Mary Kay McMillin Early Childhood Center

Parent Teacher Organization

651 Mountain Ave

Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922

 

September 2012

Welcome to Mary Kay McMillin Early Childhood Center! 

I am looking forward to a wonderful year!  Our Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) is a great way to meet people, have fun and most importantly help to foster the relationship between home and school.  We work very hard to achieve these goals by providing educational programs for our children, social events for our families and support to our school community. 

Specifically, our PTO provides the following:

·       Enrichment – The PTO works diligently to find appropriate programs and assemblies for our children.  Thanks to our Cultural Arts and In-Class Professional Committees, we have a great line up this year.  Additionally, we supplement our teacher’s budgets by providing yearly mini-grants so that each teacher can expand the ways they teach our children.  Teachers may choose to expand their classroom libraries or purchase other items for their classrooms, such as aquariums or computer software.  Regardless of how they choose to spend their money, the annual mini-grants is a program the teachers look forward to and the PTO is extremely happy to fund again this year.

 

·       School Support/Communication – The PTO provides support to MKM staff through library, playground and art volunteers.  Additionally, each class will have two class parents who will work with their classroom teacher to host a variety of events throughout the year.  This year, we have added several new committees to provide additional support to the MKM community including: Bus Volunteer Coordinator, Science Curriculum Coordinator and Post Office Volunteer Coordinator.  We work hard to keep you up to date on information throughout MKM and in the district at our monthly PTO meetings and Principal “Chats” as well as our monthly Bear Facts and quarterly Teddy Bear Times school newsletters.  We provide a MKM School Directory in the fall and send information and regular updates through email and flyers. 

 

·       Family Fun – Each year, the PTO hosts a variety of events that you won’t want to miss.  Watch for information on our Welcome Back Social, Fall Adult Social, Family Movie Night and Family Music Festival.  Events are spread throughout the year and our PTO Committees work hard to ensure each one is fun for all.  I know you won’t be disappointed!

 

·       Community Support – Through our Families Care & Newcomers Program, we help members of our school community in times of sickness or family crisis.  We also work to ensure new families in our community feel welcomed.   Our Hospitality Committee ensures that we have snacks at our various events and works to recognize MKM Faculty and Staff during their respective Appreciation Days.  Our Bilingual Support Committee is available to help families that may need assistance communicating with the school.

All of these wonderful programs are paid for by the diligent fundraising that takes place throughout the year.   Our fundraising committee works hard to ensure that our fundraisers are profitable and practical for our families!  Some of our fundraisers include:  Original Works Artwork, Mabel’s Labels, Gertrude Hawk Candy Sale, MKM Spirit Wear and a Book Fair.  Our membership dues and charitable contributions help to fund many of our programs as well.

We have hundreds of volunteers each year.  It’s through their commitment and enthusiasm that allows us to be able to offer all of these wonderful programs to our school community.  I am excited for you to join the PTO and take part in all it has to offer.  There are plenty of opportunities to be involved.  No matter how you choose to volunteer, I hope that you will find it as rewarding as I have.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me (kel927@me.com).  I look forward to working with you!

 

Sincerely,

 

Kelly Sheehan

MKM - PTO President