Official Chesterbrook PTA Logo
 
In this issue
Back to School Night
Supply Kits and PTA Memberships
Activities Sign-ups
5K Run
Volunteer
Family Directory
PTA on Facebook
Grocery Cards
Lunch Money
Quick Links
Join Our Mailing List
Like us on Facebook
Chesterbrook Friends
Coming soon! We'll be highlighting our Business Friends every week.

FAQs
Q: What happens in the gym at the beginning of Back to School Night?

A: Aside from checking out our new gym floor, you will hear about the year ahead from the PTA and Mr. Fuqua, vote on the PTA budget, and meet the staff with an always-entertaining video production. There is frequently a line of parents out in the hallway trying to listen while empty seats in the gym await them. PLEASE move in and fill the seats so everyone can hear. Read more...

Check out our new FAQs section on the website for more as the year goes on. Send any questions to  Ask Brook (as in ChesterBROOK) and we'll answer them here and/or on the website.
Chesterbrook PTA Weekly Digest

No. 4, September 10, 2011  

 

I hope everyone received notice about the school closing. If not, please go to the FCPS Keep in Touch (KIT) page and sign-up. We understand the automated phone calls have been discontinued.  

 

We still have a number of open shopping carts with supply kits and PTA memberships in them. If you do not receive a confirmation email, your order is not complete, and your child won't get his/her supplies and you won't receive your directory. When activities registration begins, the system does not hold spots for classes in shopping carts. Orders must be completed and payment received to hold a space. 

 

Items for the weeks ahead:   

  • Back to School Night, Tuesday, 9/13, 7 pm, gym (visit specialists at 6:30 in cafeteria)
  • Before- and After-School Activities sign-ups, online, 9/15, 6pm 
  • Wounded Warriors 5K, Saturday, 9/24, details below  

Looking forward to seeing you at Back to School Night,

Beth Mahood

2011-2012 PTA President 

Back to School Night
Back to School Night is Tuesday night! From 6:30 to 7 p.m., parents can meet the "Specials" teachers - Art, Band, Strings, Music, Chinese, PE, Reading Support, Media in the cafeteria. At 7, parents meet in the gym for a brief (10 minute) PTA meeting where members will vote on the budget for the coming year (attached here and on our website) and approve the audit committee report. The audit committee report and proposed budget were approved by the PTA Board on September 6th.  If you have questions regarding either of these items, please contact President Beth Mahood or Treasurer Laura Przypyszny prior to the meeting. This will help ensure parents can maximize their time with the classroom teachers. Next Principal Bob Fuqua will speak and introduce Chesterbrook staff via an entertaining video you will not want to miss! It may seem like "standing room only" but there are plenty of seats available if everyone can "scooch" into the center.

PLEASE come in and fill in seats so that everyone can hear. The video streamlines the evening so that teachers have time to set up their rooms to meet parents in the child(ren)'s classrooms from 7:30 to 8:15 with a second session from 8:15 to 9 for parents who have more than one student at Chesterbrook.  

Helpful Hint: in the classrooms, many teachers have sign-up sheets posted for parent-teacher conferences and other classroom help, so it's helpful to have your calendar handy!
School Supply Kits and PTA Memberships
If you haven't already purchased your school supply kits, please go online to the PTA website today to do so. The coordinators will be returning items to the vendor soon, and students need supplies now.

PTA memberships may be purchased ($20 per family, $10 per individual member) online in the same transaction. PTA members receive a free copy of the Family Directory ($8 value). We've already sold 260 family memberships and 47 individual memberships...which makes about 150 households haven't joined yet...

A note about ordering: orders are not complete on the website until you receive a confirmation order. There are still a number of shopping carts with incomplete orders and we cannot be sure whether owners meant to complete them or not. You may need to click on a final "place order" button. Contact [email protected] if you have questions.
Before- and After-School Activities Sign-ups
The PTA and Chesterbrook teachers offer after school Chess Club, Drama, Fitness Warriors (before school), FLEX (foreign language), Girls Excelling in Math and Science (GEMS), Girls on the Run (GOTR), and Yoga. Plus this year we're offering several new programs: BE-STEMS (Boys Excelling in Science, Technology, Math, and Science), Ideaventions (science), Math Olympiad, and Writers Club. Some information was in the Back to School Folders, and additional information will come out in this week's Thursday folders. Please note that while we have several new activities, art will not be offered this session, but we hope to resume in the winter. Registration for all programs (except GOTR which is open now at www.gotrnova.org ) begins online next Thursday, September 15 at 6 pm. For more information on each program, please visit our website. There are links to the flyers there too. FLEX registration begins on September 15 as well; a link on our website will take you to a county registration website.

