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Interested in participating in a committee, helping out at a school event or fundraising activity or volunteering? Please e-mail PTAsecretary@sprucestreetnyc.com (unless otherwise noted). We appreciate your support and involvement.
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| The PTA EB would like to announce that for the remainder of the school year the PTA will not be sending out any more emails...April Fools! March lived up to its reputation and 'came in like a lion', both in weather and PTA activity. March was Giving Month at Spruce and we, as a community, gave. First was Project Cicero, then the Coins & Cans and now the Spring Push for Direct Appeal. Thankfully, in both weather and the PTA schedule, while not exactly 'out like a lamb' (maybe a goat?), March has exited relatively gently (knock on wood)... For April, Spring Recess starts Friday but make sure to fill out the school survey first! It is due April 2nd and will really help our school if all families complete it. After Spring Recess, K-2 start a Spanish foreign language pilot. Then the older grades start their NY state testing during the middle and the end of the month. Preparations for the 1980s Gala are in full effect and there is The Tribeca Family Festival towards the end of the month! Spring is here, yay! April Meetings
 Lucas, 3rd Grade, collected 60 cans and got Key Food to match his donation for a total of 120 cans during Spruce Street's March 2015 City Harvest Can Drive. EventsMarch Big kudos to Laetitia Damiani for organizing the Family Photo Day and the Movie Night and to Joanna Williams for managing the Library Coins & City Harvest Can Drive!
April The Tribeca Family Festival - Saturday, April 25th 10AM-4PM Spruce Street School has accepted an invite to run a booth at this festive street fair and family celebration. Join us, share time with friends and neighbors, have a laugh or two, and enjoy the weather. We'll be bringing one (or more) of our carnival games and some merchandise to sell. We do need volunteers to help set-up, play games, sell merchandise and break-down after the event. Please sign up to volunteer here:http://397.ivolunteer.com/tff2015 1980s Spring Gala Momentum Tracker as of Sunday, March 29th: Donations received: 120 Sponsors: 5 Tickets Sold: 41 Volunteers: just the Gala Committee, so far. iVolunteer site becomes active after Spring Recess on April 7th.  More Gala News:
 4th & 5th Graders singing "We Shall Overcome" by Pete Seeger at their March National Dance Institute (NDI) performance PTA Executive BoardTreasury The Co-Treasurers are looking for parents to serve on:
Merchandise
Fundraising We are grateful to welcome Ashley Duncan and Joanna Williams as our new PTA Fundraising V.P.s. They will be implementing creative ways to continue our fundraising efforts through the Direct Appeal, corporate sponsorships and many other fundraising initiatives. Welcome! Website In addition to the new calendar page that was rolled out in March, there is a page for each classroom in the school. Each classroom page is password protected. Classroom pages are a great place for class parents and/or teachers to upload pictures, assignments or any other classroom specific media to share with parents/students. If you haven't registered, go to your child's classroom page and register. Approval usually happens shortly after but can take up to a week. Public Relations
Nominations to EB Next Year Calling all dedicated Spruce parents! Please consider nominating yourself or others for one of the vacant positions on the PTA Executive Board for our next school year 2015-2016!!! Our search for nominations begins now for the elections that will take place later this year. The PTA pools our collective talent to create, coordinate, and collaborate on some of the most fantastic fundraisers and community building events in lower Manhattan. We put the fun in fundraising but all that fun can’t happen without you!! For more information contact Hilda Bergman at ptapresident@sprucestreetnyc.org.  Spruce Street Beach Bag with neon green lettering CommitteesNew Programs Committee (NPC) - SLT/PTA During March, the NPC worked in concert with the SLT, the school and the EB in bringing a foreign language pilot for K-2. Woo hoo! The NPC continues to work on navigating enrichment programs at Spruce in April. Part of that responsibility will be designing and communicating a framework to best source new enrichment programs and ideas at Spruce going forward. Implementing enrichment takes a lot of work on the part of Nancy, Hillary and the teachers so we'll want to find a way to procure great ideas and suppliers but also recognize that enrichment opportunities are supplemental to core curriculum and operate within the existing limited time, space & personnel resources of the school. If you have any enrichment ideas or questions, please email: newprograms@sprucestreetnyc.org Inclusion & Special Education Committee - SLT Do