PTO Newsletter 2/2
Happy Groundhog Day and Hello February! Our February is packed full of events and we need your help to make them special. Just to name a few…Teacher Appreciation Week, Valentine’s Day Class Parties, Used Book Sale, Read-a-Thon, Percy’s Reading Party 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!
Percy Priest Elementary Intent Form 2024-2025
If you haven’t already, please fill out this Survey to help our school update records for the 2024-2025 school year. The survey will only take a moment and please fill out for each student currently attending Percy Priest. This is non-binding, but it is helpful information for our budget and planning.
Gym Update:
We sent out an email this week updating you on the status of fundraising for our gym. If you didn’t receive it or need to read it again, please click HERE.
Our building’s footprint is taking shape! You can see the foundation in these aerial photos.
Let’s give a big shout out to our February Birthdays!
Welcome Laura Deitrick-Interim Music Teacher
My name is Laura Deitrick and I’m so excited to join the Percy Priest community as the interim music teacher. I grew up in Nashville and actually attended PPE many years ago, so this feels like a special kind of homecoming. I have a son, Noah, who’s a sophomore at Hillsboro. We enjoy traveling, going to see live music, and spending time with family, friends, and our sweet dogs, Hershey and Comet. I look forward to getting to know you all. Please feel free to reach out anytime!
Important Dates
- Now- February 8 Order Sugar Drop Cookie kits for Valentine’s Day (Pick-up 2/9)
- February 12-16– Teacher Appreciation Week
- February 13– PTO General Meeting at 6:00 pm
- February 14 – Valentine’s Day Class Parties (parents welcomed)
- February 15– Papa John’s Spirit Night
- February 19- President’s Day (no school)
- February 23-March 4– Readathon
- February 20 – Storyteller Series: Mr. Lincoln
- February 20– Family Skate Night-Brentwood Skate Center
- February 20-22 – Used Book Sale
- February 23– Parnassus Book’s Spirit Night
- February 29 – Percy’s Reading Party
- March 2 – Spring Auction Party-Loveless Barn
- March 4– Readathon ends and reading logs are due
- March 5– No school
- March 5 -Chill-N Nitrogen Ice Cream Spirit Night
- March 8– Book Character Dress Up Day
Field Trips
- February 1-2– 4th Grade Field Trip (Rescheduled)-Clay Lady
- February 6-Kindergarten Field Trip-Children’s Theater
- February 9– 3rd Grade Field Trip-Huntsville Space Center
- February 22– Kindergarten and First Grade Field Trip-TPAC
Upcoming Events
Auction Party Tickets On Sale Now!!
Studio 24 auction party is next month! Make sure you reserve your tickets for Saturday night before they sell out.
Don’t forget to buy your one-way bus ticket home! Why risk the Uber wait?! Reserve your spot now.
$13 for a one-way trip from Loveless Barn to Green Hills
-9:45 & 11pm time slots
Ready to secure your spot? Click here
Auction Volunteers Needed!
We still need a host for the 4TH boys grade-level party and help with kid baskets to auction off. Not sure what is involved? We are here to support and guide you.
Please email percypriestauction@gmail.com.
Silent Auction Sneak Peek!
Kids, have you ever wanted to watch a live news show and see all the behind the scenes with up to 8 of your friends? What about sliming your favorite principal!? Or learn how to fly a jet simulator?
Parents, we have songwriters, sports, beauty and glam, fun getaways, art, photography and portrait sessions, and a mic drop coming next week!
Support with sponsorship:
We’re looking for a few more sponsors for Studio 24. If your family or company can support us, we want to hear from you!
Email Julia Stoll Saitta (percypriestauction@gmail.com) or purchase a sponsorship here
Join the auction party committee:
Email Katie Mehaffey katieelliston@gmail.com if interested in helping with party related tasks!
Used Book Sale – February 20-22 – Donations and Volunteers Needed!
It’s time to start gathering your used books for the annual used book sale, happening in February. We welcome books that are appropriate for Kindergarteners through 5th 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 will be on the PPE front steps in January and February.
Sign up to volunteer during the sale here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0848AEA82AA0F94-47161263-used
Please reach out to Gillian Stewart gstewart0707@gmail.com or Avery Van Pelt avery.t.vanpelt@gmail.com with any questions.
Teacher Appreciation Week-February 12-16
We are excited to show our teachers some love during Valentine’s week! We have multiple opportunities for you to be involved in showing appreciation to the whole staff.
Appreciation Station:
There will be a large box in the entrance of the school for parents and students to drop off cards for teachers and staff. This is a great way to thank teachers and staff that aren’t classroom teachers.
