Box Tops

This program has been a great fundraiser for our school and PTO. Please turn in any Box Tops you have by 10/15 so we can meet our submission deadline.

Festival of Arts

The PTO kicked off our Festival of Arts on Sept. 30th. This years theme is "Diversity Means......." Entries will be due friday 11/4. Judging will be on Tues 11/8 from 11am-1pm in the school library. We are looking for volunteers to help judge the event and also to organize and categorize the projects on Monday 11/7. Please email attn. Jenni Fullerton at vistapto@gmail.com.

Fundraiser

Parents please make sure your child turns in order forms and payments no later than Friday October 14th, 2011.

Family Halloween Skate Night

In lieu of Halloween events at school, the PTO wil be sponsering a Family Halloween Skate Night on Thursday, October 27th at Classic Fun Skating in Sandy. Admission is FREE that evening! Skate rentals will be $1-3 extra. You may also bring your own skates, rollerblades, or scooters. Kids are welcome to come in costume, but no masks will be permitted. Watch for flyers to be sent home and are posted in the school.If we get 200 total parents and students to come, this event will be freefor our PTO and we can do another in the Spring!!! Discount activities available for only $3.00 each are Bounce Zone, Jungle Climb, 3D laser tag and Blast Zone. Also $2.00 Dinner Deals are Nachos or Pizza with drink OR Hot Dog, chips and drink. Classic Fun Center is located at 9151 S. 255 West, Sandy, Ut phone is 801-568-9781. Invite your family and friends and make sure you let them know you are from Vista Elementary!!!!

Red Ribbon Week

Thank you Kristy Gallegos for heading up Red Ribbon Week! Due to lack of volunteers wanting to head up this program, Vista has not had a RRW for years. We are excited to bring back this very important Drug Awareness program. Watch for a flyer in next weeks tuesday folder.

Many Thanks!!!!

A huge thank you to Sarah Petty  for all her hard work and success with this year's Fall Carnival!
Thank you Diane Bell for your years of service running and organizing our Safety Patrol for Vista!

October Schedule

 4th- PTO Vision Screening
5th- Papa Johns Pizza night
7th- Short day 1:05
11th- Vision Screening make up day, PTO meeting at 6 p.m.
12th- PTO Birthday Table
14th- Short day 1:05, Fundraiser due
19th- Short Day 1:05
20th-21st- No School Fall Recess
24th- Red Ribbon Week
25th-1st grade to Hogle Zoo 10am-2pm
27th- Classic Fun Center 5pm-8:30pm
28th- No School
31st- Happy Halloween (class parties per teachers discretion)
Please watch for the PTO newsletter in next tuesdays folder!

Vision Screening

Vision screening is next week on Tuesday, October 4th. We are still in need of volunteers for all shifts. The times are 8:35-10:15, 10:15-12:00, and 12:30-2:00. If you can help out please contact Andrea at johnson84123@msn.com. Thanks!

September Calender

Sept 2- Safety Patrol Meeting 12:30, short day school is out at 1:05
Sept 5- No School Labor Day
Sept 7-8 SEP's from 4-7:30pm ( you should have signed up with your childs teacher for this)
Sept 8- School Pictures
Sept 9- Fundraiser Due, 2nd grd field trip to Mrs. Cavanaugh's 9:15-11:30am, Short Day
Sept 12-9:00am Road to Success, Paul the Magician
Sept 13- PTO meeting 8:45am
Sept 16- School Carnival 5:30-7:30pm, Short Day
Sept 22- Short day
Sept 23- No school Comp Day

First meeting

Our first PTO meeting is on Sept 13th 8:45am....if there is anything you would like on the agenda please email me at mkrjgallegos@yahoo.com by friday sept 9th. Thanks and see you there! Kristy

Go Vote for Vista

Hey "VIP's" our president Kammie just informed me that if you spend at least $10.00 at Sara Lee (on corner of 2200 west and 4700 south) you will get a coupon for a free loaf of bread. You also get to vote for your favorite school. The winning school will then get 15% of sales for the month of October. PLEASE go vote for Vista Elementary!! FYI, Kammie bought 3 packs of buns for only $2.01. What a steal!!!!

