Newsletter 06/10/2025

BCS PTA End of Year Wrap-up

On behalf of the PTA board, thank you all for an amazing year!

The board started this year with a grand vision to build community, engage new PTA members, re-envision beloved events, and pursue new opportunities. I couldn't be more grateful for and proud of the work we did together to accomplish those goals.

Some of this year's highlights include:

• Starting the bike bus!
• Funding almost $10,000 in teacher grants, including contributions to general funds for art and library supplies, and the purchase of OBOB and other special book collections, PE equipment, specialized reading support materials, and more.
• Coordinating new events such as the first day Drop 'n' Donut, middle school focused Spook-a-rama, and elementary grade movie nights.
• Hosting an inaugural Heritage Night that honored our community's unique experiences and cultures.
• Bringing back the Artist in Residence program--which had not been implemented since before the pandemic--via Ghanian drummer Alex Addy.
• Initiating a New Student Welcome Kit for students starting at BCS outside the standard kindergarten entry.
• Granting $3,500 to our sister school, Scott Elementary, a Title 1 school in NE Portland, to fund a sound system that supports multilingual communication as well as food as a stop-gap when their weekend food provider temporarily ceased operation.
• Launching the Raise the Roof capital campaign for an outdoor covered area and throwing an adults-only benefit event.
• Supporting the Safe Structures PPS collective, which advocated for seismic safety with the PPS board and positively influenced the passage of the PPS bond.
• Hosting a meet the candidates forum to hear from those running for PPS board positions.

Whew! What a year. We couldn't have done it without the tremendous support of our many event leads, PTA members, and other volunteers.

I also want to give a shout-out to this year's board, who went above and beyond to ensure we achieved our vision and then some. It was a true team effort and I am honored to have served with them:

• Secretary - Joelle Lyons
• Treasurer - Andy Byers
• Membership Chair - Kelsi Roberts
• Educational Support Chair - Molly Jones
• Student Enrichments Chair - Marissa Gleason
• Community Engagement Chair - Korwren Peterson
• Communications Chair - Bridget Schum
• Fundraising Chair - Laura Schwab
• Teacher Reps - May Best & Maryam Lee
• Principal - Becky Presley

Have a wonderful summer!

Marie Westom, President Beverly Cleary School PTA

PTA Membership 2024-2025

This is a wrap on my term as the PTA Membership Chair, and I'm going out incredibly impressed by and grateful for this community!

When I stepped into the position in 2023, I leaned into the National PTAs message, 'no wrong way to PTA,' and this year I'm really excited about the ways we put that into action and embraced the new.

Making space for change in a community rich with legacy and tradition is hard to do! Some highlights include:

1. Focused on Community in our meetings by establishing a practice of a quick intro/explanation of Roberts' Rules & a quick icebreaker to improve the accessibility of these meetings (which are inteded for everyone).
2. Hosted Drop n' Donut to kick off the year after we delivered our students on the first day of school.
3. We finished this year with 117 members - past our budgeted member expectation of 100, but shy of our stretch goal of 150. Stay tuned for an invitation to join for next school year when membership resets in July!
4. We launched the Welcome Crew and delivered 40+ welcome bags to families who joined us after kindergarten. Our ability to make space for new families in an honest and real way is so meaningful. We have a lot to smooth out in this process, and I'm excited to keep the program going next year!
5. We celebrated almost 200 volunteers who each found out their own way to PTA this year, an incredible number of humans powering the many impactful memories we made. Special thanks to the wonderful May Best who is not only our PTA teacher rep, but bravely took on the mantle of volunteer connector and room parent coordinator in her parent role.

As the outgoing Spookarama lead, I want to give a special thank you to my Spookarama team this year, several who were brand new to our community, who not only pulled off another wonderful Spookarama, but led us through the change of making age-focused events. You're amazing!

Korwren Peterson, who coordinated the food and brought her brilliance to both Elementary and Middle School nights.

Ashleigh Hatchel, who coordinated Carnival Games for both Elementary and Middle School, and kept it exciting for both groups.

Colleen Douglas, Molly Jones, and Marie Westom, who stepped up last minute to make sure we didn't miss our Haunted House.

Dee Butler who brought her wonderful decor skills to transforming the school... twice!

Nathan Isaacs who took on the Security mantle for both evenings

Angie Kitzerow who not only coordinated the Quiet Room but did it in the hallway to accommodate community needs

Danica Denton who led a mighty Treat Trot... on both nights.

Karlyn Clark and Nedra Rezinas, who partnered with Korwren to prop up our first ever Middle School Spookarama Party!

Thank you for showing up with what you have to offer, sharing your skills, and building a community we're all proud of. There truly is no wrong way to PTA!

Warmly,

Kelsi Roberts, PTA Membership Chair

PTA Fundraising 2024-2025

This year, our PTA fundraising efforts successfully raised over $50,000, supporting teacher grants, student programs like OBOB, and community enrichment events. Highlights included the Spring Fun Run, Bottle Drop, and several community restaurants opportunities including our first Trailblazer game.

Thanks to the incredible support from families, staff, and local businesses, we exceeded our goal for this year and strengthened our school community. I’m grateful for all the volunteers who made this year’s success possible! Have a wonderful summer break everyone.

Laura Schwab, PTA Fundraising Chair

REMINDERS

Summer Time Bottle Drop

School may be wrapping up but the BCS BottleDrop program will continue throughout the summer. I'll keep filling bag requests and happy to pick up full bags to deposit at a local deposit at a nearby facility. Use the link below to order more bags on the PTA website. Email any questions to bottledrop@beverlyclearyschool.org.

As always-thank you for supporting the BCS BottleDrop!

Order More

BCS Merchant Rewards Programs

Did you know you can give back to the BCS PTA when you shop at Fred Meyer and at Powell's Books.

Check out our Merchant Rewards program website to learn more on how to easily give back to BCS via your purchases.

BCS PTA received $514 via the Fred Meyer reward program for Jan 2025 to March 2025! These funds go to the BCS PTA general budget that pays for the many BCS programs and events the PTA sponsors and supports.

Sign-up Now

8th Grade End of Year Activities

In case you missed it, check out the 8th Grade Promotion and End of Year Activities Website to find out more about what is going on for the 8th graders on June 10 and June 11.  

Thank you to the many parent volunteers who are making the last few days of 8th grade special for our students!

Learn More