MLS PTO

Serving the children, families, teachers, and staff of
Meriwether Lewis School.  

Join us for MLS PTO Bingo Night Friday, February 7th, 6:30-8:00 in the cafeteria!  Come hungry, we will have pizza, cookies & popcorn as well as Hunt Country soup & BBQ for sale. 

We are still in need of a few volunteers, please contact Loretta Willis or 977-3433 for more information.

Bingo Prizes Needed!! We are looking for donations for Bingo Night prizes: preschool- and school-age appropriate gifts as well as gifts for adults. Collection boxes are under the PTO bulletin board near the pencils.

One of the first steps in the Principal search process is to define the unique needs of the Meriwether Lewis community and then incorporate those into the interviewing questions and selection criteria.  You can access a survey for MLS parents here or you can pick up a copy in the front office.  The survey will close Feb. 14th.

In addition, the PTO will host a gathering on February 12th 6-7pm at which parents can also provide input on the qualities our new principal should have to best serve our school.  To enable all interested MLS parents to attend, the PTO is providing childcare free-of-charge at the school.  Children must be currently enrolled at MLS (no pre-schoolers or MLS alums), and a parent must be onsite for the meeting.  Advance registration is required to ensure adequate staffing.  Please sign up no later than Tuesday, February 11 at 12:00 noon via this link.

Lastly, the ACPS Assistant Director of Educator Quality, Clare Keiser, is looking for a handful of MLS parents to serve on a school level interview committee. The committee will meet for a full day sometime during the week of Feb 24th.  If interested in serving on this committee, please contact Clare at ckeiser2@albemarle.org with your name, email, grade level of your students at MLS, the number of years you have been a MLS parent, and the reason you would like to serve on this committee.

We encourage you to take advantage of these unique opportunities to participate in the selection of our new principal! If you have any questions, feel free to email PTO co-Presidents Laura Steenburgh, lsteenburgh@gmail.com, or Kristina Parker, kparker5555@yahoo.com.

The Box Tops Classroom Contest at MLS continues through February 21. 

Mrs. Kirtley's third graders have moved into 1st place with 835 Box Tops!  Mrs. Kuhn's second graders are a VERY close 2nd with 827. 

Let's keep those Box Tops coming in!  The winning classroom will get a reward. 

BIG BONUS ALERT! For one week only (Feb 2 - Feb 8, 2014), buy 10 General Mills Box Tops products at ANY store in a single shopping visit, and you can earn 50 eBoxTops for MLS! You'll just need to save and submit your receipt. Learn more here.  If you earn eBoxTops email me at jandbreid@aol.com or drop a note in the Box Tops bin noting how many were earned and which classroom they should count towards.

Spring Session I courses began February 3. If you have not submitted payment for Spring 2014 courses, please do so. Payments may be made by cash or check (payable to "MLS PTO") and should be returned via backpack mail, ATTN: Enrichment Zone.

Spring Session II course registration will remain open until Monday, March 10th and you can sign-up online now at Spring 2014 EZ Registration. Visit the MLS PTO Enrichment Zone webpage for the complete spring schedule, course descriptions and additional program details. Thanks for your continued support of the MLS PTO EZ Program!

PTO Nominating Committee Needs Volunteers

Kids Night Out - Feb. 21st

We Still Need Your Photos!
It's not too late to submit photos to be considered for this year's MLS Yearbook!  Please continue to snap photos of class/school events and upload them to our yearbook site.  Just click on this link for instructions.  Our final deadline is April 4, but we suggest submitting them as soon as you can.  Thank you for your contributions! 

Activities include:

Drive a robot

Have your picture taken with a winning robot

Play active games in the gym

Build with Legos and play board games

Watch a movie (Wall-E)

Have pizza

Decorate your cookie

See the flier for more information.

SOL Testing Dates - Volunteers Needed!

Six non-5th grade parents are needed to monitor halls during the 5th grade SOL testing on the mornings of March 18th and 20th.  The parents monitor the halls to keep them quiet and conduct students one at a time to the bathroom as needed. They do not go in with the student, but they make sure that students do not talk to other 5th grade students during testing.  It is a low-action and rather boring job--good opportunity to catch up on reading or computer work and is critical to helping testing to run smoothly.  Please sign up here if you are able to help.  Mrs. Geraty can answer questions about the process. 

Mark your calendars for the 2014 SOL testing dates now:

Golden Apple Award Nominations

Harris Teeter VIC Parents, Check that You Are Linked!

Next time you shop at Harris Teeter, check the bottom of your receipt. If your card is linked, it should say "Your TIE school links for 2013/14: Meriwhether Lewis Elementary School".

First Annual MLS Art Show, April 25th, 2014!

Mark your calendars for a fun evening of art appreciation at the First Annual MLS Art Show! The evening will feature at least one submission from every student at Meriwether Lewis.  There will also be hands on demonstrations for students to show their parents how they utilize Choice principles in the art room using technology and other classroom resources.  We will also invite students and families to learn more about their teacher's personal artwork in the the Andrew Sherogon Gallery.  Best of all, this evening is offered to our MLS families at no cost! 

Dana Quist, Communications Coordinator

Meriwether Lewis School PTO

please email mlsmatters@gmail.com. 

Community events are listed by request as space is available.  The MLS PTO does not endorse or have any additional information regarding these events.