Have you ever wondered what it would be like to report the news in our Donaldson newsletter instead of just reading it? Wouldn’t it be fun to actually get to inter-view your teachers instead of reading what someone else wrote? Well, if you are a Donaldson student in grades 1-5 and you are interested in writing for the newsletter, it is your lucky day! We are starting the PTA Newsletter Club. Each month we want to hear from you. Have a favorite teacher you want to interview or want to share a story about a stu-dent? Get out that pencil and start writing your story. Parents, if you have any questions, please contact Anne Harris-Crowe, anneharriscrowe@yahoo.com. Students can email Anne each month with their stories.

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NEWS & REMINDERS

FROM THE OFFICE

Student I.D.s are to stay in the student’s homerooms. Cost for new ID is $5.00 for the I.D. & $1.00 for the clip. If they lose the I.D. they lose the clip also, that is why the total cost is $6 for a lost I.D. If your child is going to be absent please call the call off line and report the absence. 724-213-2013 Parents please label your student’s lunchbox, swim bag, coats etc. It is very helpful in returning lost items. Include student’s first and last name when submitting cor-respondence (lunch money, excuses, bus notes, etc

Thanks, Mrs. Zang & Mrs. McCrory

Art fair

This school year the Art Fair will be held on Thursday, March 29, 2012 from 6:30pm-8:30pm. The art fair has been very success-ful in the past. This event is free of charge and enables children to use their imaginations and their creativity. Many different craft tables are setup and supervised by the teachers and the volunteers. If you would like to participate in the upcoming event, please contact me.

Lisa Pichi, Art Fair Chair #724-695-3154

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LETTER FROM OUR PTA PRESIDENT

Well the summer has come to an end, and now we are back in the swing of a routine from early morning wake ups, packing lunches, catching the school bus and homework. Let me wel-come you back to what I think will be a great school year here at Donaldson. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Paula Kwiatkowski, and I will be your Donaldson PTA President for this school year. I would like to tell you a little bit about myself. I have been involved with the PTA for 4 years. I have three chil-dren in the district, Anastasia (8

th grade), Patrick (7

th grade) and

Alexander who is in Ms. Nightingale’s 5th grade class. I am a stay at home mom, who truly enjoys volunteering her time whether it is for a PTA com-mittee or for my kid’s sporting activities. Now let me tell you a little about our PTA. We have quite a few successful programs and events to help enhance the elementary school experience for the children of Donaldson. We sponsor the Fall book fair, Santa's Workshop, Reflections program, Talent Show, Art Fair, the Nature Camps, Donaldson Discovers, birthday books, cul-tural assemblies, Fifth Grade recognition, lunchtime recreation, field trips and the yearbook. Just to give you an idea, we have allotted $1,500 for Fifth grade recogni-tion, $6,000 for field trips, etc. All this takes quite a large budget as you can see from the few examples and requires a lot of fundraising, so be prepared! There are two such fundraising events that we do, that can be enjoyed by the entire family. These are the Holiday Bingo Night in December and Family Fun Fest which is held in the spring time. With that being said as you can see, the PTA has many wonderful pro-grams and events that they sponsor. These do require a lot of work and a huge need for volunteers. I am personally asking each and every one of you to consider joining the PTA and becoming a volunteer. I promise you that you will be glad that you did. If you are able to give us a small amount of your time, we would really appreciate it and your kids love to see you helping out at school! We need you and your fresh ideas! I would love to see some new faces at our meetings and would welcome your thoughts. If you would like to attend a meeting, you may go to the www.westasd.org website, click on schools, click Donaldson, then click on parent resource/PTA, Donaldson PTA, then on calendar for our meeting dates and times. In closing, please consider joining our wonderful organization! Thank you for your time and wishing you a wonderful school year.

Paula Kwiatkowski

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Friday Oct 14, 2011 – Donaldson Campus

AM Kindergarten and 1st Grade: 9:30am-10:15am 2nd Grade 10:30pm-11:15pm

PM Kindergarten & 3rd Grade: 12:45pm-1:30pm 4th & 5th Grade 1:45pm-2:30pm

PARENTS & GRANDPARENTS CAN WALK FOR A $5 DONATION

Donations accepted on day of Walk-a-thon at Donaldson PTA registration table too.

Help promote physical fitness and support PTA programs! Bring your own bottled water.

A healthy snack provided to all that participate.

Contact Chairperson Carla Vidmar for more information or to volunteer to help the day

of the event: cavidmar@gmail.com

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PTA is going green!!!!

In order to align ourselves with the school district’s initiative to go green, the PTA will be going GREEN too!!!!!!!

Effective January 1, 2012,

most correspondence from the PTA will be sent via e-mail. In order to make sure you don’t miss out on all the exciting activities the PTA sponsors, go to our web page and register your email ad-dress. Even if you do not want to join the PTA we welcome you to register so we can keep you updated on PTA happenings and school events. It’s simple to register and will only take a few minutes. It’s as easy as 1, 2 ,3. Click on the Parent Resources/PTA link on the Donaldson Elementary website select Donaldson PTA and complete the PTA communications con-tact form.

It is time again for our fall Book Fair. Our fair will run from Monday, September 26th through Thursday, September 29th at Open House. It is a great time to help your kids pick some books to read for the required 25 books for the school year. Your child will have a time to shop for books with their class and the schedule will be coming home soon! Or if you choose to, you can shop for your books at Open House with them. Don't forget, there are hundreds of books to choose from on our shelves and tables. The flyer just gives you some of the books available. HAPPY READING!

Pam Norris and Kristin Cook

Book Fair Chair

“Like” Donaldson PTA on Facebook for up-dates, photos and more!

