The Beacon
Olive Chapel Elementary PTA News & Information
~ July 22 - July 26, 2019 ~
Welcome to the Beacon!
The Beacon is the weekly PTA newsletter from OCE. In it you will find a calendar with important dates, information on fundraisers and school functions, volunteer opportunities, and relevant community events, camps and after school activities.
Why am I getting the Beacon?
You are the parent or guardian of a child at OCE.
If you wish to stop receiving the Beacon, you may unsubscribe at the bottom of the newsletter at any time. Though we hope you will stick around to stay up to date on all the goings on at OCE.
When will I receive the Beacon?
Once a week on Thursday evenings/Friday mornings so you can prepare for the week ahead.
How do I contact the Beacon?
Email oce.communications@gmail.com and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
A little reminder that in addition to the Beacon, the OCE school website and the OCE PTA website are two great sources of information. There is a great link outlining everything you need to know if you're new to OCE here. Join the PTA Facebook page as well as follow the school Twitter feed. Several teachers and specialists are also on Twitter. Our goal is to make sure you are provided as many tools as you need to support your child while they attend OCE.
We are looking forward to a great year!
PTA Welcome
Welcome aboard! The OCE PTA is excited to set sail for another wonderful school year!!
We hope you will consider joining the PTA as we work to support and advocate for our students, teachers, and staff here at OCE. There will be a PTA meeting at the Open House and we invite you to attend to hear what the OCE PTA is about, how you can help, and to approve our budget for the next year.
You should have received membership flyers in your child's blue Friday folder during their first week or so of school. Don't forget to send those memberships in. If you've misplaced your flyer, you can print it out and send it in with your student at any time. We will also collect memberships at Open House.
Below is a quick rundown of what the PTA has planned so far for this year, but keep your eyes and ears open for more news and fun events for the coming year! We hope to see you at a meeting or event soon!
Say hello to our 2019-20 Board Members:
President - Whitney Ludlow
Whitney was previously our PTA VP and coordinator of the SchoolKidz Kits school supplies and Agendas. She is the parent adviser for the KidsCorps club at OCE and the Food 4 Kids Program. She has two sons, a rising seventh grader at AFMS and a fourth grader here at OCE on Track 4. Whitney has been an active part of the OCE family for going on 8 years now. Whitney is passionate about building community and looks forward to being part of an amazing team advocating for our school, teachers, administration and families.
Vice President - Mandy MacNaughton
Mandy MacNaughton volunteered to help with Jump Rope for Heart last year and loved being involved with the PTA so much that she is taking on the role of Vice President this year! She has twin girls in 1st grade on track 3 and their little sister will start Kindergarten next year! She is looking forward to working with such an active, involved PTA to continue to make OCE the wonderful place that it is!
Treasurer - Jolene Dunn
Jolene is brand new to volunteering with the PTA and is very excited to be on board this year! She has previously volunteered as a classroom helper and room parent and felt drawn to dive in deeper. She has two sweet sons, one is a rising 6th grader at AFMS and the other is a track 4 fourth grader here at OCE. Jolene loves the collaborative spirit and creativity at Olive Chapel and is grateful for this opportunity!
Secretary - Shveta Malhotra
Shveta is currently a substitute teacher and proud mom of two wonderful kids. She is originally from Dallas but has called Apex home for almost 5 years. Her son is in the second grade, track 2. Her daughter will start kindergarten next year. She joined the PTA in order to be more involved with school activities and help out in any way that she can. She is looking forward to serving as PTA secretary. She believes that together we can achieve anything!
*FUNDRASIERS
The fundraising committee is shaking things up this year.
Be on the lookout this year for a No-Fuss Fundraiser. Simply donate money to the OCE PTA and ignore any or all additional fundraisers throughout the year. You'll still receive information on our ongoing fundraising efforts, but you can recycle those notices knowing you've already given for the year.
In addition, we will also be raising funds via four major fundraisers:
Boosterthon - October 14 - 28
Silent Auction & Gala - February 15
Bookfair - September 3 - 11 and April 20 - 27
Artapalooza* - TBD
*The fundraising committee has opted to take a break from the Spring Carnival and try an Artapalooza evening that promises to be fun for the whole family. Be on the lookout this spring for information on this fun new event that will showcase our students' creative side as well as raffle baskets, teacher experience raffles and more!
Also be on the lookout for Spirit Night fundraisers throughout the year. These are wonderful evenings at local businesses who support our school by donating back a portion of the proceeds. Our first Spirit Night is coming up on July 26th at Sweet Spoons. You won't want to miss it! (more info below)
*PTA ACTIVITIES
Make a note of a few special nights coming to OCE this year (more details to follow):
Family Movie Night - tentatively scheduled for September 6
Holiday BINGO - tentatively scheduled for December 5
Grandparents Breakfast - September 5, Tracks 3,4; April 24, Tracks 1,2.
*MEETINGS
All are welcome to attend any PTA meeting. Each meeting usually consists of an update from the administration delivered by Dr. Steidinger and/or Ms. May followed by updates provided by the various committees. There is always time for questions and concerns as well. We would love to see you at a meeting!
