In This Issue
- Save the Date | School Calendar
- #everythingyoueverwantedtoknowaboutthompson
- Highlight of the Month
- Thompson News and Events
- Community News and Events
- PTO Fundraising
- Connect with Us
Save The Date
- PTO Meeting, Budget Approval – Wednesday, October 11
- Picture Day – Thursday, October 12
- Movie Night – Friday, October 13
- Spirit Day: Career Day – Friday October 27
School Calendar
Click http://tinyurl.com/ndp8spb for Thompson’s Google Calendar to get school holidays, early release days, and PTO events on your own calendar. Click http://tinyurl.com/y7u5k2on for a printable version of this month’s calendar.
#everythingyoueverwantedtoknowaboutthompson
For families looking for extra information, unfettered access to our weekly newsletter, volunteer opportunities, the link to shop at Amazon (your purchases benefit all Thompson students via the PTO!), contact info and soooo much more, please pop over to our site, and be sure to bookmark it. We will be making changes to the content over the coming weeks, but the link will remain the same.
Highlight of the Month
Direct Donation Drive
We can’t get there without your help!
October is Direct Donation campaign month! We raised 53% of the PTO budget last October. This drive is critical to fund field trips, author visits, enrichment programs, and more. We are making a one time request for your financial support, rather than selling coupon books, popcorn, or wrapping paper and sharing the profits with vendors. No donation is too small; indeed it is the many small donations that have a tremendous impact on the success of this drive. Our goal is to have 250 families participate. You may send your donation in with your student, or donate online here:
https://thompsonschoolpto.org/fundraising/#idDirectDonationDrive
Thank you!
Thompson News & Events
School Pictures
Picture day is this Thursday October 12th! Coffee Pond will once again be at Thompson to take individual and class photos. Order forms came home in your child(ren)’s folders last week and you can order online at coffeepond.com. The team of photographers coming to Thompson has just 3 hours to photograph 480+ students! Parent help is needed to make it all run smoothly. We still need volunteers so if you can sign up for an hour of time on Thursday to help classes prepare for their photographs your help would be greatly appreciated!
http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090f49adad2aa0f49-picture3
Thompson School Movie Night!
6:00-8:15pm
Friday October 13th, 2017
We will be showing “Hotel Transylvania” to celebrate the month of Halloween. Pizza, water & popcorn available for purchase from 6pm on. Movie begins at 6:30pm. Movie Running Time: 1h 31min.
PJ’s, sleeping bags & snugly attire encouraged! Suggested donation: $2/person.
Children must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
Go to: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090f49adad2aa0f49-20175 to sign up to help with this event.
Annual Parent Survey
The PTO would love to know you better! Every year, we send a survey to find out how you would like us to communicate with you, what your favorite events are, how you’d like to help, and the names/grades of your kids. Please take five minutes to tell us. Thank you!
PTO Survey: http://tinyurl.com/ThompsonPTOSurvey2017
Community Card — Fall Sales & Volunteer Needs
Fall Family Sales continue through October & November. 250 cards signed out so far! To sign out cards, fill out the turquoise form that came home last week, or do it online here.
Other Volunteer Needs
- Farmer’s Market Sales, Oct 11th. Signup here: http://tinyurl.com/CommunityCardFarmersMarket
- Please “Like” our Community Card Facebook page!
- Follow us on Twitter at @ArlCommCard
Any questions? Contact ashley.e.lorenz@gmail.com
Volunteer
The Thompson PTO is always in need of helping hands for all sorts of tasks. From selling community cards to helping clean-up after movie night to helping plan one of our many events: the link below lists all of the many ways you can give of your time to help your Thompson Community.
http://tinyurl.com/ThompsonPTOVolunteers
Community News & Events
You are invited to the 7th Annual Out on the Town Gala
November 3, 7-11pm at Arlington Town Hall
Please join the Board of Youth Services for the annual Out on the Town Gala, to support the Arlington Youth Counseling Center (AYCC). This year’s event is extra special as we recognize and honor Arlington’s own Dr. Michael Thompson, a renowned child psychologist, school consultant, international speaker and New York Times best-selling author. His books – nine in all, among them Homesick and Happy, Best Friends/Worst Enemies, The Pressured Child, and Raising Cain – have become popular references on bringing up children in the world today, with illuminating insights on the emotional lives and experiences of children and adolescents. Over the course of his career, Dr. Thompson has worked in more than 700 schools across the country and around the world, and has served as the supervising psychologist at the Belmont Hill School. As a popular headliner for Arlington Parent Forums, Dr. Thompson’s gentle guidance, wise counsel, and extraordinary wit have guided Arlington parents for more than a decade.