you know about Assistive Technology in schools? Have you been told that your child would benefit from Assistive Technology? Join us to meet experts in the area of assistive technology, see different types of equipment, ask questions and get answers. Thursday, April 16th 6-8PM at Spruce. Follow the CCSE on Facebook. Please see the calendar for more details. Communications Committee - SLT For more info please check the calendar. Middle School Committee - SLT Next year Spruce will add a Middle School (in case you haven't heard). There is much to be discussed and planned. Contact Laetitia if you'd like to contribute to this committee. For more info please check the calendar. Art Committee - PTA The Art Committee is a bold initiative involving art partnerships with Spruce. For more info please check the calendar. Wellness and Green Team - PTA
Taste Of The Seaport Committee - PTA The first general meeting took place March 30th and we're gearing up for a Great TASTE OF THE SEAPORT on October 17, 2015. Next meeting is in April, please check the Calendar for details. Spirit Project Committee - PTA The Spirit Project will be happening again in June! Check the calendar for the next meeting. CommunityManhattan Community Board 1 (CB1) Get involved in the community, attend CB1 Meetings & Events. There is a CB1 Youth & Education Meeting on April 14th at 6PM where there will be an update on Manhattan Youth summer programs and the NYS budget/teacher evaluations issue. 1ST Precinct Attend a 1st precinct community council meeting to learn more about what is going on in our precinct. Meetings are held at 6:30PM on the last Thursday of each month at the First Precinct (16 Ericsson Pl) in Tribeca. This month is April 30th. NY International Children’s Film Festival Thank you for supporting this festival in March. All tickets purchased through the website yielded $3/ticket for Spruce PTA. Soul Cycle The parents of Spruce are eligible for a free 2 week membership at Soul Cycle in FiDi from April 15-April 30th. Pick up a flyer in the school office or print this flyer. Create an account at Soul Cycle to participate:  SchoolNew Cell Phone Policy The school has an updated cell phone policy please read with your child here Front Desk Sign-In To help with school safety everyone must sign-in at the front desk with a photo ID. Fill out all information completely (signing "address on file" is no longer acceptable). If you are going to an area of the school different than your stated location, please notify security at the front desk. School Survey The survey that is due April 2nd helps school leaders understand what key members of the school community say about the learning environment at each school. The information captured by the survey is designed to support a dialogue among all members of the school community about how to make the school a better place to learn. The 2014-2015 version of the NYC School Survey is aligned to the DOE’s Framework for Great Schools. The survey will collect vital information about a school’s capacity to improve student achievement by measuring the extent to which each school incorporates the six essential elements...
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What is going on in the PTA?
| From the EB Despite a shortened month due to 'Mid-Winter Recess', February was action packed with Music shares, committee meetings and finalizing a date for the Spring Gala (May 9th)! March looks to be just as active. It is March 1st and currently snowing as I write. This makes it even harder to believe that soon we will be turning our clocks forward, navigating the NYC sidewalk traffic on St. Patrick's Day and welcoming Spring later this month. While the snow is beautiful, it continues to be a cold winter and I hope March brings some warmer weather...soon. -David Tunstall pr@sprucestreetnyc.org General PTA Meeting Come to the next General PTA Meeting on Wednesday March 18th at 8:45am in the cafeteria. At this meeting, Nancy will continue her discussion of Equity in the school in her Principal’s report as well as update on other goings on at the school, the PTA will announce open positions for the 2015-2016 PTA Executive Board, nominations will be taken for a special election for a VP of Fundraising, and there will be a special guest presenter. PTA Executive Board Meetings (2 in March)
SLT Meeting
Events Big props to Marie Ursitti-Collins and Shelley Grams for organizing and pulling off a fun community building event, the Winter Carnival. Thanks also go to all the sponsors, volunteers and everyone who came out to make it a great success. The notable events coming up in March are :
