This 2021-22 school year got off to a roaring start! The PTO was able to celebrate a new school year and show our gratitude to our teachers and staff by providing a welcome back lunch in August. A few days later we welcomed the Talley Tigers back to school with a Popsicle Social and spiritwear sale! It felt good to come together again in person and meet new and old friends.

We are so appreciative of all the donations, support and volunteers who have helped us build a sense of community as we all navigate this stage of the pandemic together. Your in-kind donations of supplies from the Amazon Wishlist, the Teacher Appreciation Snack Cart, and cases of water have kept our teachers, staff and kids comfortable and well cared for at Talley.

Your generosity and participation in the second annual Reading Rally fundraiser raised over $16,650 and got our kids to read over 161,000 minutes as we explored poetry from around the world.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the new combined Class Fund Pool this year. The goal of this new approach was to bring more equity to the resources and gifts that Room Parents typically arrange for their teachers. By pooling all of the contributions, we are able to distribute to Room Parents $420 for each of the 54 homeroom, co-teacher and specials teachers. These contributions will cover the cost of birthday, holiday, teacher appreciation and end of year gifts as well as cover any additional classroom needs. The pool has eliminated the wide range in individual class fund budgets and allows Room Parents to access the same resources for their assigned teachers. If you did not participate in the Class Fund Pool and would like to contribute for other Staff Appreciation activities, you can donate online.

We hope you have enjoyed the varied opportunities to participate in Spirit Nights at local restaurant partners and our other passive fundraisers through Minted, Amazon Smile, Kroger, Publix and Box Tops! We’ve earned over $1,000 so far this year.

Thank you to everyone who has donated directly to the PTO this year. We have raised $876 in direct donations so far. The Talley Street PTO is a 501(c) 3 organization and donations are tax deductible. This is a great option for end of year giving!

Here are some of the great things that your donations have helped to support: initiatives such as the DEI Committee Equity Series, Peace and Picnic, subsidizing yearbook costs, funding holiday and end of year gift cards for Talley staff, coffee for Walk and Roll days, teacher grants and other community events we hope to host in 2022!

We look forward to a bright new year in 2022 when we have more new and exciting activities planned.

Thank you for all you do for the Talley Community!

Talley Street School PTO Board