Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter
Volume 24, Issue 8, October 14, 2016
Happy Friday Thunderbird Families!
We hope everyone stays safe in the rain today while our children enjoy the day off!
Today is the last day of our Back to School Donation Drive. Thank you all for your amazing support! Please remember that your contributions make Thornhill the super school that it is. If you have not had a chance to make a contribution, it is never too late! Every bit counts and we appreciate your support in giving our kids a well-rounded education. One where the arts and especially music is valued. We can not thank the Thornhill community enough for supporting this vision for our wonderful kids!
A big thank you to all the parents that came out to our ST Math Night. It was an evening filled with great information for one of the resources that YOU, the community, is responsible for through your generous donations. We look forward to hosting more informational nights such as this in the future.
Have a wonderful weekend and stay dry!
Shanyn Lloyd-Gibson & Shauna Fithian
Your PFC Co-presidents
Back To School Donation Drive Update
Hello Thunderbirds!
I am very pleased and humbled by all of the ways our community volunteers to make our school distinguished and deserving of the Blue Ribbon Award. That said, without your financial contributions, we are unable to maintain this level of excellence. So far, we have raised $100,000, which is 63% of our BSDD goal of $160,000. We are truly in jeopardy of having to make some really tough decisions about our 2016-2017 budget and may have to consider cutting staffing hours for our Teaching Aides, or scaling back our technology, music and art programs.
Every dollar does matter and we need to strive for 100% participation so that we can maintain cutting-edge programs like Achieve 3000 and ST Math. We know that $900 per student is not pocket change. If you are able to spread it over several months, wonderful. If you are able to have corporate matching, that is fantastic.
Our overall PFC budget is $360,000 per year and this truly is what it takes: 400 students at $900 = $360,000. Your dollars help make Thornhill a special place. Every 3rd grader learns the violin. Our TK and Kinder classes have teaching aides. We have Jazzocrazy for 5th graders. Our entire school, TK to 5th grade, has a qualified PE Teacher, a dedicated librarian and a tech teacher. We are a school of excellence because of our teachers, our staff, and because of you.
If you haven't donated, yet, you can download a donation form here and drop your donation off in the BSDD box in the office. Also, you can make a donation online via PayPal.
Our family feels lucky to be a part of the Thornhill community as our two girls, pictured below, are thriving at Thornhill Elementary. THANK YOU for donating time and money to our community. The saying “It Takes A Village” is true.
Kind regards,
Angela Engel
VP of Fundraising
Library News
Author Visit
Just a reminder that Dev Petty (pictured above) will be here on Tuesday, Oct. 18th at 11:00 a.m., courtesy of A Great Good Place for Books. Ms. Petty will visit with TK-2nd grade students. Her books, I Don't Want to Be a Frog and I Don't Want to Be a Pig, will be available for purchase at $18.50 each including tax. She will sign all purchased books. See this flyer for more information!
Happy Reading,
Maura Hennessy
Librarian
Thornhill Movie Night
TICKETS NOW ON SALE. Friday, Oct. 21, from 7-9 P.M. in the Multi-Purpose Room. A special pre-Halloween spooktacular is planned with a costume contest, prizes, and all the popcorn the kids can eat!
We'll be screening Wallace & Gromit’s “Curse of the Were-Rabbit.” This is a parents’ night out event so don’t miss it! Buy admission in advance online and avoid the long check-in lines!
Thanks to all those who ordered Dads Club T-shirts during our recent donation drive. We raised nearly $500 for the school! The shirts are being printed and will arrive shortly. There will be a limited supply on hand at upcoming events ($20 each), so get yours before they are really gone!
Volunteering Reminder
For parents who want to volunteer in classrooms please keep in mind you need to:
1. Register with the Oakland Ed Fund
2. Submit a TB report to the Oakland Ed Fund
3. If parents are going to drive on a field trip, they are considered chaperones and MUST be fingerprinted.
We have several parents who have gone through the process and still are in need of more to complete the process.
Thank you,
Sherry Kaetzel
School Secretary
510-339-6800
Shop and Help Thornhill
There are only a couple of more weeks until Halloween! You can shop for treats, costumes, and decorations at AmazonSmile and Amazon will donate to .5% to Thornhill Parent-Faculty Club.
Support Thornhill by always starting your shopping at smile.amazon.com!
About the PFC Newsletter
The Thornhill Parent-Faculty Club (PFC) eNews team publishes this weekly newsletter each Friday in the school year to communicate school, PFC and OUSD news, events and info. Email submissions to our Newsletter Chair, Rex Crum, at newsletter@thornhillschool.org by 3 P.M. Wednesday for approval, including Word or Text files with links and no formatting and photos preferably as 150 x 150, 72 dpi JPG or GIFs only (not embedded in email or word file). Submissions may be edited for spelling, grammar, brevity and clarity. Advertising is not accepted. THANK YOU to everyone who submits articles and to PFC Board Members, Teachers, VP of Communications Mavis Scanlon, PFC Co-Presidents Shauna Fithian and Shanyn Lloyd-Gibson and Principal Steve Daubenspeck. Member of Oakland Unified School District (OUSD).
Email: newsletter@thornhillschool.org
Website: http://www.thornhillschool.org
Location: 5880 Thornhill Drive, Oakland, CA, United States
Phone: (510) 339-6800