What’s new with the Hastings PTO

Hastings School Site Council – VOTE!

We have six wonderful applicants for the two open parent site council positions for 2019/2020.  The Hastings School Site Council is an advisory group comprised of Hastings faculty, administration, parents, and a community representative. The Council discusses school improvement initiatives and looks at issues from multiple perspectives.

For information about each candidate and to vote (one vote per parent/guardian), please visit the Hastings PTO website by Friday, June 14th.

Reminder – Pick Up Student Medications From Health Office

Please retrieve your child’s medicine from the Health Office by June 18th.  Medicine not picked up will be destroyed. Please contact Nancy Salitsky, Hastings Nurse, if you have any questions at 781-860-5800 x 1 or nsalitsky@lexingtonma.org.

Lost and Found

Please check the Lost and Found in the front lobby.  Items not collected by June 18th will be donated.

Hastings PTO Open Board Positions for 2019/2020 School Year

Join the PTO Board by leading or co-leading an event! We need Hastings community members help to fill the following open roles:

• Family Math Nights Coordinator
• Treasurer Co-Chair
• Big Backyard (Grade K-1 Coordinator)
• Math Olympiad (One 4th Grade Parent )
• School Committee Liaisons
• ACT – Arts Created Together
• BOKS – Before school fitness
• Chinese American Assoc Lex Liaison
• Indian Americans Liaison
• Koreans of Lexington Liaison
• Green Team Co-Chair
• Red Sox Night Out
• Hastings Harvest Run Post Race Party Co-Chair
• Hastings Harvest Run Volunteer Coordinator
• Family Math Night Coordinator

Please email president@hastings-pto.org for more information or to offer your help. The full list of Board Positions – including open positions – is located here: http://hastings-pto.org/board/.

Family Math Nights Coordinator: Family Math Night involves parents and children working together on fun and engaging self-paced and group math activities. This is one once a year event split into three days for Grades K-1, 2 and 3 and 4 and 5.

Treasurer Co-Chair: The treasurer, along with two co-presidents and secretary, serves as an officer of the Hastings PTO. She/he is the steward of the PTO’s funds, responsible for preparing the annual budget, receiving donations and income, disbursing payments in accordance with the adopted budget, and overseeing financial and tax reporting (with support from a contracted accounting firm). Given the role’s importance, the treasurer serves for a term of two years to help ensure continuity and smooth financial operations. Those who are interested in the role are encouraged to contact the current treasurer, Julia Weng, at treasurer@hastings-pto.org with questions.

Big Backyard Coordinator: BBY K/1 Coordinator –  coordinate the walks for Kindergarten & Grade 1 by  working with classroom teachers to schedule walks (1 walk per season: Fall, Winter, Spring), identifying volunteer walk leaders, and ensuring appropriate supplies are available prior to each season’s walk. Time commitment is roughly 4 hours per season.

Math Olympiad Co-Chair: Co-chair for Math Olympiad will work with the existing chair to organize 10-morning meetings during the school year, register the team, print out the test copies, enter student test scores online and find parent volunteers to help with test scoring and explanation. It is about a 20-hour commitment in total. Since only 4th and 5th grade students are included in the contest, the co-chair should ideally be a 4th-grade parent who gets familiar with the event and passes the info on to the younger class.

School Committee Liaisons: The purpose of this committee is to view the LPS School Committee meetings and take notes for the community.

ACT: Arts Created Together (ACT) is an important enrichment program made up of parents and staff which focuses on ways to enhance the educational programs at Hastings through arts experiences.  The Committee meets regularly throughout the year and brings musicians, authors, artists and other enrichment programs to the school.

Green Team Co-chair: Green Team Coordinator will lead a group of parent volunteers who assist the children with recycling and composting during lunchtime. Our mission is to reduce the lunch waste. Since 2012, we have cut the number of 55-gallon bags of trash per lunch day from 6 to 1/2 and help Hastings students learn to recycle and save the environment.

Hastings Harvest Run: Anyone interested in helping to plan the Harvest Run please email hastingsharvest@gmail.com.

