Laurel PTO Notes
Love and Logic Speaker Event
Thursday, March 8
7 - 8 p.m.
Hillview Auditorium
Save the Date: Jim Faye, one of America's most
sought-after presenters and authors in the area of
parenting, will be speaking to district parents.
Full details to follow.
Library Shelving Party
Tuesday, February 6
8:25 a.m.
Laurel Library
Please join us for a Library Shelving Party with our
wonderful librarian Lezlie Glare. We’ll get things
in ship shape and have some fun!
KidsART Night Light Bulb
Replacement bulbs are in the office.
If you ordered a night light from Original Works as
part of KidsART this fall, please unplug the night
light and check the bulb. If you have a 7 watt bulb
(with 120V 7W printed on the upper edge of the bulb
socket), please discard that bulb and come to the
Laurel Office to pick up a replacement 5 watt bulb.
While in many cases the 7 watt bulb may not present
an issue, it is possible that the highter wattage
could cause the bulb or plug to overheat or short
out. If you have a 5 watt bulb (with bottom 120V 5W
printed on the bottom of the bulb socket), your
night light is fine and no action needs to be taken.
Contact: Sarah Wright, wright_sarah(at)sbcglobal.net.
Safe Ringwood Parking
The south side of Ringwood Avenue, between Coleman
and the school crosswalk, has been determined by
safety consultants to be an area where parked cars
are creating a safety hazard. Children walking and
biking
have no room to pass these parked cars safely, and
must use the main roadway. We are therefore
suggesting that the school community, in the
interest of safety , avoid parking here during
pickup and drop-off times, 7:50-8:20 a.m. and 2:30-3
p.m. Instead, please pull forward of the crosswalk
so children can safely reach the
crosswalk and enter our school grounds. Nancy Hendry
would appreciate your cooperation in this regard.
Winter Sing DVD Update
The Winter Sing DVDs have been distributed to your
child's classroom. If you ordered one, your child's
teacher will be sending it home with your child
shortly. Please check your child's backback for the
DVD if you ordered and paid for it. Thank you again
for your support of the PTO!
Sports 4 Kids Change
Sports 4 Kids dates have been changed! New dates are
February 13 through May 1 (K-2, Tuesdays,
2:45-4:15). Enjoy a special program directed by Jim
Heebner for developing sports skills while building
confidence. You may print out a flyer from the Sports 4 Kids website. If you
have any questions call Jim at 814-6734.
LE News
The January edition of LE News is now available. From the front cover
photo of Encinal Principal Stacy Marshall's twins to
a snippet from a ten-year-old LE News (our computer
labs have come a long way), and info about the
latest addition to the school rock scene, the
January LE News has something for everyone.
Quick Links...
|
|
Monday, 2/5
Kindergarten Registration Begins
Box Tops Contest Continues
Tuesday, 2/6
Regular Day
Wednesday, 2/7
8:45 a.m. Laurel PTO Exec Board Meeting
Thursday, 2/8
7 p.m. Curriculum Night
All-Together Day, all students attend school from
8:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Friday, 2/9
School Spirit Day - Wear Royal Blue and White
Walk and Bike to School Day
|
|
Rummage Sale
|
|
- Laurel-Encinal Rummage Sale
- Saturday, February 3
- 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- In the Encinal Multi
Come to the Encinal gym and shop our amazing Rummage
Sale! We have a HUGE inventory this year of toys,
clothes, kitchenware, furniture, Apple Valley
costumes, and much more! Proceeds benefit the Laurel
and Encinal PTOs.
Contact: Sarah Jones at sarahjones888(at)hotmail.com
|
|
Upcoming Events
|
|
2/14 Laurel Site Council Meeting, 3 p.m.
2/19-23 No School - Winter Break
3/8 Speaker Jim Faye at Hillview, 7 p.m.
3/9 No School - Staff Development
3/14 Laurel PTO Exec Board Meeting, 8:45 a.m.
3/19-23 Laurel Staff Appreciation Week
3/21 Laurel Site Council Meeting, 3 p.m.
4/4 Laurel PTO Exec Board Meeting, 8:45 a.m.
4/5 Kindergarten Orientation
4/9-13 No School - Spring Break
4/16 No School - Staff Development
4/18 Laurel "Day of the Reader," 9:45 a.m.
