Letter from Allison Liner, Principal
January 30, 2012
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Dear Encinal Families,
We have a wonderful school community of dedicated teachers, staff and parent volunteers who strive to engage our students with a quality public education experience. I am writing to you about two matching funds challenge grants by generous parents District-wide to increase the impact of donations to the Menlo Park Atherton Education Foundation.
 Our Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation (MPAEF) and Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) are two integral non-profit organizations raising money to support our students and fill the public school funding gap. The PTO portion of the "Are You IN?" joint campaign finished in the fall, and the MPAEF fundraising portion is coming to an end on February 15th.
Now there is an exciting MPAEF opportunity to work together and increase our public school funding. If we reach 70% MPAEF participation District-wide, a generous supporting family will contribute a $50,000 bonus to MPAEF for our District schools.
- 300 District Families That's how many more families we need to donate or pledge to reach our 70% MPAEF participation goal.
In addition, Foundation 500 Matching Grant funds are still available. For any family who was unable to give during the 2010-2011 school year, the full amount of your MPAEF donation will be doubled with dollar-for-dollar matching. For any supporting family who gave to the MPAEF last school year, the same matching funds will double any increase over your 2010-2011 donation amount.
If you haven't had a chance to give, please consider an amount that is comfortable for your family. Every dollar counts and all donations are greatly appreciated and every new family's participation will help us be one family closer to receiving the $50,000 bonus for our students' education. Click here to donate or pledge.
 MPAEF donations currently fund the salaries of 21 educators in our district, supporting our reduced class sizes and paying for our art teachers, music teachers, librarians, and science aides. In addition, MPAEF donations fund teacher professional development, 21st Century Learning, and teaching innovation through the Jeanie Ritchie Grant Program.
Cultural Arts Day is a great example of teaching innovation supported by the MPAEF Jeanie Ritchie Grant Program. A Jeanie Ritchie grant provided the seed money to initiate the program and our PTO along with parent volunteers bring this engaging, interactive day to life and inspire our students. Another program started by a Jeanie Ritchie Grant and supported by our PTO is our Encinal Eagle Express, promoting student interaction while encouraging writing and communication skills.
If you have any questions, please contact Lynne Van Tilburg, MPAEF Executive Director, at lynnev@mpaef.org.
Thank you so much to all of you who support Encinal in so many ways. Our school thrives with the generosity of our families volunteering and contributing to our MPAEF and PTO.
Kind Regards,
Allison Liner, Encinal Principal
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