Hello PALS Families,
I hope your summer has been full of fun time with family and friends! As we begin the 2015/2016 school year, I would like to address a few changes and offer reminders.
This year we will begin to see the culmination of collaboration between all Parkmead parent groups. The first change is in requested donations. Through Infosnap and at Welcome Back Day we now ask all Parkmead (PALS and PCS) families to donate $250, written to PERC (Parkmead Education Resources Council). That donation will help fund our tech specialist and library books, and will support enrichment activities, including field trips, for both PALS and PCS. This is an important donation, as enrichment is part of what makes the PALS program truly great. Part of the goal of this new donation structure is to ask parents to write fewer checks and to make room for the important WCEF donation, which supports PE, art, music, and the science specialist.
Please join me in offering a warm welcome to our new PALS I teacher: Tara Robinson. I'm sure she will make many wonderful contributions to our young kids' education. Also join me in offering extra support to our sole PALS III teacher: Lydia McIntosh. Let's give her all of the in-classroom and at-home support we can muster. I am hopeful that Robin Reese will rejoin the PALS family next fall.
Our first PTA/PTO meeting (Sept 15) will be important. We'll talk about all of the ways we're working to make Parkmead a cohesive school, while maintaining all of the aspects that make each program unique. We will also vote to accept 2 new PTO board members that stepped up to fill vacancies over the summer.
I cannot express just how excited I am for the 2015/2016 school year. I look forward to seeing all of the work we've done on our school climate come to fruition with great PCS partners, and I look forward to volunteering my time with each of you to support our great school. Please join me in supporting our teachers in the classroom, creating MAGIC for our kids, and volunteering for other enriching activities. The PALS community and culture of volunteerism is and always has been what makes PALS great.
With excitement for the year to come,
Ruth Kale-Fok
PALS PTO President and Mom of Lexi (WCI), Jasmine (Level III), Violet (Level I), and Jason (Future Parkmead Panther)