February Meeting

The next teacher luncheon is Thursday, Feb 17, and we're having a dessert bar. Please bring food in by 10 or send it in on the bus.

Valentine's Day class parties are Monday, February 14th.

The second round of acceptance letters for the elementary program have been sent and responses are due back by Mar 1. Spots are filling quickly, and a third round will go out soon if needed.

The Carson Smith Scholarship application process is detailed in the acceptance letter. It is likely that current recipients will continue to receive funding, and new applicants may face a lottery. After you fill out the scholarship application, bring it to Pingree and they will take them to the Utah State Office of Education for processing together. More information is available on their website here: http://www.schools.utah.gov/sars/Quick-Links/Carson-Smith-Scholarship.aspx

By the way, this is a perfect opportunity to plug contacting your legislatures and letting them know what the Pingree Center and the Carson Smith Scholarship and other state funded programs that help our kiddos out mean to us! The state budget is very tight and all programs are facing the possibilities of limited funding and cuts. Legislature is in session now, so get involved! Much more information was sent home in backpacks and emails, but if you need it again, PLEASE call the school and they can get it to you.

Preschool spots for next year are also filling, as they work through the waitlist and watch what is happening on Capitol Hill. Private pay applications will be sent in March or April. Next year is also the last year that Pingree will be the recipient of a large foundation that helps private pay preschoolers, and they are trying to secure more of that funding for the years to come.

Chili Open fundraising numbers are coming in, and Pingree has so far accounted for $10,000 just in cash and auction item donations! The raffle tickets and other winter festival proceeds will add to that. Each participating charity receives a portion of the total money raised related to how much money they raised, and this money goes towards scholarships for children at Pingree and school supplies. Thank you, Sugar House Rotary Club, and all the parents who helped make this event a success again this year! http://www.utahchiliopen.com/

The annual Salt Lake Bees baseball game fundraiser is the next big event. We will need to help finding sponsorships for this, so start thinking... more information to come.

The Spring Parent Conference has been scheduled for the week of March 20th, exact dates will be sent with more information soon. There will be sessions on speech therapy, occupational therapy, and a police officer speaking to us about autism and law enforcement. Speaking of, Dr. Peterson has been meeting with law enforcement regarding ways to work with people with autism. Way to go!

No school on Feb 21 and Mar 7.

Next PPSA meeting is on Wed, Mar 9, 2010 and 9:30 am in the upstairs conference room. See you there!