA website, in the Memory Book, at PTA events, and on Fun Run t-shirts worn by each student and staff member.  Please contact Jennifer Bush at liljenwi@gmail.com if you are interested in being a sponsor!

 

Box tops/cashback for schools 2018: Please use the following form to submit box tops for our back to school September contest to win exciting gift cards from Amazon, Justice and more at the drawing October 3rd!!!!! Click here for Box Tops Form. Also, continue to link your Giant food and Harris Teeter cards to earn even more money for DOES every time you shop!!! See the PTA website for more info on retail rewards or form sent home in Thursday folder for more details or contact Kim Mudd-Boothe at cashback@daytonoakspta.org if you have any questions about these programs.

 

Dayton Oaks Spirit Wear:  is available year-round through our online store, http://www.daytonoaksspiritwear.com/.  Check out all the fun t-shirts, shorts, pants, hoodies, sweatshirts, polos, bags, and much more!  A special 2-week FREE SHIPPING promotion is going on now through Monday, October 1!

DOES PTA AFTER SCHOOL CLASSES: Fall after-school classes at DOES are beginning! Go to “After School Activities” on the PTA Website for a complete listing and to register.

sMILE Trackers (formerly Walking Club): This PTA Golden Sneaker Walk/Run program, kicks off during Thursday recess.  Students walk and/or run around the track meeting sMILEstones for cool prizes. Classes compete weekly for the Golden Sneaker.  Grades race across the USA with all the sMILEs earned!  Whose class will get the grand prize?!  Map and leader board is updated weekly inside the school's lobby.  Join us to cheer your child onward and help tally laps & sMILEs! Click here to volunteer and for more info.

MEMORY BOOK: Please send photos from the first day of school, the Ice Cream Social and any upcoming events to memorybook@daytonoakspta.org labeled with the event and your child's name and grade.  If you would like to be a grade level representative for the Memory Book Committee, please  complete the PTA Back to School Survey   or contact Ellen Sowry at president@daytonoakspta.org.

 

STAFF APPRECIATION COMMITTEE: Our first Staff Appreciation breakfast was held on August 22nd to welcome back our amazing teachers. Help is needed on PTA Staff Appreciation Committee this year.

If you are interested in volunteering to help, please contact Valerie Conn staffappreciation@daytonoakspta.org

 

SPECIAL EDUCATION CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE (SECAC): is a committee of parents and educators which advises the school system on the needs of students with disabilities. We collaborate with other community disability advocacy groups to improve special education and the lives of our students in Howard County, MD.

SECAC has finalized the meeting schedule for this school year and have already scheduled 2 parent information sessions.   The SECAC meetings will be Sept 24th, Oct 29th, Dec 10th, January 28th, February 25th, March 25th, April 29th, May 20th and June 10th from 7-9pm.   The location for the meetings will generally be the Ten Oaks Fire Hall in Clarksville.  However, the Sept 24th and Oct 29th meetings will be at Ellicott Mills Middle and Clarksville Middle, respectively.  This is due to a two-part information session on reading and dyslexia that will be a part of those meetings.  We will have Karleen Spitulnik from Decoding Dyslexia Maryland in Sept and Fran Bowman, Author and Dyslexia Advocate at our Oct meeting.  For more info, see our flyers on the home page of the DOES PTA website.