Laurel School PTO Needs You! Are you interested in Chairing and/or participating on a committee next year? There are many ways to be involved. Please click here for open committees. Spread the word! Contact Carla Posthauer at cjpost( at )pacbell.net with any questions.

$5 Fire Sale Rescheduled to Friday, May 1st

The souvenir Fire Sale has been rescheduled. It will now be held on Friday, May 1 during drop-off and pick-up at the 2nd grade arbor. Discontinued Laurel Logo Wear, 1st Quality, Limited Quantities, Everything $5! Discontinued styles will be available for purchase on a first-come first-served basis only. We have long-sleeve t-shirts in youth sizes (white and royal blue), youth sweat pants, adult crewneck sweatshirts, and Laurel cookbooks (120-page hardback filled with Laurel recipe favorites, Laurel lore and more). When you buy 2 or more items, you get a free bandana and when you buy 3 or more items, you get a Laurel pennant (while quantities last)! Contact Renu Prasad Relan at renupr( at )yahoo.com with any questions.

Support Earth Day and Our School

Did you know that over 100 billion pieces of direct mail (aka junk mail) are being delivered by the post office every year? That's a lot of trees! Have you ever considered trying to get off those junk mail and catalogue lists, but found the process too daunting? Have we got the solution for you! This year, in honor of Earth Day, Business Alliances and the Environmental committee have teamed up to tell you about Tonic MailStopper (formerly GreenDimes).

MailStopper is a Palo Alto based, online service that puts a stop to unwanted junk mail and catalogues - up to 90% in 90 days. It's easy, it only costs $20/year, and it works, guaranteed. They even plant 5 new trees for each new member and if you join by Thursday, April 30, our school will earn 40% of the proceeds. For more information or to sign up directly follow the link mailstopper.tonic.com. If you're interested in purchasing a gift card for someone else, contact kristincampbell( at )comcast.net.

Laurel PTO's Sponsor-a-Book

Spring our Laurel Library into Spring with New and Replacement Books! Laurel PTO's "Sponsor-A-Book" allows you to purchase a book(s) for our Library while honoring a student, teacher, or friend and with a personalized nameplate. For $20, you can make a difference! Click here for more information and to place your order.

Laurel Art Festival

Thursday, May 14

6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Laurel Multi

Please stop by the Multi during the Open House to see the wonderful art projects that will be on display! If you would like to help set up for the Art Festival, please contact Lora Christen at lorachristen( at )yahoo.com and Amy Kratzer at adkratzer( at )yahoo.com.

Art Class News: The Fundred Dollar Bill

In honor of Earth Day, all students at Laurel and Encinal are creating a Fundred dollar bill in art class with Mrs. Noon and Ms. Herzlinger. This is a nationwide art project designed to raise awareness, support, and $300,000,000, the estimated cost for the environmental recovery of New Orleans. We need more Fundreds! If anyone in your family would like to create one, stop by the art room or print a template out at www.fundred.org. Thank you to the PTO for supporting this project. Students have enjoyed creating meaningful art that will make a difference in peoples' lives.

Overdue Library Books

This time of year brings with it lots of overdue book notices being sent home with children. If your child comes home with an overdue notice, please check the date of the notice. For notices more than 2 days old, contact Gail Bradley, Laurel Librarian, at 324-0186, ext. 3830 or gbradley( at )mpcsd.org as the book may have been returned. If you are unable to find the book, check with your public library in case you inadvertently returned the book there and/or check your child's classroom (desk, teacher's bookshelf, cubby, etc.). If your child is certain he or she returned it, please call or e-mail Gail and she will check the shelf to see if it somehow slipped through the check-in process and is in the library. We want every child to be able to check out at least one of our terrific books every week so please make sure your child returns his/her book(s) on time. Thank you!

A Message from Allison Liner , Principal, Encinal School

Dear Second Grade Parents,

Please join us for a parent information session on Thursday, May 28 from 2:00-3:00 PM in the Encinal library. We will provide information about our growing campus as well as an overview of what to expect in third grade. On May 22, we will welcome the second grade students for a tour of the campus from 11:00-12:00. We look forward to getting to know our next group of Encinal Eagles!

