WELCOME BACK.from the SES PTO

As our summer comes to a close, we realize that we have been meaning to get a letter to all of you with last year's updates.  Well, better late than never.

Let's back up to Easter.  The students had the opportunity to get their pictures taken with the Easter bunny for only $1 per picture.  The kids loved it.  We had more participants from our Jr. High students than we thought we would.  We took a total of 380 pictures.  This was a great laughter filled day that we hope to continue this year.

At the beginning of May, the PTO sponsored a Teacher/Staff appreciation dinner.  We had about half the staff in attendance.  A great way to say thanks to the teachers and staff for all they do for our children all year long.  The dinner was excellent!!

At the end of May, field trips were substituted with the Oglebay Zoo coming to our school for 2 days and they presented K-2 with live animals.  They got to see, touch, and learn more about a turtle, a snake, a hissing cockroach, and a rabbit.  Grades 3-6 got to dissect owl pellets.  This was a very educational and entertaining 2 days.

Taking care of one of our very own, the PTO donated a large basket of candles for Kim Moore's benefit in the spring.  There was great turnout for her benefit.  We hope that she is doing much better!

In June, the PTO donated some items for the Noble Learning Center's open house. 

Our rolling store was a sure hit for only being open the last 7 weeks of school.  We will have many more items this year to offer for sale.  We are still going to try to be open on Thursday mornings from 7:45 to 8:30 a.m. in the foyer. 

The greatest news of all.The PTO raised enough funds this year to have a new sound system installed in the gym.  WOW!  What a difference at the awards ceremonies.  The system was wonderful.  The only interference was a few birds.  We hope to add a couple more features to the system to aid in the safety of our children in the years to come.

We are looking into a fundraiser that involves your television.  It is DirecTV4Schools.  If you are a new or current subscriber to Direct TV and agree to a year's programming, you can help our school earn $100 at NO additional cost to you.  All you have to do is to commit to a plan with DirecTV for 1 full year, and they will send us $100.  It is that easy.  The enrollment for our school has not yet been announced.  As we have more details and information we will send it home ASAP!  Every extra dollar the school has the better it is for our children.

We are going to try to do more fun things for families this year.  The routine of school gets very boring.  We would like to incorporate family fun nights this year throughout the school year where families can come to play, share, and enjoy their favorite games for free.  Concessions may be provided for a small fee. 

Nestle Pure Life Water label collection update.  Last year we collect 7,142 points with all  the labels that we collected and turned it.  These points turn into sports themed items for the school, soccer balls, footballs, basketballs, baseballs, nets, jump ropes, exercise mats, flags, and much, much more.  So keep collecting those labels, every one counts.

Our annual spirit sale will be arriving soon.  We have some great new items to add to your growing Zeps collection.  You can never have enough school spirit items.  We LOVE our ZEPS!

What can Lowes do for you.well, now that you asked?  The PTO is looking into a Lowes grant that would provide possible funding for improvement or new construction of facilities at the school.  Examples include, new signage at the end of the road, new or updated play structures, picnic table and patio area for students or even an outdoor basketball court for the JR high students.  These are just a few of the ideas that have been discussed at our previous meetings.  If you are interested in becoming involved with the grant process or if you have an idea, plan on attending any of the PTO meetings.

The PTO also wants to sponsor a GO ZEPS Chicken Bar-B-Q dinner this fall during football season.  Anyone interested in helping, plan on attending one of our PTO meetings.

We need your help to continue with our successes!  Your suggestions, ideas and help are always needed to aid in our children's education.  What a great way to get involved!  Join the PTO today!

Our first PTO meeting of the new school year will be Sept. 10 @ 5:30 p.m. in the cafeteria.   We have vacant positions that need to be filled.  Sandy Flood has been so gracious to continue through the summer months as our Treasurer.  We would like to take nominations in September and possibly vote in October for our new treasurer.  Please come and support your PTO this year.  Ideas are always welcome but volunteers are priceless!  We have really big plans that can only be accomplished with your support!!

You can e-mail our PTO at anytime at shenandoahpto@yahoo.com.

See you in a couple weeks!!!

SHENANDOAH PTO