A note about registering: registration is not complete on the website until you receive a confirmation order; your spot cannot be held until registration and payment is complete. You may need to click on a final "place order" button. Contact [email protected] if you have questions. We no longer accept checks and all registrations will go through our website and PayPal (which processes credit cards and electronic checks).
Wounded Warriors 5K with Vinson Hall
Come get healthy this fall and support wounded warriors! Chesterbrook is teaming up with Vinson Hall for their 5k race to support wounded warriors on the morning of September 24. Children can participate in a free 50m race, explore tanks and humvee's, meet and greet soldiers and build on our relationship with the active and retired military members of our community. Parents and families can run the race or sponsor a warrior. Click here for more information.

Chester is looking for a few more volunteers from our 6th grade class (or some alumni) to help out at the water stations. If your child is interested, please email Candace Stromberg-Soberman. And yes, Chester will be running the races with the kids!! More information to follow but please save the date and visit the website to learn more on participating in the race.
Volunteer with PTA
Are you interested in getting more involved in school and PTA activities? The PTA needs your help in the coming year! Running a committee is a terrific way to learn more about what's going on at school and meet other parents. We have some critical jobs to fill. Please see our website for a list of the openings. For more information, please contact Beth Mahood so you can get connected to the right opportunity. In your Back to School Folder (distributed at Open House or on the first day of school) you'll find a Volunteer Opportunities form where you can indicate where else you'd like to help, even if you aren't chairing a committee. There's something for everyone and every schedule!
Family Directory

We will collect information for NEW Chesterbrook families on the website; please click here to complete the information.  You will have to "checkout" but there is no cost associated with submitting the information.  Remember, if you do not receive a confirmation email you did not submit the information.  Returning Chesterbrook families will be given a flyer with the information the PTA currently has on file.  You will be able to update that information by returning the flyer.

Chesterbrook PTA's Facebook Page
The Chesterbrook PTA uses a wide variety of communications Like us on Facebooktools, including an active and customized Facebook Page. Join 175+ (and growing) Chesterbrook community members who receive updates on PTA, school and local community news and events. Search on "Chesterbrook PTA" within Facebook and "Like" the page in order to see past posts and get future news or if you are already in Facebook, click on this link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chesterbrook-PTA/81366341464. Feel free to post comments/questions anytime on our page or contact our Facebook Manager (Lori Boerner) if you would like to have your own school/community related news and events showcased on our page. Thanks for your interest and support!
Grocery Cards, Etc.
Giant A  Bonus Bucks It's time to redesignate your grocery cards. This is great, FREE, money for Chesterbrook! Last year our proceeds were well below the previous year, so we're hoping to increase substantially this year. Giant, Safeway, and Harris Teeter cards work, as does Target's Visa card. You can redesignate your cards in several ways:
  • When you join the PTA online, the form asks for your card numbers for each store.
  • You may email your numbers with store names to Maryam Redjaee, our VP of Fundraising.
  • You may register your numbers yourself through our website.   
While you are thinking about free money, we also are an Amazon affiliate, which means that a portion of each purchase comes back to the school when you begin your shopping at http://chesterbrookpta.org/amazonchesterbrook.aspx, which is also on our website. Bookmark it!
MyLunchMoney.com
lunch sticker Have you ever seen this sticker? When your child comes home with one, it means his or her lunch account is running low. You can avoid this by signing up with mylunchmoney.com and setting an automatic reload point. For a small fee, they will reload the lunch account in any amount. Through the website, you can also review what your child has purchased in the past week. You can sign up even if you have already paid in the cafeteria--it will just get added to your child's account.
Chesterbrook PTA Newsletters Disclaimer

The Chesterbrook PTA Newsletter (Weekly Digest and Digest PLUS) may contain external links to non-Chesterbrook ES PTA websites and access to certain third-party services, which may include, without limitation, social bookmarking services. These external links and services are provided as a convenience, and the Chesterbrook ES PTA is not responsible for the content of any linked website or use of any third-service service. Any external link to a non-Chesterbrook ES PTA website or service accessed from the Chesterbrook PTA Newsletter is independent from the Chesterbrook ES PTA, and the Chesterbrook ES PTA has no control over, and assumes no responsibility for, the content, privacy policy, terms of use and practices of such website or service.  Any such website or service has terms of use and a privacy policy different from the Chesterbrook ES PTA's privacy policy.  In addition, an external link to any non-Chesterbrook ES PTA website or access to a third-party service does not imply that the Chesterbrook ES PTA endorses or accepts any responsibility for the content or use of such website or service.  By using any such website or service, you expressly release the Chesterbrook ES PTA from any liability arising from your use of such third-party website and service and any related content.