Newsletter 8/30/2024

ANNOUNCEMENTS

A message from our Membership Chair

Hi BCS Community,

As I’ve been chatting with several of you, I’ve found I have an opportunity to clarify PTA membership AND how it corresponds to meetings. A quick summary FAQ is included at the bottom of this email (and on our website) to help you out - if you still have questions, please reach out!

With appreciation, Kelsi

Ice Cream Social - Thurs. 9/5

Join your fellow BCS families at our annual Ice Cream Social, at the playground behind BCS. The PTA will be serving chocolate and vanilla ice cream along with dairy free vanilla ice cream. Toppings will be fudge sauce, sprinkles, and whip cream! For those with sensory processing challenges or who have a hard time waiting in line, we will have otter pops available at a separate table with a pink balloon. Just a heads up for parents there is usually a big turn out for this event so expect lots of families, lots of noise and lots of sticky faces! ALSO, KIDS MUST HAVE A PARENT PRESENT AT THIS EVENT!

LEARN MORE

General PTA Meeting: Monday, 9/9 at 7pm

The first PTA General Meeting will be held in the school library (or via Zoom) on Monday, Sept. 9th. All community members are invited to join! Check out the Meeting Agenda to see what will be discussed this month.

LEARN MORE | VIEW AGENDA

Join the Bike Bus on Wednesday mornings, starting Sept. 4!

Beverly Cleary School is getting a bike bus! Beverly Cleary School students (and their adults) are invited to “get on the bus” and enjoy an active, social way of getting to school. Departing various “bus stops” as early as 8:10 am, depending on location.  See the map below for meet-up times and locations (we hope to add more routes over time). Participants can also join the Bike Bus from any location along the route. Click here for Bike Bus rules and other important info.

Sign-up to Volunteer | Email Liz Turnbull with Questions at BCSBikeBus@gmail.com 

Join the PTA Parent Portal

The PTA is inviting (and asking) new families to sign up for a free account on our website.  An account will give you:

• access to and inclusion in the school directory,
• access to volunteer sign up forms,
• and configuration of your student(s) fundraising pages for the Fun Run   

Joining the PTA is optional after this, but we welcome that too! Questions? Reach out to president@beverlyclearyschool.org or webmaster@beverlyclearyschool.org Thank you!

Sparky’s Pizza Fundraiser

Sparky's Pizza is hosting a fundraiser to benefit the BCS PTA on Tuesday, September 10th! 10% of the total sales from all three Sparky’s Portland locations will be donated to the PTA. Take a break from cooking and support PTA!

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After-School Enrichments

BCS fall after-school classes are open for registration! They include arts, languages, music, movement, Lego and more. Scholarships are available.

LEARN MORE

Community Cares Day - Thank You!

Thank you to all who were able to come out and help on Community Cares Day. Kids and adults alike worked hard! We were able to completely tidy up the school grounds, distribute a giant pile of mulch and tame unruly plants. The grounds are looking great and were ready to receive the students this week. Also. thank you to Kelli Doty, the Community Cares Day Coordinator, for putting on this event.

PTA Clothing Center Volunteer Opportunity: Monday, 9/30, 9:30 am to 1:30pm

Each PPS school PTA is responsible for sending volunteers two times during the school year to assist students in receiving clothing and shoes. Beverly Cleary's day is coming up and we need 5-6 volunteers to help kids receive clothing and to help sort donations. Volunteers can be parents, grandparents or community members. The PTA Clothing Center is a district wide service that provides a space for PPS families to shop for their students. This past school year, we assisted nearly 1,400 PPS Students! And logged over 2,800 volunteer hours.

Many thanks to the BCS families and staff who participated in our Sock & Underwear Drive last year! This year the center will be able to give out 6-7 pairs of socks and undies to each student who visits the center.

Email bridgetmschum@gmail.com to volunteer and get more information.

Seeking Volunteers

Email volunteer@beverlyclearyschool.org to find out more. 

PTA Membership FAQs

Q: I signed up for a membership when we joined BCS several years ago. Shouldn’t my dues automatically renew?

A: Unfortunately, our toolkit doesn’t do that yet! Our PTA year rolls over on July 1 every year. Please consider renewing or join today. We are working on ways to send reminders to help with the mental load in coming years!

Q: If I join, I’m afraid I’ll have to go to the meetings. Will you bug me about that?

A: No, but we genuinely would love for everyone to come! Meeting attendance is NOT a requirement, and just paying your dues helps the PTA.

Q: If I want to attend a meeting, do I have to join the PTA?

A: No! Everyone is welcome to attend. In order to vote, you must be a dues-paying member.

Q: Okay, but what do you do with my dues?

A: We are required to send $9.50 to the state and National PTA, and the rest is part of our BCS PTA budget - meaning, we count on your memberships in our overall budget.

Q: How many members did you plan on this year?

A: This year, we budgeted for 100 PTA members, which was the goal we just achieved last year. Although our population is getting slightly smaller, we’ve set an ambitious goal of 150 PTA members this year, because more parent involvement, volunteering and advocacy is better for our students. We believe we can get there - with your help!

Q: Okay, but isn’t the PTA kind of a weird, members-only clique?

A: That’s definitely not the goal. We genuinely need you - your perspective, your involvement, and your skills. Our meetings DO follow Roberts’ Rules of Order, which can feel really formal (or strange) if you’ve never attended before, and because the PTA is both a non-profit and a state and national organization, we’re beholden to some regulation. But we promise - we have to Google some of the rules and terms too, and we’re all just trying to juggle jobs, families, schools, and life together.