Hello MTW —

 

Is it June already? Yes, summer is quickly approaching and as usual MTW has had a wonderful year. We can see the finish line but we aren't there yet. Faculty and staff are dedicated to making the last month of the school year as worthy as the first.

 

Our year has been filled with wonderful experiences for the children and exciting times for the parents. Some classes have already completed their overnight trips and more are just around the corner. The community involvement and commitment during this year has been overwhelming and we appreciate everyone's effort. Please plan on getting involved next year. There are so many opportunities to make a difference in this community and your child's life.

The Spring Concert was one of the best I have ever attended. Your e-mails and comments about the quality and freshness of these events are greatly appreciated. We have many events planned for this month so check your calendar. The First Grade Theater Study is in the final stretch and I hope that you all can make one of the shows that the children and teachers have worked so hard to create. Tickets are available and it makes to be an educational and entertaining evening at the school.

 

I am sure that you are all keeping up with the NYC budget news. If you have any questions about the budget please see me. I am happy to explain as much as I know and share our plans for next year. The support of the community and the work of the fundraising committee have exceeded all expectations and the school is very thankful. Remember to pick up your auction items and plan for any playdates that you might have purchased.

 

Field Day is right around the corner and we would appreciate your assistance. We can use your help to make sure our children travel, play, and eat safely in the park during this wonderful day. If you would like to volunteer please see Miriam or your child's teacher. Don't forget we always need a clean up crew to sweep the park for any litter we might have left during the day. Thank you all in advance. If you plan on leaving with your child from the park you will have to sign out with your child's teacher. Details will be made available during the next week.

 

Graduation is on June 18. Congratulations to all of the graduates in advance. This is always a lovely morning for the 5th grade families. We also have a new kindergarten breakfast on June 19. Please stop by if you can as we are welcoming incoming families to MTW.

 

On a personal note I must say that my tenure of three years has gone by very quickly and I can't think of a better place to work. I hope that there are many more years to come. I have learned so much at MTW and feel that I have found a home away from home. Thank you all again for your continued support, your wonderful advice and guidance. We will miss the graduating families and will remember what each and every parent, child, teacher, and staff has contributed to such a wonderful and unique community.

 

All the best for June and the summer. Remember to enjoy a good book or ten and relax, rejuvenate, and return.

Sincerely,

Dean

 

What a year! As the school year winds down, we would like to thank everyone in the MTW community for making this 2007-2008 school year one of the best ever. Thank you to Dean and Jodi for their tireless leadership. Thank you to the MTW teachers and staff for their unending dedication and hard work. Thank you to the PTA officers and committees for their commitment to enriching the school through activities and fundraising efforts that benefit children and families directly. And last but not least, thank you to all of the families for supporting the PTA and therefore enabling so much support to the school community. With your support, the PTA was able to sponsor so many activities this year including the overnight trips for grades 2-5 (in addition to bake sales), arts enrichment programs and residencies, clubs, day trips to Lincoln Center etc., family center programming, graduation, the Bank Street staff developer, the Garden, community celebrations, ice skating, class room supplies, and much more. You’re support goes a long way toward making MTW the best it can be.

 

The PTA auction, our biggest fundraiser or the year, was a HUGE success and surpassed our expectations. This is great news as we prepare our budget for the 2008-2009 school year in the face of significant budget cuts from the city. Thank you to the Fundraising Committee who never stopped and to everyone in the community who solicited donations and made the auction such a success. Thank you also to all of the bidders, near and far, for supporting the school through your bids.

 

As you may have noticed, the library and music room construction has started. The School Construction Authority estimates that the job will be finished by early August. It’s going to be great.

 

Our last PTA meeting of the year will be held on Wednesday, June 4, at 8:45 am in the cafeteria. This will be an important meeting. At this meeting we will vote to approve the PTA/SLT slate and we will vote on the PTA budget for the 2008-2009 school year. Please join us for this important meeting and place your vote.

Thank you and have a great summer. — Jennifer Collins (child in Yolene’s, child in Bryan’s) and Elena Van Schendel (child in Kay’s, child in Bryan’s)

 

Despite the gremlin that decided to close down our auction site at 9:51, and thanks to the quick thinking of co-chair Julie Nix, our auction bounced back into gear with the resilience characteristic of the MTW community. We thank you all for your patience and stick-to-it-tiveness! That said, Midtown West, this year’s VIRTUAL+LIVE auction netted approximately $75,000 (unofficially — paperwork still being processed at press time), far exceeding our goal of $55,000 and exceeding last year’s tally by approximately $28,000!