All PTA meetings take place on a Thursday of the month at 11:00 a.m. (typically the second or third Thursday pending administration schedules). Due to a scheduling conflict this year, we had to move all the meetings to day time (previously, we alternated between day and evening times). We recognize that makes it difficult for working parents to attend and apologize for the inconvenience. We are happy to share meeting minutes to those unable to attend and many of the committee meetings and volunteer events will take place during the evening hours, so don't let this deter you from participating. Many of our committee heads are working parents and an inability to attend a day time meeting certainly does not inhibit their ability to participate and get the job done for OCE!
If you have questions about PTA meetings, please reach out to oce.pta@gmail.com.
Here is the list of dates for this year's meetings (all at 11:00 a.m. at the school):
July 11
August 8
September 12
October 17
November 14
December 12
January 16
February 20
March 19
April 9
May 21
June 11
CALENDAR
July 22 - OPEN HOUSE! Tracks 1, 2 and 3 (info below)
July 26 - Spirit Night: Sweet Spoons (details below)
August 2 - Meet the Teacher, Track 4 (details below)
August 11 - PTA Meeting, 11:00 a.m.
August 13 - OPEN HOUSE! Track 4
Open House
Come and meet your child's teacher, see their classroom, and get a sneak peek at all your student's will be learning this year at the OCE Open House.
Track 1, 2, 3 - Monday, July 22nd from 6:00-7:30pm
Track 4 - Tuesday, August 13th from 6:00-7:30pm
This is an event for parents, so we do ask that you work to find childcare. If you are not able to, we will have the YMCA present to provide care for those unable to secure it on their own. There will be two rotations for class visits for parents with more than one child here at Olive Chapel. The schedule is as follows:
6:00 - 6:30 p.m. First Classroom Visit
6:35 - 7:00 p.m. PTA meeting in the Gym (no classroom visits at this time)
7:05 - 7:30 p.m. Second Classroom Visit
Track 4 KINDERGARTEN Meet the Teacher
Track 4 Kindergarten Meet the Teacher will be held on Friday, August 2nd from 2:00-2:45pm
The first FULL week of school for Kindergarten students on Track 4 will be on Monday, August 5th.
Spirit Night
15% of all sales will be donated to benefit Olive Chapel. The class with the most participants will win a FroYo party!!!
So come after school, come after dinner, bring a friend, and enjoy a sweet, cool treat to benefit OCE.
Box Tops
Box Tops is working to phase out the original Box Tops clips, so can continue to cut those out when you see them and send them in to the school marked with your teacher's name on the collection sheet or Ziploc bag. Use the summer clip sheet attached below to learn more about the mobile app and add your traditional Box Tops to send in.
Last school year, OCE earned $2,206 through the Box Tops program. Let's keep clipping Clippers!
Landlubbers Running Club, 3rd - 5th Graders
Attention 3rd-5th graders!
It is time to sign up for our very own running club, also know as OCE's Landlubbers! Check out the club page for more information. Then use this link to sign your runner up before we start on Tuesday, August 20th. Please read carefully; there is a lot of information for parents to know before we start the club.
You can also purchase a NEW Landlubbers T-shirt this year using this link. The shirts are GREEN and have a new quote on the front. (Shirts are not required!) If you would like to purchase a shirt orders have to be in (using the link) by August 9th!
Book Club, K-2nd Graders
Registration for OCE Book Club is now open for children in grades K-2. Parents can now register their child for the K-2 Book Club online. Click this link for meeting dates and registration.
Registration for tracks 1,2, and 3 needs to be completed by July 30th and track 4 by August 9th.
Robotics/Coding Club
The application window is from July 6th through August 2nd. No exceptions.
The application consist of two parts: the online form and the essay. Students that are already members from previous year only need to submit part 1. New applications MUST submit part 1 and 2 by August 2nd. Filling out an application does not guarantee a spot in the club given the high number of students interested in this club.. Notification email will be sent on August 16, 2019.
Garden Club
Click the Online Registration form from July 5th to August 2nd to register your child.
Please note that even if your child has participated in the club before you MUST fill out this application for the new school year. Thank you very much.
Garden club will start meeting on August 9th
Girls Who Code
We will start our activities on August 1st.
Here Comes the Bus App
Did you know there is an App that tracks your child's bus? Know exactly how much time you have to find that second lost shoe in the morning or monitor their ride home so you can time pick-up just right with the Here Comes the Bus app. More information can be found here.
CREW BIRTHDAYS
7/5 - Katy Trainor
7/11 - Kelly O'Hare
7/15 - Erin May
7/16 - Cynthia Seder
7/26 - Marcia Ferreira
7/28 - Chelsea Drobb
7/28 - Kelly Rattinger
THANK YOU TO OUR 2018-19 PLATINUM LEVEL SPONSORS:
To submit to the Beacon, please email oce.communications@gmail.com
Olive Chapel Elementary PTA
Website: https://www.ocepta.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Olive-Chapel-PTA-1834721613423092/
Twitter: @olivechapelelem