September Family Community Meeting Recap

Dear Families:

Thank you to everyone who took time to attend our first family community meeting of the school year.  As promised, everyone in attendance got a gift - Bhaktivedanta Academy bumper stickers!

Below is a recap of the meeting plus some additional information:

• Click here for meeting handouts
• Click here for meeting slide presentation

Middle School

The preparations for our middle school are on-going.  Jaya Sri Radhe is currently working on curriculum development and other aspects of the program, specifically the feasibility of utilizing the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Program as a framework for our middle school.  

At present we project a minimum of $100,000 will be needed to establish the middle school.  We have an anonymous donor who has made a matching pledge of $30,000 toward this project.  They will donate $1 for every $2 given by others.  Over the next year we will need to raise the remaining funds.

We will be hosting an informational meeting about the middle school very soon.

Fundraising

We historically have 3 main fundraising activities each year:

• Roses for Radha (starts next week)
• Christmas Cookie and Fudge Sales
• Spring Dinner/Event

In addition, we have 3 on-going opportunities for families, friends, and others to support Bhaktivedanta Academy all year long:

Box Tops for Education

We receive 10 cents for every box top redeemed.  Last year we raised $21 with only a few families participating.  Our first redemption period for this year is November 1st, so please start clipping box tops from the products you buy or have at home and bring them to the school office. 

Target - Take Charge of Education

Register your Target credit card or bank debit card with Target and Bhaktivedanta Academy will receive a donation of 1% of everything you purchase at Target.  In addition, you will get 5% off of everything you buy at Target using your card.  With only 6 families participating we earned over $50 last year.  There is no easier way to support the school.  Sign-up today.

Scrip (New!)

With scrip you purchase gift cards for places you plan to shop, and use those cards instead of cash or credit. Many popular retailers participate in our scrip program including Wal-Mart/Sam’s Club, JCPenney, The Gap, Shell, Amazon.com, and many others.  Bhaktivedanta Academy receives 2% - 15% back on all scrip card purchases.  With ScripNow, cards from participating merchants will be delivered instantly to you via email. We encourage all our families to sign-up at www.shopwithscrip.com and register using our school's enrollment code: 12AAB82228774. Once registered, you can start ordering gift cards immediately.  

A scrip packet will be going out in your child's Friday folder along with another email explaining the program in more detail.

Parent Teacher Organization

We reviewed the responses (linked here) to the the Parent Volunteer Questionnaire that went out in Friday folders and via email a couple weeks ago.  The responses are very encouraging, with 21 parents expressing interest in participating in many ways.  

If you have not done so already, please fill out the online questionnaire. 

One of the areas of interest is in establishing a Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). Some initial purposes of the PTO would be:

• Identify needs of the school
• Build community
• Increase family involvement
• Be a bridge between the parent community and the school

We also shared and discussed a draft purpose statement:

In a mood of cooperation and responsibility, members of the Bhaktivedanta Academy Parent Association serve in partnership with the school's administration, to organize community building activities, encourage a spirit of volunteerism and inclusiveness amongst our families, and to enrich the educational experiences of our children by giving any needed support to their teachers and school.  

Those who have expressed interest in being part of the PTO so far are:

• Adi Gopi Kohair
• Ananga Manjari Herrera
• Ashley Khurana
• Baladeva
• Deepa & Tanmay Lele
• Gaura Shakti Allin
• Malati Lewandowska
• Radha Dainton
• Sandra Zappini
• Saradiya Syer
• Vaishnavi Cecil

A PTO formation meeting will be facilitated within the next couple of weeks for those interested in taking part and a Facebook group will be formed to help with communication and organization.

Discussion

A lot of ideas were shared during the discussion portion of the meeting related to promotion of the school, fundraising, and school schedule:

Write an article about the upcoming middle school and publish it online and in Back to Godhead (BTG) magazine to bring broader awareness of the school and to solicit financial support.

Collect and publish testimonials from parents and students.

Speak with Krishna.com about the possibility of putting a Bhaktivedanta Academy donation link into the check-out process on their website.

Research and present the history of the school along with  recollections and testimonials from alumni.

Hold a Bhaktivedanta Academy anniversary celebration.

Consider other school scheduling models, like year-round, with shorter summer breaks and longer winter and spring breaks.

Overall, we had a great meeting that generated a lot of enthusiasm and ideas to take forward into this school year. Again, thank you to everyone who participated.  It was a pleasure to spend time talking about how we can all be part of taking Bhaktivedanta Academy to new heights together.

Yours in service,

Visvambhara das
Head of School

Si usted tiene alguna pregunta y necesita ayuda en español,  puede solicitarla llamando al 386-462-2886 (oficina).

Family Community Meeting Reminder

I am writing to encourage you to attend our Family Community Meeting tomorrow, September 5th at 6:00 p.m. Snacks and refreshments will be served and child care will be provided.

We will be talking through a few agenda items but primarily want to discuss and set goals for our community of families during this school year.  Specifically, the formation of a parent teacher organization (PTO); encouraging a spirit of volunteerism; family-led events/activities; and fundraising.

