PTO Newsletter 2/3

in Schoolwide News on February 2, 2023

The weather this week in Nashville has been dicey with ice on the ground, and we hope everyone has stayed safe and warm. Yesterday, Punxsutawney Phil was back at it again celebrating Groundhog Day, forecasting six more weeks of winter after seeing his shadow. Let’s hope his prediction is wrong and Spring is right around the corner.

Regardless of the Groundhog Day prediction, it’s time to say So Long, January and Hello, February! It’s the shortest month of the year but lacks no shortage of events in our PPE Community. Just to name a few…Valentine’s Day Class Parties, Used Book Sale, Read-a-Thon and the Auction are right around the corner. We need volunteers to make all of these things and more happen so please scroll down for our list of ways to help!

And don’t miss the hilarious promo video embedded below for the auction – it’s a Can’t Miss! (Huge thanks to PPE parent Drew Sensing and our auction committee for putting this together, and of course Dr. Young for his epic cameo!)

Here’s the story behind Black History Month – and why it’s celebrated in February

February is Black History Month, which celebrates the contributions African Americans have made to American history in their struggles for freedom and equality, and deepens our understanding of our nation’s history. Founded by historian Carter G. Woodson, Black history week was first celebrated on February 12, 1926, to commemorate and celebrate the contributions to our nation made by people of African descent. The month of February was chosen to coincide with the birthdays of abolitionist and editor Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln. During the U.S. bicentennial in 1976, Black history week was expanded to a month-long celebration. Since then, every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month.

Let’s give a big Percy Priest shout out to the faculty with February birthdays at our school!

Upcoming School Events

Feb 3 – 2nd Grade Parent Party
Feb 9 – Kindergarten Parent Party
Feb 14 – Class Valentine’s Parties (*details to come from room parents; attending parents must bring photo ID to check in)
Feb 16 – 3rd Grade Parent Party
Feb 20- President’s Day- No School
Feb 21-23 – Used Book Sale
Feb 24-March 8 – Read-a-Thon
March 4 – Spring Auction at City Winery
March 10-Half day of School-3rd Quarter Ends
March 13-17 – Spring Break – No School
March 23 – Math Night
April 6 & 7 – Spring Holiday- No School
April 21 – Tiger Tennis Social
May 1-5 – Teacher Appreciation Week
May 5 – Cinco de Mayo & Field Day (*May 9 Rain Date*)
May 7 – Incoming Kindergartener Popsicle Party
May 12 – Spring Picnic
May 19 – Spring Sing

Spring Field Trips

Feb 7 – Kindergarten @ Nashville Children’s Theater
Feb 10 – 1st Grade @ Nashville Zoo
Feb 17 – 2nd Grade @ Travellers Rest
Feb 21 – 1st Grade @ TPAC
Feb 24 – 2nd Grade @ TPAC
April 12 – 1st Grade (Acker / Wall) @ Warner Park
April 14 – 1st Grade (Brumleve / Faison / Hartsock) @ Warner Park
May 11 – 2nd Grade @ Nashville Children’s Theater

School Events

Yearbook Photo Submissions – DUE TODAY!

Last call to get your lil Tiger’s photos into the 2022-23 yearbook!! We all know that this school has more personality than what you see in those formal school portraits, so help us document all the extra fun memories we’ve made. Sports, clubs and troops, field trips, Tiger Club, lunches, back-to-school, Fall Picnic, holiday parties, Shake Shack night, Art Show, Skate Night or other special events…we love to see those smiling PPE faces! Submit your photos online TODAY by logging into http://images.jostens.com and entering Login ID 0och6VEOTX2tCcLzFfas6Tw.

If you have any issues or questions, contact hannahgwright@gmail.com or erinkaiser2@gmail.com. Thanks for helping to make the yearbook a special keepsake for our sweet kids and school!

Souper Bowl Luncheon – Feb. 10

Let’s help our faculty and staff with their Souper Bowl luncheon on Friday, Feb. 10 by providing bread, dessert, drinks and paper products (sign-up here)! This is an old tradition they are bringing back where the faculty and staff bring in their favorite soups as a mid-winter community building activity, coordinated by their “Sunshine Committee”. We’d love your help making it even more special!

Parent Coffee Hour in the Cafe with Erin O’Hara Block – February 24th

Bring your travel mug of coffee to the morning drop-off line and stay to mingle with our MNPS School Board Representative, Erin Block, and Percy Priest parents on Friday, February 24th. We’ll be in the Cafe from 8:00-9:00. Join us for all of part of the hour!

Valentine’s Cookie Kits from Sugar Drop – Order deadline February 9

Order your Valentine’s cookie kits from Sugar Drop for a great activity to do with your kids and to enjoy as a family! The link to order is here. Pickup will be immediately following dismissal at the PPE playground on February 10 until 3:30. If you are unable to come at that time, please email MeganLCallender@gmail.com to make other arrangements or have a friend pick up for them.

