Just wanted to share that I have really enjoyed the beginning of this school year. We had a great group of volunteers show up for the first Monthly Communication Packet meeting. It was great to see a lot of the Friday crew from last year’s morning SACO meetings and some new faces, too. We will convene again toward the end of this month to assemble the October packet. Please feel free to join us if you can…
The first SACO meeting of year was great, too. Thanks to all the parents, extended family members, and staff who attended. Parent Danielle McElwee did a presentation about opportunities for increasing walking and cycling to the school. Danielle is part of a group of parents who are organizing this year’s Walk and Roll to School Day, and perhaps additional pedestrian and bicycle activities at the school. Another parent, Jennifer McClendon, expressed interest in forming a Wellness Committee at SRCSA to look at ways to improve the health of our students. If you are interested in either of these efforts, please let me know by email and I will connect you with the group. Please look out for information about Walk and Roll to School Day and how your family can participate even if you do not live within walking or biking distance of SRCSA.
Other items at the September 5 SACO meeting:
Funding was approved for the classrooms ($300 per classroom). This money can be used by teachers for classroom enrichment, field trips, and other expenses, and it is available now. We are hoping that the SEED fundraiser will be successful so that ultimately a total of $1000 can be allocated for each classroom. It is SACO’s hope that a strong SEED campaign shared by all will provide most of the funding for classroom activities.
Also funding was approved to launch the Orff music program in grades K through 3. The $4600 will allow Arts Coordinator Ms. Jason to develop a program that will start this fall and continue into the spring. This program will augment the wonderful Orff instruction offered by Ms. Raines and will continue to provide a musical foundation so all SRCSA students have music fundamentals that will prepare them to begin music instruction in 4th grade. If you are not familiar with Orff, check it out: http://www.aosa.org/orff.html
An interest in enhanced Science instruction has emerged over the last couple of years. Last year, SACO funded the entrance fee for one group of students to participate in Odyssey of the Mind as a pilot project. This year, in an effort to bring the Odyssey opportunity to more students, there will be an Odyssey of the Mind Information Night on Thursday, September 13 at 6:00 p.m. in the MPR. If you are interested in having your student participate, please come to the meeting to find out how to be a part of this year’s program. One of the key factors in launching new teams is to find volunteers to help coach the teams. Ms. Burghardt, who coached last year’s team and has experience with Odyssey of the Mind, will explain more about the program and we will develop an interest list of students and potential coaches.
The SEED Campaign started August 31 and is already off to a good start. For those of you who are hoping to make installment payments via PayPal, please be patient with me as I get that part of this web site programmed. I will have it completed by the end of this week, or sooner, as time allows.
Final note (for now) about monthly SACO meetings: we are holding them during the evening this year in order to accommodate families who cannot attend meetings during the school day, and also so that teachers can attend. Already I’ve noticed some new faces but we seem to have lost a few of our regulars from last year. In an effort to accommodate different family schedules, I am hoping that our weekday morning people will come to the Monthly Communication Packet team meeting (where we assemble packets one Friday per month) because members of the SACO Board will always be there and it is a chance to catch up on SACO news and stay involved.
More to follow. Thanks to our wonderful volunteers who attended the above meetings, and the Kick-Off meetings for Art Walk, Halloween, and Yearbook.
-Erin