June 2015

 What a great year this has been

We hope that all families in the Easthampton school community know how much we want you to value your children’s days in our public schools, and how grateful we are that you’ve chosen Easthampton.

This was a year of new beginnings for us. The former PTO dissolved in the spring of 2014, so last summer a small group of people came together to reestablish it. Given those recent and humble beginnings, our accomplishments this year were amazing! Here’s a short list of what we were able to do. We applied for and were awarded our 501c3 status. This is good for ten years, and means that we can operate as a non-profit organization.

We made great strides in increasing outreach efforts by scheduling summer playdates for new students; we held the successful first annual Kindergarten Information night; we increased our media and press outreach; and regularly published a newsletter.

We also surpassed our fundraising goals – Thanks to the generosity of or wonderful community we raised over $11,000! Not bad, considering we had a bank balance of zero dollars in September. Additionally, the Apple –A-Day 5K Race last fall raised $4,500 specifically for technological purchases for the schools.

To engage families and enrich our children’s experiences, we held a book swap at our fall bake sale; we coordinated a garden shed raising at Center Pepin, we won a grant award to bring artists into the schools to work with students, we had a huge turnout on a cold winter’s morning for our Pancake Breakfast, we sponsored the annual Cultural Festival, Hosted Teacher Appreciation Breakfasts and  the Spring Ice Cream Social and Art Show, still ahead Science Fun Night, and an evening of Storytelling with Tom McCabe!

All of the PTO members worked so hard on these various projects, and we hope that you’ve been able to enjoy some of them. This year was just the beginning – we are full of more ideas for next year. Please join us!

Tom McCabe Storytelling Night

Maple Street School, Wednesday, June 17th 7:00 pm 
Wear your favorite pajamas and cuddle up for a live bedtime story with Tom McCabe

Science Fun Night

Maple Street School, Tuesday, June 23rd from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Build-your-own stomp rockets, geodesic domes, and paper air planes