I would like to talk to you about how to get involved at Live Oak. First and foremost, please connect with your child’s teacher and keep the lines of communication open. The relationship between your family and your child’s teacher is at the center of everything. If ever you need anything, please start by contacting your teacher first as they can best help you navigate the system of education.
I would also like to encourage all of you to join the PTA. The PTA is a fabulous way to get involved. Their goal is to bring the community together in support of the school. They coordinate numerous community events, run our room parent program, help facilitate volunteerism opportunities around the school and generally support the school with the people power necessary to create an optimal learning environment.
Contribute to our Live Oak Education Fund. Our school cannot do anything without funding. Currently, our school runs on a budget of approximately $54,000. This covers everything from copier costs, office supplies, some maintenance and operational costs, para educators, classroom supplies, instructional materials, enrichment, staff and extra duty hours and more. As you can imagine this is not adequate to fund everything you see at Live Oak. It actually isn’t enough to fund basic supplies let alone the cost of staffing positions.
This is where the Education Fund comes to save the day. Our Education Fund asks for money for a one-time donation of $595/student or $995/family however any amount donated towards our goal of supporting our kids is truly appreciated.
Here is what you get (Please know that this list is FAR from comprehensive):
Para Educators - Our Education fund contributes $165,000 (That is 3 times the amount of the overall school budget allocation!) towards staffing para educators that support learning.
Art Para Educator - They also fund the Art Para that teaches art classes to our students.
School supplies. That’s right, you do not get a donation list nor are you asked to purchase any school supplies for Back to School. I don’t know about you, but I would personally pay you if I knew I didn’t have to go to Target, Office Depot and Walmart looking for what my kid’s teacher needs. (Last year the contribution towards supplies was almost $44,000.)
Classroom supplies - Our teachers are given funding directly from the Ed fund and that pays for whatever they need.
Copier costs
Funds toward our maker space, The Eagle’s Nest.
Here is what you don’t get:
You and your child don’t get asked to sell candy, magazines or wrapping paper
You don’t have to ask your family and co-workers to contribute or buy all of the above
You don’t have to make your child be a door to door salesperson to pay for their education
At the end of the day, you get to enjoy and focus on being a great parent. Your child gets to focus on being a great student and our school gets to focus on how best to support your student’s learning without the fear of not having the funds necessary to achieve our goals.
I would like to thank every single person who already donated to our Education Fund. We would NOT be able to do what we do without your support and generosity. Thank you for allowing all of this to be possible.
