Welcome back to Birch Hill everyone!
We hope you've had a wonderful summer. Our goal this year is to get parents involved while providing the enrichment services you've come to expect from the PTO: fieldtrips, Math Superstars, and other classroom and extracurricular activities.
Fundraising:
We would not be able to continue our programs without your financial support. Our fall fundraiser this year will be with Cherrydale. We have decided to return to Cherrydale because they have continually provided excellent customer support. After the problems that occurred during last years' fall fundraiser with Yankee Candle, we felt that returning to a tried and true company would be in the best interest of our community. This will be our main fundraiser and we hope that many people can participate. The fundraiser will include the option of online ordering this year with shipping straight to your home. If you prefer, donations directly to the PTO are also accepted and appreciated.
Volunteering:
Volunteers are critical to the success of the PTO; your help allows
us to provide food, man events, and provide support to the teachers
and students. Volunteering with the PTO need not be a full-time commitment.
Helping with even one event during the year is greatly appreciated.
We hope to make volunteering in the PTO more user-friendly by using
Volunteer Spot again this year. This is an online service that allows
us to coordinate activities and volunteers. A list of some expected
activities and timeframes will be available at the open house so that
you may be able to find a PTO need that fits your schedule.
We have attached a Volunteer Request Form and a Volunteer
Assurance Form. We encourage everyone to fill out the Volunteer
Assurance Form, even if you don't plan on volunteering on a regular
basis, as it is required in order for parents to participate in any
volunteer activity, including classroom parties or field trips. This
form must be completed each year by every volunteer.
Communications:
We will continue publishing the online newsletter, the PTO website
(www.birchhillpto.com), and
Facebook this year. We have enclosed a directory
form on which you can include your e-mail address so that we can
send you the newsletter. If you don't have an e-mail address we can
make a paper copy for you.
In addition we will be producing a Birch
Hill Directory once again which will either be e-mailed to participating
families or printed for a $2 fee. As a side note, we use the directory
to allow access to the Facebook group page. If you do not wish to be
included in the directory but wish to have access to Facebook, please
e-mail us at bhptopresident@yahoo.com.
Playground:
Lastly, over the summer, a new blacktop area was added to the playground. This will allow for more outdoor play during the winter, as it can be easily plowed. We hope that you are finding the playground usable not only after school, but also on weekends and over the summer. If you ever have a concern about the condition of the equipment, please let our playground committee know at BHPTOPLAYGROUND@yahoo.com.
We are looking forward to another great year here at Birch Hill! We are new to the presidency and hope that we can make the PTO as welcoming and successful as it has been under our past presidents. We sincerely hope that you will be able to join us at some point during the year, either at a meeting or an event. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at BHPTOPRESIDENT@yahoo.com.
Have a wonderful year! Alison Marsano and Mark Shaughnessy!!