Watch The Video

Spring Auction – March 4

Hey rad parents and teachers! We are officially 4 weeks away from the most neon, crunk fundraiser for this school year.

Buggin’ about what to wear?! MY BAD! Check out the inspo board below and don’t miss the fly video above to prep you. Go casual 90’s and add some neon or glow bracelets to pull it all together. Butterfly clips, bucket hats, grunge, slip dresses with tees underneath…we will no doubt see a range of styles throwing back to the 90s so don’t stress and come to have fun and dance.

Grab your tickets and see you there!

Coming next week: transportation option to City Winery, babysitting resources, and preview of items up for bid! Questions or issues email Jenny percypriestauction@gmail.com

Used Book Sale – February 21–23 – Donations and Volunteers Needed!

It’s time to start gathering your used books for the annual used book sale, happening next month! We welcome books that are appropriate for Kindergarteners through 4th graders, and we especially need chapter books.

This event will happen about a week ahead of the Read-A-Thon so the kids will get excited and have “new” books to read. Donation bins are on the PPE front porch!

Please sign up to help make our Used Book Sale happen Here

Be a Friend of the Read-A-Thon and help make it better than ever! Visit www.percypriest.org/get-involved/sponsorship/ and select your desired level of participation. Read-A-Thon has a small budget from the PTO and your additional dollars will help offset expenses such as:

PROPS: One of the best parts of Read-A-Thon is generating excitement with the kids by using props and decorations to make the library extra special and fit the year’s “theme”. We are creating a barnyard/country fair scene in the library for this year’s theme.

LANYARDS: This year each student is receiving a blue lanyard with a laminated Reading Tag at the end. When they earn buttons, they will be pinned onto the lanyard.

PRIZES: Students have the opportunity to earn button pins for their lanyards by completing the various challenges. If they complete all of the challenges, they’ll earn a medal which will be added to their lanyard on the Read-A-Thon celebration day.

*We also have sponsorship opportunities for Field Day (May 5) and Spring Family Picnic (May 12) if you’d like to support those Community Events.*

Inside the Art Room

From Dr. A: Artsonia.com is our online art gallery. Students photograph and upload most of their finished artwork. If you follow the link to our online art gallery and you do NOT see your child’s artwork, you may not be registered as a parent for your child. If you do not see your child’s work in the gallery, please complete this form, and I will add your email to the site. You will receive an invitation from Artsonia to register as your child’s parent or guardian. Registration is completed for each artist, not per family, so if you have more than one artist, you will receive an email and register as the parent of each artist. Our goal is to register 100% of our Tiger Artists, so please make sure you are seeing your child’s work in your in-box as well as on the site!

Like every good art museum, Artsonia has a gift shop which is great for creative Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gifts that feature your favorite artist’s work! Faces and full names are not permitted on the site to protect your child’s privacy.

Kindergarten Registration for the 2023-24 school year will kick off on Monday, January 30th. If you or someone you know has an incoming kindergartner, please encourage them to complete registration as early as possible. For information regarding enrollment requirements, please visit https://earlylearning.mnps.org/kindergarten.

Kindergarten Readiness Camp: July 18-19

Calling all Rising Kindergarten girls and boys for 2023-2024 school year. Save the Date for July 18-19 for our Kindergarten Readiness Camp. Join Miss Murray Benson & Mrs. Bitsi Condra to get a “Sneak Peek” at a day in the life of a kindergartner! Your child will have the opportunity to meet new friends, engage in hands-on learning experiences, Tour the school, playground, visit ‘kinder’ classrooms, and so much more! Registration coming soon!

It takes lots of volunteers to make things go at Percy Priest. Please jump in as you are able with these volunteer opportunities:

Auction:

With just one month until the auction, we need your help making it possible with your donations! Please email percypriestauction@gmail.com if you have access to are interested in leading:

Auction Items! We appreciate any great donations you have, including:

– restaurant gift cards (for a “Nashville Eats” bundle)

– aesthetics products and gift cards

– staycation lodging / things to do

– vacation homes

Grade-level Party Hosts! These parties are fun and bring in lots of bids. We still need Kindergarten BOYS, 2nd grade GIRLS, 3rd grade GIRLS and BOYS, and 4th grade BOYS party hosts. If you can host, grab some friends to help. See sign up for what party hosts are still needed and more details on what is required.

Grade-level Basket Coordinators! Auction team can help with ideas but we need help bringing these popular bid items to life. We still need two Kindergarten baskets; two 1st Grade baskets; two 3rd Grade baskets; and one 4th Grade basket. See sign up for more details or email the auction team with questions.

Parent Parties! We have just a few at this point and would appreciate any donations!

