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From The PTO

Co-Presidents

The year has gotten off to a great start! We have had some fun events that brought us together to have a great time! We also have a few more coming up for November/December that we hope everyone can participate in.

Programming just completed 2 exciting (and FREE) events. Thanks to Lisa Sandstrom, Kris Monnes and all the volunteers who made them both a lot of fun!

Our new Community Service committee has been working hard on some projects to help the local community.

Thanks to our Health Council, Sally Lynch and Maryann McGuire for a great presentation at our October PTO meeting. You definitely gave us "food for thought"!

Staff Appreciation Committee will start to gear up for Teacher Conferences November 8-12. The PTO takes care of our teachers by providing them will snacks and goodies during this week of coming in early and staying late to talk with parents on their children’s progress. There will also be a Staff Holiday Brunch the PTO sponsors before Winter Break.

So many volunteers have been hard at work in the first two months at school, and we thank you all for your gift of time! Without you, the PTO would not exist as we know it!

-Sharon & Michael LaPointe

PTO Co-Presidents

Updates

Our Pet Parade was a blast! We had 48 pets registered—everything from dogs, cats, hamsters, hermit crabs, and even a snake, turtle and frog! This has become a Morley favorite, and it’s fun for everyone to bring out their beloved family pets and show them off! Congratulations to the prize winners— and everyone else that showed their pet proudly are winners, too!

PTO Pumpkin Night was also a huge success! Kids came with their parents and pumpkins, and had a great time decorating them. There were some awesome creations! Some kids chose to leave them on display in the auditorium for the book fair—stop in and see their creativity.

If you drove by Morley the last couple of weeks, you would have seen the flashes through the auditorium windows from Paul Cryan’s camera snapping away! This is always an extremely popular offer, and this year was no exception. Thank you to Susan Good for organizing and taking the many, many, many telephone calls for appointments!

Morley Fall Book Fair

Our Scholastic Book Fair is underway. Parent’s night is Wednesday, October 27, 6-8 pm, where parents save 20% on all hardcovers and gift sets. Come in and do some early holiday shopping, get something for yourself, and don’t forget to stop and check out the teacher’s wish bags. They make great classroom gifts! You can also sample cookies baked from our cookie dough fundraiser.

Safety Patrol

Election Day is November 2nd. Parents will come in and monitor our hallways to be sure all children are safe while the school is open to the public. If you’re interested in taking a one hour shift, please call Sharon LaPointe @ 236-3412.

Walkathon

Calling all ghouls, goblins, princesses and vampires! Put on your costumes* and come join in on Morley’s 2nd annual Walk-A-Thon! The Student Council voted, and decided to donate the proceeds to The Town That Cares Fund. This is a great local cause to support. Please collect pledges and turn into the office. After the walk we’ll go back to Morley to enjoy hot chocolate and donuts. (*costumes are optional, and you do not need to collect pledges to participate!) The walk takes place at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 30.

Fall Harvest Dance

Coming on Friday, November 19th is the PTO Harvest Dance. This will be a fun night of dancing to a DJ and hanging out with friends! Admission will be a non-perishable food item. More details will follow from our Programming Committee!

Winter Coat Drive

The Community Service committee will be organizing a winter coat drive. If you have any gently used winter coats to donate, it would make a world of difference to a needy family to stay warm outside this winter. Look for more details soon.

Keep sending in box tops and printer cartridges-they bring in cash for Morley!

Free Programming Events:

●Pet Parade                                               ●Pumpkin Night

●Harvest Dance                                           ●Family Bingo Night/Ice Cream Social

●Winter Dance                                            ●Talent Show

Financial Support and Supplies for other Free Morley functions:

●Art Show                                                 ●Dr. Seuss/Read Across America Day   

●Fall & Spring Book Fairs                                          ●Family Breakfast   

●Coffee & Bagels on the first day of school             ●5th grade Graduation Events   

●Refreshments for Kindergarten Registration                    ●Room Parent’s Tea

●Reception for incoming Morley families

Appreciation of our Teachers and Staff:

●Snacks for conference weeks while teachers come in early and stay late

●Welcome Back Luncheon (day before school starts)

●Holiday Brunch

●Year-End Brunch

●Staff Appreciation Week

Contributions, Donations & Grants:

●Teacher’s Discretionary Fund (helps teachers purchase enhancements for their classrooms & curriculum)

●Room Parent’s Fund (assists Room Parents with classroom funds)

●CJ Nesta Fund (financial assistance to qualifying Morley families in need for extra curricular activities and field trips)

●Hall High Graduation Party

●Student Council

●Memorial contributions

●WHPS Grant Fund

●KIDS Fund (supports Morley with grants to purchase items and/or programs which benefit a large group of Morley students in the categories of arts, technology, educational enhancements, school improvement, diversity, scholarship or any other suitable general interest request. Some KIDS Fund awards have been for the new library furniture, the mural and our upcoming AlphaSmart Cart)

General Operations:

●Copying of all flyers for PTO events and information

●Publication of the Student Directory provided free of charge to all Morley families

●Office supplies, postage & bank service charges for the PTO

●Publication of the new school-wide yearbook

Support for Special Events:

●Morley Annual Picnic

●Dancing in the Park

●West Hartford Night at the Wolf Pack

●West Hartford Night at the Rock Cats

Goals for the 2004-2005 school year:

●We will be purchasing a school sign with interchangeable letters to communicate a variety of information to Morley families, such as meetings, events, fundraising dates, etc.

●Proceeds from Dancing in the Park this year will be used to purchase a new AlphaSmart Cart. 

This exciting technology will benefit students in all grades by utilizing individual computer units to type, edit and use many other features in the classrooms.  The system is completely portable, making it accessible to all classes.