I hope you will take the opportunity to attend. I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts, ideas, and spending time discussing how we can all work together for the benefit of our children.

Yours in service,

Visvambhara das
Head of School

P.S. If you have not already done so, please complete our Parent Volunteer Questionnaire.

Si usted tiene alguna pregunta y necesita ayuda en español, puede solicitarla llamando al 386-462-2886 (oficina).

Beginning of Year Ceremony Invitation

Please join us this Sunday, August 26th at 6:00 p.m. for our official beginning of year ceremony. We will have a kirtan procession from the New Raman Reti temple to the school’s new lunch area and a vedic fire sacrifice will be performed to bring auspiciousness for the coming school year.  Everyone is invited to participate. 

Si usted tiene alguna pregunta y necesita ayuda en español,  puede solicitarla llamando al 386-462-2886 (oficina).

Beginning of School Year Update

Dear Families,

I hope that you have all enjoyed a great summer break. It is hard to believe that we are less then a week away from the beginning of the 2012-13 school year. The entire educational team has put a lot of work into preparing for the start of school and are looking forward to another great year together with our new and returning families.

Below are some notes, updates, and reminders as we approach the start of school on Monday. 

Welcome Packets
By now you should have all received welcome packets in the mail containing the school calendar, class introduction letters/supply lists, parent handbook, and other important forms and documents. If you have not, please contact the school office at 386-462-2886 or at office@bhaktischool.org right away so we can get this information to you.

Lunch Program
Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey we conducted over the summer regarding our proposed new lunch program. It was clear from the responses that there is great interest in school provided lunch but that the price and monthly commitment needed to get the program off the ground made it difficult for enough families to commit. As mentioned in the survey, we needed at least 30 daily lunch orders to launch a school sponsored program. We fell short of that goal but there was enough interest to try to do something. Instead of a school run lunch program, Radha Dainton will be preparing lunches as an extension of her catering business. She will be sending out lunch order forms soon and will begin prasadam lunch service by September 4th.

Campus Improvements
Although we will be making major updates to the school campus in preparation for our new middle school next year, we did want to get a few projects done this year:

• Cement walkways are being installed along the most trafficked areas around the school. These paths will provide a means for students and families to walk from the pick-up/drop-off and pedestrian entrances of the school to the main entrance and school office without getting bitten by ants and tracking mud and dirt.

• A new student lunch area is being established on the south-west area of the school. A covered deck is being constructed and new easier to clean tables will be setup. Overall, our students will have a new space to have lunch and other outdoor activities that is more sanitary and that provides better protection from the elements and bugs.

• Balance beams and log stairs are being installed in the Bhakti Bhavan play area. These new apparatus were donated by the Early Learning Coalition and will provide some new fun activities for our active young students.

Campus Beautification Work Day
Speaking of campus improvements, Bhaktivedanta Academy's annual campus beautification work day is this Saturday, August 18th from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. We need lots of help to spread mulch, pressure wash, landscape, paint, and many other tasks as we make the final preparations for the start of the new school year. Lunch will be provided for everyone, but we need to know how many to expect, so please call the school office at 386-462-2886 or use the online form to tell us if you are coming.

Gardening
With guidance from an experienced gardener in our community, Tapasvini Peattie, each class will be establishing and maintaining garden boxes with vegetables and flowers this school year. Our students are always very enthusiastic to work outside and with the help of a local expert we are looking forward to some great crops this year.

Spanish Program
We are very excited to launch our new Spanish program led by Radha Dainton. Due to the hard work of the families who participated in our holiday fudge and cookie sales effort along with a generous donation from His Holiness Hridayananda Maharaja, we have purchased all the materials needed to offer a comprehensive Spanish language program for our lower and upper elementary students. 

Title I Tutoring
I am happy to say that Jasmin Ackermann will be continuing to work with students in our after school tutoring program this year. This particular program is federally funded via Title I. Due to an increase in funding, we will be able to further expand the program to serve even more students in need of some additional help in reading and math.

Parent Orientation
Our family welcome meeting and orientation will be held on Friday, August 17th at 6:00 p.m. Attendance at this very important meeting is required for new families and highly recommended for families of returning students, so please plan on attending.

I, along with the rest of the teaching and support staff are looking forward to seeing you all very soon and continuing our efforts to provide a quality Krishna-centered educational experience for all our students.

Yours in service,

Visvambhara das
Head of School

Campus Beautification Work Day Volunteers Needed

Come join us this Saturday, August 18th from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. for Bhaktivedanta Academy's annual campus beautification work day. We need lots of help to spread mulch, pressure wash, landscape, paint, and many other tasks as we make the final preparations for the start of the new school year.

If you have not done so already, please consider signing-up to help this Saturday. Lunch will be provided for everyone, but we need to know how many to expect, so please call the school office at 386-462-2886 or use the online form to tell us if you are coming.

Thank You!