Hello Falcon Families!

We hope everyone got to enjoy something at school during October — from the Walkathon, the Book Fair, Spooktacular, to school assemblies — it was a month packed with so many fun events.  And none of this would've happened without the many layers of help from YOU the VOLUNTEERS! Many, many thanks to all of you for helping to bring joy to our Franklin community.

UPCOMING EVENTS

🚨Our next PTA meeting is on Wednesday, November 19 from 6:30-8:00 pm on Zoom. A meeting invite and the agenda will be sent out through Konstella soon. 

🍪 Bake Sale & Food Drive. Saturday, 11/15, 11:00 – 2:00pm, Franklin Park
Come by for a tasty treat and a pipin' hot cup of coffee at the park. All proceeds benefit the Franklin Elementary PTA. Cash, check, PayPal and credit cards accepted. If you want to show off your baking prowess, sign up here. Questions? Contact Amy Dabrowski at fundraising@franklinpta.org

🧃Help fill the fridge and break room!, Nov 17-21

Our teachers are hard at work this time of the year getting ready for long days with parent/teacher conferences. Let's help them out by stocking the staff break room with treats and snacks! It's easy - Order an item(s) from this Amazon Wish List, and they will be delivered directly to the school. 

November is Indigenous Peoples’ Month

This month, we recognize and honor the first peoples of this land — including the Ohlone, whose traditional homelands include Alameda and much of the East Bay. It’s a time to celebrate the rich cultures, histories, and contributions of Native communities that continue to thrive today.

Families are encouraged to learn, support, and connect by visiting local Native-owned businesses such as Wahpepah’s Kitchen in Oakland, Café Ohlone in Berkeley, or the Indigenous Red Market — a monthly event celebrating Native entrepreneurs, artists, and food vendors.

As our school community moves into the holiday season, let’s take time to reflect with gratitude and appreciation for the Indigenous peoples who continue to care for and share their traditions, stories, and stewardship of this land.

🧘🏽‍♀️Fitness for Franklin, Friday, Dec 5, 4pm - Svastha Yoga Hub at 647 Pacific Ave

Mark your calendars for our next Lift and Donate event, Fitness for Franklin on Friday, December 5, at 4:00pm. This will be a fun strength training class for all levels, hosted by former Franklin PTA member and owner of Svastha Yoga Hub, Tatiana Stollman. She is generously donating 60% of proceeds from this class to support our PTA. This class is for adults, not students, and is sure to be a blast!  You’ll get to pick a favorite song at sign-up to be featured during the workout. There are only 20 spots available, so don’t wait to sign up at https://www.svasthayogahub.com/  

Minted Holiday Card Discount

We can’t believe it either, but the holidays are right around the corner! Do you have holiday cards that you're planning to send out to family and friends? This year, we’re partnering with Minted to help us fundraise for our PTA.

Using our unique code FUNDRAISEFRANKLIN, you can get 20% OFF all your Minted holiday card & gift purchases—and for every order placed, Minted will donate 10% back to our PTA. 

To participate, simply visit minted.com/holiday to start your holiday shopping. Apply code FUNDRAISEFRANKLIN at checkout to claim your 20% discount. It’s that easy! Minted will track every purchase made using our code, and we’ll get 10% of the proceeds donated back to the Franklin PTA. Please feel free to forward this code to friends and family—the more people shop Minted using our code, the more we earn!

WAYS TO HELP

End of Year 100% Tax Deductible Donations

Every contribution, no matter the size, directly benefits our students and strengthens our community. Our PTA's goal is to raise at least $500 per student for the entire school year. We realize that not everyone can donate this amount, so if your family is able to, please give generously. 

Your donations are 100% tax deductible. Franklin PTA is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, our EIN is 94-6171957  email our PTA's Treasurer, Ben Montgomery at bmontgom2007@gmail.com if you need a receipt. 

Special Donations

Our school is incredibly fortunate to have a science teacher for a 2nd year. This was made possible through a donation directly to our school from a private donor. If you'd like to make a similar large impact at our school with a direct donation for a specific cause, please reach out to our Principal, Ms. Chirrick at lchirrick@alamedaunified.org

Thank you for your ongoing support and commitment to our community.

THANK YOU!

Book Fair Results 🎉

This year’s Book Fair was a great success! Thank you to those that helped out at the Fair and especially to Book Fair chairs Meredith Harris and Kalinda Lisy for organizing this beloved fundraiser and practically living in the Media Center all week! We'd also like to thank Ms. Kinsey for allowing the Media Center to become a bookstore for the week! Our book fair was provided to us by Literati again and was very successful. The gross sales at the Literati Book Fair were $14,272.72. This translates into around $3,500 in rewards for Ms. Kinsey to use in the coming year for the Franklin Media Center. Any families with leftover balances on their gift cards can continue to use them on the Literati website and earn more rewards for the Media Center. We would also like to thank all of the families who donated to our Books4Kids fund. Due to your support we were able to raise $955. Thank you all from the bottoms of our hearts. If you have any feedback you’d like us to consider, please do not hesitate to contact Kalinda at krlisy@gmail.com. Kalinda is also looking for a new co-chair for next year, please contact her if you are interested.

Spooktacular Wrap Up 🎃

What an incredible Halloween party that was - a little bit of rain can’t stop Franklin from celebrating together! It was great to see so many of you at Spooktacular. It’s readily apparent, but Spooktacular requires a herculean effort by our frightfully awesome parent volunteers, lenders, and donors. Thank you all for the generosity of your time and donations! A special screaming shout out to our Spooktacular committee–all the hours of planning and prep paid off. If you have any suggestions to make next year’s Spooktacular even better, please contact either Annie Gregg or Greg Nielsen.

Digital copies of the pictures taken at the photobooth, as well as other moments captured at Spooktacular are available on this Google Photos album. If you have any photos you would like to share with the community, please upload them!!!

Assemblies in October & November
Kate Shatz - We had author Kate Schatz here last month telling stories about real life exceptional people from her books!

Filipino Heritage Month - The Ramirez Family performed beautifully at a Monday morning assembly.

Muir Woods Ranger - Adrian came and spoke to the school about Redwoods and the history of Indigenous People in California.

Lunch time Activity - Dia De Los Muertos Frame for your Ofrenda

If you’re a like-minded parent who wants to help enrich our community and deepen our shared understanding, we invite you to join our DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Committee. Together, we can continue learning from one another, embracing our differences, and creating meaningful partnerships and activities that celebrate the beauty of our diverse community.  

💡Got Any Bright Ideas or Questions?
Whether you’re a seasoned Franklin parent or are new to our community (welcome!) we want to hear from you. Please feel free to reach out to any PTA Exec Board member, or email ask@franklinpta.org.  

Still Hankering for More PTA Content? We Got You Covered!

• The Franklin Elementary PTA's website

• Franklin Elementary School PTA Facebook Page

• Franklin Falcons of Alameda Facebook Page (this is private group managed by the school office staff- you must request to join)

In gratitude and appreciation,

Your Franklin Elementary PTA