4/20 Laurel General PTO Meeting 8:30 a.m.
|
|
Kindergarten Registration
|
|
If you have a child starting kindergarten at Laurel
next year, February 5 is the first day you can
pick up your child’s kindergarten registration
packet. Before you can get the packet, you will need
to come to the Laurel school office (M-F 8 a.m. to 4
p.m.) and show:
- your current PG&E statement (no other utility
bill will do)
- a record of your child’s immunizations
- your child’s birth certificate or passport
No packets will be given out before Feb. 5. Call
Pam Bonino in the Laurel Office, at 324-0186 if you
have questions. For more information about Laurel
School and registration, go to the district website.
|
|
Curriculum Night
|
|
- Thursday, February 8
- 7 to 8:30 p.m.
- In the Laurel Multi
Come join Bets McKnight, our District Language Arts
Coordinator, and some of the Laurel Staff to hear
about what your child is learning in school. The
Language Arts curriculum for grades K-2 will be
presented. What a great opportunity to see
how it all works together to build such a strong
foundation for our kids.
Babysitting will be available in the library from 6:45
until 15 minutes after the meeting. Please RSVP to
Gina Watkins at
ginamark(at)mindspring.com by Monday,
February 5, with the names and ages of your children.
|
|
Second Grade Parents Needed for Encinal PTO Board
|
|
The Encinal School PTO Executive Board is currently
seeking
second grade parents (headed to Encinal next year) as
candidates for several PTO officer positions for the
2007-08
school year. All you need is a "can-do" attitude and a
willingness to lead. Consider nominating yourself or
someone
else for one of the following positions: Vice
President,
Financial Secretary, Recording Secretary, Corresponding
Secretary, Historian, Auditor, or Head Room Parent
Coordinator. Print out a nomination form and submit by February 9. The
board
couldn't run without dedicated parents like you!
|
|
Laurel Art and Science Fair Volunteers Needed
|
|
The Laurel Art & Science Fair needs volunteers to
lead or
assist with workshops. The fair will be held on
Thursday,
April 26th from 8:15 to 10:45 AM. If you are
interested in
helping out with this great event, see the flyer for
more information.
Contacts:
Renu Prasad Relan, Kinder coordinator, 566-8694 or renupr(at)yahoo.com
Cristina Tato, 1st grade coordinator, 521-0283 or cmtato(at)earthlink.net
Monica Ip, 2nd grade coordinator, 366-6855 or m_monica_ip(at)yahoo.com
Celeste Baranski, Committee Chairperson, 322-1729
or celeste.baranski(at)gmail.com.
|
|
Laurel PTO Board Nominations
|
|
The Laurel School PTO Executive Board is currently
seeking candidates for several PTO officer positions
for the 2007-08 school year. Consider nominating
yourself or someone else for one of the following
positions:
- Vice President
- Financial Secretary
- Recording Secretary
- Corresponding Secretary
- Historian
- Auditor
- Head Room Parent Coordinator
The board couldn't run without dedicated parents.
Look for the flyer in your child’s blue folder on
Monday, February 5. Contact: Kim Steere, 329-8797
or KimS672(at)aol.com.
|
|
Business Alliances
|
Box Tops for Education Contest
Our school-wide Box Tops for Education contest is
underway! Please clip and send Box Tops to your
child's class NOW - each classroom has a special
envelope to collect Box Tops. Please try to turn them
in BY FEBRUARY 16 so that we can be counting over the
school break later this month. You can also submit
box tops after the break until Tuesday, February 27.
Ask family and neighbors to clip Box Tops to give to
your child to submit. The class that collects the most
Box Tops will earn a special treat! This Fall, Laurel
and Encinal together submitted over 7000 Box Tops,
earning the PTOs over $700.
Betty Crocker, Ziploc, General Mills, Pillsbury,
Cascadian Farm, and Yoplait are a few of the many
brand names that have Box Tops for Education coupons.
Visit the Box Tops website for a complete listing of all
participating products. Contact: Elizabeth Ouren,
eharris_ouren(at)yahoo.com
Northstar/Sierra Ski Vouchers
The PTO has available a limited number of vouchers for
Northstar or Sierra at Tahoe for only $52. These
vouchers can be exchanged for a full access adult lift
ticket (regular price is $69). Get ready for
Ski Week
and save $17 per ticket! Note: these are not the
direct-to-lift tickets we also have available – the
vouchers must be exchanged at a resort ticket booth.
Contact: Andrea Palmer at 473-1299 or andrea.palmer(at)laurelpto.org.
|
|
Eco Squirrel Says "Stop Your Engines!"
|
|
That’s not fresh air coming out of the tail pipe.
