News From The Murray Avenue PTA
May 1, 2009      Subscribe using RSS     What's RSS?

Last Week's Issue of Tiger Talk

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In this issue:

  • PTA Elects New Officers
  • PTA Endorses School Budget and Bond
  • Spring Fair is One Week Away!
  • After School Club Schedule Week of May 4-8
  • Next Grade Level Meeting is May 6
  • Attn Potential PTA Committee Chairs: “Orange Form” Deadline Extended to Fri May 8
  • Don’t Forget! Murray “Girls Night Out” is One Week Away—Fri May 8!
  • Did You Receive Tiger Talk in Depth?
  • Learn About New Theatre Arts and School Supply Programs May 12 or May 14
  • Participate in Beautification Day on Wed May 20
  • Spring Cleaning Tip from the Green Tigers
  • Save the Date for the Murray Arts Festival -- Thurs May 28 at 6:30pm
  • PTA Thanks of the Week
  • Link to Paws for News

 

PTA Planner

Week of May 4-9

 

 

 

 

Mon 4

Tues 5

Wed 6

Thurs 7

Fri May 8

Sat May 9

 

 

*Grade Level Reps Mtg
*Spring Fair Presale

*Spring Fair Presale

*Spring Fair Presale
*Drop off cakes for Cake Walk /  baked goods for Country Kitchen
*Submit “Orange Form”
*Girls Night Out

*Spring Fair 11am-4pm

PTA Elects New Officers: The new officers are: Ann LoBue, Co-President; Vicki Alcott, VP Parent Services; Chris Hofstedt, VP Communications; and Gail Julie, VP Traffic, Health & Safety. Officers continuing in their current positions are: Tracy Owen, Co-President; Meg Bausano, Treasurer; Lizette Macaluso, Secretary; Liz Paras, VP Faculty Relations; Debbie Hilden, VP Student Services; and Lori Dente, VP Fundraising.

PTA Endorses School Budget and Bond: The PTA voted unanimously to endorse the 2009-2010 School Budget and the $22.1 million Infrastructure Bond. Elections will take place on Tuesday, May 19 from 7am to 9pm. Murray parents who are registered to vote should come to Murray Avenue School to vote. To learn more about the School Budget and Bond, visit the District website at www.mamkschools.org.  

Spring Fair is One Week Away! Sat May 9, 11am-4pm on the Large Playground. Come and enjoy the Rides, Games, Crafts, Food, fun and more! Rain or Shine! Murray Idol is back -- and this year -- if you sing a solo of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" you get a token!!! And you can capture the day's excitement with your friends at our NEW Photo Booth!

Avoid the lines: Spring Fair Ticket Presale and Basket Raffle Presale: Wed May 6, Thurs May 7 and Fri May 8. Mornings: in front of the Library. After school sales: In front of the school, 1st grade playground and K playground.

Please Bake or Buy for the Country Kitchen: Drop off cookies, cakes, cupcakes, pies, loaves, brownies to the Small Lunchroom Fri May 8 from 2:30-5 pm!! (Please mark anything containing nuts.)

Please Bake or Buy for the Cake Walk:  The Cake Walk Committee is CALLING ALL CAKES!  Any flavor, any size, any shape. Home-made or store-bought welcomed. Please bring your cake to the Small Lunchroom on Fri May 8 from 2:30 to 4pm. You can also drop off your cake prior to the Fair on Saturday morning. Please call Susan Gomes 834-0160 with any questions.

Please Donate to the Basket Raffle: We appreciate your generous donations but are still looking for items to fill the "Fun in the Sun" and "Sports Enthusiasts" baskets. Please bring in your donations of NEW, UNUSED beach toys and supplies (snorkel gear, Slip N Slide, goggles, etc) and sports merchandise (skateboards, safety pads, soccer balls, footballs, tickets to sporting events, etc) and drop them off at the collection box outside of the Library. And if you have any EXTRA LARGE baskets, we can use those too! If you have questions, please contact Yvette Hammel at supamom363@att.blackberry.net

After School Club Schedule Week of May 4-8: Mon May 4 - All Monday clubs meet. Tues May 5 - Dinosaurs Rock meets (last meeting). All other Tuesday clubs have finished. Wed May 6 - All Wednesday clubs meet. Thu May 7 - Magic meets. All other Thursday clubs have finished. Fri May 8 - All Friday clubs have finished. The After-School Club schedule is always available on the bulletin board near the front office.

Next Grade Level Meeting is on Wed May 6: If you would like to include a question or an issue in the agenda, please contact your Grade Level rep. The reps are K: Mary Rodrigues, mrodrigues@ajrginc.com; 1st: Sheelagh Thomson, sheelaghthomson@msn.com; 2nd: Melissa Donaghy, mskdpt@optonline.net; 3rd: Diane Katz, skatzdee@aol.com; 4th: Robin Plonsker, rplonsker@optonline.net; 5th: Beth Bienstock, biens@optonline.net, Kathy Eisberg, Kathy.se@verizon.net, and Lauri Feldman, pandlfeldman@mindspring.com; and SEPTA: Liz Paras, paras@cims.nyu.edu.

Attn Potential Committee Chairs: PTA “Orange Form” Deadline Extended to Fri May 8: Are you interested in chairing a PTA Committee next year? The deadline for submitting the “Orange Form” has been extended to next Fri May 8. Our PTA has over 40 committees to choose from, all of which complement a variety of interests, skills and time availability. Even if you aren't available during school hours, you can easily chair many of these committees. It’s a great way to contribute to enhancing the educational experience of all our Murray students. Please submit your completed Orange Form to the box in front of the main office. Questions? Contact VP Parent Services Debra Schwartz ynot0202@me.com.

