Happy 2012 and welcome back . The New Year brings some exciting changes to the Heath PTO, as we work with school leadership to improve and streamline parent communication. Later this month, the Heath School will launch its own school website and adopt the URL www.heathschool.org. The Heath PTO website will be updated to focus more exclusively on PTO business, and the many ways the PTO serves the Heath Community. Please stay tuned for the launch announcement this month. 

The success of the PTO is completely dependent upon the involvement of parents in the organization, as well as the support of teachers and staff. The activities sponsored by the PTO in October highlight the special community that Heath is, where we have many committed adults doing their best to add to the educational environment for our children.

The Diversity Committee staged a photo exhibit titled “Of Many Colors” which was mounted in the main hallways for two weeks. The exhibit was a beautiful display of families of different racial and ethnic compositions. Sincere thanks to Ronaldo Cheeks and Efrat Shavit who conceived of the idea and then spent their time and energy to make it happen. Efrat and Ronaldo worked closely with Carrie Wilson and the teachers to ensure that the topic was tied into the curriculum, and many classrooms visited the exhibit and completed related assignments.

Another PTO Committee produced the annual Book Fair in October. Huge thanks to Lisa Humphreys, Genae Johnson and the team of volunteers that carried on the tradition of this special event in the Library this year. Many parents commented that it was the best Book Fair ever! Family Night was a fun and energetic evening, dedicated to the love of reading and books. In addition to supporting our children as readers and providing a great community experience, the Book Fair Committee also raised a significant sum of money that will be reinvested in PTO activities.

Speaking of raising money, many thanks to Kim Smith who organized the environmentally-friendly and seasonally timed “Eco-Apple” Fundraiser on behalf of the PTO. Kim identified this new opportunity for our organization as an alternative to other types of fundraisers in an effort to ensure that our fundraising is consistent with the values of the Heath community.

Following the Open Houses and Opening PTO Meetings at the end of September, we did receive a number of new volunteers who have signed up to help with PTO Committees this year. Thanks to those who joined, and for those who are still interested in joining committees, you may always get in touch directly with the Committee heads, who are listed below:

EDUCATION AND ENRICHMENT

Book Fair

Lisa Humphreys………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Genae Johnson………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Cultural Arts Committee

Lisa Grobstein…………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Spark / La Chispa

Genae Johnson………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Evonne Meranus……………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Understanding Disabilities

Laifong Lee……………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Pam Palmucci………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Kim Smith………………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

COMMUNITY BUILDING

Bank of America Celebrity Series

Jennifer Mataraza…………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Diversity Committee and Heath Family Partnership

Ronaldo Cheeks……………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Efrat Shavit………………………………………….……… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Hospitality Committee

Francie Karlen……………………………………………..……… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

International Night

Rana Razi…………………………………………………….….…… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Heath Community Garden

Meg Bergstrand…………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Ronald McDonald House

Lisa Golden………………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Social Action Committee

Francie Karlen……………………………………………….……… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Ashley Mason……………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Go Green!

Jeremy Kindall……………………………………………….……… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

COMMUNICATIONS

School Directory

Maya Greer………………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Newsletter

Deb Goldman……………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Webmaster

Jeff Palmucci……………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Room Parent Coordinators

Gail Corcoran……………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Danielle Rizika………………………….………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Kim Smith……………………………….………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

FUND-RAISING

Annual Appeal

Susan Dolphin…………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Bonnie Sherman………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Community Fund-Raising

Kim Smith…………………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mayfair

Lisa Humphreys………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Merlin Rosenblatt……………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Giang Wyner……………………………………………………… This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Auction Committee

TBD

My three-year term as a PTO officer will end on a very high note: another success- ful Mayfair, Principal Katzman’s rockin’ retirement bash, and the passing of the PTO torch to Francie Karlen, who will join co-presidents Vicki Lester and Ellen Rizika as the new vice president. We will be in very good hands.

Not surprisingly, these highlights reflect the tremendous involvement and commitment of the Heath community. Because of you, the amazing parents and guardians at our school, we have many academic and cultural resources and a calendar full of exciting events.

Over the last three years, I’ve been lucky to get a “behind-the-scenes” glimpse at Heath. I’m still truly amazed at how much work teachers put into the curriculum. During the PTO funding proposal review a few weeks ago, for example, many teachers spent the evening sitting in the library describing new ideas and resources they wanted to implement in their classrooms. They are aspirational thinkers who are constantly pushing themselves to improve the way that students learn.

Even more, I’ve gotten to see how much time and energy parents and guardians devote to Heath. This support comes in many forms, from highly visible volunteer positions to quiet contributions of skills, physical labor, and hours of the day.

Many thanks to ALL the many, many people who signed up for volunteer positions this year. And an equal thanks to those of you who stepped up at the crucial moments. Thank you, all, who baked casseroles, brought cake-walk cakes, helped set-up/clean up, lugged heavy objects, flipped burgers, donated household items, and provided coffee/food/ soda/paper goods from Dunkin’ Donuts/Starbucks/Star Market. That’s just a partial list, of course.

Thanks to Polly Ribatt and Seth Finkelstein for devoting professional expertise (and a lot of time) to managing our budget.

Working with Milly has been an amazing experience, and I will miss her very much as a principal and as a friend.

Vicki and Ellen, thank you for being so good at this. And thank you for making this experi- ence what all volunteer gigs should be: fun.

Fondly,

Michelle Ephraim, co-President

Between the hustle and bustle of soccer practices and piano lessons, I barely noticed the buds on the trees until one morning, walking to school with the kids, I couldn't miss the explosion of color. Spring at Heath brings us so much to enjoy and to look forward to: International Night, May Fair, and of-course, Eighth-grade graduation. This year, we add one more event to our Spring line-up: Milly's retirement party!

With all of the planning and organizing that goes into each of these events, we can't help but realize how fortunate we are to be a part of such a robust community. The generosity in both time and resources shown by the members of the Heath community has made this a wonderful environment for our children to study, explore and grow.

Your contributions have allowed the PTO to support teachers in the classroom with much needed supplies, transportation for field-trips, various math enrichment programs and the Homework Club. In addition, your contributions support special programs like the Understanding Disabilities program, the Poetry Workshop, Myth Masters for grades 3-5 and the Jump Rope Fitness performance.

Outside of the classroom, your support has funded the Welcome-back Barbecue, the Speaker-Series where we welcomed speakers such as author Adam Cox, and the publishing of the school directory. Finally, your generosity has allowed us to keep costs low for many valued programs including after-school sports and the 8th grade class graduation.

Every year, the Heath PTO solicits funding proposals from the Heath Community. These proposals may come from parents, teachers, and staff members. Last year, an ambitious parent saw the need for a community garden, submitted a proposal to the PTO and received funding to get this program started. If you have an idea for a proposal, the Spring deadline is quickly approaching and submissions are due by Monday, May 16.

As we celebrate the arrival of Spring and enjoy all of the activities that come with the warmer weather, we want to take a moment to celebrate our community and to recognize each and every parent who has generously given their time, their ideas, their creativity and their resources to make the Heath School such a special place. Thank you all!

Best wishes,

Michelle, Vicki and Ellen

PTO Leadership