Hello Falcon Families!
We hope everyone got to enjoy something at school during October — from the Walkathon, the Book Fair, Spooktacular, to a school assembly— 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.
🚨Our next PTA meeting is on Tuesday, November 19 from 6:30-8:00 pm at school in the Media Center. We will be starting our discussions for next school year's budget and what kind of cuts to the budget we will most likely have to make. These decisions will affect all Franklin students. We want to hear from you! You do not need to be a member to attend, only if you want to vote. Free childcare and pizza dinner provided. A meeting invite and the agenda will be sent out through Konstella soon.
♻️ Ridwell Plastic Film Recycling Drive The last day to drop off your stretchy plastic is tomorrow morning!
🍪 Bake Sale. This Sat. 11/9, 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 Michelle Gordon gordon.michellelynn@gmail.com
Native American Heritage Month Assembly, Mon. 11/18, 8:20am
Join students on the blacktop for a special assembly after morning drop-off!
Speak Up at School: Identifying and Interrupting Hate Speech. 11/13 and 12/11.
Join counselor and LGBTQ Liaison Melissa Saunders on Zoom to learn about talking to students about all types of hate speech. Ms. Saunders will share information on the impact of hate speech, how it manifests online, and also how best to intervene if your student is impacted by hate speech, as well as answer questions from the audience. Virtual sessions will be held on November 13 for grade TK-5 families; December 11 will be aimed at grade 6-12 families. Pre-registration required; use the QR code on the event flier or register at:
TK-5: https://us06web.zoom.us/
6-12: https://us06web.zoom.us/
🍴 Falcon Feast Potluck Party, Sat. 11/23, 4:00 – 7:00pm, Franklin Park
Please join us for our second annual Falcon Feast! This is gathering at Franklin park during these short days to bring some light to our daily rhythms and to keep our community strong. We encourage you to invite a family who doesn't usually attend school events! Let's get to know each other! Also, this will be the last day to bring food for the Food Drive donation. We will have a bin to collect items at the Falcon Feast. Keep a look out for the Falcon Feast sign up form on Konstella!
❄️ Snowflake Shoppe, Fri. 12/6 during school hours.
It's that special time again, everyone! Franklin's annual Snowflake Shoppe is happening on Friday, December 6th. More info coming soon!
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 fund essential programs like:
- Support Staff: Funding roles like a Reading Specialist and a Paraprofessional who provide crucial support to our students.
- Field Trip Buses: Covering transportation costs so our students can explore new places and engage in hands-on learning experiences.
- Classroom Supplies: Ensuring every student has the tools they need to succeed.
- Enrichment Programs: Providing opportunities for creativity and technology exploration.
- Community Events: Building connections between families and staff, fostering a supportive environment for our children.
How to Give
- Donate Online: Make a secure online donation through our PTA's PayPal account.
- Check/Cash: Drop off a check or cash to the school office, addressed to Franklin Elementary PTA.
- Employer Matching: The benefit of your Franklin PTA donation can be significantly increased (at no cost to you) through Corporate Matching programs. Check with your Human Resource Department or search for your company’s name on the Charity Navigator to see if your employer will match your Franklin PTA donation.
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 this 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.
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 15% 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 15% 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!
New Franklin Falcon Spirit Wear!
Student Council started selling the new Spirt Wear design last week. Show you're proud to be a Franklin Falcon with a t-shirt, sticker, car magnet and more. We love the new design! Stay tuned for more dates that the shop will be open. All proceeds go to the Franklin PTA.
Walkathon and Book Fair Results 🎉
The Walkathon surpassed our goal $45k and grossed $50,355.20 (including sponsorship donations). Thank you to all the volunteers and families that helped make this event a success! Special thanks to the Walkathon Chairs Ann Miyashiro and Evaly Long as well as all the committee members. Our celebratory Popsicle Dance Party and sliming of the teachers date will be announced soon!
This year’s Book Fair was also 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 big switch to a new book fair vendor, Literati, was also very successful and received a lot of positive feedback from parents (No toys!) and students(so many books!) alike. Students also weighed in about what they didn’t like (No toys, not enough novels). The gross sales at the Literati Book Fair were $11,619.80. This translates into a little more than $3000 in rewards for Ms. Kinsey to use in the coming year for the Franklin Media Center. We will be inviting Literati back to Franklin Elementary next year. In the meantime, families with leftover balances on their gift cards can use them on the Literati website and earn more rewards for the Media Center. In November, students will come home with the Literati catalog. If you have any more feedback you’d like us to consider, please do not hesitate to contact Meredith and Kalinda at meredith.harris@gmail.com or krlisy@gmail.com. Cheers!
Spooktacular Wrap Up 🎃
What an amazing Halloween party that was! 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 amazing pictures taken at the photobooth, as well as moments captured by our official Spooktacular Documentarian Cheryl King are available on this Google Photos album. If you have any photos you would like to share with the community, please upload them!
Heritage Month Bulletin Boards
Thank you to our DEI Committee for keeping our Heritage Month bulletin boards updated! Please take a moment to check out the PTA bulletin boards in the front hallway of the school and in between the 2nd grade classrooms with your student. Last month we celebrated Filipino Heritage Month and LGBTQ History Month, for November we're celebrating Native American Heritage Month.
💡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
2024–2025 Franklin PTA Executive Board:
Karen Reuel — President president@franklinpta.org
Ann Miyashiro — Vice President ann_m@franklinpta.org
Chelsea Guillen — Membership/Volunteer Chair membership@franklinpta.org
Brittany Lasky — Fundraising Chair fundraising@franklinpta.org
Naomi Weisenberg — Hospitality Chair
Steve Perez — Communications Chair communications@franklinpta.org
Michael Cianfrani — Recording Secretary
Ben Montgomery — Treasurer
Nick Parker — Financial Secretary
Aly Karnath — Financial Reviewer
Jen Gross — Historian
Grace Lee — Parliamentarian
Tyler Fuentes — DEI Chair
Laura Kingston — Art Docent Chair artdocent@franklinpta.org