Polk Elementary School

Parent/Teacher Organization

Welcome to the Polk School PTO community!

PTO meetings  are on the 2^nd Wednesday of the month from 6-8.

Our meetings are a great way to get to know the other parents in the school and to get a feel for what we do, how you can help and how we can help!  We serve light refreshments at every meeting, and we now have babysitting available!  Come and share your ideas with us!

Polk School PTO Officers 2011-2012

President:                   

      Cathy Ruszkowski         cathy3angels@optimum.net

Co-Vice Presidents:      

      Maria Schweyer               emschweyer@optonline.net

      Beverly Beverly               binky313@hotmail.com

Secretaries:                           

       Kellie Mcguire                 kellmcguire@yahoo.com

       Vickie Crook                   vickie0325@aol.com

Treasurer:                        

         Karen Peiger                kjpieger@aol.com

Members at Large:         Sandy Redzep, Cathie Rinaldi, Jamie Venuk, Anne Marie Reeser, Amy Lindstrom   

Polk School PTO NEWS

Coat Drive

The Polk School PTO will be collecting winter coats, hats, gloves and boots for those in need.

We will be taking clean, lightly used boots, gloves, hats and coats in all sizes on December 6^th. You may drop off items in the café from 2:30-5:30pm.

Children may also bring small items such as hats and gloves to school anytime between now and then. We will have a box in the office for those donations.

All donations will be distributed to students in need by the school nurse to maintain confidentiality.  All remaining items will be donated to the Watertown Food Bank to be donated to the greater community

If you would like to help or have questions please contact:

Beverly Beverly     (860) 417-3290  binky313@hotmail.com  or Cathy Ruszkowski (860)274-9619      cathy3angels@optimum.net

Giving Tree

Our giving tree is going up and we have many children that are in need for this holiday season!  Please take the time to pick up a tag and help a child have a holiday to remember.  All items will be due back by the 14^th and wrapping will be on the 16th. 

We also can use donations of wrapping items such as paper, gift bags, tape and tags.

If you would like to help wrap, please contact Cathy Ruszkowski at cathy3angels@optimum.net

Family Night:

On December 14^th from 4:30-5:30 we will be having our annual Winter Sing-a-long.  This is really fun (and easy!) family time filled with music and togetherness!  The PTO will be providing hot cocoa and cookies.  

You can also drop off your giving tree items at the same time!

 Fundraisers

We will be doing the Silver Graphics fundraiser in the spring.  This is a fun fundraiser that John Trumbull, Judson and we have done in the past.   Our goal this year is to not only raise money for art supplies, but to also make a tile wall for the hallway. You will receive a flyer in February with more info. If you would like to see some of the products available please go to http://www.silvergraphics.com/

We will also be doing the Butterbraids fundraiser in late spring.

School Store: Our school store has been running, and the kids love it! If you would like to help, or have questions about the store please contact Maria Schweyer emschweyer@optonline.net .   

School Spirit clothing sale:

The sale has ended and will be delivered before Winter Break.  A notice will be sent home as soon as we get the date from the clothing company.  Please contact Jamie Venuk at (860)417-3805  with any questions. 

We will be running another clothing sale in the spring!      

School Clubs

School clubs-  We started after school clubs last year, and we will be continuing on with our new tradition!  These clubs are run by volunteers, so if you would like to participate or if you have an idea for a club that you would like to run please contact Cathy Ruszkowski at cathy3angels@optimum.net

The Media club (formerly the newspaper club) is off to a great start. Allison Goth and Tracy Elliott have joined Kellie McGuire as the club advisors. They all have experience in the newspaper, publishing and broadcasting industries and each bring valuable insight to the club! Look for the first edition of the paper to come home in the next month!

Play 4Fun sports club has begun! We have about 80 kids signed up, so there are 2 groups. Chriss Soda one of the school gym teachers along with Cathy Ruszkowski will be running the club this year.  Our goal is to make sure kids have safe fun and get up and move!  If your child is in the club please make sure they wear sneakers on those days and also please make sure to mark your calendar with your child’s groups meeting dates! We will be ending at 4:30 on each of the days the club meets!

PTO Representatives have started meeting also.  Maria Schweyer is running this group this year and they will meet after school on the second Tuesday of the month. This year the kids will be working on community service projects and have some great ideas in the works!

Knitting club will be starting in the new year. Parents are invited to join along with their kids to learn a new skill! It’s a great time for working together on a project and having quiet conversation. Amy Lindstrom will be running this club again this year, and more info will come home before the club will begin.

Game club will be new this year. Beverly Beverly is working to get ready for the club that will be starting in the New Year.  Chess is going to be one of the games that will be taught to all the club’s members.  If you would like to help with the club, or would like to teach a game please contact Beverly at binky313@hotmail.com

Gardening club will be starting in the spring. It has been a few years since there has been a gardening club, so it going to be a little challenge!  If you would like to help please contact Cathy Ruszkowski at cathy3angels@optimum.net

Fundraisers

We had a very good response to our Fall fundraiser and Pie Fundraiser!  Thank you to all who helped make our fundraisers a success!

Our next fundraisers will be in the spring. We will be selling Butterbraids for Easter and we will be having a Valentine’s Family Ziti dinner which should be a great time! More info will be coming home about both of these after the New Year. 

We are also participating all year in in the following programs as fundraisers:   

Adam’s E-script   You can sign up at www.escript.com or at any Adams.  Our school code is 6609325

Labonne’s receipts  just send in your receipts!  We get 1%!

Box Tops for Education   Our fall Box Tops contest has ended, but keep saving for the spring contest! The winners of the Fall Contest will be announced soon!

Stop&Shop A+ school rewards  will be coming soon!                                             

Thank you for being part of our community!