The Community Volunteer Academy will be presenting Kindergarten, First and Second Grade Math. If you would like to help your young child with their math studies, but you are confused too, please attend this parent training session. RSVP by January 25th, Please click here for all the details: Community Volunteer Academy, K-2 Math

Agenda items for the upcoming meeting include the Working Parents Forum and funding approval for the Apple iPads for our teachers.

Working Parents Forum:  The challenges and options for Courreges families vary, but one thing we all agree on, is that we want the best for our kids, and the more we come together and understand each other as parents, the better.  Please attend a working parents forum led by Staci Fujita at our next Association Meeting.

Come and see your favorite Courreges teachers as they “work behind the scenes” at the SeaCliff Village McDonald’s.  25% of your food and drink purchase will come back to our school!

SpiritWear keychains were delivered to students last week.  Please be sure your child has received keychains that were ordered.  SpiritWear T-shirts and sweatshirts have arrived at Courreges and will be distributed to students this week.

Enjoy a great meal with family and friends. Come for lunch or dinner, or take a pizza to go! A flyer is required, just turn it in when you pay the bill and CPK will donate 20% of those sales to the Courreges PTA. The flyer is good all day, for both dine-in or take out. Look for your flyer in your oldest child’s Monday envelope or print your own copy here.  (There are two on a page, so you can give one to a friend.) CPK Fundraiser January 19, 2012

Thanks to Nicola Weiss, Wendy Peterson, Lee Baugh, Jim Rose, Jimmy Panella, Liz Smilor, Julia Wong, and Jennifer Edmonds for being refs.  Interested in basketball in January?  Contact Jim at jimpfred@yahoo.com.

Every month, students in each class at Courreges receive awards for Effort, Citizenship and Academic Achievement. Please click here: November Awards 2011

On Thursday, Dec. 1st, the PTA had its 2nd General Association Meeting of the year, with an audience of 40, and that just may be a record!  Here is some of the news and progress reported at the meeting:
 
Classroom Improvements:  We awarded a contract to ePOS Business Solutions to install the classroom projectors onto the ceiling and to create wall connectivity for computers and videos, clearing desk space, keeping projectors out of the kid’s reach, and positioning us for wireless connectivity in the future.

Engaging Our Kids:  Mr. Christensen wowed the crowd by demonstrating iPad education apps.  We are leaning towards the technology to bring easy-to-use and engaging multi-media content.   

Financial/Decision Integrity:  Jim Rose fought through our quirky accounting software to deliver an audit of our books for the 10/11 school year.  Sarah got us up-to-date on our financial position as of the meeting date.  Julia Wong had minutes from previous meeting approved.  

Membership Strengthens:  Carolyn Wang led our membership numbers to grow past our goal of 450, a record going back several years.

School Spirit:  Rachel Stein sold almost $2,500 worth of Spirit Wear through her innovative student driven design selection.  Also, our 3rd – 5th Grade Noon Sports League is the talk of the campus and has kids cheering on the sidelines.  Noon aides have told us that discipline issues are down.

Taking the momentum into next year:  Melinda Lynch, our Parliamentarian, will be leading the very important nominating committee for the board in 12-13 school year.  If you want to participate, contact Melinda: melinda.lynch3@verizon.net; 

Jog-A-Thon:  Monica led a team of what seemed like a hundred in getting water, marking lap charts, and tallying into a goal-reaching success.  

Fight for Education:  Nicola Weiss informed us of coming budget cuts, and the PTA 2012 ballot initiative.  We voted to send first time Sacramento Safari Representative, Joan De Roock.

Winter Festival/Community Building:  A kids-only event (except for volunteers) will offer 16 booths and mostly under $3 presents to buy for loved ones.

Making 5th Grade a Year to Remember:  Melinda Lynch is leading a dedicated group of parents with successful fundraisers and planning.  Libby Frolichman has been letting everybody know that we have a place for all those lose pennies around the house–for outdoor ed!  Bring them in every week.  When we reach a million, the public will be invited to see what it looks like. 

440 pounds of Halloween Candy went to the troops:  Liz Smilor made sure it didn’t go to our kids teeth.

School Closure and Boundary:  Kaz Augustus, our committee rep, explained the committee recommended boundaries.   

You won’t look back and regret the time you spent volunteering in your kids school:   WinterFest…Jennifer Edmonds jfedmonds@verizon.net; Accelerated Reader Book Labeling (starting this week) Jim Frederisy…jimpfred@yahoo.com; Fresh and Easy Grocery Store Fundraiser (it’s like a party this Wednsesday) Laura Brooks…jalexer3@msn.com; Noon Sports Jim Frederisy…jimpfred@yahoo.com; Nominating Committee…Melinda Lynch melinda.lynch3@verizon.net

Don’t miss our Shop for School’s Shopping Night Wednesday, December 7th at our local Fresh and Easy!  Come and stock up on your holiday favorites and earn cash for our school.  The Courreges PTA will receive 5% of all sales between the hours of 4pm and 8pm.  Any customer will earn money for Courreges, so please tell family and friends to shop on December 7th.  DO NOT miss this easy opportunity…come see us at Fresh and Easy in the shopping center at the intersection of Warner and Bushard.  Plus, any receipt over $20 dated through December 31 that you turn in, is worth a dollar to Courreges!  Please click on this reminder flyer and put it on your refrigerator, you definitely don’t want to miss this event. Fresh & Easy Shopping Night, Dec. 7

The Fountain Valley Chocolate Festival had some of their delicious Lindt candy bars leftover and we have the opportunity to sell them and make some money for the Courreges Outdoor Education Program. Fifth graders will have the money go directly into their individual accounts.  If you purchase chocolate bars and do not name a 5th grade student, the funds will go into the 5th grade general account to be used for scholarships.
 