SEP's

Hi Parents,
SEP's are next week, make sure to watch for a letter from the teacher confirming your time. It's very important to stay up to date with your students progress and it helps the teacher keep you informed if there are any concerns. See you all there!

Carnival

FREE CARNIVAL TICKETS!!! For those of you who are volunteering or who would still like to you will receive a free activity punch card that includes a meal ticket! We still need LOTS of volunteers or it wont work! Contact Sarah at sarah.petty@yahoo.com or Kristy at mkrjgallegos@yahoo.com

Vision Screening

Vision Screening will take place Tues. Oct. 4th for k, 1st, 3rd, & 5th.  We need help making copies to send notes home to parents and with the actual eye screening.  The rescreening will take place on Tues. Oct. 11th.  Both will begin at 9 a.m.  Hopefully be done by 1 p.m. If you would like to help out please contact Kammie at kammiebjones@q.com

Red Ribbon Week

Hi Parents,
This year we are trying to bring back Red Ribbon Week. We have not had it in the past few years because we didnt have the support we needed to make it happen. I feel that it is very important for our kids to have this special program introduced to them. If anyone would like to help me get this going it would be greatly appreciated. It will be the week of October 23rd. If you have any contacts with the D.A.R.E. Program or local authorities that would be very helpful. Or if you just want to help out..that would be great too. You can reach me at my email mkrjgallegos@yahoo.com. Thanks again, Kristy Gallegos (secretary)

What we did last yeare 2010/2011

Family Skate Night
Sponsored class Halloween Parties/Christmas celebrations/Valentine Party
Cleaned teacher’s room or gave them a roll of Bounty paper towels
Vision Screening
Jr. Achievement
Recruited Senior Citizens as reading volunteers
Became an incorporated entity/Bought insurance/Purchased PTO Manager/Updated By-laws/Formed an audit Committee/Had three monthly night meetings/Compiling documentation to become a not-for-profit organization
Dance Program and Zumba Fundraiser
Collected soup labels, box tops, and capri sun pouches
Sponsored Safety Patrol and funded their Field Trip
Field Trip to Tulip Festival for 3rd and 4th Graders
Sponsored Field Trip to Taylorsville Heritage Museum (paid for by Taylorsville City Grant)
Harmon’s Day
Festival of the Arts
Fall and Spring Book Fair (Monies earned from Fall book fair goes to the school library, the Spring book fair allows BOGO).
Two teacher SEP dinners and one bagel morning to introduce pto manager and shirts for teachers
Maturation
Teacher Appreciation
Summer skills books for parents
Field Day
Paid over $1200 for Assemblies
Restocked Emergency Preparedness kits
Decorated and supplied refreshments for Kindergarten and 6th Grade Advancement
Birthday Table and Teacher treat on their birthday
Sold t-shirts, hoodies, and long sleeve Vista Lion shirts. Also purchased different shirts for staff
Sorted Christmas gifts for each child through an anonymous donor

What we will be doing this school year 2011/2012

Updating the Gold Medal Mile Board
Fall Carnival
Sponsor class Halloween Parties/Christmas celebrations/Valentine Party
Birthday Table and Teacher treat on their birthday
Sold t-shirts, hoodies, and long sleeve Vista Lion shirts.
Vision Screening
Jr. Achievement
Recruite Senior Citizens as reading volunteers
Became an incorporated entity/Buy insurance/Continue using PTO Manager/Vote on Updated By-laws/Continue audit Committee/Have three monthly night meetings/Submit documentation to become a not-for-profit organization
Dance Program
Collected soup labels, box tops, and capri sun pouches
Sponsor Safety Patrol and funded their Field Trip
Harmon’s Day
Festival of the Arts
Fall and Spring Book Fair (Monies earned from Fall book fair goes to the school library, the Spring book fair allows BOGO).
Three teacher SEP dinners
Maturation
Teacher Appreciation
Field Day
Red ribbon week

Event Descriptions

Field Day –Pick a day of the last week of school and get approval from school administration. Use previous game station ideas or try some new games. Buy supplies and recruit volunteers to run each station. Set-up on the day of 1 hour early. Ask 6th graders to help you set-up, clean-up, and fill water jugs and pool. Use the siren from the office to announce or rotation stations. Clean-up (ask students to help). Following day, clean popcorn machine. See PTO File under Field Day file or check our Google Documents account for more information.

