Near, far, in our motor car Oh what a happy time we’ll spend.
Bang Bang Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Our fine four fendered friend

It’s here! The 2025 Read-A-Thon kicks off Tuesday, February 18th. This year we are reading Ian Fleming’s classic book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! FAQ information sheets, reading logs, and the challenge card will come home in students’ red Chitty Chitty folder. Students will keep all things read-a-thon related (reading logs, challenge board, coloring sheets, etc.) in this folder and it should travel with them between home and school. 

Read-A-Thon is always one of the best parts of the school year – a two week celebration of reading, books and STORIES! Thank-you for coming alongside us and encouraging your child’s read-a-thon enthusiasm by incorporating reading in your family’s daily routine.

Important dates: 

Tuesday, February 18th:   

• Read-A-Thon begins. Start reading!  
• Read-a-Thon folders come home! Reading logs, challenge cards, and other read-a-thon materials are in this folder. Students will keep all things read-a-thon (reading logs, challenge board, etc.) in this folder and it will travel between home and school –every day! 

Tuesday, February 18th – Monday, March 3rd:  

• READ, READ, READ! During breakfast, in the car, outside, under the covers! 
• Tally your reading on the reading logs. Parents need to initial each reading log entry.  
• Work on your Chitty Chitty challenge board. Students can collect their badges as they complete the challenges (buttons coordinate to the challenge board colors). 

Thursday, February 27th: Percy’s Reading Party (5:00-7:00)

Friday, February 21st: Pajama Day! Wear your pajamas to school for a day of cozy reading!  

Monday, March 3rd: Read-a-thon ends. Reading logs need to be turned in to your child’s classroom teacher. 

Friday, March 7th:  

• CELEBRATION DAY – Favorite Book Character Dress-Up Day!  
• Students who achieve the 100 book (Kindergarten) and 1,500 minute (1st-5th) challenge will be recognized during morning announcements and receive a certificate and prize.

Important Dates

Note: Dates are subject to change. The BEST way to stay updated is with our PTO Google Calendar – view and subscribe here!

• • • February 14: Valentine’s Day Class Parties (TODAY!)
    • February 17: No School (Professional Development Day/President’s Day)
    • February 18: Read-A-Thon Begins!
    • February 20: Papa John’s Spirit Night
    • February 21: Field Trip (3rd)
    • February 21: Read-A-Thon PJ Day
    • February 23: Parnassus Spirit Night
    • February 25: Family Skate Night
    • February 27: Percy’s Reading Party
    • February 28: Navigator Day
    • February 28: Field Trip (5th)
    • March 3: Read-A-Thon Ends
    • March 6: Fine Arts Night
    • March 7: Half Day (Dismissal 11:30) and Read-A-Thon Celebration
    • March 10-14: No School (Spring Break)
    • March 17: Back to School!

Upcoming Community and Fundraiser Events

February 27: Percy’s Reading Party (5-7pm)

Get ready for one of our favorite community events of the year – Percy’s Reading Party (Feb 27)! We are busy planning a great night of activities, reading, Percy the Tiger appearances, themed fun and special snacks. More details coming soon but mark your calendar for a great evening at school!

Join us for Fine Arts Night at Percy Priest! Mrs. Taylor is working on the run of show for some fabulous performances from our performing arts groups, while Dr. A. is helping students finish and select works of art for the art show! We will have over 1,100 works of art on display, which is about two pieces per artists. The Fine Arts Night will be held on March 6th, from 5:00-7:00pm. Don’t miss out! It will be the last Fine Arts Night held at our current building before we move on up the hill!

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

Spring Auction: March 29th at Richland Country Club

Preparations for the Spring Beach Ball and Auction are in full swing, and we have TWO HUGE announcements! This year’s auction will be more memorable than ever as it will include unique grade-level artwork led by local artist and PPE alum, Brittany Bishop. The auction will also include a LIVE portion! The LIVE portion will exclusively include two experiences, Slime Dr. Young and Principal for a Day, along with additional amazing non-PPE related experiences. Read on for additional details.

Grade Level Artwork: Students will work together to “Make Their Mark” creating a beautiful flower design on a ceramic pizza stone. Students will also sign an accompanying pizza peel that will be included in the silent auction. The project is planned for recess time on Thursday, 2/20. If you are available to help with the project, please email percypriesetauction@gmail.com

Exclusive Live Auction Experiences: Two highly sought after experiences will make their debut in this year’s LIVE AUCTION portion. Slime Dr. Young and Principal for a Day will ONLY be available for in-person bidding and winning. These two experiences will not be available for bidding in the silent auction (though you may see a listing to provide informational details only). Additional INCREDIBLE experiences are in the works as well so stay tuned to the newsletter and social media for more announcements soon!

If you haven’t secured your tickets to the auction yet, now is a great time to head to the event site. Even if you can’t be at the Beach Ball in person the silent auction items will be available for online bidding from home on March 29.

Percy Priest’s Beach Ball
March 29, 2025
6-11pm
Richland Country Club
BUY TICKETS NOW!

Seeking AMAZING Auction Items to Help Raise Money!

Have game tickets or any business services? What about a beach condo or rental property? Maybe you have a relative in a fun city that has something they can donate? All donations are tax deductible with a tax receipt. Any and all suggestions are welcomed. Please email percypriestauction@gmail.com.

General Announcements

Watch this space for updates, FAQs, important information and more. 

Update 2.14.25

A memory photo book to document our current building is in the works and we need your pictures! Upload your favorite photos over the years at PPE – think events, friends, field day, and more. Visit this site to upload photos and leave your favorite memories.

FAQ 3: What will change about carline? Transportation will be different at our new school including separate loops for cars and busses. Watch for more information coming late summer on transportation protocols.

FAQ 4: How many Pre-K classes will there be? We will have two Pre-K classes of 20 students each and they will have a separate playground.

FAQ 5: When will we bury the time capsule? The plan is at the spring event so stay tuned for ways to contribute, how to bid (at auction) on the job of burying it, and more!

And how cool is this: aerial shots from this week vs. a year ago!

Friendly reminder to check lost and found! At the end of each month these unclaimed items get donated.

Fundraisers

Papa John’s Spirit Night – February 20

PPE friends and family, take the night off from cooking and feed the family while supporting the school! Use our unique code: PPES when ordering from Papa John’s and the PTO will receive 20% of all orders placed using that code. You can pre-order days in advance just make sure to select the appropriate date and input our unique code.

Parnassus Books Spirit Night-February 23 

Are you excited and ready for this year’s Read-A-Thon?! While you wait for more details coming soon…

Join our amazing community at the beloved Parnassus Books (3900 Hillsboro Pike #14) on Friday, February 23rd between 3:00-6:00 pm to get your tiger some new reading material. 10% of all purchases will be donated to the PPE PTO.

February 25: Family Skate Night

Help us raise money for Percy Priest Elementary PTO and enjoy a night of fun with our wonderful community. Brentwood Skate Center will give 50% of all admission fees on Tuesday, February 25 from 4:30-7:00 PM back to the PTO. These funds will be used to support the PTO budget which provides the school with additional supplies and staff. Thank you so much for your support, we can’t wait to see you there!

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Get Involved!

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!

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Grandparents and Special Friends Email List

We know there are many grandparents, family and special friends of PPE students who would like to be involved. You can keep up with the latest news by signing up for the PPE Grandparents, Family & Friends List here.

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Small Fundraisers Spotlight

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

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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), click here.

For Google Calendar, click here.