Turn your car engine off while waiting in the
carpool line (particularly when the cars have not
yet started to move). It’s a simple action that has
far-reaching impacts on local air quality and global
climate change and it will save you money. Idling
for more than ten seconds uses more gas and creates
more global warming pollution than simply restarting
your engine. Switch your engine off for one minute a
day for one year and you save 1 kg of C02 not to
mention increasing your mpg (when you idle your car,
your consumption drops to 0 miles/gallon). Plus, who
wants our children breathing all that C02? It is so
easy to turn your engine off.
Until next time,
Eco S.
|
|
MPAEF Auction - Help Needed
|
Luck be a Lady on auction night! Become a MPAEF
auction volunteer and help us guarantee a winner!
Live Auction Coordinator(s)
Work with the production company and the auctioneer
to make sure the program runs smoothly, and also
manage the Live Auction volunteers including bid
spotters. If you are interested or would like more
information, contact Grayson Lane at lanegrayson(at)yahoo.com. Double-down: Co-chair
teams welcome!
Student Server Coordinator
Help recruit student volunteers in grades 5 - 8 to
ante up and act as servers at auction. This job
begins 2-3 weeks before auction. On Friday, May 11,
there will be a short orientation. On auction night,
Saturday May 12, you will work with the students to
organize and keep the food service moving during the
event. If you are interested, please contact Julie
Brody at juliet(at)brodyfamily.net.
Hospitality
Help us treat our volunteers like high rollers by
providing snacks and drinks for them on Friday, May
11, and Saturday, May 12. If you are interested,
please contact Julie Brody at juliet(at)brodyfamily.net.
Clean Up
Help us clean up sin city after a night of fun on
Saturday, May 12, and the morning of Sunday, May 13.
If you are interested, please contact Julie Brody
at juliet(at)brodyfamily.net.
Thanks for getting involved in this
year's Viva Las Vegas! auction!
|
|
Community News
|
|
The Laurel PTO does not sponsor or endorse any
of the organizations whose activities are listed
below.
Symposium for Mothers
Saturday, March 17, 2007
8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Kresge Auditorium, Stanford Law School
The Shelter Of Each Other: Mothers and
Communities is the title of the 8th Symposium
for mothers, with best selling author and keynote
speaker, Mary Pipher. Dr. Pipher is the author of
Reviving Ophelia, The Shelter of Each
Other, and Another Country. Go to www.pamf.org/mothers for registration
information and further details. The PTO Council of
the Menlo Park City School District is a co-sponsor
of the event. Tickets are $20 and will be sold at
the door, but early registration is strongly encouraged.
Volunteer Opportunity at East Palo Alto
Academy
Volunteers are needed at the East Palo Alto
Academy
High School, a college preparatory public charter
school of 300 students in grades 9-12 from East Palo
Alto and eastern Menlo Park. It is sponsored by
Stanford and located in the Willows neighborhood at
475 Pope Street.
You can help support these students and the school
by assisting students with homework or the
college application process (come one day or more,
Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:10-3:25 p.m.;
Fridays 2:35-3:25 p.m.). There may be additional
volunteer opportunities for those with expertise in
graphic design, fine art, journalism, science,
engineering/mechanics, nutrition/cooking, athletics,
etc. Please reply to Laurel parent Kelly Martin at
kellywoodca(at)yahoo.com if you are interested in
volunteering.
Kepler's Friendly Monster Story Time
Sunday, February 4, 11:30 a.m.
Kepler's Books, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park
We shall dash away fears about those clever, fuzzy
and sneaky monsters lurking around the house! We
shall begin with, There’s a Nightmare in My
Closet.
**Remember to mention Laurel School at the register
and 10% of your purchases comes back to our
PTO.**
CYSA Soccer Tryouts for U8-U13
Union FC is a competitive youth soccer club with
teams in these age groups: U8B & U8G (new teams);
U9B; U9G; U10B Class 3; U10G Class 1 & 3; U12B Class
3 (2 teams - one aiming for Class 1); U12G Class 1 &
3 (new Class 3 team); U13G Class 1 & 3; U13B Class 3
(new team). We also have an Academy for ages 4-8.
Our philosophy: providing the best professional
coaches, material and environment to help committed
soccer players improve and play at a competitive
level. Contact: admin(at)unionfootballclub.com or 650-324-1260.
Website: www.unionfootballclub.com
Menlo-Atherton Little League Tryouts
Saturday, February 3
Encinal School
9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. Majors/AAA
12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. Pitching Machine
Baseball tryouts and evaluations will be held at the
Encinal
School fields. Go to www.m-all.org for more information and to register.
|
|
|
