January/February 2005
From The Co-Presidents
Welcome back from the holiday break! December can be a very busy month for
families—and now we have a long stretch of winter ahead. To keep things going, we have two fun programming
events and a spirit night coming next couple of months!
We appreciate the strong participation in the fall
- in fundraising, community service and our free programming events. Volunteers
put a lot of hard work into planning, and we hope Morley families will continue
to support the PTO by attending the winter events we have coming up.
Attending PTO meetings is a great way to keep
informed, and have your voice heard! All
parents, teachers and staff are welcome to attend PTO meetings. We hope to see some new faces there, as well
as all the supportive people who regularly attend.
As always, we are open to comments,
Suggestions, and ideas on how we can
improve the PTO. You can contact us via
email, at sharon_lapointe@snet.net, by telephone, 236-3412—or we have a mailbox
in the
office—just drop us a note!
We wish you all a joyous new year!
Sharon & Michael LaPointe
Morley PTO Co-Presidents
Check out the Morley PTO website!
http://whps.org/school/morley/index.htm
- and
then click on the Morley PTO link.
Bookmark it and check back often!
Our webmaster has been hard at work updating the
site, and now it’s where to go when you misplace a PTO sign-up form. Just click and print!
Right now you can find the following
forms:
Spirit Night @ the
Also, if you haven’t signed up for our
email reminders yet – now is the time!
Join the other 190 Morley families and be completely up-to-date on all
PTO events, form deadlines, meetings, information and special surveys. There are extra sign-up forms on the PTO
bulletin board (in the front hallway by the mural) or you can click the link on
the website!
Bingo Night/Ice Cream Social
Fun For Everyone!
January 14– 6:30-8:00 PM
This night will be so much fun, you won’t
want to miss it! Admission to this event
is a gently used toy or book. You are
welcome to drop it off in the auditorium beforehand, or bring it with you that
night. There will be a prize for everyone
who comes! Also, there will be popcorn,
soda and juice for just .25 cents, so
bring a little spending money. At the
end of the night, everyone will celebrate with ice cream! If you have any questions, please call Lisa Sandstrom @ 570-0446 or Kris Monnes @ 233-0046.
A Visit From Sonar
Tuesday, January 18
Sonar from the Wolfpack will be at Morley
during lunch! Bring something in for him
to sign! This will be a great photo
op!
MORE Drama!
For those kids who can’t get enough
drama, or for those who didn’t sign up the first time around, Hartford
Children’s Theatre is coming back to Morley for a Winter session. The children will be studying
Community Service:
Valentines for Nursing Home Residents
Watch for details coming soon!
Winter Snowflake Dance
February 11 7:00-8:30 PM
Join us in the auditorium for some
dancing fun! Do the limbo, macarena, electric slide and
many more. Our special DJ is wonderful with children and instantly engages them
with fun music and dance moves. This high energy night is so much fun for the
whole family. Admission to the dance is a baked item for all to share.
(Please indicate nuts and remember fruit is always a welcome alternative) We
hope to see you on this fun night! Any questions? Call Kris
Monnes 233-0046 or Lisa Sandstrom 570-0446.
Spirit Night at the Wolfpack!
March 12
Tickets
are now on sale for Morley’s Spirit Night at the Hartford Wolfpack! Come and sit with your fiends and enjoy an
exciting hockey game up close! This
year, Morley will get lower level seating at the discounted group rate of $15 per
seat– and each ticket includes 3 chuck-a-pucks—a chance to throw your pucks
onto the ice and win a great prize! All
families who purchase tickets will also be entered into a raffle to win great
Wolfpack prizes!
Order forms
will be sent home, or you can find them on the Morley PTO website!
Keep Sending in Box Tops and Printer Cartridges!!
Just in the
first 4 months of school, students have brought in 3227 box tops,
earning more than $560 for Morley!
