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First Week of School
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Monday, 8/25
First Day of School (new times below)
Back-to-School Coffee 8:25 a.m. and 10:20 a.m.
Tuesday, 8/26
No Events Scheduled
Wednesday, 8/27
PTO Board meeting, 8:45 a.m.
Head Room Parent Training, 7pm (library)
Thursday, 8/28
No Events Scheduled
Friday, 8/29
Head Room Parent Training, 8:45 a.m. (library)
School Spirit Day - wear blue and white! |
| Upcoming Events |
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8/18 Back-to-School Luncheon for teachers
and staff, 12:00 p.m. 8/21 Class Assignments Posted at Office, 4 p.m.
8/21 Kindergarten Parent Social, 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. 8/25 First Day of School
8/27 PTO Board Meeting, 8:45 a.m.
8/29 Head Room Parent Training, 8:45 a.m.
9/1 No School -- Labor Day
9/2 Carpool Pickup Begins
9/4 Laurel Back-to-School Night
9/5 PTO Council Meeting, 8:30 a.m.
9/8 Kid Chow Lunch Delivery Begins
9/10 PTO Board Meeting, 8:30 a.m.
9/12 Quarter Gourmet, 5:00 p.m.
9/17 Laurel Site Council Meeting, 3:00 p.m.
9/19 Head Room Parents Meeting, 1:30 p.m.
9/21 Fall Family BBQ, Encinal School 2 p.m.
9/21-26 Book Fair, Encinal School |
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| New Laurel School Day Schedule |
The Menlo Park School District Board of Education has revised the
school day schedule for 2008-2009. Laurel School start and end times
will be as follows:
AM Kindergarten 8:20 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.
PM Kindergarten 10:20 a.m. - 2:50 p.m.
1st and 2nd 8:25 a.m. - 2:55 p.m.
Thursday "All Together Day"
All K, 1st and 2nd 8:25 a.m. - 1:40 p.m. |
| Laurel Kindergarten Parent Wine & Cheese Social |
If you have a child who will be attending kindergarten at Laurel this fall, watch your mailbox next week for an invitation to a special event for all parents of incoming kinders. On Thursday, August 21, from 6:30 - 8:00PM, the MPAEF will be hosting a parent-only informational social, which should be a terrific opportunity to learn the ins-and-outs of starting kindergarten at Laurel. Nancy Hendry, principal of Laurel School, Linda Creighton, vice-principal at Laurel, Leslie Burke, Laurel PTO President for 2008-09, and other veteran Laurel parents will be on hand to answer your questions. Ken Ranella, district superintendent, will share his thoughts on our fantastic school district, and representatives from the Foundation will explain how and why the MPAEF supports the wonderful teachers and programs that make our schools great.
The evening will also be a great opportunity to meet other incoming kindergarten parents. Class lists will be posted at 4PM on Thursday at Laurel, but feel free to skip the crowds at Laurel and come directly to the social. All five kindergarten class lists will be available, as well as color-coded nametags, to make it easy for you to connect with other parents of children in your childʼs class. If you have questions regarding the social, feel free to contact Alison Leupold at 325-8093 or alisonleupold(at)sbcglobal.net. |
| Back-to-School Coffee |
- Monday, August 25
- 8:25 a.m. and 10:20 a.m.
- Second Grade Arbor
Welcome back to school! All parents are invited to the "Back to School Coffee" after drop off on
the first day of school, August 25! This year we will have two
coffees, one after the 8:25 a.m. drop off and one after the 10:20 a.m.
drop off.
The Coffee is a great way to get to know other parents and
explore the many ways to get involved at Laurel school as a parent
volunteer. Have a cup of coffee and a snack and sign up for a
volunteer position that suits your interest and schedule. School t-shirts, sweatshirts and pennants will be available for sale. |
Be Your Kids' Super Hero.
Support Your PTO.
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 The annual PTO Membership Drive is
underway and we need your support. Our PTO offers a variety of enrichment
programs that make Laurel a terrific place to learn, work and come together as
a community.
Please join the PTO and help to continue these "super"
programs.
Join by Monday, August 25th and be registered to win a
reserved parking spot on Back-To-School night! Print and
send in a membership form. |
| Details |
Lunch and SnackDon't forget to pack a lunch for your child (except AM Kindergarteners) and a separate snack (all grades) each day. The Kid Chow Lunch Program will begin on September 8. Information LinksA number of flyers are being sent to your home in the summer mailing. We have posted most of these to the Laurel PTO Web Site for your convenience:
Additional information is always available on our website at www.laurelpto.org. If you are new to the school, you may want to look at the Laurel School FAQs on the Laurel School web site. To UnsubscribeIf your children are no longer at Laurel this year, please scroll to the bottom of this message and use the "Safe Unsubscribe" link (in the small print) to remove yourself from our mailing list. Encinal and Hillview NewslettersIf you have moved on to Encinal and not yet subscribed to their newsletter, do so now at www.encinalpto.com. Or, subscribe to the Hillview Newsletter at www.hillviewpto.org. |
| Kid Chow Lunch Delivery |
We are happy to announce that Kid Chow's healthy brown bag lunches will be
available Monday through Friday during the school year for all 1st and 2nd
Graders, with lunch service starting Monday, September 8th. At this time we are
not able to provide the service to the Kindergarten classes.
