PTA News - April 2015

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

• The next General PTA meeting is on Tuesday April 14th at 6PM in the auditorium.

• There is no PTA EB meeting in April (April meeting was held on March 30th).

• The next SLT meeting is on Tuesday April 28th, 4-5:30PM in the Library.

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.

Events

March
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!

• Family Photo Day was a success with 27 families signed up (out of 32 spots available). We won't know the final monetary benefit to the PTA until all families have placed their orders but each family also received a 20% discount on any extra photos ordered.
  
• March Movie Night: 75 tickets were sold and the total proceeds were: $501.  
  
• Library coins collected will help purchase new books.
• City Harvest Can Drive: Our community collected 701 cans...which were picked up by City Harvest and distributed to shelters and food pantries of NYC.

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: 

• GALA DRESS CODE UPDATE: Any 1980s themed dress is acceptable (think Madonna, Quiet Riot, Pretty in Pink, Miami Vice, Breakfast Club, etc.). All non-themed dress is still semi-formal.
• James Patterson has signed on again to contribute a character name in his next book for the Live Auction!!

• We also want pictures of your kids and YOU (when you were in the 1980s) for a video presentation during the gala. Post your pictures to www.dropbox.com, username: sonnimun@gmail.com, password:spruce397

• Back by Popular Demand -- The Spring Gala Gift Baskets!  Last year, each classroom contributed to a unique gift basket that was among the silent auction items.  There were 13 gift baskets in total that were beautifully designed, displayed and credited to each classroom.  Be on the lookout for an email from Marie Ursitti-Collins that will include details about your classroom basket theme and how you can participate to make your classroom basket a great success.
• Remember to go to the website for all Gala info: http://www.ps397spruceauction.org/

If you need to get in touch with the Gala Committee for any reason please reach out to Liz Chen or Danielle Solomon. The Gala is only possible through the participation and support of the Spruce Street School community, thank you for all of your continued dedication and support. We are looking forward to celebrating another wonderful event with friends, old and new.

4th & 5th Graders singing "We Shall Overcome" by Pete Seeger at their March National Dance Institute (NDI) performance

PTA Executive Board

Treasury
The Co-Treasurers are looking for parents to serve on:

• The Audit Committee. The Audit Committee is made up of at least 3 people that aren't currently in the PTA EB or SLT. These folks will review the tax return before being signed by the Treasurer amongst other things. If you have an eye for details and numbers, please reach out to treasurer@sprucestreetnyc.org
• The Budget Committee. The Budget Committee can be any number of people that will help shape the PTA budget for next school year (2015/2016). There is a meeting planned towards the end of April but hasn't been announced yet. Please email treasurer@sprucestreetnyc.org if you'd like to be a member and shape the budget for next school year.

Merchandise

• Shop Spruce Apparel! New Hoodies are in, sized adult small. Very cool for older kids and looks great on adults too!
  
• Back by popular demand the Spruce Beach Bag, in a brand new neon green color. This over sized bag is versatile, with pockets inside and outside. Perfect for the beach this summer!
  

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

• The EB is honing an email policy to lay the framework for PTA email communications. This policy will set the guidelines for delivering emails to parents relating to the PTA, the SLT and the school.
• For more Spruce inside information, follow the PTA social media posts. 
• As of today, the Spruce PTA has 195 'likes' on Facebook. Like us! 
• Our Twitter page has only 26 'followers'. Follow us!

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

Committees

New 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

• The first grade has started their Seed to Market unit and will be visiting Battery Urban Farm. The Green Team will continue to host the EAT WHAT YOU GROW Days in the cafeteria by bringing the produce from the farm to the school salad bar. ALL children are welcome to serve themselves from the salad bar (both school and home lunch kids).
•  We would love to encourage parents to volunteer just a few hours with us, particularly K and 1st grade parents who can learn the ropes and run the events next year. Please contact yasgirl888@icloud.com
• Spruce classrooms are now supplied with non-toxic, bio-friendly hand soap, cleaning wipes and hand sanitizer. We will encourage the children to KEEP CALM AND WASH YOUR HANDS as recommended by the CDC (Center for Disease Control)
• We continue to supply the cafeteria with compostable plates to replace the styrofoam trays. The children are encouraged to separate their trash from recyclables and organics as we are included on the Sanitation Department's organics collection pilot program. Watch for the city wide rollout in the coming years!
• 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.

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.

Community

Manhattan 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:

School

New 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...

1. rigorous instruction
2. supportive environment
3. collaborative teachers
4. effective school leadership
5. strong family and community ties
6. trust

...that drive school improvement and develop students to compete in the 21st century.  The survey will be one of multiple measures used to help the DOE assess the six essential elements. For more information about the research behind the Framework for Great Schools, see here.

Thank you for reading!