(more than we earned last year!) Great
job, everyone, keep up the good work
NOT MY KID: ISSUES FACING FAMILIES AND TEENS TODAY
Officer Marc Bassos, Speaker
Tuesday, January 25, 7:00-8:30 pm
Morley Auditorium
Morley PTO is pleased to welcome Officer
Bassos for a 90 minute talk on drugs, alcohol, violence and depression, how to
set limits with teens, and what’s happening in
Morley PTO is hosting this talk, and have
invited
We hope parents of pre-teens can attend, and hear it now, to be proactive in preventing some problems that effect kids in middle school. Please contact Maryann McGuire @ 523-7375 or Sally Lynch @ 232-4888 with any questions.
Morley PTO Meeting Dates
January 6 @ 6:30 pm in the
February 3 @ 3:45—4:45 pm in the
Please note the change in the February
meeting time—it is being held after school.
Free babysitting will be available in the auditorium for those parents
who would like to attend. Please contact
Michalee Merritt @ 232-3312 to pre-register.
Conard/Hall combined PTO Meeting
All parents are invited to attend a Conard/Hall combined PTO meeting on Wednesday, January 19,
2005. Dinner will be at 6:30, and at
7:00 pm, Dr. Betty Sternberg,
Commissioner of Education with the State of
If you have any questions, you can
contact Ellen Clarke @ 521-7233, or Mirtha Aldave-Velasquez @ 519-0455.
COMING SOON
A new way to spark our
children’s interest in writing and art!
Morley’s PTO (with the help of our wonderful Principal and teachers) is
starting an exciting new program — where the children can submit their stories,
poems, as well as their best artwork—get published in the Reader, and have a
chance to be named “Writer of the Week” and “Artist of the Week”.
We are in the process
of setting it up. Watch for more details
soon. We hope that this will be a permanent addition to Morley– and that we
have the support of parents in both encouraging children to submit their work,
and helping organize and run the program!
THE CHILDHOOD ROOTS OF ADULT HAPPINESS
Edward M. Hallowell, MD, Speaker
Saint James’s
Episcopal Church, West Hartford, CT
February 2, 2005 from 7:00 to 9:00pm
Come learn about the basic ingredients of
the kind of a childhood that will most likely lead to a happy and satisfying
adulthood. Dr. Hallowell presents a warm
and lively celebration of childhood, pointing out what really matters in
childhood, and what doesn’t. He offers
practical pointers on how to make the most of the most precious years of life. We invite all parents, teachers and all those
who are interested in children to join us for an inspirational and
thought-provoking evening with Dr. Hallowell.
Edward (Ned) Hallowell, M.D. is a child
and adult psychiatrist and the founder of The Hallowell Center for Cognitive
and Emotional Health in
A suggested donation of $10 will be collected
at the door and a small reception will follow. Saint James’s Church is located
at the corner of Walden and
What’s in
your future?
Mark your
calendar for these exciting PTO events!
The
Love & Logic Program—dates to be announced
Morley
Talent Show! - March 11
Dancing
in the Park @ the Pond House—April 8
Morley
Family Breakfast—May 13
Morley
Spirit @ the
Annual
Picnic—June 9
Morley PTO Want Ads
Wanted
Parents willing
to collect student’s stories and poems and type them up. Includes publishing the pieces in the Reader,
posting them on a bulletin board, and assembling them in a book at the end of
the year. (take all or any part of this
job!)
Benefits: Seeing children gain confidence in writing,
and the excitement of seeing their work published!
Help Wanted
Those who
would like to join a panel comprised of parents and teachers to select writers
and/or artists at Morley to be recognized for their special talents.
The panels
will decide bi-weekly on work the students submit. The selected piece will be highlighted in the
Reader, and displayed in the courtyard for all to admire!
About the WH Foundation for Public Schools
The Foundation's mission is to provide financial support for educations
projects, programs and initiatives that will enhance and promote the excellence
of the public schools in
What We Need
What is needed from Morley is a parent liaison to attend one or two
meetings a year, and report back to Morley PTO any pertinent information. There
are some fundraisers, which the parent rep can choose to be a part of or not.
Their big fundraiser is
If you have any questions about the foundation, please contact Elise Slitt at 521-9006.
If you’d like to be Morley’s parent rep, please contact our Volunteer
Coordinators.
All
interested volunteers should contact Michalee Merritt @ 232-3312 or
Jenny
Travers @ 232-0412