 

A special thanks to Aaron Reitkopf and Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners for the fabulous space they donated for our celebration and live auction, to our live auction committee, to our donors and sponsors (see list), Dean, Jodi, and all of our teachers, who give so generously of their time and energy to make possible all those priceless playdates, to Karl Heist our art teacher, and our talented MTW kids for allowing us the opportunity to own their amazing works of art. Thanks to all of you who bid so freely (both at the Live Auction and online) up 'til the very end on May 22! And thanks, as well, to the dozens of you who gave in other ways: by soliciting, selling, writing, editing, organizing, announcing, catering, schlepping, photocopying, mailbox-stuffing, emailing, consulting, bartending, designing, photographing, framing, data-processing, number-crunching, problem-solving, sound-teching, performing, packing, distributing, and mastering the ins-and-outs of cMarket, our online auction partner. A very special thanks to the children of those who worked on the auction committee, for giving up their parents for 2 months of homework help, family dinners, weekends, holidays, and school events for the greater good. Finally, thank you to all who came to us with one simple question...”How can I help?” Those four words meant a lot to us. THANKS!

 

Using cMarket allowed us to reach beyond our immediate community. In fact, this year 113 bidders from outside our school community (3 times our 2007 numbers) placed 827 bids for a total of approximately $16,000. We had bids crisscrossing the US from Massachusetts to Southern California and from Washington state to Florida. We had bids from St. Barts and “interested parties” in Europe. If we were running for president, we would have all of our delegates!

PLEDGE DRIVE With only one month to go, we’ve raised about $50,000 – our goal that was set before the budget cuts were announced. If the cuts are put in place, it will cost approximately $850 per child to support the quality of education that MTW strives to give each student. SO, it’s time for an end-of-school-year push. Got beat out for that class project by one of those out-of-staters? Tax refund burning a hole in your pocket? Now’s the time to cut MTW in for a share of the dough. Drop your contribution in the PTA lockbox in the Family Center or contact Pledge Drive coordinator Marge Greenberg. Receive an MTW TOTE BAG when you donate $250 or above.

 

There will be three FUNDRAISING MEETINGS in June, all at 8:45 AM in the Cafeteria: Friday, June 6 (wrapping up distribution of auction items), Wednesday, June 11 (an auction debriefing and initial planning meeting for next year), Friday, June 13 (working meeting to deal with final auction details, Pledge Drive push, and year-end wrap-up). Meetings are subject to change. Look for notices in the display case across from Extended Day office. If you've been meaning/wanting/hoping to attend a meeting but haven't made it yet, NOW is the perfect time — meet the committee chairs and get in on the action from the start! We don't call it FUN-draising for nothing…

 

Registration packets for next fall will be available at the end of June during the last week of school. Remember to register asap — popular classes go quickly on a first come, first served basis. Note: all payments attached to incoming registrations will be held and deposited on July 1.

 

Note: All outstanding balances must be paid in full before your registration for next year can be processed. Most families will show a zero balance for June because your deposit is applied to your last month’s tuition. Please look at your statements for any remaining charges or fess. If you have a question, contact us. If you did not get your e-mailed statement or you cannot open it, drop by the office for a hard copy.

 

Please remember that with the warm weather children want to play outside more. Occasionally, teachers will decide to cancel their scheduled activity to allow children to play outside and enjoy the weather. This decision will be left up to our MTW teachers to assess the needs of their group as we move through June.

 

If you have any comments or suggestions please contact me at 212-307-5523 or mtwextendedday@verizon.net — Tisa

 

Although we are not actually using the Family Center this month so that Robin can use it for music class we still have numerous family activities going on in the cafeteria. Be sure to consult the calendar for meetings and breakfasts. Kindergarten Coffee & Conversation — come talk about the school year with ideas for how we can facilitate the transition more smoothly for next year’s kindergarten, Tuesday, June 10, at 8:45 in the cafeteria.

