Welcome back and Happy New Year! The PTO has so many exciting things planned for the second half of the school year. We’ll be announcing events as the calendar progresses to keep checking your emails and the website. You can also hear more at tomorrow’s Coffee Morning (come to the cafeteria after drop-off).
The first quarter of our fiscal year (September 1 through November 30) has come to a close. Our annual campaign effort continues to lag behind previous years, as we are stalled at around 75% of plan. To date, we’ve raised $11,939 through this effort. We are still hoping to reach our goal of $16,000. All donations are tax deductible. If you have made a donation of greater than $250, you will receive a tax receipt from the PTO after the start of the new year. We are not required to send receipts for other gifts, but if you need one for tax purposes, please email treasurer@williamspto.org with the request.
Although the campaign is behind, other fundraising efforts have done well, all being ahead of plan. The ice cream social in the September brought in $491, which was almost 2 times our projection. School and “W” photos did well bringing in $1,811, more than $500 over plan. The sports and yoga clinics being hosted at Williams and run by “Be Ahead of the Game”, have done extremely well, bringing in $1,656 for our cause, over 5 times what we cleared last year for the same effort. The book fair held in November cleared $1,523, which was 1.5 times over plan. The Halloween Festival cleared $3,510, 1.4 times over plan. Williams Wear exceeded projections by clearing $494 and our shopping commissions from Amazon, Target, Stop & Shop, etc. continue to bring in income with the current total at $592.
Total income to date is $22,016. Our fiscal plan had projected $22,750 at this point in time.
On the expense side, Creative Arts and Science programs, like Wingmasters and the Discovery Museum, have logged $6,086 to this point. By the end of the year, CAS will spend about $12,500. The PTO has paid about $1,810 in discretionary funds to both the teachers and the principal. All discretionary budgets total $6,250 for the year. Teachers and staff were also given the opportunity to apply for mini-grants from the PTO. The PTO has allotted $3,500 for grants. Having received 14 grant requests totalling over $5,500, the money was booked quickly. To date, $1,060 has been paid, but we expect to have all $3,500 paid by the end of next quarter. All field trip money has been turned over to the school. Our field trip contribution is $3,800 for the year. To this point, the PTO has funded $617 for books and supplies for the library. We’ll continue to help with library expenses up to $1,700 this year. Lastly, the PTO has made its annual donation of $400 to the Understanding Our Differences cause, bringing our total expenses for school operations to $13,774.
Dawn Plummer, PTO Treasurer
The Summ
er Camp Auction is open through January 12th. Anyone can bid on these items so feel free to forward the link to friends, family or anyone who you think might be interested in an item! You’ll also receive up to the minute information about your bids and the items available from the Bidding for Good website. A number of popular summer camps are offered, along with other exciting seasonal offerings such as ski lift tickets. Highlights include:
- Two week session at the YMCA Frank A. Day summer camp;
- BC – Eagles Baseball Camp;
- Two week session at Meadowbrook Day Camp;
- Two week session at Camp Cody overnight camp;
- North Woods Family Camp; and much more!
You will be hearing from us from time to time with updates on the bidding and new offerings available on the website. We will be offering many of the camps on a “Buy Now” basis, at 90% of their face value through January 10th – – a win-win for parents and for the PTO. After January 10th, the Buy Now option will be eliminated and items will go to the highest bidder. So, please check our website soon. Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to support the PTO while also taking advantage of the opportunity to send your child to a great summer camp!
If you know people outside the Williams Community who might be interested in bidding on the items available on the website, please feel free to let them know about the auction by either sending them the website URL or using the “Refer a Friend” button on the website
Looking ahead, we are organizing a general online auction to begin on March 1st and have already collected dozens of items for this auction – hotels, life coaching, area attractions, spa certificates, restaurants, etc. There are lots of things to fill your summer!
Come out on January 30th to enjoy a night of comedy and conversation at Bocca Bella Cafe & Bistro. Our very own Williams parent and comedienne, Erika Welch, has put together a fantastic comic line-up. Grab your friends, enjoy some great food & drink, and laugh your cares away. The night starts at 7:00p.m. and ends at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $40 per person (includes hot appetizers and comedy). Cash bar. Laughter really is the best medicine and a portion of your ticket price helps raise funds for the PTO to continue funding technology, books, Creative Arts programs, field trips and more! It’s going to be a great show!
Did you know that Wednesday, February 4th is an early-release day? If you’re looking for an activity, come to Plaster Fun Time for a Kids Day Out. Plaster Fun Time will donate 20% of your purchases back to Williams if you mention ‘Williams Elementary’ during check-out. Come anytime between 10am and 6pm to get a head start on Valentine’s or Mother’s/Father’s Day presents. Make it a playdate with friends! Plaster Fun Time is located at 118 Needham Street in Newton.
