As you may have heard, the PTA just kicked off the Fall Fundraiser. Instead of having our children sell wrapping paper, candy, or other goods to receive a small fundraising profit, we are simply asking for cash to be able to fund our many programs and events.
Some of you may be thinking, you need my money again, and for what?! Well, if that's you, please keep reading! As the PTA President, I am posting my message to spread awareness of where your donations go, and how they benefit our children, the school, and our community. My letter is copied below, and have also attached it as a document.
Holmes Elementary PTA
Cate Diaz | president@holmespta.org
Dear Holmes parents:
I sincerely welcome all of our new and returning families, I hope you’ve had some time now to settle into the school year.
I am a parent of a second grader, and although she is in her third year at Holmes, all we have known is school during the COVID pandemic. So we haven’t experienced many of the amazing events or activities Holmes is well-known for. But great news for all of us, they are starting to come back, and the PTA is one of the main reasons we have them!
To be honest, I didn’t fully understand what the PTA was all about until I joined last year. And now this year I am President, one of my goals is to improve the lines of communication and make sure parents understand where their hard-earned money is going. I want to take a minute to explain what our role is, and what exactly we provide our students, staff, and our school.
You might have recently paid to become a member of the PTA Association. Half of your $11 goes towards our District and State PTA, to support children on a larger scale. The other half goes to our PTA. We just started to ask for donations for the Fall Fundraiser and will ask again in the Spring for the Jog-A-Thon. We coordinate “Dining for Dollars” where a percentage of restaurant sales come back to the PTA. We sell spirit wear, we have book fairs, and sometimes have paid events where tickets sales generate funds. So where does this money go? Again, I had no idea how much the PTA provides for our school until I served on the board. I assumed the School District funded a lot of these things, but in reality, it is our PTA. We are classified as a non-profit, so every penny directly benefits Holmes.
Here is some of what the PTA provides:
- A Konstella subscription for school-wide communication
- The Arts Attack license and program
- A BrainPop subscription for all teachers
- A RazKid subscription for all teachers
- Valles’ salary for all music classes
- The Sage Garden Project which teaches students how to grow and cook their own food
- A fund for each of our 513 students, which may be used by their teacher towards enrichment or field trips
- A fund to purchase office supplies for teachers (toner gets expensive!)
- A fund for teachers to supplement their classroom supplies
- Take-home folders for every student (the blue Holmes folder, you know the one!) and planners for each 5th grader
- School Yearbooks
- Events including: the Fall Festival, Walk/Bike to School Day, art shows, movie nights, science night, etc.
- Recognition assemblies, staff appreciation events, support for Student Council, Mileage Club, campus beautification, and the “Caught-Ya” program
This is not even a comprehensive list, but you can start to see where our funds go! We currently have 30 PTA Board members, who are all here to ensure our children and our school have the tools they need to succeed.
So I hope this gives you a better idea of who we are and what we do. I also hope you know your support is so appreciated and is vital to us succeeding. I am glad you are a part of our Holmes community, and I look forward to seeing you at our many events!
Please email me or reach out on Konstella if you have any questions, and thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Cate Diaz