Used Book Sale:

Please sign up to help make our Used Book Sale happen Here.

Read-A-Thon:

Plans for this year’s Read-A-Thon are well underway and we need help with props to decorate the library for the theme (it’s a surprise!). Needed items are:

a wooden platform that resembles the entrance to a barn for the Photo Booth.
stuffed farm animals (stuffed animals like the big Melissa & Doug ones are great!)

If you can help with the platform or have animals to lend, please contact Miss Stuart (emily.stuart@mnps.org).

Workroom:

The Percy Priest Workroom needs volunteers to help copy and sort Friday Folders. Please sign up here if you are able. This would be a big help to Cathy and Sonya in the Front Office.

Cleaning Supplies:

The cafeteria is in need of clorox wipes to help keep it clean during lunchtime. If you are able to donate any, please send it with your child.

Tutors:

At PPE, we have the wonderful opportunity to provide some small group tutoring for our students through the MNPS Accelerating Scholars program. We are looking for parent volunteers who can help out to lead those groups. The time commitment would be 30 minutes each Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Plans and materials will be provided.

Please e-mail Grace Akbari at grace.akbari@mnps.org if you’d be interested in helping with a group this spring!

Community Events

Donate to Unicycle!

Do you know all of the items you can send in to school to donate to UniCycle?! More than just polos and khakis! Help us to keep our school closet full as you clean out outgrown items this winter. Anything that we don’t need here is sent to the UniCycle hub, where it is distributed to more than 100 other MNPS UniCycle Closets and direct to students in the HERO Program.

General Announcements

Green Tip from the PPE Green Team

Check your toilets, faucets and other water-consuming appliances for leaks and pay close attention to your water bill for spikes in use. Finding and fixing leaks prevent you from wasting gallons of water and throwing dollars down the drain.

Volunteer Spotlight

Volunteer: Tabitha Witherow

Children’s Names and Grades: Loretta (4th) Lucinda (PPE Alumni)

Volunteer Role: Co-Chair, Used Book Sale, Library Liaison

Why Percy Priest: PPE will always have a special place in our hearts. We will forever be grateful for the teachers and staff

Volunteer: Carla Radford

Children’s names and grades: Drake (6th), Creed (4th), and Beauregard (2nd)

Volunteer Role: Co-chair, Used Book Sale

Why Percy Priest: I love Percy Priest Elementary School. Percy Priest Elementary embodies the spirit of community. The staff and teachers are top-notch and care about the students. My husband and I love the opportunity to give back to PPE as they have given so much to us in education, inspiring values and work ethic in our children. All 3 of our boys have been students at PPE, and we will be sad when our youngest moves on to middle school. Although leaving the school will be sad, they have set us up with a strong foundation for all future educational endeavors.

Come Have Lunch!

Parents, grandparents and special friends are welcome to eat lunch with students! To help us with space and accommodating guests, we ask that visitors sign-up to come eat lunch using the bookings link below. Please be sure to select the correct grade level and teacher. When signing-up, we also ask that you only sign-up for one day at this time. Thank you for your help and we hope to see you for lunch soon. Sign up to come eat lunch with your student! Menus can be viewed on the Meal View App or here.

We need your help to make this spring the best yet at Percy Priest! Dedicated and engaged parents are a key ingredient to making our school the great school that it is. There are big and small volunteer opportunities throughout the year. Please check out our volunteer form and let us know what things interest you. We’ll be in touch with more information.

If you have questions of any kind, please contact us at presidentsppe@gmail.com. Thank you!

Small Fundraisers Spotlight

For a list of all of our ongoing small fundraisers, please visit our Small Fundraisers webpage.

Lands’ End will donate 3% of all qualifying Standard School Attire (SSA) purchases to Percy Priest. Its catalog has a large selection of SSA and PPE logo clothing. Visit Lands’ End to place your order! Be sure to select the Percy Priest Elementary PTO by linking your account to our Preferred School Number: 900121294

How to Stay Connected

Add PPE happenings to your calendar automatically!

You can subscribe to our PTO calendar and have all of our events show up on your calendar, so you never lose track of important dates! Following the links below will prompt you to subscribe to the calendar via your preferred calendar app. Any time the PTO updates an event through the website, it will update on the calendar of all subscribers (how often your calendar pulls updated info will be based on your individual personal settings – every 5 minutes, 1 hour, 1 week, etc).

For Calendar Apps (apple calendar etc), go to: webcal://www.percypriest.org/?post_type=tribe_events&ical=1&eventDisplay=list

For Google Calendar, go to: https://www.google.com/calendar/render?cid=webcal%3A%2F%2Fwww.percypriest.org%2F%3Fpost_type%3Dtribe_events%26tribe-bar-date%3D2022-08-31%26ical%3D1%26eventDisplay%3Dlist