5     Kindergarten Information Meeting, 6 p.m.

6     DCPC Meeting at Peachtree Charter Middle School, 9:15 a.m.

7     Chick-fil-A Spirit Night  

15   Flag Awareness Day

18   No School 

Greetings Parents!

This is a reminder to emphasize the importance of following the procedures for morning carpool drop-off. We are able to move approximately 500 cars through the line in under 15 minutes. It is difficult however, to get all of the traffic through at one time no matter what plan we put in place. With the winter season upon us, more parents are using carpool which increases the traffic flow. We will continue with the current plan and ask that you arrive earlier for morning drop-off. If you find yourself running late, please be patient and understand that safety comes first.

Unfortunately, we are experiencing safety hazards with our carpool staff. There have been several reports of speeding cars and parents making illegal U-turns and drop-offs on Vanderlyn Drive. Such incidents pose a major safety threat to students, parents, and staff involved in the carpool process. Last week, Ms. Norman was almost struck twice by a parent as she was directing traffic into the carpool lane. Sadly, this was not the first time this has happened. We do not want to put our staff in harm's way while we are providing a service designed to protect our students and parents. Please respect the carpool and drop-off procedures that we put in place to avoid a tragic situation.

We respectfully ask that parents refrain from turning left off of Vanderlyn Drive into the carpool lane as this creates a back-up and interferes with the flow of cars exiting the carpool lane. In addition, we ask that you pay attention to our staff directing traffic and follow their directives as they navigate the flow of traffic and walkers. Safety must be a priority and we need your support to make this process work. Thank you in advance for helping to keep our students, parents and staff safe.

In the Best Interest of Students,

Mrs. Crenshaw

Dear Vanderlyn community,

As the Vanderlyn treasurer, it is part of my job to help the PTA spend your money on the activities and projects that were approved at the beginning of the school year and outlined in our annual budget. Following is a summary of our revenues and spending for the first semester:

Revenues:

Annual Fund:  This is the bulk of our PTA budget and the source of funds for most of the PTA activities. Thanks to many of our wonderful parents, we have collected about $70,000 of the $80,000 we budgeted for the year. 

Merchant rebates:  Its true that the .10 cents each we get for box tops and the other contributions from our partners Chick-fil-a, Yogli Mogli, Georgia Natural Gas and others really add up.  We were fortunate enough to get donations of about $1,350 from those programs during the first semester.

Book fair:  Our fall book fair raised a total of $2,860.

Expenses:

We have spent a portion of the money on the following activities and improvements to the school (totaling $32,275):

Education: $18,950

                First Semester teacher stipends of $6450  

(money for teachers to buy needed things for their classrooms - receipts are required),

                Parent education nights, $135

                Teacher training $400   

                Academic competitions $830

                Reflections program $215

                Purchase of common core standards resources for

                teachers $9,510                

                Visiting author $1410

Health and Physical Fitness: $1,220

                Red ribbon week $260

                Clinic supplies $140

                Organic Garden and Veggie Days $820

Long-term improvements to the school: $3,470

Enclosing the kindergarten playground $2,205

Purchase of commercial grade landscape maintenance equipment for the school $1,265

New US flags donated to the school

Science tables donated to the school

Other: $8635

                Registration day $925,

                Annual fund credit card fees $1,250

                Other annual fund expenses $870

                Viking views $335

                Teacher appreciation including welcome back,  

                   thanksgiving and winter lunches $1290

                Preparing donations to international school $110

                Fall social and math night $900

                Faculty spirit wear $1450

                Other $1505

Field Trip Dues:

PTA also collected field trip dues from each student.  This money (collections totaling $17,410) has been used for many different field trips: to see plays, the Chattahoochee Nature center, Tellus Science museum and to provide traveling trunks of educational material from the Atlanta History Center.   So far, this totals $9,850.  Second semester trips are planned to be partially funded by PTA funds as the initial parent funds run out.

