Stanford Montessori PTO

Stanford Montessori Presents the
7th Annual Pasta Dinner and Silent/Live Auction
Friday, October 3rd

Dinner served from 5:30 to 7:00pm
Tickets prices for adults are $5.00
Children $3.00 (5 and under)
Family of four is $15.00
Pasta and salad provided by Ellendale’s

Silent Auction bidding Thursday, October 2nd from 3:00 to 6:00pm and Friday, October 3rd from 5:00 to 6:30pm.

Live Auction starts at 6:45pm until all items are sold
Auctioneer services by Bill Colson Auction and Realty Services
Titans single-game tickets, Predators tickets
Vanderbilt and UT football tickets
Signed Country Music items
Framed “Music City Star” print by Phil Ponder
And many more items!

Call Stanford Montessori School office (885-8822) for more information.
Stanford Montessori is a Metropolitan Nashville Public School

Tuesday, September 23 is Hearing and Screening Day at Stanford.
*The next PTO meeting will be Monday, October 6 at 6:00 p.m. in the library. Child care will be provided.
*Please recycle this newsletter after reading it, and make use of our PTO website at www.stanfordpto.com.

Principal Stricklin recommends that each Stanford Montessori family volunteer a minimum of 35 hours per school year to provide the support that our teachers and students need to make the school successful. Here are a few ideas for ways to earn those hours, and how many hours each activity qualifies for. Don’t forget to log in your volunteer hours in the Volunteer Logbook on the table in the front office. Box top sheets: each completed sheet 1 hour Cooking or donating food for any special event: 3 hours Log the exact time you spend, rounding up to the nearest half-hour or hour when necessary for the following activities:

1. Volunteering in your child’s classroom
2. Assisting teachers with classroom materials
3. Making phone calls for any school-associated item
4. Helping in lunch room or office
5. Assisting with dropoff and pickup
6. Helping at picture days, screening days, or TCAP testing
7. Serving food at PTO events
8. Attending PTO meetings/Committee meetings
9. Chaperoning field trips
10. Parent contacts: preparing communications, emails, etc.
11. Eating lunch with your child at school
Thanks for all you do to make Stanford a very special school!

On Wednesday, October 8, Stanford will observe one of its most beloved annual traditions: Walk to School Day. We’ll gather at 7:30 a.m. in the Food Lion parking lot at the corner of Lebanon Road and Fairway Drive, and walk to school as a group. We’ll celebrate with refreshments in the gym when we arrive at school. We will need many volunters for this fun morning, including: parents to walk to school with their children, food servers for when we arrive at school, and donations of food and beverages, all of which qualify for volunteer hours. You won’t want to miss this fun outdoor activity! To volunteer, contact your classroom’s parent contact or PTO Vice President Carissa Cruz at carissacruz@aol.com

Periodically throughout the year, the PTO hosts Teacher Appreciation Lunches to honor the hard work and dedication of Stanford’s awesome faculty. Each lunch is assigned a theme menu, with three classes helping to provide the food. Here is the schedule for Teacher Appreciation Lunches for 2008-2009:

1. September 19: Salads - Beaty, Baker, Cage
2. November 21: Italian - Blanchard, Burden, Vinson
3. December 12: Holiday Dinner - Hackney, Catignani, Coutta
4. January 23: Casseroles - Kitchen, Combs, McClain
5. February 20: Soups - Morgan, Mott, Payne
6. March 27: Hors D’Oeuvres – Morrell, Travis, Stewart
7. April 17: Sub sandwiches – Warner, Wood, Wheeler

You can earn volunteer hours byhelping set up, serve, or clean up, or by providing food. If you are interested in helping with these events, please contact coordinator Stacie Frye at staciefrye@bellsouth.net.

What: A place to donate and/or take gently used uniforms. You don’t have to donate to take uniforms, and you may donate your items at any time, either during the swap or in the front office in the box under the volunteer sign-in table (just bring in your items and we will sort and label them for the next swap).
Why: To save money, recycle used clothing, and help out other families
When: The second Friday of each month from 7:45-8:15 a.m. and 2:45-3:15 p.m. Dates are 9/12, 10/10, 11/7, and 12/12 for 2008.
Where: In the gym and at other PTO events
Call coordinator Jan Fox with any questions, 293-8823

Our biggest fundraising event of the year is coming soon! Your family won’t want to miss this year’s exciting events. Tickets for the Pasta Dinner will be on sale from September 22 through October 1 before and after school. Prices are $5 for adults, $3 for children ages 2 through 5, with a family limit of $15. Takeout will be available. The dinner begins at 5:30 in the cafeteria. There will be a sneak peek and early bidding on the silent auction items on Thursday, October 2, from 3:00 until 6:00 p.m. in the gym, and again at 5:00 on Friday, October 3. The live auction begins at 6:45 in the gym. Marc Colson of Bill Colson Auction & Realty will be the auctioneer for this year’s event, which will also feature decadent desserts and coffee for $1 each. Come join the fun and support Stanford while bidding and buying some awesome items!

School pictures for the annual will be taken on Wednesday, September 24. Students should wear uniforms to these pictures. The make-up day for any missed photos is Wednesday, October 29. Holiday pictures are scheduled for Wednesday, November 19, and Spring pictures will be taken on
March 11. These two dates are popout days, when students are allowed to wear non-uniform clothing for the seasonal photos.

We need your help as a volunteer for this year’s Pasta Dinner and Silent Auction on Friday, October 3. Volunteer opportunities include setting up tables and chairs, serving food, selling desserts, helping with the auction, and cleaning up. Your classroom contact parent will be contacting you soon to see how you would like to help out with this big event. Please also contact Lisa Marasco at utgrits@yahoo.com or 883-5620 to sign up.

Wow! What a terrific start to our school year at Stanford Montessori! Sincere thanks to our parent volunteers, PTO members, Stanford staff and teachers for all of your hard work on making our
Opening Night, Opening Day, and our first month of school such a huge success. It has been wonderful seeing and talking with all of our returning parents and children over the past few weeks. I have also had the pleasure of meeting many of our new parents and children,
and I look forward to meeting more new families and working with everyone
this year. I am very excited to share that our Stanford PTO is also off to a terrific
start. Thanks to all of our returning volunteers and thanks to our new volunteers
who have committed to making a difference and are already working hard and showing so much support and enthusiasm. Many parents ask, “What’s so great about being part of Stanford PTO?” We all have a common bond. We care about creating the best possible experience for our children and supporting our wonderful teachers so they can do their best work for our children. Studies have shown that parent involvement directly reflects your child’s performance. Involvement at
the school also makes it easier to establish friendships with teachers and other parents. I invite each of you to get involved in any way that you can. We promise that the time you give to the PTO and the school will be worth your while–and fun! For more information on how you can be a valued part of our PTO, please contact me directly at vcollins@thinkingahead.com or 268-7647. Together, we can make a difference at Stanford Montessori!