Allison Liner, Principal
and the Third Grade Team

Ongoing Events

Laurel/Encinal Pancake Breakfast: Saturday, May 16 from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the Encinal School Arbor. Click here to register. If you are interested in volunteering, please visit our Pancake Breakfast online sign-up page. Contact Rebecca Wang at rebs1( at )aol.com with any questions.

Help Build Our School Brick by Brick: Deadline extended! Buy your Laurel-inscribed brick today. This is your last chance this year. Sale ends on May 18. Bricks are $100 each. Go to www.mpaef.org to order. Thanks for leaving your mark on Laurel!

Community News

Kepler's Family Events

Story Time with Tony Gemignani, Tony and the Pizza Champions

Sunday, April 26, 2009

11:30 a.m.

Kepler's Books, 1010 El Camino, Menlo Park

**Remember to mention Laurel School at the register and 10% of your Kepler's purchases comes back to our PTO.**

Camp for the First Week of Summer

Due to the district's early summer vacation, Camp Menlo at Burgess Park Pool is considering adding a session from June 8 to June 12, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The camp would offer aquatic instruction of fundamentals mixed in with water and land activities. For details about the camp, including already scheduled sessions, visit http://www.menloswim.com/menlo/kids_camps.html. If you have interest in enrolling your child in a June 8 to June 12 session, please send a space reservation notice to tomas( at )menloswim.com.

The GreenSTART Challenge Ends April 30th!

Last week we handed the first silicon signature GreenSTART bracelet to Nancy Hendry, and then to all the children who walk or bike to school that we could find. If you walk or bike to school or have exchanged your zip lock bags at lunch time for reusable containers or wax paper bags - let us know and we'll get you a bracelet, too! If you think you should get a bracelet because of your 'green' habit, tell us! The child who does remarkably well at being 'green' will be awarded a special prize of a laptop lunchbox.

You can still enter raffle slips! Click here for the raffle slips and send them in your child's blue folder. We'd like to hear from you! Email us at GreenSTART( at )live.com.

Menlo Park Library Presents

The Corny Crow Show with Steve Chaney

Friday, May 1, 2009

7:00 p.m.

Menlo Park Library, 800 Alma Street, Menlo Park

Join ventriloquist Steve and his friend Corny Crow for a silly and entertaining show. Meet marionettes and sock puppets, get tips on how to throw your voice, and be ready for some
juggling and magic too! This event is FREE and open to the public. For more information, please click here.

Palo Alto Soccer Club

Since 1977, the PASC's goal has been to provide a competitive youth soccer environment, whereby each participant (ages 5-18) can enjoy a fun, positive experience, while learning and playing soccer on a select CYSA/NorCal teams. In addition to Blue Thunder (Class 1), we have sister teams (White Lightening and Red Storm) in the competitive Class 3 level in the girls U10 age bracket for this upcoming fall 2009 season. Please visit the PASC website for more information about the club.

4th Annual M-A Big Bear Run

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Warm up is at 8:30 a.m. and the race starts at 9 a.m.

Menlo-Atherton High School, 555 Middlefield Road, Atherton

All are welcome to M-A's Bear Country on Sunday. The 5K course starts at M-A, weaves through Lindenwood and ends on Coach Parks Field. Enjoy the M-A Jazz Band, the M-A Dance team, the M-A cheerleaders and the football team's Hakka dance. The race raises funds for M-A's Athletic Boosters and helps support over 50 M-A sports teams and over 900 M-A athletes. No dogs please. Register today - download a form at www.m-aboosters.org or register online at www.active.com. Questions? Email Beth Harris, elizabethharris60( at )comcast.net.

The Bay Area Educational Theater Company

"Annie"

May 8th-17th, 2009

Woodside High School Performing Arts Center, 199 Churchill Avenue, Woodside

Bring your whole family to enjoy this live musical theater event. For tickets and more info, visit: www.bayareaetc.org.