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STUDENT DIRECTORY

It is that time again! Time to make the Donaldson PTA Directory for this school year. Our directory is a great resource for addresses, phone numbers and names of parents.

If you would like your children to be included, please fill out the form attached to this newsletter. We will assemble the information into classes and you will receive a booklet of all who submit their information. Keep in mind that your child will only receive a directory if they are listed in the book.

We can accommodate special circumstances as well. For example, you may not want your phone number listed. We can do that! Just write it on the form when you send it in to school. The deadline for submission is Friday, September 23. See form attached on page 9.

Pam Perry

Directory Chairperson pmperry@comcast.net

YEARBOOKS 2011-2012

Donaldson Yearbooks (2011-2012) are on sale for $12.00. To order your yearbook on-line, please go to www.jostensyearbooks.com and find Donaldson Elementary. Please note that ordering on-line is the only way to purchase extra options such as personalization icons and accessory choices. However, if you would like to order a yearbook without the extra options, complete the order form found in this newsletter and return it by January 31, 2012. Send it to school to the attention of the Yearbook Order, please. Checks should be made payable to Donaldson PTA. To contribute photos to the yearbook, upload your images to the following site: www.replayit.com. Look up Donaldson Elementary. Another way to send a photo for possible yearbook publication is to send it to Anne Harris-Crowe at anneharris-crowe@yahoo.com. Any questions or concerns, please contact Anne Harris-Crowe, anneharris-crowe@yahoo.com, or Jessica Marshall, jessicamarshall777@gmail.com. We are looking forward to a great year!

Go Indians!

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Donaldson Yearbook

Order Form

You may order your yearbook online at www.jostensyearbooks.com or complete this order

form and return it by January 31, 2012. Please make all checks payable

to Donaldson PTA in the amount of $12.00. Child’s Name: _________________________________ Teacher’s Name: _______________________________ Grade: ___________ Quantity of Books: ___________

Any questions, please contact:

Anne Harris-Crowe, anneharriscrowe@yahoo.com

Or

Jessica Marshall, jessicamarshall777@gmail.com

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Reach For The Sky!

Its time again for the Donaldson PTA Membership Drive! This year’s theme is the Sky is the Limit. As we head back to school each year learning and growing, we can clearly see how the sky is the limit for the potential in our children. One way to show support in your children’s education is to join the PTA. Studies show that children with parents involved in their schooling get better grades and have an overall more positive edu-cational experience. The Donaldson PTA is an active organization that supports the school by sponsoring the Art Fair, Assemblies, Bingo, Book Fair, Donaldson Discovers, Family Fun Night, Field Trips, Fifth Grade Picnic, Nature Camps, Reflections Program, the Talent Show, Santa’s Workshop and the Yearbook. To offer all these programs we need you. Please consider support-ing your child by joining the PTA. As a reward we will be offering the class with the highest percentage of members an ice cream party. So join now by filling out the attached PTA membership form and sending in to school with your child in an envelope marked “PTA Membership.” Please return your form to the school by September 23, 2011. Memberships will also be accepted at the covered dish dinner and at Open House.

Let’s help our children Reach For The Sky!

Patti Guira, PTA Membership Chair

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2011-2012

Phone Directory

Donaldson Elementary 600 Donaldson Road Oakdale, PA 15071

www.DonaldsonPTA.org

Donaldson PTA is putting together a PTA Phone Directory again this year. It has been a huge success with both parents and fac-ulty. It will contain a student/family directory of Donaldson Ele-mentary school students, important community phone numbers, school and PTA information. The purpose of the Phone Directory is to provide parents with information about Donaldson Elemen-tary. It is NOT to be used for any commercial endeavor. We will distribute to the school families who participate in our direc-tory only. Please note that we will not print any family information without written parental/guardian permission. Please fill out the form below with the information exactly as you would like it to appear in the Phone Directory. Remember, if we do not receive a signed form from you, we are not permitted to include your son/daughter in the book. If you have any questions about the book, please contact Pam Perry at 724.693.8493. Please fill out, sign, and return the bottom half of this form to Donaldson no later than Friday, September 23, 2011 if you would like to be listed in this year’s Donaldson PTA Phone Directory.

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Mother’s Name__________________________________________________________________________

Father’s Name___________________________________________________________________________

Student’s Address________________________________________________________________________

City______________________________ Zip_______________ Phone(_______)______________________

email__________________________________________________________________________________

Secondary email or cell phone______________________________________________________________

Child’s Name_________________________________ Teacher_____________________________AM/PM

Child’s Name_________________________________ Teacher_____________________________AM/PM

Child’s Name_________________________________ Teacher_____________________________AM/PM

Child’s Name_________________________________ Teacher_____________________________AM/PM

Parent/Guardian Signature________________________________________________________________

*Please attach an additional sheet of paper for any special circumstances.

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Our newsletter has gone digital! Enjoy the colorful version starting this month. Have a photo or article you would like to see in the newsletter? Email Carla Vidmar at cavidmar@gmail.com with your submission.

PTA CALENDAR FOR 2011-2012

September January 12 PTA Covered Dish Dinner 9 PTA Committee Chair Meeting 30 Sarris Easter Candy Sale Begins

October February 11 PTA Committee Chair Meeting 21 PTA General Meeting 14 Walk A thon 24 Talent Show

November March 7 Sarris Christmas Sale Begins 9 PTA Family Fun Fest 14 PTA Committee Chair Meeting 12 PTA Committee Chair Meeting 21 Sarris Christmas Sale Ends

April December 10 PTA Meeting/Elections of Officers

1 Holiday Bingo

5-9 Santa Shop May 13 PTA Committee Chair Meeting 7 thru 11 Teacher Appreciation Week 14 PTA Committee Chair Meeting