• Principal’s Breakfast with Beth McPherson, (child in Yolene’s) – Wednesday, June 11, at 8:45 in the cafeteria.
• Book Club – Tuesday, June 17, at 8:45 in the cafeteria.
• Hispanic Heritage Cultural Connections Committee Meeting – Monday, June 23, at 8:45 in the cafeteria.

Please note: We need new volunteers to head or work on the Hispanic Cultural Connection Celebration. The evening event will take place in October. Please contact me if you are interested in joining or come to the meeting on June 23. We especially need someone to put together music for the event – compiling various types of Hispanic music onto a CD to play during the evening.

— Tisa

 

by Sharon Daly (child in Gina's, child in Mary's)

June is busting out all over! The rhodedendrun and persian lilacs are in brilliant bloom. Seedlings & plants are being transferred to class plots. Ted's class has already produced some snap peas in their garden! Now, it will be important for our Green Team members to be conscientious about keeping the garden watered on a daily basis so the garden remains lush and vibrant for the whole summer. We are looking into getting a water timer sprinkler system to help out too.

 

A new addition to the garden is underway — a "Fairy Garden." Gigi Gould (child in Bryan's) dreamed up the idea, and Aimee Margolies (child in Ted's) developed a lovely design for it. This area will be devoted to ferns, a water fountain, moss, rocks and those plants, according to Celtic legends, that are the favorites of fairies.

On May 29, the Green Team hosted a breakfast for members of the NYC Council on Environmental Education and Marian Heiskell, founder of our lovely MTW Children's Garden. It was a beautiful spring morning, so we were able to have the breakfast in the garden. Ms. Heiskell was honored with a copy of the MTW Children's Garden Poetry & Photo Book. Everyone was so impressed with the richness of our garden and the tremendous educational resource that it truly is.

 

Our next big event is the Spring Fling which is scheduled for July 10 after school in the garden. Save the date as it is always a joyous occasion for our children. This year, we will be honoring Marian Heiskell (mentioned above) who hopes to make a return visit for the event.

 

Anyone interested in joining the Garden Committee should contact Aimee Margolies (child in Ted's). Meetings take place on the second Tuesday of every month @ 8:50 AM in the cafeteria.

 

Three weeks ago the long awaited construction began on the library and music room. Demolition (the dustiest part) is now almost complete. Work will only be performed weekends and a few evenings until the end of school. If you spot any potential safety issue please contact Dean. The work is scheduled to be finished by the end of July except for some of the woodwork which will arrive in mid-August.

The funds from the city council and therefore the scope of the School Construction Authorities work did not cover furniture. Furnishing plans and funding will be worked out over the summer.

 

PTA Co-Presidents

• Jennifer Collins, child in Yolene's & child in Bryan's
• Elena Van Schendel, child in Kay's & child in Bryan's

PTA 1st Vice President of Enrichment & Administration:

• Jennifer Pedraza, child in Kay's & child in Ted's
• Juana Henriquez, child in Jennifer's
• Alice Riese, child in Kay's

PTA 2nd Vice Presidents of Communication:

• Jeanette Buckley, child in Gina's & child in Jennifer's
• Kim Foley, child in Jennifer's & child in Mary's
• Lisa Rivera, child in Kristen's

PTA 3rd Vice Presidents of Parent/School Outreach:

• Karen Trott, child in Mary's
• Catherine Kleszewski, child in Mary's

PTA Co-Treasurers:

• Mike Gordon, child in Gina's & child in Jeremy's
• Elena Nord-Levin, child in Bryan's

PTA Co-Recording Secretaries:

• Andrea Casson, child in Jessica's
• Vanessa Hayward, child in Jennifer's & child in Gina's

PTA Recording Secretary:

• Kris Jensen, child in Bryan's

SLT Lower Grade Rep:

• Ruth Margeson, child in Gina's & child in Jeremy's

SLT Middle School Rep:

• Gigi Gould, child in Bryan's

SLT Upper Grade Rep:

• Jessica Hecht, child in Kay's & child in Bryan's

SLT Alternate Rep:

• Charlie Hayward, child in Jennifer's & child in Gina's

SLT Representative At Large:

• Claude-Andree Louissaint, child in Mary's

SLT Rep from the PTA Co-Presidents:

• Elena Van Schendel, child in Kay's & child in Bryan's