Breakfast:
On Monday the 12th, we are providing breakfast, and need some volunteers to supply the food. Please sign up to bring items, which you can drop off either at Jamie’s house the night before or at the school by 7:15 on Monday.
Lunch:
A big THANK YOU to the Bishop Family for providing our PPE staff with Hattie B’s for lunch one day.
Treat Cart:
Each month, we put together a treat cart for the teachers and staff. We fill the carts with drinks and snacks and take them around to each of the classrooms. It is a small way we can show our appreciation, and the teachers love it! For Teacher Appreciation Week, we are inviting the whole school to participate in a Treat Cart on Friday, February 16th! You can help with this by signing up to bring treats or to help take the cart around to the classrooms. Items can be brought on the 16th during morning drop-off, and cart duty is from 7:40-9:00.
If you have any questions, please reach out to the Hospitality Chairs:
Jamie Kuhlman: 901-483-5942 and Vicki Lubnik: 615-497-7960
Percy’s Reading Party-February 29 5:30-7:30pm
Save the Date for Percy’s Reading Party on February 29th, 2024 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm in the PPE Cafe and Library. Let’s LEAP into reading and word games, a storybook walk, and a special storytime in celebration of the ReadAThon and the love of reading. We can’t wait to see you there!
After school clubs are back, thanks to the hard work of our teachers who put every detail of these together!
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
Podcast Club
Teacher sponsor: Mr. Bray/Williams
Date: Our club will meet on Tuesdays.
Time: Dismissal 4:15
Grade Level: 5th grade
Announcing the PPE Green Tigers Sustainable Arts Club with Turnip Green on Mondays from 3:15-4:45 for 2nd-5th grade students! Learn about creative and sustainable art projects using recycled materials for an Earth Day themed showcase and help manage the PPE classroom recycling program! Register directly with Turnip Green by February 3rd. (jada@turnipgreencreativereuse.org).
$180 for 12 weekly sessions.
PPE Families, we need your help with yearbook photo submissions!! Submit your photos online TODAY by logging into https://images.jostens.com/0F3OL24W-Aum5197YDWafgg. *When uploading, you will be asked for a photo description, but instead, we ask that you list the first and last names of the students in the photo (if it’s a group, you can just identify the class or grade).
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!
Small Fundraisers
*Please select “Store Pickup” so you don’t have a shipping charge. Cookie kits will be given out on February 9th.
Family Skate Night- February 20
Join us for Family Skate Night on Tuesday, February 20 from 4:30 pm-7:00 pm!!
Brentwood Skate Center
402 Wilson Pike Cir, Brentwood, TN 37027
Admission fee: $8.00
Skate fee: $4.00
Entry fee for non-skating adults: $3.00
**NO OUTSIDE SKATES ALLOWED**
(A percentage of all admission fees goes back to the PPE PTO.)
General Announcements
Clorox Wipes Needed
The Cafe is in need of some clorox wipes to wipe down tables and help keep it clean. If you are interested in dropping some off to the front office, it would be most appreciated.
PTO General Meeting-February 13th at 6:00 pm
Are you interested in learning more about how reading develops? Have you ever had concerns about your child’s reading or spelling, and wondered what is developmentally appropriate or how you can support your child? Do you understand how our MNPS universal screeners relate to dyslexic characteristics, or what we will do to support your child if a screener indicates a need? If you are interested in learning more, then please attend our next PTO Meeting on February 13, 2024. Terri McConnell, one of our reading interventionists, will be sharing this information. There will also be a time for questions.
Order Your YEARBOOK
MNPS Kindergarten Registration
Kindergarten Registration for the 2024-25 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.
PPE Kindergarten Readiness Camp: July 9-10 REGISTRATION OPEN
Calling all Rising Kindergarten girls and boys for 2024-2025 school year. Save the Date for July 9-10 for our Kindergarten Readiness Camp. You can register HERE!
Join Mrs. Murray Dick & Mrs. Amy Patterson 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!
For any further questions regarding Kindergarten, please contact newfamiliesppe@gmail.com
Parenting Series: featuring Alanna Truss & Katie Lee of Be SMART.
Please click below to view their discussion.
Password is Wellness
As a parent of elementary school children myself, I’ve already used the scripts from this presentation to ensure safer playdates and sleepovers. The text message template of how to ask if any/all firearms would be locked/secured/inaccessible to kids was invaluable. I used it in conversation with another Mom and she even thanked me for bringing it up!” -Ms. KB
*All recordings are for the PPE community only. At the request of our guest speakers, please do not share, download or post any portion of the recordings outside the PPE community.
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.
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/
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