Newsletter - May 17, 2024

May 17, 2024

Polaris PTO News - May 17, 2024

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Let's get together one last time before summer! We'll meet at Cheluna in Stanley Marketplace on Sunday June 2nd from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. New incoming Polaris families will meet on the playground at 11 a.m., and then join the rest of the Polaris community upstairs at Cheluna at 11:30 a.m. 20% of the proceeds will be donated back to Polaris!

Our kickoff auction meeting was fantastic, and we are looking forward to planning a memorable auction evening! Consider joining us for our upcoming mixers. Incoming families welcome!

Thursday, May 23: 7 p.m. Virtual mixer via Zoom
Saturday, June 15: 3:30 p.m. at the Cho/Abbott home (Mayfair)
Friday, July 12: 7 p.m. at the Bromley home (Central Park)

For more information on how you can get involved, click here to view committee descriptions and sign up for a team, or reach out to PolarisPTOAuction@gmail.com with any questions.

A successful auction starts with donated items! If you love it, we want to include it at the auction! No donation is too small, and even a $25 gift card to a winery could be the perfect addition to a night-out gift basket!

Is there a restaurant you love to frequent?
Sports or concert tickets you would love to share?
Do you have a mountain home you could donate for a cozy winter weekend getaway?
A workout class that you enjoy going to?

For more inspiration, check out some awesome ideas here.

Our donation form is online on our website, or you can print out and use this donation request letter and form if you'd like to help solicit auction items. Feel free to email PolarisPTODonations@gmail.com with any ideas, connections, or donations. Thanks for your help!

Share parties are a great way to meet other families and raise funds during for our fall Colorful Colorado auction. If interested/able, sign up here: Auction Share Parties. These are just a few ideas:

Kid/Adult/Mixed Board/Card game night
Group outing for laser tag, mini golf, go-karting, etc
Ultimate Frisbee/Capture the Flag/Kickball game
Pool party
Alcohol/Mocktail tasting
Movie/TV Show/Sporting event watch party
Behind-the-scenes tour of an institution

Picnic at a park or botanical garden
Holiday cookie decorating party
Jam session
Cooking class/Cook off competition
Bar or pub (bike) crawl with friends
Oktoberfest gathering
Kentucky Derby Party
Costume/Halloween Party

Donate and Be Done With It!

Based on our Fundraising Survey feedback, we plan to keep the Auction in the Fall and move the Book Fair to the Spring in tandem with Read-a-thon. Most of you preferred donating a set amount for your student and not worrying about fundraising again. We will run an NPR-style capital campaign in late summer/early fall to see if we can raise enough funds to discontinue Colorado Gives and pivot the Auction and Read-a-thon into more community-focused events. Our target is $700 per student again next year!

PTO Elects Board Members for 2024-25 School Year

During the May 6th PTO meeting, the following individuals were elected to serve on the PTO board for the coming 2024-25 school year:

PTO Co-Chairs: Desi McAdam & Leslie James
Secretary: John Arceci
Treasurer: Xiaojia Yao
Treasurer-Elect: Gillian Slevin
Community Chair: Jaime Bromley
Communications Chair: Chelsie Ruge
Fundraising Chair: Nina Capriotti
Auction Chair: Katy Myers
Corporate Sponsorships Chair: Julie Batkiewicz

Special thanks to the following outgoing PTO officers and committee chairs. We greatly appreciate your contributions to our community!

Secretary: Michael Landis
Communications Chair: Kyle Rose
Auction Co-Chairs: Joanne Chang and Melissa Bahoshy

If you were unable to join us on May 6th, you can view the meeting minutes and Zoom call here.

2024-25 Room Parents

Consider being a room parent next year! This is a vital way to help your homeroom teacher and also a way to meet other parents, to plan classroom events, and to have your fingers on the pulse of the classroom. Roles include communications (monthly), party planning (about 4/year), volunteer coordination (signup genius guru). Ideally we would have at least 3 parents per classroom, and we are still looking for help in the 3rd and 4th grade classrooms. If interested, please add yourself to the RP list. Chris Cho will reach out once classroom assignments are made at the beginning of the year.

Polaris offers the EduKit program as a convenient option for purchasing your student's school supplies for the 2024-25 school year. The ordering window is now open and all orders must be placed by June 27, 2024. For the ordering link and for more info about supply lists, please visit: https://www.edukitinc.com/schools/1004/. If you have questions, please reach out to polarisEduKit@gmail.com.

Thanks to Everyone Who Dined and Donated at Esters

Polaris brought in sales of $1,699.75 during our May 7th Dine-and-Donate event at Esters in Park Hill, which resulted in the restaurant donating $399.95 to Polaris. Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy dinner and celebrate Ms. Dineen's birthday!

Click for Ways to Give Back to Polaris!