Welcome back to all our Swanton School families! We hope you had a great summer and are looking forward to the coming 2011-2012 school year. The Swanton School really is a community, and each of you is a member of that community and a member of the PTO! The PTO has several functions, most important of which is to help foster a sense of school community. Children who feel connected to their school community will thrive and parents who are involved help to build that connection.
Our PTO supports many programs. Last year we supported First Day, Open House, Movie Night, The Community Dinner, Family Night, Earth Day celebrations, Teacher Appreciation and Wellness Week. We also fund field trips for EVERY class and supported the yearbook and Odyssey of the Mind and built a new early education playground.
In order to financially support field trips and grants we hold fundraisers throughout the year. Our goal at Swanton is to limit the number of events where students and parents are asked to sell product and increase participation in our fundraising efforts. We will kick off our first fundraiser this year, Great American, on September 6th. The Great American fundraiser is our most successful fundraiser and we want to continue this success. Look for that in your Wednesday Weekly. This year we have decided to try a new fundraiser. For our second fundraiser community members will be able to support Swanton School by purchasing a swan that will be hung in the hallways at school with their name on it. In addition to these two fundraisers, Swanton Elementary joined Amazon School Rewards Associates program. If you use the internet to shop and order from amazon.com you can help support our school. The school will receive up to 10% on orders placed on Amazon. All you need to do is access Amazon through our link. The icon is on the homepage of our website, Swantonschool.org. In order for us to get credit you must enter the website through this link. You may enter through that icon; right click to create an icon on your desk top or ‘drag’ the icon onto your homepage for quick and easy access. Pass this information on to family and friends. If you participated in fundraising, thank you. If you were unable to last year, we challenge you to participate this year and help us to continue increasing our participation rate.
Please join us at our PTO meetings. We will meet Wednesday September 7th at 6PM (due to the labor day holiday) and then the first Monday of the month at 6PM for the remainder of the school year. A light meal and childcare are provided at all of our meetings. If you have a topic you would like discussed at a PTO meeting let me know.
Join our email mailing list by sending me your email atnielsenjs@comcast.net. You can find us on Facebook at Swanton School Parents. We know it is not possible for everyone to come to meetings, don’t let this discourage you. There are many behind the scenes tasks that need to be done so please contact me to volunteer your time.
Sarah Nielsen
PTO Coordinator
