Support Mt. View simply by shopping at Albertson's!

Do you already shop at Albertson's? If you do, do you have an Albertson's rewards card? This is all you need to support Mountain View PTA! I know, I know - it sounds far too simple!

All you need to do is register your Albertson's card at the following link: http://www.albertsons.com/cp/

If you've registered before, you have to re-register every year, I believe, and indicate which school (or schools) you would like to support.

How much money does this raise for PTA? Well, each quarter we get a check from Albertson's for $40-$45. However, I'm sure we could net much more than that since we have not promoted this program very much in the past few years.

Please register your card today, while you're thinking about it! It costs you nothing!

You'll need Mountain View's account number with Albertson's (49000121093) and your own card number, of course.

Thank you, in advance! Please share this information with your friends and family who shop at Albertson's!

Clean-up Day @ Mt. View

Thanks very much to those of you who could donate some time this morning for Mountain View's annual fall clean-up day!

Here is a link to some pictures of the butterfly garden, where most of us focused. We made a dent but would like to schedule another clean-up day, hopefully with someone with some gardening know-how, before the colder weather hits us in earnest. Stay tuned for more details!

Here is a link to pictures of the grounds and butterfly garden, before school opened, to see the difference!

Thanks especially to:

• Glenn, Lucia and Daniel Grimm, who are perpetually at the school doing small and large clean-up behind the scenes. They are PTA members and were there, as usual, today!
• Teri - for bringing tons of crucial tools and her wonderful wheelbarrow, as well!
• Joy and her three kiddos (Logan, Connor and Sofia) - these guys are hard workers!
• Randy - for donating yet another few hours to Mountain View, with a smile on his face!
• Noah and Avery for pitching in with some weeding and sweeping
  

Upcoming Community Events

Arts Walk: Experience visual and performing arts in over 100 businesses by hundreds of artists on October 2 in downtown Olympia. Special features include hands-on family activities, demonstrations and impromptu street performances. Maps with listings of venues and artists are available two weeks before the event at participating locations and at The Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St. NW, in downtown Olympia. Visit the City of Olympia webpage for more info.

TVW SPECIAL REPORT

TVW SPECIAL REPORT ON EDUCATION REFORM AND FUNDING NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

For those of you who may have missed one or both segments of TVW’s special report, “The Quest for Quality” when it aired earlier this week, you can view it in its entirety on Sunday evening at 8:30 p.m., or you can view both segments online:

Watch Part 1: “What’s the Cost of Basic Education?”

Watch Part 2: “More Money or More Reform?”

For a summary of the program and links to related material, visit “The Quest for Quality” homepage.

Family Fun Night - thanks for joining us!

Wow - we had about 150 folks at Fun Night last night, from toddlers to adults. Thanks to all for coming out to this free event, sponsored and staffed by your PTA.

We underestimated the amount of food so please join us again in the future. We'll have more food on hand for the tacos-in-a-bag, I assure you! It seemed like the deejay and activities were a hit. Let us know your feedback so we can plan similar events in the future.

These events are generally sponsored by PTA and they will be free when we have them. Occasionally, we will ask for donations of food or other items for local food and clothing banks, to help those in need.

Thanks very much to:

• Rich, Mt. View night custodian for his hours of helping us set up and clean up!
• Trish for allowing us easy access to kitchen facilities
• Shawn for running some fun activities in the gym
• Karen for allowing PTA to borrow many of her PE items, including hula hoops and jump ropes
  
• Tony and his son for providing deejay services at a PTA-friendly price!
• Teri, Jodi, Heather and Tabitha for working in the kitchen!
• Keli, Laura and Tara-Lyn for volunteering their time and energy!
• Sabrina and Kevin for your advice, time and support!
• Jeremy "JJ" for your unsolicited help, especially with clean-up!
  

Please understand that these events are fully funded by PTA. The entertainment and food are purchased by PTA, which is why we do charge a nominal fee for the food and drink so as not to absorb too much of a financial loss.

We sponsor these events in the hopes that you enjoy them, have a frugal evening of entertainment, meet friends and all in a safe environment.

Thanks for supporting Mountain View and your PTA!

If you ever have questions about PTA or comments/constructive criticism about how to improve Fun Nights and other events, please contact PTA President Brian Morgan.

Are you a registered volunteer?