Go to www.kidchow.com to view the
fall menu and place your order. You can choose from a huge variety of cold
entrees and up to three side dishes. While the program is offered every day,
you can opt to purchase for any number of days, weeks or months that you
wish.
Kid Chow needs volunteers to help distribute the lunches at the 1st
and 2nd grade arbors. As a completely volunteer-managed program, we rely on
parents to keep the program going smoothly throughout the year. Distributing
the lunches requires only 30 minutes of your time mid-day. Please contact Rebecca Wang at rebs1(at)aol.com to sign
up.
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| After-School Programs |
| The Laurel PTO has contracted with a variety of independent after-school programs who offer classes on the Laurel campus. The programs for the 2008-2009 school year are: Chess, Berlitz Kids Language (French and Spanish), Sports and Fun, Basketball, Afterschool Math, First Place Fencing Club (FPFC), and Engineering FUNdamentals with LEGOs. Please see the After-School Program Overview for program descriptions and schedules.
To Register, go to:
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| Newton Center Program |
Newton Center, a
non-profit organization dedicated to education, is now accepting registration
for students enrolling in Kindergarten (late dismissal), 1st, and 2nd grade for
the 2008-2009 school year.
The Newton Center program will be held at the Menlo
Park Presbyterian Church at 950
Santa Cruz Avenue and the transportation will be
provided. For more information about the Newton Center
click here. To view and print the registration form please click here.
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| Transportation |
Construction at Laurel and the other District campuses will
create both traffic and parking challenges. If at all possible, please walk or
bike to school to reduce traffic, ease on-site parking and save energy.
If walking or biking to school is not an option, there are several other
excellent transportation alternatives available to Laurel families:
- The District has secured
special funding to purchase a new school bus, which will be used to
supplement routes not served by SamTrans (such as transportation to the
Newton After School Childcare Program at the Presbyterian Church). The
District School Bus will also offer a morning route for K-2 students
attending Laurel
and Encinal.
- The City Shuttle and Tinsley
bus will continue to provide after school transportation between Laurel and Encinal
Schools for
consolidated family pick-up.
- The District is also currently
working with SamTrans to develop a new bus schedule to accommodate the new
starting and ending times at each of our District's campuses.
- Consider carpooling with your
neighbors and friends to reduce drop-off/pick-up traffic. The District is
developing an online carpooling message board.
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| Fall Family BBQ and Book Fair Opening |
- Sunday, September 21
- 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Encinal School
Save the date for Fall Family BBQ and Opening of the Book Fair! The Principals, Teachers, PTO and Parents of Laurel and Encinal want to unite our schools and celebrate our children. We are going to have a Carnival in which families can sponsor games. The games can be purchased through Christine Scheetz or created by your family. Some examples of games are: balancing a stuffed safari animal on a spoon and walking through an obstacle course, Face Painting, Bubble Making, or Safari Puppets. Be creative, kids just want to have fun!
Sign up early to sponsor a game or craft and remember that more than one family can donate together. Deadline for sponsoring a game, ride, craft, as well as reservations for the catered BBQ is September 9! There will be sign-ups at the Back-to-School Coffee or you can sign up in advance by contacting Christine Scheetz at chriskevs(at)aol.com to sponsor a game or if you have questions about the event.
To volunteer at the Book Fair contact Misty Patniak at mistypatniak(at)gmail.com. Any questions about the Book Fair contact Roxy Bozdog at 415-596-0599 or Traci Brinton at 650-224-4600. |
| Back-to-School Luncheon Volunteers Needed |
| On Monday, August 18, the
PTO Executive Board and Committee Chairs will host a Back-to-School Luncheon
for all our Teachers and Staff. We can always use extra help throwing this
warm, welcoming event. If you are able to help set up, clean up, or if you can
bring a dish, please email the incoming PTO Vice President, Carla Posthauer at cjpost(at)pacbell.net. |
| Laurel School Newsletter |
The weekly email newsletter is the primary means of communication for the PTO and the school. It includes notices of upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, safety information, schedule changes, and much more.
On the first day of school, Monday, August 25, all students will get the last paper newsletter and flyer packet of the year. After that, the Laurel PTO weekly newsletter will be distributed primarily via email, on Friday afternoons. Paper copies of the newsletter and flyers will be available for pickup in the office, but we will not send newsletters and flyers home with your child each week.
Please make sure your friends and neighbors subscribe as soon as possible. Forward this email so they can click on the link below:
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| eScrip |
eScrip is a fast and easy way to give more money to the Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation for our schools. Register your grocery and debit cards, and every time you shop, participating stores automatically give money back to the MPAEF.
Don't forget to renew: Previously registered members MUST renew their Safeway Club Cards EVERY year between August 1 and November 1.
Click here for details and easy directions!
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| PTO Executive Board for 2008-2009 |
President - Leslie Burke Vice President - Carla Posthauer Treasurer - Veronica Kogler Financial Secretary - Gina Ryan Recording Secretary - Traci Christie Corresponding Secretary - Rebecca Wang Auditor - Becky Jackson Historian - Karen Rist Parliamentarian - Darcy Leschly Room Parent Coordinator - Julie Quinlan
Encinal Liaison - Shana Middler
Laurel Principal - Nancy Hendry Teacher Representative - Kristen Foley | |
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