Hello Tulita Families,
It has been so wonderful to start this school year back in-person and to have the opportunity to see old faces and to meet new ones. While things are beginning to return to normal this year, we still must move cautiously to avoid causing disruptions to our students’ in-person learning. Thus, we are unable to hold our large, in-person events at this time but will do everything we can to offer our children fun and enriching activities in a safe manner.
The Reflections Art contest kicks off this month, which is a great way for children in all grades to express their creativity through a variety of mediums. This year’s theme is “I Will Change the World By…” Click here to watch a short video about this national PTA program.
We are so excited that both Hands on Art and a newly combined Garden/Nutrition program will be launching next month. For those looking to volunteer on campus, this is your chance! Watch out for sign-up links coming out soon. We also plan to host an outdoor BMX Freestyle assembly supporting Red Ribbon Week at the end of October. Further, we continue to support our amazing teachers and staff through grants and purchasing requested student periodicals.
Led by Tulita’s very own Tijen Loubert at the district level, we are excited to launch the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee. Stacey Sullivan will be chairing DEI at Tulita. DEI’s mission is to embrace the diverse backgrounds, experiences, knowledge and talents of the students, families and school communities we serve. It strives to empower ALL voices because our differences are our greatest strength in our mission to make every child's potential a reality.
While we are not able to host our traditional suite of fall programming, our goal is to provide events as soon as we are able to later in the school year. To do this, we need your help! It typically costs about $185/child on programs, fundraisers, field trips, and assemblies to enrich our children’s educational experiences and only about 5% of this comes from membership dues. The remainder is made of direct donations, corporate matching and other fundraising efforts.
Public funding does not cover field trips, assemblies, our TK & Kinder music program, our Hands on Art program, or any of our free community programs such as Family Art Night, Science Fair, STEM Night, Battle of the Books, and Multicultural Night which are 100% funded by the PTA. We currently have a PTA membership donation drive going on through September and if you purchase two memberships and donate at least $50, you can earn some free Tulita swag!
I fully appreciate that this time of year can feel overwhelming with getting our children back to school, potentially going back to the office for the first time in over a year and getting into new routines. At the same time, it can feel like there are a lot of financial requests from both RBEF and the PTA – RBEF’s annual investor drive is also getting started this month. Please know that both organizations work together to support and enrich our children’s educational experiences. At the most basic level, RBEF has the ability to fund people (science teachers, music teachers, band instructors, etc.) and the PTA can fund programs. Both are important and both need your help and any amount (or time) you can contribute is greatly appreciated! We are thrilled to have Christy Emanuel, who you might have met at Back to School Night, serve as Tulita’s RBEF advocate to work alongside PTA.
Wishing you and your families a wonderful start to the school year!
