Kittery K-8 PTA

Mark your Calendars – the Kittery K-8 PTA Seaside 4-Miler has been scheduled for Sunday, September 23, 2012!

The January Monthly PTA Meeting, scheduled for January 11th at 6:30PM  has been cancelled because the Traip Forum is scheduled for the same time.  See you all at the February Meeting!

 December 22, 2011

Dear Friends and Families of the Kittery K-8 PTA, 

Season’s Greetings to you!  Over the past 4 months the Kittery PTA has been very busy working to achieve great things in our community.  In an effort to improve our communications with families, we would like to update you on all that we have accomplished so far this year.  Below is a breakdown of our Fall 2011 fundraising efforts.  

We also received a surprise donation of over $800 from the employees of Bob’s Clam Hut.  These funds were collected in tip jars and the employees collectively decided to donate their tips to the Kittery K-8 PTA.  A huge thank you to the staff at Bob’s Clam Hut!!!  

All of the money the PTA raises through your generous contributions goes directly to our schools and our students.  We have provided a short breakdown of the current year’s budget on the reverse of this letter.  All of the fall field trips were funded by PTA dollars.  Additionally, the PTA helped fund the travel of the 8^th grade students to the York Micro-Tel pool so they could test their underwater Sea Perch Robots.  Our 8^th graders have worked closely to build these “bots” with their teachers, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Mentors and parent volunteers. The PTA also funded two “rookie” Lego teams that successfully competed in the Maine Robotics State Meet on December 10th.  We are super proud of our students and our faculty for making these robotics programs so successful!  

 In addition to our fundraisers, we have also accomplished great things in our community.  Our Playground Pals program met eight times over the course of the summer and we were able to welcome new Kindergarten families and make new friends.  We hosted two New Family Nights for families entering our community at Mitchell and Shapleigh.  It was fantastic to meet new parents!  Our November Food Drive provided enough food to feed over 100 families in our community!  This was made possible directly from all of your donations and couldn’t have happened without the generosity of all the families in our school system.  Our December Food Drive is well on its way to achieve the same great results.  What a fantastic community we have here in Kittery!  Finally we hosted an informational night for parents on Bullying.  Thank you to all the school staff that participated and made this possible. 

 As always, we appreciate all feedback regarding our events, fundraisers and programs. This fall was our busiest fundraising season yet.  We apologize if we overwhelmed you with all of our offerings but trust that you were able to decide which fundraiser you wanted to participate in. 

Our Original Works magnet fundraiser did receive some negative feedback and we will work diligently to ensure that all of our future fundraisers are positive experiences for everyone in our community.  None of the great accomplishments or opportunities described above would have been possible without your involvement.  Your generous financial contributions and volunteer efforts have directly enriched our student’s lives.  We are truly thankful for your generosity and participation and hope you will continue to support the PTA in 2012. 

 We wish you all a happy holiday season!

 Sincerely,

Susan Johnson, Kittery K-8 PTA Co-Chair
Bethany McEllin, Co-Chair
Carol Lombardi, Treasurer
Cecilia Gagner, Secretary

 PTA 2011-2012 Budget: $20,235

Mitchell School                         Grade Impact                                       Dollars Committed
Field Trips                                            K-3                                                      $4000
Arts Fair                                               K-3                                                      $2000
5-2-1-0 and Garden Project                 K-3                                                      $500
Math Digi-Blocks                                   K-1                                                      $1000
Odyssey of the Mind                             K-3                                                      $205
Kids Club Director Supply Stipend        K-3                                                      $500
Field Trip Scholarship Fund                  K-3                                                      $200

Shapleigh                                              Grade Impact                                       Dollars Committed
Little Amps Music Equipment                6 7 8                                                     $400    
Lego Robotics                                        4-8                                                       $1310
Seacoast Science Center Field Trip        5                                                          $600
York Historical Museum Field Trip           5                                                          $400
A Christmas Carol Field Trip                    6                                                          $620
Encore by Chamber Theatre Field Trip   7                                                          $800
Maine State Museum Field Trip               4                                                          $1000
Boston Museum of Science Field Trip     4                                                          $1000
Seaperch Underwater Robotics               8                                                          $500
Field Trip Scholarship Fund                    4-8                                                       $300
Museum of Fine Arts Field Trip               7                                                          $950
Portland Fine Arts Field Trip                   8                                                          750 

General                                                Grade Impact                                       Dollars Committed
100 Books Program                               3-8                                                       $2200
Awards and Plaques                              all                                                         $200
Childcare for meetings                           all                                                         $300
Marketing                                               all                                                         $300
Teacher Appreciation                            all                                                         $200

Good Luck to the Legos Team!  On Saturday, December 10, the Shapleigh School Legos team will be participating in the FIRST Legos competition in Augusta. I would like to wish the students and their coaches best wishes in their first state level competition.

A very special thank you to the numerous parent volunteers, Steve Frost and Joe Boudreau for their many hours and tireless efforts to support this engaging, innovative program.

This program is made possible through financial support from the Kittery PTA, so thank you to everyone who supported the fundraising efforts, including purchasing wrapping paper, pies and t-shirts. Your support is making a difference in the lives of students!

Congratulations to everyone involved in the program and good luck on Saturday! The Kittery community is very proud of you.