LEF NEWS

LEF Star Awards

Remember to thank those special people at school who have done so much to make your child’s year a success. A STAR Award from LEF (Lexington Education Foundation) is a perfect way to show your appreciation. For a contribution of $30, a personalized STAR certificate will be delivered to any current or former teacher/staff member at any Lexington public school. Not only is this a truly meaningful gift, but proceeds go right back to your child’s education through LEF grants to LPS educators. Deadline: Friday, June 14

Order today at www.LexEdFoundation.org/STAR

LEF Celebration for Education Weekend

Your LEF Celebration for Education Weekend is almost here! See the 4 ways you can be part of the fun. Thank you for your support of innovative teaching and learning at Lexington Public Schools.

• Friday, June 14 – FREE Family event!
  • 4-7pm, Hayden Lower Field
  • Balloon Wizard & music by Ben Rudnick and Friends
  • Performances by Diamond and Harrington drama groups
  • Activities and arts sponsored by: CAAL, Hayden Recreation, IAL, Japanese Support Group of Lex., KOLex, LexFUN!, Lexington Historical Society, LexMedia, LexPride, Les. Rec & Community Programs, LexSEPTA/SEPAC, Munroe Center for the Arts.
  • Abbott’s Frozen Custard, Oath Pizza and water for sale
• Saturday, June 15 – Beach Party! An adult party to kick-off the start of summer under the tent and stars!
  • 7-11pm, Hayden Lower Field
  • $125/ticket GET TICKET HERE »
  • Live music by Scattershot
  • Surfing, limbo, beachball volleyball , photo booth & more
  • Hors d’oeuvres and drinks
• Golden Ticket – your chance to win 1 of 6 prize packages valued between $550-2,000, and they only sell 200 so odds are in your favor!
  • $100/ticket – BUY HERE »
  • Do not need to be present to win
  • Drawing on June 15 at 9pm
  • View the prize packages
• Shop the Online Auction – 150+ items
  • Now – June 17
  • Anyone can shop and bid – SHOP HERE »
  • Entertainment, sports, summer camps, dining, weekend homes, specialty items and more!

THANK YOUS

End of Year BBQ

We want to send a big thank you to everyone who helped organize and execute the End of Year BBQ! The weather was perfect and it was great to see so many families enjoying the beautiful early-summer night together on the Bridge playground.  Huge thanks to the Organizers: Sharon Musto & Nicola Rinaldi! Thanks to the essential Bathroom Monitors: Meredith Applegate, Jeremy Baranoski, Louise Barbic, Angela Belcher, Kate Criniti, John Curtis, Victor Guo, Huaixiang Hao, Christy Hart, Anita Kirmani, Mary Lee, Elizabeth Lin, Daniel Pan, Kavita Sisodia, Jennifer Vandiver, Xiaorong Yang, & Sherry Zhu! And thanks for our Green Team Composting Volunteers: Lisa Farrell, Sascha Lamstein, Elizabeth Lin & Krishnan Ramanathan!

Outgoing Fifth Grade Parents

Thank you to the outgoing fifth grade parents who have been dedicated volunteers for the PTO over their tenure at Hastings, including three members of the PTO Executive Committee:  Audra Myerberg, VP Communications; Katie Wipke, VP External Relations; Stace Bracken, VP Enrichment. The volunteers include:

Also a special thank you to the Fifth Grade Activities Coordinators, Liz Lin and Julie Weng!

PTO Executive Committee

A final special thank you to outgoing members of the PTO Executive Committee.  Thanks to PTO President Katie Crinti for all your work the past 2 years! Also thanks to Ranjeeta Khetan for her role as VP Planning and Board Development.

SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING AND UPDATES

Stay tuned for the next meeting in late August/early September!

UPCOMING MONTH’S CALENDAR

If you’d like to stay updated on school building projects and other community updates (sports teams, club registration as well as community posts), please join the Hastings Families Google Group at http://bit.ly/HastingsFamilies.

Bulletin submissions are due on Mondays by 12:00 pm and should be made online.

Visit the Hastings PTO website to find more information and helpful resources. And don’t forget to join us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1493554707397661/.