Back-to-School Potluck!

LAST FEW DAYS TO SEND CALENDAR RAFFLE TICKETS!

May 2018 Calendar Raffle Extra Tickets

Support Pelham PTO Before June 7 for a 1:1 Match Opportunity!

Each year, your Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) at Pelham raises funds and organizes events to provide a wide range of community-building and educational enrichment programs for our students and elementary community. This year alone, thanks to our various fundraising events, we have held a back-to-school ice cream social, helped fund the purchase of classroom supplies for students in kindergarten, funded a desk for school staff, supported families in need around the holidays, and most recently had a great Family Fun Night event at the school. 

Right now we have a 1:1 matching opportunity from the Howard E. Stark Charitable Foundation for up to $5,000! 

The foundation will match any dollar raised from now until June 7, 2018. This is a unique and wonderful opportunity for our school, so we ask that you please consider supporting the PTO.

Here are some ways to help support the school:

❏       $25: Average cost for a child to go on a field trip

❏       $50: Funds to pay for utensils for Family Fun Night 

❏       $100: Cost for a speaker to come to the school and                           inspire students 

❏       $_____: OTHER

Make a gift here: www.razoo.com/pelhampto 

If you cannot make a donation now, but are interested in getting involved with the PTO, please send an email to: 
Pelham.ma.pto@gmail.com and learn more about how you can participate.

May 2018 Calendar Raffle

Family Fun Night Saturday March 3 from 5 to 7pm

Dear Pelham Families,

The Pelham PTO is sponsoring a Box Top drive during the months of February and March.   Please look for the Box Tops logo on products you buy or already have in the cupboard, cut it out and have your children deliver your box tops to the collection containers in their classroom.

For each Box Top clipped the school receives 10 cents. Last year that meant $270 for our school. That was great, but we can do better!

The Box Top drive will run from February 1st to March 2nd and the class that collects the most Box Tops will win a movie and popcorn celebration!! But you can start collecting now!

Visit the Box Tops website at boxtops4education.com to learn more about how to find Box Tops. It’s easy, free and you’ll discover a new way to help Pelham School earn FREE MONEY!

Sincere thanks from the Pelham PTO!

PLEASE REMEMBER 

NO NUTS ALLOWED IN TREATS HANDED OUT AT THE EVENT!!

Please donate by clicking below: 

https://connect.clickandpledge.com/w/Form/cb4a3c78-5694-4324-bead-42c8ad94c1bf

Support Frontline Puerto Rican Communities in the Recovery from Hurricane Maria

The devastating effects of hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico are still unfolding, but one thing is certain—the island's most vulnerable communities are likely to be pummeled the hardest and face the longest road to recovery.

Low-income communities of color often face the worst destruction and slowest recovery and have fewer resources to safeguard homes, vehicles, and other property.  When the winds die down and the floods recede, these communities are often forgotten by reconstruction efforts, and underserved by insurance companies. 

The Hurricane Maria Community Relief & Recovery Fund will be housed at the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD).  One hundred percent of monies raised will be used to support immediate relief, recovery, and equitable rebuilding in Puerto Rico for the communities hit hardest by the storm. The Fund is governed by organizations like Puerto Rico-based Taller Salud, the G8 of Caño Martín Peña, and other local, grassroots organizations.  The Fund will support organizations working with these hardest hit communities in Puerto Rico.

The Honorable Stan Rosenberg
24 Beacon Street, Room 332
Boston, MA 02133

July 17, 2017

Dear Senator Rosenberg,

On behalf of the Parent Teacher Organization at Pelham Elementary School, we are seeking your support today.

As you know, Pelham is a small town in the Pioneer Valley. The state department of education recently informed the school committee in Pelham that it owed the local Chinese Immersion Charter School $67,000. That represents 4% of its budget. It has only one teacher per grade.

The state was supposed to let the district know long before the budget was completed but failed to do so. Now, our highly rated public elementary school is trying to figure out how to find $67,000. How did this happen, one might ask? Normally, Pelham would have received notice of the two students attending the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School after the charter school submitted residency information to the state in October. However, that October data, contained an error that was corrected in a subsequent February filing.

In recent years’ state lawmakers have not fully funded charter school reimbursements for sending districts. Since 2012 lawmakers have failed to appropriate full funding for charter reimbursements, which were underfunded by $35.3 million in fiscal 2015 and $47.1 million in fiscal 2016, according to the nonprofit Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.

There is a reason that the majority of Massachusetts voters cast ballots against the expansion of charter schools in the state this past November. The current system is not working for our students, or our educators. We respectfully ask that you look into this matter and see what you can do to help fill this funding gap which is a major hit to this exceptional school.

Sincerely,

The Pelham Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization.


Hampshire Gazette News Article 
Pelham Elementary Budget: http://www.gazettenet.com/Pelham-schools-facing-sudden-budget-shortfall-11264067