Dear Franklin Families, We hope that you all enjoyed a wonderful and restful holiday break, and that everyone is safe and healthy. We'd like to share a brief update from the PTO board on our first half of the school year, along with a list of events to look forward to in the second half of the year!
The PTO helped build community in this unique year through our Franklin Flocking "Flamingo" Fundraiser, Virtual Trivia Night, Halloween Costume Bash, Halloween Art Contest, Virtual Kindergarten Moms' Night Out, Meadow Farms Catalog Sale, Decorated Feather Collection for our Franklin Turkey, and Principal / Parent Q&A Sessions. Our Social Action Committee coordinated collections of food for the Centre Street Food Pantry, coats for Coats For Kids, and gifts for the Holiday Gift Drive with Village Bank. We also brought fun food trucks to Franklin, and partnered with Blue Ribbon BBQ to create a successful "Dining for Dollars" fundraiser. All of these fundraisers along with spirit wear sales and the Stop & Shop program have raised a total of $5,666 for the PTO.
We collected $8,900 in dues during the 2020-2021 school year out of our total goal of $12,000. Thank you so much to everyone who contributed! If you haven't paid your dues yet and would like to, please contribute online here.
Earlier in the year, the PTO used $1,400 towards gift cards for Franklin families in need, $1,090 for a staff appreciation lunch and to replenish supplies for the Franklin staff break room, and $3,575 towards teacher discretionary checks that help them buy the supplies that they need for the classroom. In December, the PTO awarded $3,940 in grants to Franklin teachers for important resources such as individual activity bins for kindergarteners and first graders, materials to make sensory paths for the special education team, several classroom libraries, flexible seating, books to use for literacy interventions, and resources to support anti-racist teaching. We were able to support these grants thanks to your participation in Dues and in PTO fundraising events. THANK YOU!
We have started to plan some events for Franklin! Please mark your calendars with the following important dates in 2021:
Monday, Jan 18 - No School (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
Thursday, Jan 21 - Principal / Parent Q&A Session from 6:30pm - 8:00pm. This is a great opportunity to meet with Principal Jocelyn and ask your questions! Next week, we will be collecting questions in advance via an online survey. The Zoom meeting link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83380267313?pwd=Lzc5QWM2eGQzWHdsb1FtdFYzdXVYdz09 Meeting ID: 833 8026 7313 Passcode: franklin
Feb 1-14 - Virtual Book Fair - This is the first year we'll be trying this virtually, and you'll now get access to 6,000 items! Franklin will get 25% of sales in Scholastic Dollars, and all orders over $25 will ship free to your home. Teachers will be able to purchase more books for our kids at Franklin with these Scholastic Dollars!
Wednesday, Feb 3 - Valentine's Day "Something You Love" Art Contest Submissions Due - We had such a fun time with our Halloween art contest, so we're going to do it again! Winners by grade will get a prize and have their artwork displayed on the bulletin board in front of school for the entire week before Valentine's Day. The art theme is: "Something You Love". We think we'll be seeing a lot more than just hearts and flowers!
Feb 15-19 - No School (Winter Vacation)
Thursday, Feb 25 - Virtual Trivia Night - You've all been asking for more trivia, so save the date and get your teams ready! Log in at 7:30pm and the trivia is from 8:00pm-10:00pm!
March 10-17 - Franklin Online Auction - We are planning to have a small online auction this year! We hope you'll be ready to bid in what is typically our largest annual fundraiser of the year.
There will be many more details to come for all of these events, so stay tuned! The Creative Arts & Sciences (CAS) program will be starting in the second half of the year after being put on hold across Newton schools for the last few months. We are excited to see what programs will be coming to Franklin! One more update is that Megan Reilly has recently resigned from the PTO board. We'd like to thank her for her many years of dedication and contributions to the board! Thank you so much for a great first half of the year and for your continued support of our school. We look forward to seeing you at a virtual PTO event this year!
Warmly,
The 2020-2021 Franklin PTO Board
Emilie Chang, President
Amy Horsman, Treasurer
Jessica Allen, Secretary
Allison Brown, Board Member
Julie Conlon, Board Member
Anya Huston, Board Member
Nancy Maida, Board Member
Claudia Rossi, Board Member
Tamara Wieder, DLA Liaison