Weekly Reminders 9/8

Dear Parents,
Busy, busy, busy! Please read below to stay in touch with all the wonderful happenings of Portal!

Family Fun Night!
On Saturday September 13, from 4:00 -7:00, we’ll be having our annual Family Fun Night! This is a great event to get to know other families and children in our community, or help our school out by volunteering! We have many students that have offered to help, but we are in need of more parent volunteers and would really appreciate it if you could help out. Questions? Call Anurita Gupta (408)446-1455; e-mail: anuritag@hotmail.com

Megaskill of the Month: Caring!
Today we had a wonderful Wildlife Assembly that taught us about the true relationship between wildlife and our human population. By caring for the needs of all creatures, we can make a difference!

Volunteer Opportunity Mania!
Social Studies Projects
Parents are needed to make salt and flour dough mixture for our California models. (Miss Scourkes will send home the easy recipe if you’re interested). Please contact her before 9/18!
Parents needed to help in class to make salt dough models of California. Management and set up help is what’s needed on 9/22 from 12:15 – 2:00. Please let Miss Scourkes know if you’d like to help!

Project Cornerstone Volunteers
If you didn’t sign up for the ABC Project Cornerstone meeting and you would like to volunteer, please show up at the training on Monday, 9/15 from 8:15-8:45. You will need to contact Jen Harrington, the Project Cornerstone Parent Volunteer Coordinator at: harringtonjen@gmail.com if you wish to attend the meeting.

Photographers Needed!
We currently need room parents to be photographers of major events that happen this year. If you enjoy photography, please contact Michelle Wissig at: wissigfam@comcast.net or 857-4819 for more information about the opportunity. Thank you!


! IMPORTANT !
Our School Needs Your Donation Support!

Welcome back to a new school year at Murdock-Portal. Here is a reminder, that your school of choice needs your Donation urgently. Please pay your donation by September 15th. Our Direct Donation Goal is $260,000. To date, we have received $135,300, which is 52% of our goal. We do not have funds to pay the district bill due in October because there are 208 families still to make their donation payment. PLEASE bring your check to the office by September 15th.

The New Technology Fund has a target of $55,000 and has so far raised $5,100 This is specifically for Technology upgrades and equipment for all students, all grades, for this school year 08-09. Forgot your Technology donation? It’s not too late, You can still donate $100 and it will be included in your fall tax receipts. Forms are in the office.

Do you know?
· Parents ranked specialist classes as the number one priority in the recent survey. Direct donations are used to pay the salaries for art, music, and hands-on-science teachers.
· Parents ranked in-class technology as the second highest priority. PSCO funds upgrades of hardware, software, and other equipment that is needed in the classrooms, so that our teachers and students have direct access to technology.
· Parents ranked PE as the third highest priority in the recent survey. The district only supports PE for grades 4/5. Currently 90 minutes of PE is being funded by PSCO for grades K-3.
· The district only supports Instructional Assistants for special education. Currently, we have six 3-hr IAs for grades K-3 and three 5-hour IAs for grades 4/5. Direct donations are used to pay the salaries for IAs. IAs often work closely with one or two students on the side, so that the teachers can concentrate on moving the class along for the rest of the students.

TO KEEP THESE PROGRAMS GOING WE NEED YOUR DONATION TODAY!
* All Donations are 100% Tax deductible! *
* Your Company may match your Donation! *

After the Sept. 15th deadline, to encourage donations, members of the PSCO Board will contact parents who have not yet responded to the Direct Donation campaign.

If you have already made your Donation, Thank you for supporting Murdock-Portal, your school of choice!
Thank-you for your on-going support,
Julie Ales (Principal) Elizabeth Delandro, Seema Shah, Paula Rowe, John Rowe, Geeta Garg, Sita Rani (PSCO Board members)

Important Dates to Remember:
Wed. 9/10 - Thur. 9/18 Parent Teacher Conferences. 12:30 Dismissal!
Fri. 9/11- Thur. 9/18 Book Fair in the multi-use room
Sat. 9/13 Family Fun Night 4:00-7:00
Mon. 9/15 Project Cornerstone Training 8:15- 9:45
Fri. 9/19 Staff Learning Day - NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS!
Tues. 9/23 SJ Police Department Presentation. 6:30 p.m.
Wed. 9/24 PSCO meeting at 6:30
Thur. 9/25 SSC meeting at 3:00
Thur. 9/25 Learning Plans go home with students
Fri. 9/26 School Spirit Day – Hat Day!
Mon. 9/29 Social Studies Geography Test

California Trivia Question
Q: What California site hosted the Winter Olympics in 1960?

Good luck and have a great day! Miss Scourkes