Maturation-With a parent/guardian, 5th and 6th grade students attend a 1 hour meeting to learn about how their bodies are changing and going to be changing physically. Schedule a date with a female nurse and a male nurse in the evening. Reserve school. Send out flyers, have custodian post on marque, and get a check from PTO Treasurer to pay nurses. A list of approved nurses can be obtained from file or administration. Order hygiene kits for boys and girls, in English and Spanish.

Junior Achievement-A volunteer parent teaches a 4-6 week course with materials provided by Jr. Achievement. Jr. Achievement is a program dedicated to inspiring kids to learn the economics of life through free-enterprise education. Kindergarten begins with coin recognition all the way through 6th grade where students learn about world trade relationships. Committee chairperson needs to contact Jr. Achievement Coordinator to set-up a date to hand out packets and have an orientation meeting for volunteers. Recruit one volunteer from each class. Parents will schedule with their individual teacher when they will be teaching. Keep a list of parent volunteers to send to Jr. Achievement Coordinator.

Harmon’s Day-In January, meet with other schools at Harmon’s to pick a theme. You will be giving guidelines and responsibilities from Harmon’s. Organize decoration ideas for decorating a check-out booth at Harmon’s. Have an art idea, get supplies (Harmon’s gives a small stipend $25-$50), can have teachers have the students make art projects, and coordinate volunteers to send home 3 different reminder flyers (provided by Harmon’s). In February, coordinate volunteers to help decorate and take-down decorations, and coordinate volunteers to man a booth at Harmon’s. We usually have the cookie decorating table. The PTO likes to have a night meeting in January so members can help cut-out or glue any items to our Vista Banner to hand up over the booth in Harmon’s.

Emergency Preparedness-From our approved PTO Budget, can purchase water and suckers to rotate out every few years. Can also purchase Emergency Blankets for each student and teacher. Send home a flyer during registration requesting granola bars to be sent to the school for 1 per student. Add granola bars (and other needed items) to each teacher’s suitcase located in the classroom by October. See PTO File under Emergency Kit file or check our Google Documents account for more information.

Vision Screening- The Chairperson would need to schedule a date with Jane (our school secretary), call the District Vision Specialist, Jackie, and set up times to get the kids checked. PTO has a list of possible rotations from previous years. You would also need to send home a vision note (PTO already has a copy, just add the date). Only the kindergartners, 1st, 3rd, and 5th get checked. You also need a make-up day which would best be on a Friday to get both morning and afternoon kindergartners close together. You could also get a committee together to help with coordinating this. See PTO file under Vision Screening or check the Box in the PTO closet for more information.

T-shirts-Use approved budget to purchase new t-shirts or sweat shirts every other year to sale at PTO events such as Registration, the Book Fairs, or other dates as needed. Make sure to use PTO’s tax exempt number when purchasing shirts. Obtain a purchase order and give to PTO Treasurer. Inventory shirts and store in school closet. Recruit volunteers to help man the booth for sale at PTO events.

Birthday Table-Use funds and/or Campbell soup label points to acknowledge each child’s and teacher’s birthday at our PTO birthday table during the month of their birthday with a small gift. Get a student and teacher count from administrative office, order needed supplies, plan a date and have office get in on their calendar, and man the PTO table on specified date during lunches. Put teacher’s gift in their box or hand deliver. Chairperson can put absent student’s gift with name on it in teacher’s box.

Red Ribbon Week-Provide drug and alcohol awareness through a variety of media. Can order red ribbons using approved PTO budget. Contact local authorities to request a presenter. Schedule needed activities with school administration.
Spring-Fall Book Fair-During SEP’s (Parent Teacher Conferences), schedule a book fair at the same times. Call Book Fair people to ensure a spot. Hang provided posters. Set-up carts in gym, recruit at least 2 volunteers per hour, and get cash from PTO Treasurer. Clean-up last day and count monies with PTO Treasurer.

Welcome Letter

Welcome to Vista’s Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)

Our objectives as a PTO are:

·        to maintain a working relationship between school, parents, and teachers

·        provide child enrichment programs that complement the curriculum

·        enhance the quality of education through volunteer hours and financial support

·        develop a closer connection between school and home by encouraging parent involvement

To maintain a working relationship, we need you as parents to talk to your child’s teacher and find out what you can do to be involved in your child’s class.  Ask your child’s teacher if you can come listen to kids read, make copies, or plan an activity.  You are welcome at school anytime!  Just sign in at the office in the PTO volunteer log and get a bright orange volunteer badge!!!