Do you want to volunteer at school and/or PTA events? If you haven't done so already, please fill out the volunteer application (link here) so that your background check can be completed by the school district.

Thanks for volunteering!

If you were a volunteer last year (2008-2009) and filled out this form last year, you're still on the volunteer rolls through the 30th of September.

Here's a link to the form in Spanish, too!

If you have questions about volunteering at Mountain View, please contact Volunteer Coordinator Jodi Boutin.

If you have questions about PTA, please contact PTA President Brian Morgan.

Fun Night w/DJ this Friday!

Come join us for the 1st PTA Fun Night of the year at Mountain View Elementary!

Friday, September 25 6-8 p.m. Cost? FREE!

The always popular and ever-famous Tacos-in-a-bag will be available for sale in the cafeteria. Island DJ Productions is back and going to keep the kids hopping for a few hours!

And if you haven't joined PTA or bought your Mountain View t-shirt or sweatshirt, you can join, buy one or more shirts or order them.

All kids MUST be accompanied by an adult - please do NOT drop off your child and leave! School dress code applies...

Questions? Contact PTA President Brian Morgan (360-970-9513).

Voter's Guide Regarding I-1033

SECRETARY OF STATE’S VIDEO VOTERS GUIDE REGARDING I-1033 AVAILABLE ONLINE

The Washington Secretary of State has created a video voters guide regarding Initiative 1033. The video, which includes sponsor Tim Eyman speaking for the initiative, and Doug Shadel, Washington State director for AARP, speaking against it, is available online at the TVW website. The Washington State PTA Board of Directors has voted unanimously to oppose the initiative because of its potential adverse affect on funding for education and other programs important to children.

2008-2009 yearbooks - reduced price

Did you get your yearbook last year (2008-2009)? If you didn't and kicked yourself for not ordering one, we have a small number of them left.

They are on sale for the reduced price of $10! Once they are gone, they are gone!

Please email or call PTA President Brian Morgan (360-970-9513) to buy yours today!

School Clean-up Day - Sat, Sept. 26

Please join us for a few hours of fun labors (depending on the weather!)... you decided at this evening's PTA meeting to schedule our annual clean-up or school beautification day for:

Saturday, September 26th
9 a.m. - 'til we're done (12 p.m. at the latest)

I'm told that specifics are important - what do we mean by clean-up and what do we expect of you? Well, I can assure you that the tasks are suitable for you and your children. We'll be weeding and pruning behind the school, picking up any random trash that has found its way on the grounds, especially under the ramps of the portables, and general sweeping... that kind of thing!

Please bring whatever implements you have available, including hand tools, gloves and wheel barrows. I'll bring sun screen (just in case!) and trash bags galore. We'll have a cooler of ice water on site, as well.

This is a great chance to do something that is instantly felt by the students and those who grace the school's grounds. And you might have some fun and meet someone you don't already know! Any questions, contact PTA President Brian Morgan.

Thanks, in advance! See you on the 26th!

PTA meeting agenda and Standing Rules

Please review the agenda for Tuesday's PTA meeting. Also, please review the latest draft of a change to our Standing Rules. As per the WA State PTA By-laws, as well as per our own Standing Rules, we must annually review the Standing Rules and approve them, with or without changes, at a general membership meeting.

The changes you see in red italics are to bring clarity to certain issues or to bring us in line with WA State PTA guidelines and best practices.

Please contact President Brian Morgan if you have any questions or suggestions about the Standing Rules or the proposed agenda for the meeting.

Are you ready? 1st PTA meeting - Sept. 15

September is here and school is almost upon us! Please allow us to tap into your enthusiasm and energy about the new school year and join us for the first PTA general membership meeting for 2009-2010.

You can meet your officers, other parents, Principal Randy Weeks and hopefully get to know someone you don't already know... come see how we are going to do business this year, which will include more fun agenda items, less mundane business and meetings that start at 6:30 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. (per your overwhelming responses to the online survey!).

1st meeting - Tuesday, September 15th
6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Mt. View Elementary Library

Also featured at the meeting will be a short presentation from WA State PTA Government Relations Chair Kim Howard. She will speak to WA State PTA's position on I-1033, which will be on the ballot this fall. Kim also happens to be a member of our PTA and a former Region 4 Director - come say hi!

