Merry Christmas

Christmas break is finally here! I hope everyone has a safe and joyful holiday filled with fun and love!

This is a special treat for my husband.....

TPS DONATION DRIVE - HELP TPS REACH ITS GOAL!!

Welcome back!

I hope everyone had a wonderful, restful summer. Now, it’s time to get back to the busy schedules we all keep during the school year.

It is partly because of the busy lives we all lead that I am writing. As you know, TPS customarily has a fundraiser in the first part of the school year to pay for things that are not fully covered by the school budget. A few of these things are technology upgrades, field trips, and curriculum enhancement. We also understand that it is time consuming to have our kids sell fundraising products door-to-door. This leads us to question the status quo of traditional fund raisers, where only 40-50% of your money goes to TPS.

So this year we would like to try something different. We are simply asking each TPS family to contribute towards a donation drive so that TPS can continue to offer the wonderful programs and extracurricular activities that have built TPS into the highly respected school that it is.

The goal is for each family to contribute $100 per child enrolled at TPS. It will be very satisfying knowing that 100% of your contribution will be used to improve the environment and curriculum that your child is exposed to each day at school. Imagine the possibilities for our school if we could raise $80,000.00 (800 students x $100)!

“Many hands make light work,” so the saying goes. If each TPS family would give $100 per student, we can help support the programs and extracurricular activities throughout the school year . We can also make technological upgrades on our campus, which WASC sited as a “need for improvement” on their current assessment of TPS.

Please return your contribution to school as soon as possible. For your convenience we will also be readily available at Back to School Night to collect donations and answer any questions you may have. Don’t forget, your contribution to the school is fully tax-deductible! Upon receipt of your donation, a receipt will be sent home with your child along with a special “Donation Drive” t-shirt for every $100 you give. Please indicate the adult t-shirt size you prefer with your check, made payable to TPS PATS.

Thank you so much for all your support. Together, we're going to make TPS even more amazing for our children!

Help TPS Win Technology Grant From HP

The HP EdTech Innovators Award showcases and supports educators who are using technology in groundbreaking ways, with the goal of encouraging widespread adoption of best practices and new ideas. It is focused on taking programs that have been implemented or are being piloted to the next level.

In 2010, a maximum of ten education institutions will receive an HP technology grant valued at approximately $40,000 (list price) as well as membership in a vibrant social network that will include support, training and other features to help grantees move their innovations into practice.

The HP EdTech Innovators Award is open to accredited private or public education institutions at any level of formal education as well as non-profit organizations that foster the use of technology in education.

3-2-1- Woo Hoo! Summer break is so close I can feel myself sleeping in already! Who am I kidding? I never sleep in, but the kids will, and that gives me more of that super quiet time first thing in the morning....I love that time.

First I will say thank you to everyone who came out to our launch meeting on the 13th! We were so excited to see so many smiling faces and willing volunteers. TPS is already so amazing....and it's about to get better!

I have a giant task ahead of me....the donation drive. I know we can all work together for the good of our children and our school and make it a success. We're going to kick off the donation drive and the Back To School Picnic on August 14th. Mark your calendars now. Last year the picnic was so fun. The kids played and the parents visited, it was wonderful to see everyone after a few months away from school.

Knowing this date will also help families plan ahead financially for the donation drive. We are asking for $100.00 per student. We will be having an opportunity drawing for a fabulous prize. For every $100 you donate by October 1st, you will receive an entry to the drawing. We will have the drawing at the PATS general meeting in October.

You will also be able to watch our progress as we reach our initial goal of updating the technology on our campus. The WASC review this year sited us specifically in this area. We all know it is an issue at our school, but now it has been confirmed in their review. I know we can all work together to change this! We will post a "progress meter" of some sort in a very predominant spot on campus. You will also start seeing a lot of red "PATS" t-shirts around as parents proudly sport their gift from PATS for donating.

Please contact us if you missed the meeting, have great ideas to share, and want to get involved. There is a "contact us" page here on the website where you can find all of the PATS officers. Reach out to us, we are always here!