The Out on the Town Gala is an annual event in which community members come together to support the work of AYCC and promote the importance of having affordable, high quality, and community based mental health services for Arlington residents. Over the past year, AYCC provided over 5,500 counseling and psychiatric sessions to more than 375 youth and families, case management services to more than 80 Arlington residents, and support, education and advocacy for members of the community who have experienced domestic violence. AYCC has been able to offer these services thanks to the funds that are raised through the Gala, grants, corporate sponsors, and individual donors.
In addition to honoring Dr. Thompson, the gala features many wonderful silent auction items and raffles, beautiful live music from the Arlington High Jazz band, an array of delicious hors d’oeuvres, and a cash bar. Tickets may be purchased for $75 through AYCC’s webpage- arlingtonma.gov/aycc. Sponsorship opportunities are also available. For more information visit arlingtonma.gov/aycc or contact Colleen Leger, Executive Director of AYCC, at 781-316-3255.
Arlington EATS Community Dinner
Our school snack program is growing and we need your help. Please consider adding a box of Cheerios, Wheat Thins, Pepperidge Farms Goldfish Pretzels or Nutri-Grain bars to your next grocery list and donating it to Arlington EATS. Contact Sarah Gupta, at sarah@arlington-eats.org, for information about donation drop off locations.
We hope you will join us this coming Thursday, October 12, from 6PM – 7PM, in the Thompson Cafeteria for our next Community Dinner. If you cannot join us for a meal, there are many ways you can become involved with Arlington EATS:
To get food assistance: info@arlington-eats.org
To learn more: www.arlington-eats.org
To donate: www.arlington-eats.org/giving/
To volunteer: www.arlington-eats.org/volunteer/
To follow along: www.facebook.com/Arlington.EATS
To contact: info@arlington-eats.org
Arlington SEPAC
The Special Education Parent Advisory Council is meeting this week:
Tuesday, October 10th, 7p.m.
at the Ottoson Media Center
Arlington Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (SEPAC) is a parent group that acts as a resource for parents and advises the district regarding meeting the needs of students with special needs. We provide support and networking opportunities for parents and guardians of children with special educational needs, offer workshops and guest speakers to help parents become better informed about special education issues. We meet regularly with school officials to participate in the planning, development and evaluation of special education programs in town.
We hope you will join us!
PTO Fundraising
Amazon
Shopping at Amazon.com? Click the Amazon link from the Thompson PTO website and a share of your purchase will help the Thompson PTO.
Stop&Shop A+ Bonus Bucks Program
Thompson is participating in Stop&Shop A+ Bonus Bucks Program, in which our school receives a check based on the amount of purchases made by people with Stop&Shop cards. Enroll your Stop&Shop card. with Thompson’s school code: 07331.
Connect with Us
THOMPSON PTO BOARD
Co-Presidents: Diana Trudell & Nandana Mewada: diana_lutz@yahoo.com, nmewada@gmail.com
Vice-President: Yael Beals: yael.beals@gmail.com
Co-Treasurers: Sara Wilkinson & Carolyn Schneyer: swilkie49@hotmail.com, ndanukiwi@yahoo.com
Co-Secretaries: Emily Gauthier & Fiona Ehring: emczar00@hotmail.com, fionaehring@gmail.com
Fundraising Chair: Juliet Moir: juliet.moir@gmail.com
Arlington Community Card Co-Chairs: Ashley Lorenz & Gaggi DeStefanis: ashley.e.lorenz@gmail.com, gaggi@rcn.com
Enrichment Co-Chairs: Maf Terry &Tonja Bishop: maf.terry@gmail.com, tbowenbishop@gmail.com
Communications Chair: Danielle Gottesman: dbirdie@gmail.com
Spirit & Appreciation Co-Chairs: Judy Hu & Melissa Crowley: hudyju@gmail.com, melish26@yahoo.com
Room Parents Chair: Sarah Gupta: sarahruth16@gmail.com
Volunteers Chair: Kate Murphy: katejoycemurphy71@gmail.com
If you have news to share with the community, please email ThompsonPTOevents@gmail.com by Thursday at 12 noon to be included in the next newsletter.
Please note that we will only include news from the Thompson School and Town of Arlington. Announcements of interest to the Thompson community from other non-profit organizations may be included at our discretion.