News You Can Use
March 02, 2020
Presidents' Note
Your RES PTA is ready to jump start your Spring! We're not sure if it's the sunshine, the melting snow or the promise of Covid vaccinations, but we are filled with HOPE! Our Executive Team has been hard at work planning and implementing your feedback from our recent Membership Survey to ensure that we bring some fun to RES this Spring. But...we need your help!
- Are you passionate about Diversity and Inclusion at RES or bringing unique cultural experiences to all students?
- Only have 1-2 hours to give? Want to help organize our ever-growing Lost and Found?
- Calling all webmasters! We need help getting our new RES PTA website ready!
- Love to work outdoors? School Beautification is for you!
- Are you a parent to an incoming Kindergartener? We're looking to organize incoming K playgroups this Summer!
Did you know most of our volunteers are full time, working parents? We can use your help on projects big and small! Being an RES PTA volunteer doesn't sign you up for long meetings or elaborate projects, it's simply an easy way to feel good about giving back!
Lastly, we are in a tight race with Samuel Staples Elementary School in Easton for our 'Bring the Change, Be the Change' Coin Drive supporting Kids Meals' Inc., a Houston, TX based children's charity that provides warm, nutritious meals for kids in need! As of today, Tuesday, we are only $20 ahead of SSES! Let's get this final push so we can best our friends from Easton for a good cause!!!!
-Meredith and Angela
New Mural... RES has HeART
Tada! A new mural displaying hundreds of RES Student HeARTs is installed at RES. The project, led and envisioned by our art teacher Mimi Weiss, is the culmination of months and months of work, planning and student led design. Whether virtual or in-school, all students had an opportunity to complete a tile for the mural. Focusing on social and emotional wellbeing, the project was created in tandem with the school social worker and psychologist team to engage students in strong emotions and ways we can manage our feelings. If you missed the video -- check it out here! We are incredibly appreciative of the time of Dr. Sammi Gureasko, Kristin Martin, Ms. Carr, Mrs. Fisher, Meredith Ferris, Katrinka DeLeon, Angela Caes and the project mastermind and lead Mimi Weiss.
Funding for this project and all art supplies is thanks to the National PTA and TikTok Grant awarded to the RES PTA in 2020.
Here's how the money was spent
- Each RES student received a PTA art kit with watercolors, markers, pastels, an art journal, a canvas tile inside a mesh pouch (approximately $4,500)
- The remaining $450-500 was awarded to the 4th Grade Class who will have an opportunity for a virtual music video to coincide with the all-school release of their song "Silver Linings." It's a great opportunity to have each student shine individually and as the strong class team that created the lyrics, collaborated on the song and will perform the final piece. If you are new to RES, this 4th Grade project is one of the cornerstones of a final year at school.
Driving Social and Emotional Wellbeing
The awarded grant focused heavily on engaging students artistically and equipping students with tools to cope through the changes, stress and frustrations of our pandemic times. Our collaborative efforts stretched from the PTA to all teaching staff, wellbeing staff and art team to consistently offer tools and coping mechanisms to navigate the ups and downs of every day. Work initiated over the summer has been actively in place for the school year.
New Billboard -- Amanda Gorman
Lost and Found
Our Lost and Found bin is overflowing with lovely clothes and items left at school. We need a volunteer to organize the items into bins for easy pick up. This will be 1-2 hours of work total. Please email respta4kids@gmail.com if you can help out.
PTA Welcome Wagon and Summer Playgroups
We are forming a team to welcome new families to our RES Community now and over the summer. We already have three great team members and are looking for 2-3 more parents or guardians -- please email respta4kids@gmail.com if interested.
TIME for Kids Coming Home in Backpacks!
RES Students and families can expect to see free copies of "The Power of Poetry" edition of TIME for Kids in the coming days. There are copies separated by grades (K-1 | 2 | 3-4) and will be used in the classroom (at teacher discretion) and / or sent home in backpacks. Cohort C students can pick up a copy at the front vestibule of the school. We proudly support the TIME for Kids mission to nurture today's learners and tomorrow's leaders with authentic news and critical-thinking skills that shape active global citizens.
