Who We Are:  The PTA serves as a forum where parents, teachers, administrators, and other concerned adults come together to promote quality education, expand the arts, encourage community involvement, and strive for healthy and safe neighborhoods.

The mission of the PTA is:

• To support and speak on behalf of children and youth in the schools, in the community, and before governmental bodies and other organizations that make decisions affecting children;
• To assist parents in developing the skills they need to raise and protect their children;
• To encourage parent and public involvement in the public schools of this nation.

We hope you will find this page useful in finding out more about what the PTA does and how you can get involved.

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2010-11 Meeting Schedule:

10/13, 12/8, 2/9 and 4/20 from 6-7:30

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Friday, September 10, 2010 BACK TO SCHOOL PICNIC: 

• Come meet friends old and new and find out your child's teacher
• 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. on the El Molino field
  

Friday, September 24, 2010 MOVIE NIGHT: 

• Bring your family, beach chairs or picnic blanket and join us for dinner with Ahn Joo Korean Fusion Pub Grub and a great movie outside.  No charge for the movie or popcorn.  
• 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. on the El Molino field (dinner available at 6:00 p.m. and movie will start at 7:00 p.m.)

Saturday, October 2, 2010 Campus Beautification: 

• Come help us with small and big projects to help our school look it's best for our children and teachers!
• Time TBD
  
• More details to follow
  

McKinley Salon:

• Showcasing the talents of our McKinley parents
  
• Dates and artists to be announced but we hope to start in October!

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2010-11 Board

Stephanie Bower and Jenny Van Slyke, co presidents
steph_bower@yahoo.com and jennyvanslyke@gmail.com

Jena Park and Patti Garcia, co-Vice Presidents

Matt Davis and Amy Guthrie, co-Treasurers

Jami Carerra, Secretary

Kathryn Roberts, Membership

Mary Martin and Raquel Richardson, Fundraising

Lana Saucedo, Health and Safety

Alex Oginz, Volunteer Coordinator

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Frequently Asked Questions:

Why Should I Join?

Lots of reasons! Basically, volunteering at the school benefits your child, the school and our entire community. Studies have consistently shown that getting parents more involved in their children's education boosts achievement across the board. So the time you spend at PTA meetings or helping in the classroom has a tangible and measurable effect on all the students at the school.

Aside from student achievement, the money you help to raise every year goes directly to support many of the programs that contribute to your child's education. For example, money raised through your generous contributions has purchased props and costumes for our wonderful drama productions, instruments for our orchestra, books for the library and playground equipment for recess. Much of our budget goes to support your child's classroom in the form of field trips and classroom supplies.

Finally, and most importantly, by joining the PTA you have the opportunity to become part of a community of parents that starts to feel like a family. By participating in the life of the school, you'll not only keep up to date about important events and activities, but you'll also find friendships that extend outside the classroom and beyond the school year. Simply put, it's a chance to make a difference.

Besides, if we don't all support our kids, who will?

How Can I Get Involved?

There are as many ways to get involved in our school as there are parents available to help! We've listed some easy steps here, but we also welcome and encourage your creativity in thinking about ways to help McKinley continue to grow.

1)      Volunteer in the classroom—it’s fun and you can make a huge difference with a commitment of only a few hours each week. You can help teachers prepare curriculum material, lead small groups, work with individual students…whatever your teacher will find most useful. Talk to your teacher about opportunities.

2)      Become a room parent. You will be responsible for gathering contact information for the parents in your child’s classroom and coordinating activities throughout the year (parties, field trips, valet, fundraisers etc.). Building a community starts from the ground up, so we really need your help in making sure that all the parents from every classroom know what's going on at the school. Sign up with the Volunteer Coordinator at....

3)      Volunteer on the playground. We’ll need parents to help out during recess coordinating games and activities or even organizing athletic teams. See Mrs. Sarian for details.

4)      Become a member of the PTA. You can make a major difference in the school by joining the PTA and attending meetings so that you can have a say in planning activities and determining spending priorities. Membership is only $6 and all are welcome to the quarterly meetings. We’ll start our membership drive at the beginning of school.

5)   Help out on the Valet Line. Have you ever been to one of the schools that doesn't have a valet system at the beginning of school? A lot of times, it's just not safe for the kids as they dart across traffic from double-parked cars. McKinley created this program to make sure these kinds of hazards wouldn't happen at our school. But it only works if everyone helps out. Please make sure you keep track of your week--it's listed on the ed-connect messages every Sunday and posted on the web--and also help out if you can when you see that the line needs a hand, even if it's not your week.

6)      Contribute to the Annual Fund. As you know, budget cuts have endangered the arts programs at schools across the country and McKinley is no exception. Please consider making a contribution to McKinley’s Annual fund to help us continue to offer the arts and music programs that make McKinley such an exceptional school. You can write a check or pay on-line at mckinleyarts.com.

            7)   Use your imagination! Parents at McKinley started some of the programs that have become models   for the school and for the entire community--the Recycling, Valet and Salon programs all started with one or two parents who had an idea for how to make the school a better place. If you have a great idea, bring it to a PTA meeting and we can work to make it a reality!

Where Does the Money Go?

All the money we raise goes to support the PTA and the school. As the page develops, we'll post our revenues and expenses from last year, and we'll also include a link to our proposed budget for this year. You'll see that the money goes to fund projects large and small, from laminating film to recess packs. We welcome your input about where the money goes and how to raise it. Please email us or attend a PTA meeting to make sure your voice is heard.

What's the Difference Between the PTA and the Annual Fund?

State budget cuts decimated PUSDs budget, especially in the arena of the arts. Because of restrictions on the way that PTAs can spend their money, McKinley and many other schools in the PUSD district have started Annual Funds so that they can raise money to try to offset the impact of these budget cuts without having to follow the restrictions imposed by the PTA. (For example, money raised through the Annual Fund can work to support the salaries of the music and art teachers, an expense that is restricted by the PTA bylaws.)

The PTA will continue to raise funds to support our classrooms, but we encourage everyone to donate to the Annual Fund so that McKinley can continue its excellence in arts education.

More Useful Information

Information for Room Parents