As we near the holiday break, we reflect on all the fun times we have had this school year at Percy Priest Elementary.  We are grateful for an amazing school year where our children can come to a wonderful school to learn and grow daily.  A true gift are the teachers and staff who give countless hours of their day to provide guidance and support to our kids.

Grinch Update: The Grinch continues to cause mischief around our school, but the kids are eager to make his heart grow before Winter Break.  Students and staff are invited to participate each day during next week’s Spirit Week in the ways outlined below, which we hope will help the Grinch grow his heart!

Please don’t forget that Wednesday, December 20th is a half day. School will be dismissed at 11:30 am.

Important Dates

• December 15 – Flower Power Sale ends
• December 18-20– PPE Holiday Spirit Week
• December 20– School dismissed at 11:30 for Winter Break
• December 21-January 8- Winter Break

2024

• January 8– Students return to school
• January 15– MLK Day-No School
• February 12-16– Teacher Appreciation Week-Date Changed

Coats and Shirts and Water Bottles, Oh My!  Our Lost and Found Corner is overflowing with so many items.  If you haven’t already, please stop by the cafe and see if your child has any missing items.  Please note that our Lost & Found items will be donated after December 20th.

• Wednesday, December 13th was our last blasting for the semester.  They will be doing some additional blasting when we return in January.
• When we return in January, the back drive behind the school/cafeteria will be inaccessible.  We need help from families, please do not park in the Priest Road Parking lot before school.  THere is limited parking and we need all the spaces for staff and construction team parking.
• There is a construction camera that provides snapshots every 10 minutes of the construction site.  You can visit at any time and see updated photos on progress.

https://app.oxblue.com/open/americanconstructors/percypriestelementaryschool

Volunteers Needed for the Teachers & Staff Holiday Luncheon

Let’s give our beloved PPE faculty and staff a festive lunch to kick off the holidays! We are providing a festive holiday lunch to the PPE staff after early dismissal on Wednesday, December 20th and would appreciate help making it happen. You can drop off items with your child at school on 12/20 morning or around 11:00am before the early dismissal. Sign up here.

The PTO would like to thank all of our amazing volunteers who pitched in one way or another, big or small, this fall. We’ve had so many parents and caregivers give their time and energy to help around the school whether its with our small fundraisers, gifts for teachers and staff, etc..  We also want to give a big shout out to all who participated in INVEST and set a record high participation. Your generosity amazes us and truly makes a difference, so THANK YOU!

We also want to offer words of gratitude for our fundraising and community events sponsors from the fall semester, listed below. We couldn’t have done it without your generous support, too!

We are looking forward to the spring and will have plenty of opportunities for individuals and businesses to get involved with sponsorship through volunteer opportunities, monetary donations and in-kind donations, so stay tuned for more information about how to get involved!

Back to School and Fall Family Picnic

• Osborne State Farm
• Hoover Learning Group
• Mathnasium of Green Hills and Brentwood
• Berns Therapy Solutions

Tiger Cup

• Pinnacle
• MGM Industries
• Camel Express Car Wash
• Upside Agency
• Sesco Lighting
• First Bank
• Hattie B’s
• Edley’s Barbeque
• Spencer Fane LLC
• Nashville Interactive
• Charles Hawkins, Co.
• Osborne State Farm
• Pretty Polished

Songs Under the Stars

• America’s Swimming Pool Co.,
• Came Express Car Wash
• W.R. Newman
• Osborne State Farm
• Curated Homes
• Mom’s Thrive
• Michael Bono
• Leslie Hill Group
• Ari Davidson Photography
• Black Abbey Brewing
• BarBCutie Smokehouse
• Spirited Hive
• Dozen Bakery

Help Sponsor An Event at PPE

Be a Sponsor of one of our many events throughout the year to help make them better than ever! Visit Here and select your desired level of participation for the events listed below.  We really couldn’t do it without the generous contributions and in-kind donations of our sponsors. Thank you to all our sponsors!

Art Show Frame Sale!

Thank you to all who came out to support the Percy Priest Art Program last Thursday! We sold over 280 frames to raise a record breaking amount for the PPE Art Department! That money will go into our school’s instructional materials account to help students learn and grow in Art and other academic subjects! Thank you to our volunteers and PTO coordinators who helped Dr. A. make it such a special night!

A Holiday Thank You from Dr. A:

I just wanted to wish all of our families a happy holiday season and peace in the coming year! Thank you for all of the thoughtful ways in which you have included me in your celebration during this season of giving through tokens and kind words. I am most thankful for the gift of your children. It is my privilege to spend my days teaching and learning about the world through Art with them!

Happy 2024!

-Dr. Tina Atkinson, Art Teacher

Upcoming Events

Clubs starting in January!!

Wonderful Wednesday

Teacher sponsor: Condra/Dick

Date: We will meet each Wednesday beginning January 17th -March 27th

Time: Dismissal 4:00

Grade Level: K & 1st

Cooking Club

Teacher sponsor: Zeller/Williams

Date:  Our club will meet on Thursdays.

Time: Dismissal 4:00

Grade Level: 1st/2nd grades during third quarter, 3rd/4th grades during fourth quarter

Imagination Club

Teacher sponsor: Acker

Date:  Tuesdays and Wednesdays

Time: Dismissal at 4:10

Grade Level: 1st, 2nd 3rd Grades

Game Club

Teacher sponsor: Mr. Tanner/Tanner

Date:  Wednesdays and Thursdays

Time: Dismissal at 4

Grade Level: 1st-5th

STEAM Club

Teacher sponsor: Lester/Strobel

Date:  Thursdays January 18- April 4

Time: Dismissal at 4

Grade Level: K, 1st, 2nd

Builder’s Club

Teacher sponsor: Faison/Wall

Date:     Tuesdays BC will begin Jan. 16 and end April 23.