Redding Park and Recreation Seeks Program Suggestions
Redding Park and Recreation would like to receive input from our residents regarding potential
programs to offer in the future. The pandemic has created programming challenges but Redding Park and Rec would like to gather information now in preparation for future programming.
If you are interested, please share a few program ideas to be researched for future programming. Please send your program suggestions by email to Laura Anderson at landerson@townofreddingct.org with the follow information:
- Program title
- Ideal age group(s) for the program
- Ideal time of day (i.e., weekdays, weekends, mornings, early afternoon, after-school hours)
- Any potential or proposed companies or individuals that might be able to provide instruction or support the program
2021-2022 Town & School Budget Season
Budget season is well underway since January, so now is the time to speak your mind about your priorities and values as it pertains to town spending. The RES PTA closely follows the Board of Education budget as we care deeply about class sizes, arts programs, building repairs, staff retention, post-COVID catch-up, social and emotional learning, special education funding, advanced learning opportunities and much more.
Each meeting allows for public comment and we encourage you to attend and share. If your child really thrives in smaller classrooms and that’s a value our community holds dear, our elected officials need to know! If you can’t imagine a middle school without a robust music program, now is the time to share that! Whatever your perspective, the public comment time is there so our board members can hear feedback - and the voice of parents MUST BE well represented!
The RES PTA asks that we all do our part to shape our school’s futures - and the future of our kids! - by attending, listening and speaking up.
Key Upcoming Meeting Dates:
- Mar 2 Redding Board of Education - Meeting 7:30 PM
- Mar 18 Board of Finance - Meeting 7:30 PM
Sign up to receive information on all town meetings and events at https://townofreddingct.org/.
Knapp Tree
Website: http://www.knapptree.com/
Location: 24 Richdale Dr, Wilton, CT 06897
Phone: (203) 762-9069
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Knapp-Tree-116860881708712/
ER9 School Community COVID-19 Information
4th Grade Yearbook
Thanks for the pictures you have sent already! We want to make this year memorable for your 4th Grader; Do you have any photos of friends, class parties, SnowBall Dance, field trips, garden club, Boys and Girls Club Activities, Art Show, and International Festival...
Click here to upload your images directly to our yearbook website
Browse to select the photo(s) you wish to upload, click on “Select My Images.”
Enter information about the photo and provide contact information in case the staff needs additional information.
Click “Upload Chosen Images.”
It’s that easy, submit your photos today!
Grab-and-Go Meals
Reminder: Grab-and-Go meals are available for pick up to all students this year, regardless of financial need. We urge families to take advantage of the opportunity for healthy meals on the go to support students learning from home. Regular meal pick up at Joel Barlow High School will provide a nutritional boost to hard-working students with little to no preparation needed.
Please feel free to contact David Kennedy at David.Kennedy@compass-usa.com or Deena Robushi at drobushi@er9.org with any questions or concerns.
In case you missed it -- January PTA meeting
Easton, Redding, Region 9 Special Education Committee
The tri-district special education committee works to support students and families who rely on additional support services in kindergarten to 12th grade.
Learn more about the committee's efforts and events at its website here.
Employer Donation Matching
As we approach the end of the year, you may be thinking about charitable donations. The RES PTA is a 501(c)(3) organization, and if our work is valuable to you, you can consider making an angel donation right here, or by mailing it to the RES PTA at 33 Lonetown Rd., Redding, CT 06896.
We'd also like to remind you that your employer might be like Thomson Reuters -- a company that generously matches employee gifts to local nonprofits doing the work communities rely on. If that's the case, please let us know, and we'll help you complete all the paperwork you need to make it happen!
Contact Us
Email: respta4kids@gmail.com
Phone: (203) 938-2519
Join the PTA!
As a PTA, our main goals will remain what they have always been:
- To provide academic, cultural and social programs for our children to enhance their learning and
- To support our teachers and staff and to act to unify our school community.
To fulfill our mission for a unified parent/ teacher community, we strive for 100% PTA membership. Dues are $25 per family this year. For more information on how to join, go to:
RESCTPTA.MEMBERSHIPTOOLKIT.COM
We are planning lots of safe and exciting virtual events this year that will be available to PTA members only, so sign up today!