Don't Forget! Murray "Girls Night Out" Is One Week Away—Fri May 8! New moms, seasoned moms -- and those in between - ALL are welcome to the Murray Avenue "Girls Night Out!" Spend an entertaining evening with your best friends and get to meet some new ones too. Specialty drinks and an assortment of desserts are included so bring your thirst for fun and your sweet tooth to 1 Rochelle Road on Fri May 8 at 7:00pm. All proceeds benefit the Murray Avenue PTA! Haven't signed up yet? It's not too late! Simply leave a $40 check, made out to the Murray Avenue PTA, in the Girls Night Out mailbox by the Main Office. Any questions? Please contact Yvette Hammel at supamom363@att.blackberry.net.

Did You Receive Tiger Talk in Depth?Tiger Talk in Depth -- Murray PTA’s newsletter published three times / year -- was mailed home last week. If you didn’t receive your copy, extras are available outside the main office. The Spring issue covers topics such as “How to Talk to Your Child’s Teacher,” the new school musical, understanding health exposure notices and 5th grade oral history.Thanks to Jill Miller and Chris Hofstedt for producing this invaluable publication.

Learn about New Theatre Arts and School Supply Programs May 12 or May 14: Based on the feedback we collected from you in this year’s PTA Survey, the PTA is excited to announce two new programs for next year: a School Musical and a School Supply Service. We will be holding two parent informational meetings about these new programs on Tues May 12 at 9:15am in the Large Lunchroom and on Thurs May 14 at 7:30pm in the Library. Signup for both programs will take place this school year.
The School Musical will be organized by our new Theatre Arts Committee and will take place in January 2010. If your child will be in grades 2-5 next year and has any interest in participating in a musical, it is very important to attend one of these meetings. We also need a core group of dedicated volunteers to make this happen -- please consider volunteering! All the forms handed out at these meetings will be available outside the main office and on the Murray PTA website the second week of May. If you want to get a head start and find out about volunteer opportunities for the musical, please contact Amy Psaila at psaila@optonline.net.

Participate in Beautification Day on Wed May 20: We’ll be weeding and planting hostas near the school gazebo. As a special thank you, everyone who participates will get an herb plant to take home. K­-5 graders welcome. (Adult supervision required.) We’ll be meeting by the gazebo on Wed May 20 at 2:30pm. Help make our school grounds beautiful.

Spring Cleaning Tip from the Green Tigers: This Sat May 2 the county’s Mobile Shredder will be at our local recycling facility at 40 Maxwell Avenue in Larchmont from 9am to 3pm. Each family is entitled to bring up to four boxes of paper to be shredded. Additionally, there will be a collection of electronic waste items, which includes computer monitors, TVs, printers, fax machines and cell phones. Large appliances such as stoves, refrigerators, washers and dryers, and small appliances such as toasters, blenders, radios and lamps will also be collected for recycling. 

Save the Date for the Murray Arts Festival -- Thurs May 28 at 6:30pm: May has finally arrived! Please come and enjoy an evening at Murray starting at 6:30pm with a picnic on the front lawn. The picnic kicks off with an Afro-Brazilian performance featuring dancers, singers and drummers ages 5-12 from Murray, Central, the French-American and Ward Schools. The performance will be directed by Klaudia Raab, performing artist and Murray mom, and drummer/percussionist Matt Daw. At 7:00pm everyone is welcome to participate to a mini workshop to learn some dance steps and experiment with percussion instruments. At 7:30pm we all are invited to the auditorium and enjoy the Chorus and Band Concert. Last but not least, don't forget to look for our 5th grade Art Exhibit; each student will have three pieces hanging. If you have any questions please contact Sophie Cowles at 833.5011 or via email at jack.cowles@wharton.upenn.edu.

PTA Thanks of the Week: Our TV Turnoff Week co-chairs, Mary Ellen Morelli and Karen Astorina, would like to thank the following for all of their help with TV Turnoff Week: the students who remained unplugged and attended the events that helped make TV Turnoff Week a success; the teachers, Jennifer Monaco, Cruz Soler and everyone in the main office who helped support the week with great enthusiasm; Stephanie Basta, Amy Hogan and Danielle Linkas for all of their assistance and guidance; Pam Tanenbaum and all the readers and helpers on Library night /Magician Event; and the parents who solicited the vendors. Lastly we would like to thank Lisi Gheewalla, who baked and donated the delicious meringues for library night. Thank you ALL - we could not have done it without you!

Reminder: How to Receive e-Tiger Talk and e-Paws for News. Tiger Talk is now available two ways: as an email sent by MurrayPTA@aol.com, and on the PTA website, www.mamkschoolspta.org/murray.

If you want to be added to the email list, or change your email address, let us know by sending an email to MurrayPTA@aol.com. If you want to be notified by RSS when Tiger Talk is posted on the PTA website, visit www.mamkschoolspta.org/murray and click on the orange RSS icon at the top of the page. For more information, follow the "What's RSS" link.

We hope that this electronic version of Tiger Talk is convenient and easy to read. If you have any difficulty with it, or any comments or suggestions, please let us know by sending an email to the editor at tigertalk@mamkschoolspta.org.

To access the new electronic version of Paws for News, which is published weekly by Principal Monaco, please click on the link below:
http://www.mamkschools.org/education/components/docmgr/default.php?sectiondetailid=3213


Tiger Talk is Murray Ave PTA's weekly newsletter and the best way to stay informed. Do you have an item for Tiger Talk? Submit your PTA-related notice, via email by 10 am on Wednesdays to Tigertalk@mamkschoolspta.org

Questions? Contact Ann Lobue, Editor