Order Your Carmen B. Pingree Shirts Today!

They are ready to be ordered! I am so excited about these shirts and the design. I can take no credit for it. Cheryl Smith, a parent who hopefully doesn't mind being mentioned did a great job helping us design and get this all set up and figured out.

I did make a few big typos on the order form that went out to parents yesterday. I apologize for that. I have updated the new order form and so you can download it by clicking, download here. You can also still use the old form but you will notice I left off Adult Large,  andYouth X-Small as an option so if you want those, be sure to write them in. You can turn the money into the office and we accept cash or check. You can also email the order forms at justkathryn143@gmail.com but I won't order them until we also have the money turned in to me (Kathryn Jenkins) or the office. I NEED ALL MONEY and ORDER FORMS TURNED IN BY NOVEMBER 26th, 2014. These will be in right before the holiday season and so that is the latest I have order forms turned in by.

A lot of you are probably curious about sizing for the kids shirts. I have attached some sizing info to help. The kids shirt color with be in Jade and The adults shirt will be in Teal. They didn't have the Jade color for the Adults shirts and we decided to do them different so that the kids and adults stand out. Both are great colors.

PPSA Meeting October 23rd, 2014

Alright Parents and Staff,

I hope you had a great Halloween this last week. I thought the parade and class parties were a big success. I always love seeing the fun and creative costumes. I am finally posting the notes from our last PPSA meeting which was on October 23rd. For those who couldn't be there, please read through these updates and so you know of how you can help and what to be prepared for in the next few months.

• Pingree is still doing the Monthly Education Parent Training. The next one is on November 12th from 5:30-7:00 p.m. This month's topic is "Strategies to Facilitate Speech and Language Acquisition in Children with Autism". You should have received a flier in your child's backpack yesterday about it. Childcare will be provided but you need to RSVP for that no later than Monday, November 10th. 

• We still would love support from our parents to help with Legislature Tours and funding. If you are interested contact Kristie.

•  Be sure to like the Pingree Facebook Page. I talked to many parents who didn't even know the page existed so please spread the word and let everyone know. 

• Our next U of U game is this Saturday. We need parent volunteers! This has been a big struggle the last few games to get enough people to help and man the lot. Please sign up. We have 2 more games. 

• We have finalized the design for our Pingree school t-shirt and should have a order form for those sent out very very soon! 

• Happening books should also be coming out soon. We should have a flier out in the next few days to help order those and support our school. 

• The Book Fair will be from December 8-12 and we could use a few volunteers for that

• We are looking for donations for The Chili Open Silent Auction Baskets. To understand how to help with this and get a sponsor letter, see our Chili Open page. 

LAST THANK YOU to all of the parents and staff that helped with The Halloween Parties and The Teacher Luncheon. We appreciate your support. Thanks!

Teacher Luncheon October 23rd

Our first teacher luncheon for the year will be on October 23rd, 2014. We are doing soups for the luncheon and are excited to show our appreciation for everything these teachers do!

We will need enough soups to feed about 100 people so we welcome soups! We do have some staff that are vegan or are on dietary restrictions and so we we would love a few vegan soup donations. You can drop them off at the bus stop with your child or at the office in the morning. Be sure to label the pot with your name and also label what the soup is. We will return the pots and slow cookers at the end of the day. We also need desserts donated. These can go on the bus and or be left in the office. We need all food donations by 10:00 a.m.

To volunteer the day of, we need 3-4 parents. If we could get 2 to help from 10:30-12:00 p.m. and then 2 more from 12:00-1:30 p.m., that would be perfect. 

Their will be a flier sent out a week before. Thank you for the help and support you give this school. 

contact

-Leslie Davies

lebert85@gmail.com

801-244-7729

Also, a quick reminder: October 23rd is also picture day and our next PPSA meeting at 8:30 a.m. 

PPSA Meeting September 18th, 2014

We had our first meeting of the year. We are gearing up for a lot of great activities and some exciting news. Here is information from this month:

Pingree School Updates:

• Monthly Education Parent Meetings are planned. You should get more information about that soon.
• The Halloween Parade will be October 30th, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. Their will be classroom parties following the parade. 
• We are looking for Legislative Support for new funding for the Pre-K. This means Parents that are willing to contact the Legislature and help give School Tours. If you want to know more about how you can help, please ask and get involved! 

PPSA:

• Our Next PPSA meeting is on October 23rd and the time has changed from 9:30 to 8:30
• The Pingree School Facebook Page is up and running! Be sure to like it and stay up to date with what's going on with PPSA and The School. 
• Chili Open Meetings and Collaborations have started. We would love donations and help, contact Kathryn Jenkins at justkathryn143@gmail.com if you wish to help or would like a sponsor letter to pass around. also read more about The Chili Open here.
• U of U Parking-- We really need parents for this! Next game is October 25th. Here are the other dates.
• We are in the process of voting and putting together a new shirt for this year. More info coming soon. 
• The 1st Staff Lunch will be October 23rd from 11-1 p.m. We are doing Soups and need parents that can bring a soup. You are able to drop it on the bus or bring it into the school on the morning of October 23rd. Their will be more information posted about this in the next day. You can contact Leslie Davies to help with that. lebert85@gmail.com. Here is more information about Teacher Luncheons.
• Happening Book Fundraiser will be happening. We are waiting for them to arrive. 
• First due date for Box Tops is coming up on October 16th. Be sure to turn them into the front office.