Hope to see you on the 15th! If you can't make it, that doesn't mean you can't be involved in PTA or stay abreast of PTA and school issues. Contact me with any questions about PTA or volunteer opportunities. If we all do a little bit, we can make a HUGE difference at Mt. View. If you can't make meetings at all, please still considering joining to show your support. Click here for membership information.

Best to you all,
Brian
Mt. View PTA President 2009-2010

September is Voter Education Month

September is Voter Education Month: Are you registered to vote?
Did you know only an estimated 50 percent of NTPS parents are registered to vote and of those only about 1/3 actually do? As part of our ongoing annual effort to educate our community about the importance of voting, the district will once again be encouraging citizens to register and have voter registration forms and information available at schools and district buildings.

"Teaching students to be good citizens is one of our most important responsibilities," said Asst. Supt. Shawn Lewis. "Voting is one responsibility of being a good citizen - and we know that if parents vote and model informed voting practices with their students, those students are more likely to be informed voters when they grow up." Meadows and Aspire parent Melissa Tomlinson has offered several volunteer voter registration training nights already. Those materials are available on line at www.nthurston.k12.wa.us/vote.
Remember: Your Vote Counts!

To register online or for more information go to: http://wei.secstate.wa.gov/osos/en/voterinformation/Pages/RegistertoVote.aspx.

Upcoming election dates: November 3, 2009 and February 9, 2010.

From NTPS Success Weekly page

School Board decision highlights

Board Highlights - August 18

The School Board (3-0) adopted the 2009-10 budget last month, which includes a $4.8 million reduction to its $122 million general budget. Cuts ranged from eight administrative or supervisory positions to reduced elementary teacher librarian hours and raising athletic fees and lunch prices.

Other highlights included:

• All-Day kindergarten opportunity coming for Title 1 schools: District plans to allocate federal stimulus money (about $500,000) for Title 1 schools through six extended day kindergarten programs to start in October in an effort to give students at higher poverty schools extra help and support. The schools are: Chambers Prairie, Lacey, Lydia Hawk, Meadows, Mountain View and Pleasant Glade.
• Special education will also receive about $2.8 million in federal stimulus money over the next two years to develop an assessment and intervention system to help students be more academically successful and socially competent.
• NTPS receives $2.3 million student support grant: The district was awarded a $ 2.3 million 21st Century Community Learning Center grant from OSPI - one of only 18 grants awarded statewide. The grant, written by Dr. Maddy De Give, Executive Director of Student and Staff Support, will provide Nisqually Middle School and four elementary schools (Lydia Hawk, Meadows, Mountain View, and Pleasant Glade) a total of $465,000 per year to target 420 students in need of additional supports to achieve academic success and social competence. Programs will range from parent engagement programs to innovative academic enrichment opportunities.
• School Board meetings moved to Tuesday nights: The Board announced its decision to move its regular twice monthly meetings to Tuesday nights (originally on Mondays). The first board meeting of the month will be held at the District Office but the second one will be at an NTPS school . "We hope this will help get more community members into our schools and engaged in student success," said Board President Aaron Owada.

From NTPS Success Weekly page

New Superintendent helps kick off school year

September 11, 2009

Under the leadership of new Supt. Raj Manhas , North Thurston Public Schools kicked off the school year with more than 13,000 students in its 21 schools - including the new Chambers Prairie Elementary and Aspire Middle School for the Performing Arts .

During a tour of several schools on the first day, Mr. Manhas told students that "you can do anything you want to someday," and "we (himself, teachers and the principal) work for YOU -- to help you be successful and learn." In return, the students -- quite in awe of the tall, smiling stranger with an interesting accent -- excitedly shared their love of "math," "a percussion class," and "Disney princess lunchboxes."

Manhas also praised staff for their dedication to students in the classroom, P.E., the lunchroom and playground. "Together we are going to make this district one of the best in the state and the nation," he said, noting how even those schools with challenging demographics and high poverty have had great success in student achievement through collaboration, cooperation and a passion for the students. "As long as we keep students at the center of every decision, we can accomplish anything!"

From NTPS Success Weekly page

September 2009 newsletter published

Thanks to an enterprising and timely Tara-Lyn Poole (newsletter editor extraordinaire!), here is the link to the September 2009 newsletter, in time for the first week of school! If you have any desire to work with Tara-Lyn on the newsletter this year, she is looking for helpers and apprentices. Contact her here.

Hope to see you at the 1st PTA meeting on Tuesday the 15th. More info here.

Mt. View PTA Calendar