One enrichment program we as parents teach is a 4-6 week course from Jr. Achievement.  Jr. Achievement is a program dedicated to inspiring kids to learn the economics of life through free-enterprise education.  Kindergarten begins with coin recognition all the way through 6^th grade where they learn about world trade relationships.  Other enrichment programs we support or sponsor are educational assemblies and field trips.

We earn money through fund raisers and participating at Harmon’s Day.  Harmon’s has adopted us as their school.  At Harmon’s Day in February, we earned just over $700 from them donating 5% of all monies people paid when purchasing their groceries.  We also collect Box Tops for Education, Campbell Soup Labels, and Capri Sun pouches to generate funds and gifts for the school.  So save your goodies for your PTO!

We use funds to provide Family Events such as skate night, family picnic, Zumba , and an occasional carnival.  We also use funds to acknowledge each child’s and teacher’s birthday at our PTO birthday table during the month of their birthday with a small gift.  Our Book Fair funds are donated to the school library in the Fall at SEP’s (Parent Teacher Conferences).  We also donated money to kindergarten to purchase graduation caps and gowns for you to snap a photo of them in at their graduation performance!!  Treats for 6^th grade advancement is also included in this area.  New to the funds area is insurance, Incorporation fees, and licensing.

An event your child might be interested in participating in is our Festival of the Arts.  Children can enter in the areas of art, music, dance, literature, and photography.  The last six years, we have Field Day at the end of the year where they participate in outdoor fitness activities.  As a PTO, we decorate the halls and honor our Teacher’s the first week in May.

To meet our final objective, of developing a closer connection between school and home by encouraging parent involvement, we need you!!  The Vista PTO purchased a new program called PTO Manager that allows us to contact parents via email, we have a facebook page (Vistapto), a blog (vistaelementarypto.blogspot.com), and emails so you can contact board members (vistaelementarypto@yahoo.com or vistapto@gmail.com).  We also send home flyers! 

Please know you are an integral part of making Vista’s PTO an enriching part of your child’s education!!                        ~Kammie Jones, Vista PTO President

Back To School

Hi Parents and Teachers, its that time of year....Back To School!!! Im super excited to see what this year will bring. I hope you have all registered your children and started your back to school shopping because school starts on Monday, August 22nd, 2011. First bell rings at 8:35, final bell is 8:40am. Dont be late! Because we dont have air conditioning yet (next year hopefully) most teachers are allowing the kids to bring bottled water to class. We want our kids to stay hydrated and focused.  Also, if you havent already, make sure you sign up for SEP's, your childs teacher will have a list. Our back to school carnival is being held on Friday, September 16th 5:30-7:30pm. You shoulds have recieved a red flier with all the information in your registration packet. We are still looking for volunteers to help out that night.

Registration

The PTO needs volunteers to help with registration on 8/4. The times are 7:30-11:30 am and 4-6 pm. You don't need to stay for the entire shift, but we would like you to stay for at least one hour. If you can help out please email Christie Fullerton at cfullerton0878@gmail.com. Thanks so much!

Update on Carnival

We have set a date for our Back to School Carnival. It will be held Friday, September 16, 2011, from 5:30pm-7:30 pm. We are still in need of volunteers to help manage booths. If you are interested in helping please contact Sarah Petty at sarah.petty@yahoo.com. Also our next carnival meeting will be on thursday August 25th, 8:45am in the teachers lounge.

Carnival meeting #2

We need all who can come to our next meeting and help finish up the plans for the carnival! July 18th 10 am at Vista Park! We have a base plan but could use some more brains :) Bring the kids to play while we get together.

Back to school Carnical update.....

June 27th at 10am we will have a meeting to plan the back to school carnival!! All parents/teachers are welcome!! Vista Park on 5000 S that backs up to the new baseball park! bring your kids, water bottles, pen and paper and lets make it a fun carnival!!

