Misty O'Leary, President
jimandmisty@comcast.net

Bonnie Buckley, Treasurer
bonnie_buckley@hotmail.com

Our first general meeting will be September 7th at 6pm in the ACS cafeteria. At this very important meeting we will be discussing the allocation of monies earned over the past couple of year’s, as well as new strategies for monies earned this year. You will also be updated on the procedure for budget requests, and we will be voting on the new budget for the first quarter. You have a voice and vote, so please attend.

I’m not sure where the summer went, but I hope you all had as much fun as my family did.

The PTO Board has been working all summer to gear up for the new year, and we are excited about our new fundraisers. Kristen and Brandi brought us some ingenious and creative fundraising ideas, and it was extremely difficult narrowing them down. It was our goal at registration to give you as much information as we could for you to be prepared and up to date on our work for the new year. We hope this information will assist you throughout the year as a reference to the PTO sponsored fundraisers, enrichment programs, and teacher/staff breakfasts and luncheons. Please utilize the contact information provided in your package to contact any of us with any questions or comments.

We have worked closely with the Governing Board over the summer, to determine the needs of the school for the upcoming year, so we can make every effort to allocate all monies raised, from past years and present, to those areas that benefit our school and students as a whole, the most.

It is the PTO’s goal to keep you as informed as possible about anything and everything we are involved in, and we will continue our working relationship with all groups of the school, from the Dean’s, the Governing Board, teachers, staff, and student council to you, the parent, in an effort to keep the needs and goals of the school in focus.

Misty O’leary
PTO President
jimandmisty@comcast.net

The IRS issue has been resolved in our favor. The funds set aside for this purpose are now available.

September 7th – Budget & Strategy to be voted on:
You will be voting on how to use the monies set aside for the IRS notices along with the fundraising money earned at the end of the year. The PTO board proposes that a portion of this money be set aside for future and on going “larger” expenditures.

October begins the voting process for requested items.
In order for a request to be considered, the request must be submitted along with three quotes/bids and go through an approval process (on request form). In order for a request to be eligible to be voted upon, it must be received at least 2 weeks prior to the meeting date.

ENTERTAINMENT/GOLD C BOOKS

This year’s first fundraiser will be running from August 25th to September 13th. We are very excited, as we have added some new incentives this year for the students. For each book a child sells, their name will be entered into a drawing for one of each of the following:

So, the more you sell, the more times you get your name entered!

Each Entertainment book includes a free $25 dining certificate to one of a preferred restaurant (making the book pay for itself).

Participants can go to Entertainment.com and either order online or start an email campaign (after 5 emails they earn a chance to win an Ipod Nano, XBOX360 or Game Boy Advance). Simply log onto www.entertainment.com and complete the information in the “Seller’s Section.” In order for a child to do an e-campaign they will need our account number, which is 229026.

We have also decided that we will give the teacher who's class sells the most books a $100 gift Certificate to Lakeshore Learning to purchase something for their classroom.

The cost for Entertainment Books is $25 each and the Gold C Books are $10 each.

Your support is greatly encouraged, as we will only be doing 2 "sales" Fundraisers this year. For more information regarding Entertainment and Gold C, please contact Kristen Bushlack.

The PTO is also working on several other fundraising events throughout the year. The Education Expo was very well received last school year and we have decided to do it again this year. We are looking forward to a new event this year with the Winter Festival. This will be fun for both parents and children alike. The net proceeds from all PTO fundraising events are invested directly back into Academy Charter School. Keep an eye out for more details on these, and other exciting events, throughout the year.

The PTO strives to maintain clear communication with everyone in the ACS family. For current information on PTO activity, please check the board on the wall located in the main entrance between the entrance to the cafeteria and gymnasium.

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, September 5th for Applebee’s Restaurant Night. You can stop by the Applebee’s on Founders Parkway just east of the interstate and tell them you are with Academy Charter School. (Flyer needed)

Also, Thursday, September 21st is Chick-fil-A Restaurant Day. You can stop by the Chick-fil-A on Founders Parkway ANY TIME (breakfast, lunch or dinner) and tell them you are with Academy Charter School. (No flyer needed) Drive-thru is fine too. Best of all, this year they are offering more generous splits above the standard 10% based on the ACS generated sales that day.

Please take advantage of this easy fundraiser to help the school, enjoy some good food and friends, and hopefully make your life easier as well.

Mark your calendars:

Chick-fil-A Nights will be the third Thursday of every month through May.

New! Applebee's Nights will be the first Tuesday of every month through May.

Hope to see you there!

Thank you to all PTO Board Members who were able to work at registration, especially Bonnie Buckley and Heather Fortelka who were able to give up their entire day for the cause.

A great big thank you to Brenda Knight and Anne Belfrage for helping the PTO prepare for school registration. We appreciate all of your help and patience!

Thank you to all who participated in the uniform swap. We apologize for any confusion over the “swap” that never happened over the summer. The swap was inadvertently advertised for a summer date, but was lacking anyone to organize it. It was very difficult to communicate with parents over the summer and very little interest was expressed at the time. Hopefully, all that participated were able to swap or sell all their items

Thank you to Bonnie Buckley who has offered to take over the school supplies for next year. Bonnie worked closely with Lisa Walgren during registration, and has an understanding of what it will take to organize this task and keep it smooth for the parents.

Many thanks and welcome to Allyson Ford for joining the PTO as VP of Social. Allyson will be organizing the monthly breakfasts and the 4 luncheons throughout the year.

Web: www.academycharter.org/pto

© Academy Charter School