Classroom Dues:

PTA collected Classroom dues from each student.  This money (totaling $17,715) has been used towards the following:

Staff and Teacher Gifts $7345 including monetary holiday gifts for every teacher and staff member,

Publication of student directory $1,890

The remainder will be used for year-end staff and teacher gifts.

As you can see from the above, teacher stipends, supplementing teacher resources for common core standards implementation, field trips and long-term school improvements are some of more costly items that the PTA supports.  We are happy that we can continue to offer the teachers a second semester stipend and continue to provide many field trips and enrichment opportunities for the children.  

During the second semester, we anticipate funding the grade level performances, providing a fun and energetic field day, hosting our best and biggest Vanderdash ever and continuing to assist the school with providing the teacher resources and training that help set Vanderlyn apart.

We are also excited to report that due to the strong annual fund participation (it's not too late!) we expect to have a Vanderlyn science lab by late this year.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns at diane@weissonline.net.  Thank you for your support throughout the year both through Annual Fund contributions and volunteer hours.

Diane Weiss

PTA Treasurer 2012-2013

The Cultural Arts/Field Trips Committee has been busy coordinating field trips and presentations that enrich and compliment the children's education at Vanderlyn.  

Our committee's work for this school year began last Spring when we met with teachers to select field trip destinations according to their teaching plans, across all subjects and each grade's GPS. The timing of the trips is also selected by the teachers in order to coincide best with the time a specific curriculum area is being taught.  

So far this school year Vanderlyn students have visited or are scheduled to visit: Stone Mountain Educational Programs, TellUs Science Museum, Chattahoochee Nature Center, The Seminole Landfill, The Federal Reserve, The Georgia Aquarium, The High Museum of Art, The Atlanta History Center, The Fabulous Fox Theater (The Nutcraker) and the Alliance Theater (Charlotte's Web).

We have brought to school History Traveling Trunks from the Atlanta History Center. Each trunk contains artifacts designed to assist teachers in highlighting several chapters in our Nation's history. Vanderlyn students have seen trunks about Presidents, Native Lands, Colonial Life, Georgia Pioneers, Westward Expansion and Civil War.

We could have not done any of this without your financial contribution for field trips. We also could have not done it without the help of our volunteers, specially Kelly Sloan and Daniella Aguilar.

We hope your children are excited when telling you about these experiences and we look forward to bringing more educational enrichment this semester!

Lucia Urtusastegui and Veronica Pinell-McNamara

Kindergarten Information Night will be held at Vanderlyn on February 5 at 6 p.m. We welcome all parents who are considering registration for a Kindergarten student for the 2013-2014 school year. Please help us by notifying any of your friends or neighbors who may be interested.

Thursday, February 7, from 5 to 8 p.m.

Join us for Spirit Night Thursday at Chick-fil-A from 5 to 8 p.m.!  We'll be at the Perimeter Point location eating dinner with other Vanderlyn Vikings.  Families can enjoy free ice cream topped with sprinkles added by our very own teachers while we raise money for our school.

Please be sure to mention that you are from Vanderlyn when you order your food.  Chick-fil-A will donate 10% of Vanderlyn sales from 5 to 8 p.m. back to the school. We can all use a night off from kitchen duty!!

No time to come inside?  No problem, just visit the drive through!!  Don't forget to tell them you are a Vanderlyn Viking when you order.  

We'll see you there!

Did your New Year resolutions include clipping more Box Tops?

We are gearing up for our final Box Tops blitz for the 2012-2013 school year! We will be collecting Box Tops, Campbell Labels, and Tyson Labels. The collection dates will run February 8-15, 2013. Keep a watch for collection instructions coming in your child's VIP soon.

Merchant Partners Committee-  vanderlynmerchantrebateprogram@gmail.com.

Register to participate in the 5th Annual VanderDash.   

Please plan to attend the next DCPC meeting on Wednesday, February 6, 2013 at Peachtree Charter Middle School. The meeting will begin at 9:15 a.m. and conclude by 10:30 a.m. Light Refreshments will be offered at 8:45 a.m.

Dr. John Barge, Georgia State School Superintendent, is the scheduled speaker.