Have a safe, wonderful, fun summer break. Check back often....we're going to be very busy getting ready for 2010-2011!

Shannon Poole

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/temecula/article_f558d0b4-9055-5740-952b-60e7eab66f07.html

TPS in the news for the second time this week. I am so proud to say my son goes to this school.

Please vote in the contest if you haven't already. Also, pass it on to everyone in your address book. Family, friends, co-workers....whoever you can think of. It doesn't cost anything, you don't have to buy anything or sign up for anything, just a simple vote. The top 5 schools receive cash prizes! The top school wins $20,000!

Think about it this way, for the entire year this year, including the Patriot's Ball, we raised just around $25,000. Wouldn't this contest win be an amazing way to kick off the new school year and our new approach to fund raising?

Go do it!

There are so many things going on around the campus right now. I can almost "feel" the buzz. Our kick off meeting is Thursday at 6:30 PM. Please make the time to come and be a part of PATS. We're not going to be able to do it without ALL of you!

Check out the calendar section and flyers section of www.TPSPATS.com. Check those areas often. We try to keep the content current. And, as always, ANY input is welcomed. We are a team!

PATS Launch Meeting

Please click here to see our launch flyer.

My name is Shannon Poole. My husband David and I have two kids, one of which is a student at TPS. When I was approached about being the Ways and Means Officer of PATS I saw it as a very exciting and challenging opportunity. It also presented itself as a crucial way to help make TPS a better place for Kadin to go to school. I think that’s something we can all say deserves our best efforts.

For those of you who don’t know me, I’m a pretty straight forward kind of person. Life seems to throw us all enough curve balls and drama, there’s no need to create our own!

So with this approach to life, so will it be my approach to fund raising for the upcoming year. I think the sky’s the limit when it comes to doing what’s best for our kids.

I started talking to friends around school. “What do you like about the current fund raisers?”, “what would you be willing to invest in your child’s school environment?”, for example.

What I can understand, for the most part, is its time to freshen up our approach to raising money for TPS.

So I’m going to be looking at fundraising in a whole new way. Why not just do a donation drive? All the money goes directly to the school. ALL THE MONEY GOES DIRECTLY TO OUR SCHOOL. Its a win/win situation.

We will start our drive at the Back to School Picnic in August, just before school resumes. We are hoping for a donation of $100 per student. It can be a one time payment, or payments as it fits your budget. A PayPal link is also available on this website. We want it to be easy, and a no-brainer.

ALL THE MONEY GOES RIGHT TO OUR SCHOOL.

And our biggest goal is a COMPUTER LAB.

If we have 650 students at TPS, and everyone gives $100....that’s $65,000.00!

That is amazing and easy and as straight forward as it gets.

Of course, all the usual things will also be taken from that money. Field trips, facility improvements, etc. But the big prize to keep your eye on is a Computer Lab. It is ridiculous that in 2010 our school doesn’t have one.

Another thing to keep in mind, last year, including the Patriot’s Ball, the school only raised about $25,000.00 for the entire year. Its time to stop messing around and get it done!

Does $100.00 per student seem like a lot? Think of what you would be paying in a private school for the amazing education our children are getting. $100 barely seems like enough....

You’ll be seeing us around. We’ll start at the Back to School Picnic, we’ll be in the loop on pick ups, and school events. The quicker we raise this money, the quicker the Computer Lab dream can become a reality.

We’re also giving a “gift with purchase” so to speak. For every $100 donation you give, you get an awesome PATS t-shirt to wear proudly around school and in the community. Also, your donation is completely tax deductible. We will have tax receipts in hand when you make your donation.

We will have other fun, community building fundraisers throughout the year. We just need to mix it up a little bit!! They will be geared toward particular grades or causes, and will be a great chance to build our TPS family.

That’s all for now...I just want everyone to get as excited as I am. I really feel like we can do this!

Thank you so much for your interest in your child!!!

Shannon Poole

TPS PATS Ways and Means Officer

Get excited. Get involved.