May 23, 2008

Hi Everyone,

Here's some information to share as we wrap up the school year:

VOLUNTEER BADGES

In accordance with the Jessica Lunsford Act, security clearance needs to be renewed every five years. This includes our district volunteer badges. If your most recent clearance was in the summer of 2003 (or earlier), please take care of this soon. (One of our favorite, most active volunteers was not allowed on a recent field trip because she did not have current clearance.) Don't count on the District to contact you. More often than not, clearances are only checked when a teacher submits a list of chaperones -- and then, it's often too late to renew in time for the event you signed up for!

To renew your clearance, just complete the one-page, two-sided Volunteer Application. These are available at all schools, the district office, and online at http://www.flaglerschools.com/departments/studentservices/. You can return the sheet to ITMS Receptionist, Miss Kathleen, or forward it to the Student Services Department at the Government Services Building. It typically takes about 2-3 weeks for the background check to be completed, so please plan accordingly. Here's another glitch -- the Student Services Department will be dissolved as of June 30, and the Volunteer Program will be housed in Human Resources as of July 1. We all know that "routine chaos" accompanies any transition, so it makes sense to do this now!

If you have a volunteer badge that is less than five years old, you do not need to do anything at this time -- except make a note of when you'll need to renew your paperwork. New ID badges will include a date so it'll be easier to know when they expire. Let me know if you have any questions about this process.

BENCHES

Hope you have a chance to check out the benches that were installed this week at the main entrance. They look FABULOUS! Thanks to everyone who made it happen . . .

MORE THANKS

We received Thank You notes this week from Scholastic for a successful Book Fair and from Sarah DeAugustino (one of the scholarship recipients). We also received this special thank you from Monica Campana for the Sunshine State Books:

Please thank the membership - our PTO has always been a supportive and cooperative group in promoting literacy. It is a great pleasure to serve you and your children.

RUBBER DUCKIES?

Thanks to Sonya Bock for coordinating rubber ducks this week and to Rozita, Bonnie, and Dianne for helping sell. We took in $115 this time which wrapped up a successful duck season for us! (More than $500 cleared this year!)

JUNIOR NATIONAL YOUNG LEADERS CONFERENCE

Jordan Ruiz, one of our 6th graders, has been selected to represent ITMS at a leadership conference in DC this fall. The family may be eligible to receive a scholarship for conference fees (more than $1800), but is looking for sponsors/fund raising ideas for travel and other costs. If anyone has ideas or experiences to share, please let me or Mrs. Crosby know so we can put you in touch with the family.

NEXT YEAR

One of our biggest challenges is encouraging families to join us -- to at least provide an email address so we can all stay in touch. Please share your ideas on this.

Hope you have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend.

Joni Short

PTO May Update

PTO April Update

PTO Book Fair Results