There will be delicious things to eat and drink and a fabulous assortment of goods and services to bid on, both at the Silent Auction and the engaging Live Auction. We also have an exciting raffle, the winner will be announced just prior to the live auction. Most importantly, the auction is the PTA’s largest fundraising event. Last year, it accounted for 41 percent of the entire PTA Budget. Early bird tickets are only $60 each! This price only lasts through Friday, March 20th, after that the price goes up to $75 per ticket. If you have the time, talent and/or treasure to contribute to this 80s Night Gala Event please reach out to Liz Chen or Danielle Solomon. None of this is possible without the participation and support of our Spruce Street Community. Thank you for all of your continued dedication and support. We are looking forward to another wonderful event with friends. If you would like to design the Class Art project, kindly contact Beth Goldoff & Caitlin Mies Treasury The PTA filed the FY14 Tax Return on Feb. 15, 2015. As a public non-profit, our filing will be posted on the Foundation Center website once it is processed. Merchandise We have a great line-up of Spruce branded apparel and accessories thanks to our active volunteers in design and sourcing quality products. Check out the Store to see all the Spruce Merchandise. Fundraising The PTA is looking to fill a V.P. of Fundraising position at the March General PTA Meeting. This position will involve creatively seeking ways for greater participation in the Direct Appeal, as well as other fundraising initiatives to further strengthen our already strong financial support for the PTA. Website Since moving away from eChalk, the website has been a work-in-process that is starting to take shape. Recently we've been working on getting our new calendar app, calendarwiz, embedded in the website on both public and classroom pages. In March, we'd like to continue to empower the teachers/class parents to update the classroom pages. Since each classroom page is password protected, the PTA will be providing each parent a username and password to access your child's classroom page(s). Look for an email coming soon. PR February was the first full month of having a V.P. of Public Relations (PR) on the Spruce PTA Executive Board. Some of the areas being addressed are:
For March the focus will be on the emails sent from both the School and the PTA. We'd like to continue working on figuring out the best way to deliver relevant, needed information in a timely fashion without being overwhelming. Tough task, indeed, but we'll work on it. | New Programs Committee This committee has been active during Feb. The NPC (a hybrid of SLT and PTA New Programs Committee) sent a survey to teachers (and received great, usable feedback) about areas outside the Common Core curriculum where teachers in our school can assist with enrichment programs. The committee has also received a bunch of proposals in the areas of languages, technology, music, theater, art and coding. For March, the NPC hopes to review and take steps towards approving an 8-week language pilot program for the lower grades scheduled to start soon. The NPC also hopes to follow up on the other enrichment proposals and possibly work with fundraising on creating a wish list of enrichment programs to be funded. Inclusion Committee - SLT Please note the name change, the Inclusion Committee is the former Special Education Committee. They met in February and will also meet in March. Please see the calendar for more details. Communications Committee - SLT The Communications Committee met in February and will also meet in March. For more info please check the calendar. Middle School Committee - SLT Next year Spruce will add a Middle School (in case you haven't heard). There is much to be discussed and planned. Contact Laetitia if you'd like to contribute to this committee. For more info please check the calendar. Art Committee - PTA The Art Committee is a bold initiative involving art partnerships with Spruce. The committee met in Feb. and will meet in March. For more info please check the calendar. Wellness and Green Team - PTA
We encourage everyone to send their kids to school with the new Spruce Kleen Kanteen water bottle. Our bodies are made up of 70% water and it is important for kids to stay hydrated during the day. Nominations Calling all dedicated Spruce parents! Please consider nominating yourself or others for one of the vacant positions on the PTA Executive Board for our next school year 2015-2016!!! Our search for nominations begins now for the elections that will take place later this year. The PTA pools our collective talent to create, coordinate, and collaborate on some of the most fantastic fundraisers and community building events in lower Manhattan. We put the fun in fundraising but all that fun can’t happen without you!!! Open positions will be announced at the next PTA meeting to take place on Wednesday March 18th at 8:45am in the cafeteria. For more information contact Hilda Bergman at ptapresident@sprucestreetnyc.org.  |
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Spruce Street PTA Newsletter
A monthly post from the PTA to keep you up to date on what is happening in the school, the PTA , the SLT and the community.
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