Thursdays BC will begin Jan. 18 and end April 25.

Time: Dismissal at 4

Grade Level: K, 1st, 2nd

Podcast Club

Teacher sponsor: Mr. Bray/Williams

Date:  Our club will meet on Tuesdays.

Time: Dismissal 4:15

Grade Level: 5th grade

Drama Club

Teacher sponsor: Zimmerman

Date:  Our club will meet on Tuesdays.

Time: Dismissal 4:30

Grade Level: 4th and 5th grade

2024 After School Clubs

Some of our after school clubs are returning starting in January.  Please see below for more details.

Spring Auction-March 2nd at the Loveless Barn

Save the date for the best night in the Spring to Boogie on the Dancefloor.  There will be music, food, dancing and fun items to bid on to help support our school.

Auction Volunteers Needed!

It’s time to get working on the biggest party of the year – the Percy Priest Spring Auction – and we need your help NOW! Join the Auction Committee to get our incredible catalog of silent auction items secured. It’s an easy job you can do from home, and we’ll provide you with contact information plus scripts for calling/emailing potential and repeat donors. The more people we have contributing their time to this important PTO fundraiser, the easier the task! Please email percypriestauction@gmail.com.

Seeking Auction Items!

Have a business or property to include in our silent auction this spring? Maybe a friend or family member would be interested in supporting Percy Priest through the donation of a vacation rental, a set of game tickets, business service or other items? Any and all suggestions and connections appreciated! Contact Julia Stoll Saitta and Deanna Eliashevsky at percypriestauction@gmail.com with your ideas. All profit made from the auction touches the hands of your child. We thank you for your support to our incredible school!

Small Fundraisers

Flower Power-Deadline is December 15th-LAST DAY

It’s time to order your holiday flower bulbs! We are partnering with Flower Power to sell beautiful amaryllis and paperwhites.  These flower bulbs are all top quality, an excellent value and guaranteed to grow. Visit our personalized website HERE to order by December 15th. 50% of all orders placed will go back to the PTO.

Art News

Be Green and Recycle for Art!

It is the time of year where lovely cards and packages are delivered as well as many catalogs and colorful advertisements, but where do all those things go after the holiday season? We can use it in the Art Classroom for our upcoming Altered Book Unit! Please consider collecting the following items and sending them to school after the break:

• pretty pieces of ribbon or string
• Commercially made holiday cards after you’ve enjoyed them (no photo cards please- we use the cover art)
• Paper calendars with color images (appropriate for artists aged 5-11)
•  leftover bits of unused wrapping paper (the shinier the better)
• Catalogs with great color images for collage (elementary age appropriate, please)

Green Tips

The holidays are upon us, which brings celebrations, gifts, and time with loved ones. It can also lead to an increase in the amount of waste we generate and energy that we use. Consider a few of these ideas for reducing your environmental impact this year.

• If hosting an event, plan your menu and get an accurate count of attendance to minimize food waste. Send guests home with leftovers or consider donating or composting them if you or others can’t consume them.
• Consider giving the gift of an experience, such as a membership or gift certificate to a museum, concert, restaurant, or the movies.
• Use recyclable or reusable gift wraps/bags.
• Purchase gifts that are long-lasting or that can be reused and later recycled.

Check out next week’s newsletter for more sustainable holiday tips!

General Announcements

In the November/December Advocacy Center lessons with Mrs. Tanner, our students learned that once you find one thing to be thankful for, it’s easy to spot another…and another…and…another!

In the lobby and halls of the school you will find a giant gratitude chain that links all those wonderful ideas. If you are ever in the building, please help us GROW our gratitude chain by writing something you’re thankful for and adding a link!

Order your Yearbook TODAY!

Unicycle Donations

It feels like Winter! When you dig out those winter coats, be sure to send any that no longer fit your student into school. We’ll fill our in-school closet to share with another student here, or send to our friends @unicycle.nashville to be shared with a @mnps_hero student, or to fill another school’s closet. We’ll take “outgrown, not worn out” coats of any size. Let’s share the warmth with our MNPS family!The donation basket is located on the PPE Front porch.

Tiger Tales Podcast

Check out the latest episode of the Tiger Tales Podcast now available HERE on Apple Podcasts

Artsonia:

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!

How to Volunteer

We need your help to make next year the best year 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.

1stDay School Supplies

If you ordered your child’s school supply boxes through our PTO fundraiser, it was not only super helpful to have all the supplies in the classroom at the start of school, BUT you also helped raise money for the PTO.  This year, this fundraiser tripled the amount given back to the school compared to the previous year.  Our goal is to organize fundraisers that provide a service, need or product that you will use while also giving back to the school.

Publix Partners will donate $250 to the Percy Priest Elementary PTO for every $37,500 spent cumulatively by our school’s participants. To support Percy Priest, join Club Publix. If you’re already a member, log in to your account and select My Publix Partner to search for the school of your choice. Remember to pay with the Publix app or enter your phone number at checkout each time you make an eligible purchase. Parents do have to re-register annually.

How to Stay Connected

Email Lists

New families – Be sure to sign up for our school newsletter, which includes grade-level information each week. Register today.

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 www.percypriest.org/?post_type=tribe_events&tribe-bar-date=2022-02-01&ical=1

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%3D2022-02-01%26ical%3D1

Social Media

Join us on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/percypriest/

Join us on Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/ppetigers/

https://www.instagram.com/pperoarstore/