Be sure to come to our next meeting. We could really use more help especially with U of U Parking and The Chili Open. We appreciate everything you guys do and are excited for our upcoming activities.

September Updates 2014

Well I hope all of you are off to a good start with the new school year. I wanted to send out a few updates for parents. 

1. Julia Hood, our new Pingree director accepted the ALS challenge and took 2 buckets of ice cold water thrown on her by Pingree Students. See the video here and check out who she has challenged next. 

2. Pingree is holding a Parent Education Class on September 10th, 2014 from 5:30-7:00 p.m. This class topic is "An Introduction to the Pingree Experience". This is a great opportunity to meet other families, learn more about The Pingree Center, and learn about the community resources, advocacy, and legislative issues. It should be fantastic and will include Cheryl Smith and Carmen Pingree. Childcare will also be provided at no charge. Please RSVP by today if possible. It should be great. If you can't make it, their will be others. It is planned that their will be a Parent Education Class offered on the 2nd wednesday of each month through May.

3. In case you haven't seen it, we have a new Facebook page. Be sure to like it so you can get updates from the administration and the PPSA. 

4. On the PPSA blog, we have created sign ups for volunteers. We are definitely in need of volunteers for the U of U parking. We also will need volunteers for The Chili Open and the Teacher Luncheons. You can click on the pages above to sign up and fill out a form where you will be contacted or you can click on these links:

U of U Parking

Chili Open

Teacher Luncheons

5. Last thing! Our PPSA meeting is coming up soon now on Thursday September 18th at 9:30 a.m. Be sure to come if you can! If you are working or cannot make it, send me an email or keeping checking out the blog for ways to help. Thanks! 

Let's Start the New School Year with an Ice Bucket Challenge.

First off, lets start with introductions. I am Kathryn Jenkins, the co-president of the PPSA and I am so excited for this coming year. I have a little boy named Logen who attends the school and for me, The Pingree School has changed our lives.  I have already gotten to meet so many new families, and staff that care so much about this school and it's continued success. I know Leslie Davies, my co-president feels the same way. As parents, we are hoping for some great things for 2014-2015. 

Ok now The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge is everywhere. I know I have participated in it on Facebook and I'm sure a few of you have as well. Markell McCubbin who is a teacher for the adolescent program at Pingree was challenged by one of her boys to do the ALS ice bucket challenge. Of course, it only seemed right to let her students soak her at school! She is fantastic and we wanted to post it on the blog and new Facebook page. One of the people she has challenged is Julia Hood, our new director at The Pingree School!  

Take a look at the video and be sure to like our new Facebook page so that you can receive updates from the PPSA, and the Administration. Their are big changes coming forth at Pingree and we need parent support. We have our first PPSA meeting on September 18th at 9:30 a.m. I look forward to meeting you all there. 

PPSA Meeting November 14, 2013

Thank you to all the parents that helped with the teacher luncheon last month.  It was a big success!  Here is the news for this month:

From Dawn:  The new Pingree director, TJ, will be starting this upcoming Monday, so look for her around Pingree!  Ida Martinez has been hired as Pingree's new speech therapist, and she is getting ready to work with our kiddos.  Welcome Ida!  Applications for the 2014-2015 school year for elementary and secondary will go out the week of Thanksgiving, and will be due back by January 7, 2014.  If you do not receive one, please contact Dawn or stop by the office to get one.  Remember that all students for elementary/secondary need to apply every year for a position at the school.

From Laura:  The Chili Open is coming along well. We have already raised the initial $5,000 needed to be part of the Chili Open, but are willing to have more sponsers if anyone is wanting to be a sponser.  Please contact Laura with Valley Mental Health if you are interested in being a sponser.  Raffle tickets will be coming soon for the event.  Remember that the Chili Open is one of Pingree's largest fundraiser to help with scholarships and supplies for the classrooms.  If you can help with this event in any way, please contact Melissa Christensen.
There will be an Autism Summit at the Sanderson Center on November 24.  The topic is adult/adolescents with autism.

Other things to remember:  Picture retakes are this upcoming Monday, November 18, 2013.  There will be no school Wednesday, November 27th  through the 29th for the Thanksgiving break.  There will be a book fair at Pingree the first week in December (more information to come).

We need help with parking for the last Utes game on November 30.  If you can help please contact Melissa.
The next Teacher luncheon will be on December 19 and will be a potatoe bar.  We will need parents to send in toppings for potatoes.

The next PPSA meeting is Decmber 19, 2013 at 9:30 am.  Hope to see you there!