Welcome to a New Year

Welcome to Hanawalt 2009-2010

On behalf of the PTA I would like to welcome all students and families to Hanawalt for another fun year. We have a really great community here and whether you are new to Hanawalt or are a returning family-- here are a few tips to get you started off right!!

Wednesday’s are our “distribution” day. What that means is we try very hard to send home all important information on Wednesday’s. Occasionally you may have a paper come home on another day but be sure to check backpacks on each Wednesday for PTA correspondence, community, school and DMPS flyers. In an effort to save paper we will combine students from the same families and send the information home with only the youngest student.

Newsletters and Blog Spot: Our newsletters are published the first Wednesday of the month. It is available to view or download as a PDF on our blog: hanawaltpta.blogspot.com there are links to the school calendar as well as other information. We are still refining this communication tool, so any input, suggestions or additional things that you would find helpful please let us know! The blog is designed to provide quicker more efficient information to all our families. Meeting times and places will be on the calendar. If you do not have internet access please let your child’s teacher know so that we can send home a paper copy of the newsletter so you don’t miss out on any important information.

PTA General Meetings: All are welcome and encouraged to attend-information and great speakers will be the focus of our meetings. We will have two in the fall and one or two in the spring. The meetings will be held at 6:30 pm and will be kept to right around an hour. Our first two meetings are both on important subjects. Our September 10th meeting will feature pediatrician Dr. Pete Hetherington-he will discuss the H1N1 virus and how to keep our kids and school safe. The October meeting will discuss the new math curriculum.

SBC Meetings: The site based committee was formed when the remodel was being planned and executed at Hanawalt. This committee has remained active and deals mostly with building issues, class sizes and budgetary concerns just to name a few. Anyone is welcome to attend. These meetings are held the first Fridayof the month in September, October, February, March and April at 7am in the library. Any parental or teacher concerns can be voiced at these meetings. Additional meetings maybe scheduled if the need arises-a note will be sent home in backpacks and will be noted on the school calendar which can be found at hanawaltpta.blogspot.com The first meeting will be held September 4, 2009 our speaker will be Bill Good from DMPS, he will discuss the Sales Tax Revenue Purpose. He will give us information so that each family can be informed and make their own decision on this important issue. The vote will be held on September 8, 2009.

PTA Board and Committee Chair meetings: The elected officers and committee chairs (when available) meet the first Friday of each month at 8:15 am in the cafeteria to approve expenses for the month, hear committee reports, discuss teacher requests and general planning. Any parent is welcome to attend and speak to the board at these meetings. We try to keep these to an hour-but sometimes they run longer depending on the business on the floor. First meeting will be held September 4, 2009.

Fundraising: Hanawalk date is September 25th: This is the major fundraiser of the year that allows the PTA to do all the things we do for each our students. Sally Foster-gift wrap will be back this year as well. In the spring we will be replacing the Spelling challenge with a Geography Challenge. More information will be coming home on all these!

Important email addresses you may need throughout the year:

Principal: Julia Burton: julia.burton@dmps.k12.ia.us
PTA President: Cheryl Thompson: cheryl@tasty-treats.com
Volunteer coordinator: Beth Steffensen: bethsteffensen@dwx.com

These and others can also be obtained on our blog: Hanawaltpta.blogspot.com