Last of the Year Needs and Announcements from PTO

*We need 10 more volunteers for a committee for the back to school night carnival. Contact Sarah Petty at sarah.petty@yahoo.com . If we can't get enough volunteers the carnival may not be brought back! Half shifts for carnival night is needed too. Carnival will be first thursday evening back to school.
*Turn in all BOX TOPS...they may expire before we can cash them.
* PTO has this blog along with a facebook page called Vista Elementary PTO
* Internet SafetyNight: Wednesday May 25...Parents only please
*Committee chairs needed for 2011-2012 school year
-Teacher Appreciation (1st week in May, coordinate with volunteers and ideas)
-Registration: first week August/recruit volunteers
-Fundraier: fall/October
-Harmon's Day: Jan/Feb-decorating ideas
-Field Day:coordinate activities and volunteers
contact Kammie Jones 801-967-7301 or kammiebjones@q.com

need HELP!

We need volunteers for Field Day. It is Wednesday June 1st. 
Grades 6, 5, 4, and Rankin + Bonnell will be attending from 10 am to noon. Then Grades 1 & 2, plus Hall + Russell will come from 12:30 - 2:30. Then we will do a quick clean up and the kids will have their sprinkler party and go home. 
We need help supervising stations that the classes will rotate through.  You will just welcome the class, explain the rules of the game, and help with equipment.  It is very simple and fun to watch the kids. Plus your child's class will rotate through once, so you get to see them too. 
You could volunteer for either the morning session or the afternoon session, or you could be really brave and stay the whole day with us!
Please let us know by emailing  Tara at aaronlindgren@hotmail.com  or her at 801- 597-1377.
Thanks!!

Join us!

Due to the rainy weather Family Lunch Day is cancelled...sorry for the short notice.



Friday May 20th, come enjoy lunch with your child. You will need to bring your own lunch, but you can have a picnic out on the lawn during your childs lunch period. Also, if you are planning of taking your child home with you after lunch, make sure you check them out at the office. Remember to get your visitor badge when you arrive. Hope to see you there!

PTO meeting notes

1. We are still in need of volunteers for our Back to School Carnival that we want to have in September.
     Also if you would like to be on the planning committe please let us know...you can email Sarah at sarah.petty@yahoo.com.

2. We are still looking for field day volunteers on June 1st please contact Tara at aaronlindgren@hotmail.com if you can help out.

3.We are looking for Committe chair person(s):
Registraition, Fundraiser, Harmon's Day, Field Day and 6th grade graduation. Please contact Kammie at kammiebjones@q.com if you are interested or would like more info.

4. Please turn in all soup labels and box tops so that we can get them mailed in before the end of the year.

FYI

Library Books: It's the end of the year and time to find and turn in your library books. All books and fees must be turned in or paid by May 20th.

Lunch Money: Any outstanding lunch balances must be paid by June 1st.

Sprinkler Party: Weather permitting, a sprinkler party will be held at the end of the day on June 1st for the students wo are qualified to attend.

Important info for kindergarten students

May 23rd, all kindergarten students come in the morning. They are going ona field trip to Hogle Zoo 8:40-11:30 a.m.

May 26th, all kindergarten students come in the morning. There will be an Advancement Ceremony at 9:30 a.m.

May 31-June3rd, NO SCHOOL FOR KINDERGARTEN. End of year assessment testing done this week for kindergarten students by appointment.

May-June 2011 Important Dates

CRT testing is going on for most of May.
May 4th at 9 a.m. School wide photo
May 9th at 8:45 a.m. PTO meeting
May 16th  3rd grade field trip to Clark Planetarium
May 17th 8:00 a.m. Community Council
May 20th Safety Patrol to Lagoon
May 23 8:40-11:30 Kindergarten field trip to Hogle Zoo
May 25th 3rd, 4th and 5th grades to Taylorsville Heritage Center
May 26th 9-11:30 a.m. Hollywood Connection
May 26th 9:30-10:30 a.m. Kindergarten Advancement
May 27th and 30th No School
May 31st 9:00am Parents welcome to Talent Show dress rehearsal
June 1st Field Day and Sprinkler Party for those who are qualified to attend
June 2nd Celebration/Awards  9:00 for 3rd and 4th grades, 1:45pm for 5th and 6th grades
June 3rd Last Day of School

PTO Meeting

Just want to let you all know that our next PTO meeting is Monday May 9th 8:45a.m. If you have anything you want to be put on the agenda, please email Kristy at mkrjgallegos@yahoo.com by friday May 6th.