The chocolate bars will be $5 each and the Outdoor Science Program gets $1 for each one sold.  You must prepay for the candy bars you want, then sell them to get your money back.  The inside of the wrappers have coupons for free gelato and $100 off at Mimi’s Jewelry.
 
We have Excellence 85% Cocoa Dark Chocolate bars and Excellence Extra Creamy Milk Chocolate bars.   These will sell fast, and we have a limited number, so get your order and payment turned in to your child’s teacher by Friday, December 9. 

Please click here for the order form: Lindt Chocolate Fundraiser

We are very excited to announce the new Courreges PTA Website.  The new design is current, intuitive and easy to read.  It also provides an opportunity for us to generate additional income.  Our website now has Google ads and every time you click on one, the PTA receives revenue.  We also get revenue when you use the Google search feature on the right hand side, if you select a Google ad from the search results page.  Please don’t overdo the clicking because Google’s fraud detection software will catch us, and eliminate us from the program.  It is also important to note Courreges School and PTA do not endorse any of the ad providers, which are selected by Google.  So far, the ads have all been very appropriate and oriented towards parents.      

Here is one example of how the search area can be used:  To see if a major department store carries a certain toy, first enter the name of the toy in the Google Search area,  and then on the search results page select the name of a store that carries the toy from the Google Ads box.  That’s it–and the PTA earns money.  You may even set the Courreges PTA site as a home page, and use it for your daily Google searches. 

Other benefits of our new website:

• We are saving money because we are using free services.
• We are able to discontinue a service provider we were very dissatisfied with.
• The new webpage-building software works more like a word processor and does not require special programming knowledge.
• We are hopeful that the new arrangement will make the e-Monday Envelope writing tasks easier, so we can find a successor.  Anyone interested…please contact Libby at libbyvince@socal.rr.com.

Thanks to our innovative Webmaster, Bob Herman, for these improvements.  Questions, comments, and suggestions can go to me, Jim Frederisy, at jimpfred@yahoo.com or Bob at Bob.Herman@ITTropolis.com.

We are in the final two weeks of Noon League soccer.  If anybody is available any of the week days other than Thursday, please contact Jim Frederisy at jimpfred@yahoo.com.  

We are starting a noon sports leagues for the 3rd, 4th & 5th graders with a two week soccer tournament beginning this Tuesday and Wednesday.   Next week, it runs on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. All games are from approximately 12:30-1:00pm.  No referee or soccer experience necessary—we will train you.

A giant “Thank You” to our generous Courreges families. The 440 pounds of Halloween candy you donated to our “Got Candy” drive is part of 4400 pounds that will be given to “Operation Gratitude” which will send it to our troops overseas. Although we do not know which school has won the cash for the most donations, we know we are one of the top contributors. We will let you know if we are one of the winners.

The Holidays are upon us and SCRIP Fundraising is available again this year! SCRIP is fundraising while you shop! Gift cards are available from over 100 retailers For every gift card you purchase, Courreges will receive a percentage back. Why not support your school, while you shop? Here is some important information in order to get started:

1. Go to http://www.shopwithscrip.com/ and register today! Enter enrollment code: 5L3246185886 to link your account to Courreges. From there, you can set up a PrestoPay account and your payment will come directly from your checking account.

2. On Monday afternoons, beginning Monday, November 14, there will be a SCRIP table set up during school pick-up. Come visit the table to purchases gift cards, order gift cards, or receive more information about the program.

3. Watch for more detailed information and a list of available retailers, which will be coming home in your Monday envelope soon.

4. If you have any questions, please contact CC Nelson at 714-791-0753 or cnelson@eposonline.com

JOG-A-THON Help Needed – Click Here to Sign-up

November 10th is rapidly approaching and the Jog-a-Thon committee needs your help.  There are still several classes that do not have enough volunteers signed up.  Each classroom teacher needs 4-6 parent helpers to mark laps during the event and 2 parents to tally student lap cards when it’s finished Also, parents are asked help at the water tables by rotating for 15 minute shifts. It’s important to keep the students refreshed as they jog around the track for approximately one hour.

If you would like to help make this the best Jog-a-thon ever, please click here: Click Here to Sign-up

Thanks for helping make the Jog-a-Thon a successful event for our school,
Monica Maytorena (Maytor6@gmail.com)
Jog-a-Thon Chairperson