Note from our President

For your information, the Zumba fundraiser brought in just over $500!!  Thank you to everyone who helped, came, and contributed to the success of this family event/fundraiser!!

Now for the BIG question?  It is the PTO's turn to do the fund raiser in the Fall.  As parents and members, would you rather pay $25 a child (or family) and NOT do a fund raiser of selling items OR sell $1 candy bars and cookie dough?
The reason I am asking now, is if we as a PTO want to sell goods, I need to sign our group up by April 29th to get some more incentives for us.  Please let me know your thoughts by April 20th!

Thanks for all your involvement your child's education!

Kammie Jones

PTO meeting notes

1.Welcome and Thank You's to Sarah Petty (Vice President) and Kristy Gallegos (Fundraiser Committee Chair) for organizing our Zumba fundaiser.

2. Kristy Gallegos is our new secretary and blog master!

3. Field Day Wed. June 1st, please email Tara Lindgren at aaronlindgren@hotmail.com if you can help out.

4. Mrs. Taylor, our school librarian needs volunteers to help sort books by grade level Friday, April 29th at 1:05 in the library. Stop by the library and let her know if you can come help.

5. New Committee Chair person(s) needed in the following areas:
   Teacher Appreciation- first week of May, coordinate with volunteers and ideas
   Registration-first week of August, recruit volunteers
   Fundraiser- Fall/October?
   Harmon's Day- Jan/Feb- decorating ideas
If you are interested in any of these positions please get in touch with PTO or comment on this post and we will get back to you.
Next meeting will be Monday May 9, 8:45 a.m.
      

PTO meeting

We had a mini PTO meeting last night at Zumba, so there will not be a meeting on Monday April 11th.

Fun!

Family Zumba night was a blast! Thanks to all who came and supported our PTO fundraiser. A double thank you to our volunteers who helped us keep things running smoothly! If you took any pictures last night and would like to share them, please email to vistaelementarypto@yahoo.com and I will get them posted on the blog.

Parking

Hi Parents,
Im sure you all have seen how busy and congested our parking lot gets when you are picking up your kids. Now that the weather is warming up it would be very helpful if you could pick up your kids behind the school. There is a parking lot (by softball diamonds) at the end of the grassy field where you can park and either wait or walk up the field to the playgrounds to meet your child. Kindergarteners are the only ones let out in front , grades 1-6 are let out in the back. This would help relieve the traffic in the main parking lot. Thanks so much!

PTO Spring Fundraiser

Come party with us at Vista's Family Fitness Night. This is the PTO's only spring fundraiser. We will have certified Zumba instructors Brenda and Jamie Beckstead.
Thursday, April 7th 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Cost is $2.00 a person, remember dress code still applies
We will also be selling raffle tickets and bottled water. Additional donations would be appreciated. If you want to donate and cannot attend you can send your donation in a sealed envolope with PTO on the front and turn it in to the office. We hope to see you all there!

Important Dates in April

April 4th- Festival of Arts due ( late entries NOT accepted)
April 7th- PTO Zumba Fundraiser 6-7:30 p.m. PTO meeting will be held that night also
April 8th- Kindergarten Orientation 1:30 p.m.
April 18-22nd No School for Spring Break

The CRT testing window opens April 4th and runs through May 20th. Please make sure that your students are in school and arrive on time every day during this testing period. Appointments should not be scheduled during school hours. Please have all arrangements for after school plans in place as we can not interrupt testing to give your student a message. Please see that your student gets a good night's sleep and eats a good breakfast as both will help your student perform better.

Kindergarten packets are ready for the 2011-2012 school year. If you know anyone in our boundaries with a child that will be 5 by September 1st, please let them know that they can pick up a packet in the office. Kindergarten orientation will be April 8th at 1:30. this is an informational meeting for you and your child to attend.

Welcome!

I want to welcome you all to our new Vista Blog.  While this blog is a work in progress, we hope to get out the latest info as fast as we can. If there is any information that you want to be able to find on this blog please email me at vistaelementarypto@yahoo.com. This address is for Vista Blog information only.