Yessenia Jones, President, and Sarah Badawi were present for the Board report.  Next Board meeting Thursday, October 16th at 6:15pm on Zoom. Meetings are typically the third Thursday of the month and links to the meetings are posted in the Calendar on the Arco Iris website.

Monday, September 22nd (Staff Development Day) 

Tuesday, September 16th: K-2nd, Thursday, September 18th: 3rd-5th, 5:45-7:00pm

• Volunteer Opportunities
  • You will be able to sign-up for PTO committees at Back to School Night. We will have volunteers out back who can explain in more detail what each committee does. Please make sure you stop by and check out the tables! Examples of committees/volunteer opportunities include things like the Library Team, the Art Literacy Team, Room Parents, etc… there are lots of ways to get involved at Arco and many of these wonderful programs rely on parent volunteers to continue functioning so please stop by and check them out!
  • One of the volunteer coordinators will be there to help with VicNet registration if anyone needs it.
  • If you can’t make it to Back to School Night and are interested in volunteering for a team, please email the volunteer coordinators at volunteer@arcoirisschool.org. If you are interested in a room parent position, please email the room parent coordinators at roomparents@arcoirisschool.org
     

Room Parents - We need (2) volunteers to be Room Parents for each class every year. A room parent’s primary objective is to assist the classroom teacher with individual classroom needs and to serve as the communication liaison between the teacher, PTO and classroom parents throughout the school year as well as help coordinate and plan the three class parties throughout the school year (winter celebration, friendship party, and end of year celebration). It is important to provide current information to parents regarding upcoming classroom activities, volunteer needs for the classroom, as well as upcoming school events and fundraisers. The PTO Room Parent Coordinators will make sure you are made aware of upcoming events and volunteer opportunities, as well as provide you with email templates. You will be given a class list and the emails of all the parents in the class, to make it easy to create group emails.

Teacher Appreciation - Volunteers brainstorm and carry out creative ways to celebrate our teachers and other staff members throughout the year. Days and times are flexible for this committee.

Spirit Wear - Coordinators help lead Sprit Wear sales, hand out, sort, and manage the spirit wear website throughout the year.

Art Literacy – Beaverton School District has created Art Literacy so that students learn about 4-6 different artists and art techniques. We need Art Lit coordinators to help tailor the lesson/art project, set up supplies, and train volunteers on each project. We also need class leaders to present the lessons and class helpers to support them by passing out supplies and providing other support. 

Uniform Exchange - Volunteers help the lead set up uniform exchange events during the school year. This includes working with the PTO and admin to come up with days, organize volunteers for drop-off and exchange events, keep bins organized throughout the year. Also manage and help get volunteers for lost and found.

Bookfair - There are 2 opportunities to be involved in volunteering for the book fair.

1) Volunteer for classroom visits during the Spring Book Fair. 

The fair takes place for 1 week in the spring and over the week classrooms visit with 1 to 2 community nights.  These volunteers oversee visits and assist students in finding books. Shifts vary pending the visit schedule but can be anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hrs.

2) Bookfair Apprentice

The apprenticeship is more of a time commitment with the bulk of the training taking place between January and March. Planning meetings, set up and breakdown of the fair, assisting with team leads during classroom visits and community nights. Goal is to train and become team lead with future fairs.

Fundraiser Team - Volunteers to be ready to help with different fundraising events such as: Restaurant night, Auction, Move-a-thon, Bottle-Drop.

Communication Team - Volunteers facilitate communication to and from appropriate individuals and groups, create schedules/timeline for when to post events so they don't overlap throughout the year. Volunteers also create post templates, translate items to Spanish, and post events to platforms.  

Other Volunteer opportunities include, but are not limited to:

Arco end-of-year graduation events, Back to School nights, Library Days, Drop-off and Pick-up Crosswalk duties, Recess/Lunch Volunteers, Field Trips, Field Day, Oregon Battle of the Books, School beautification, making signs, copies, sending emails, and much more!! 

• Paper Pie Book Fair - September 16th – 18th in Room 113
• Tuesday: 3:45 – 7:30pm
• Wednesday: 3:45 – 5:00pm 
• Thursday: 3:45 – 7:30pm
• Stop by to check out the amazing Spanish (and English) Paper Pie books. Enter behind the school near the gym – room #113. We will also have a link available to order books for those who can’t attend in person.

• Sprit Wear
  • We’ll have samples of Spirit Wear available at Back to School Night for families to check out sizing. 
  • Items can then be ordered online with delivery usually expected in mid-October.
  • More info on ordering and a link to the online store will be sent out via ParentSquare.

• Uniform Exchange
  • We’ll have the uniform exchange at Back to School Night. Please bring in any items you wish to donate before Back to School Night so they can be sorted and added to the inventory. You can drop items off in the donation box in the lobby of the school.

• Lost and Found: Located in the lobby! If your student is missing any items, send them to look for them in the lost and found, or stop by at pick-up or drop-off, but be mindful not to interfere with kids entering and exiting the building.
  • Make sure to check it out during Back to School Night also!

• PTO Calendar
  • Our PTO calendar is all online this year! Check out the school Calendar link on the Arco Website for all events! There you will have the option to subscribe to the calendar and sync all dates and events with your personal calendar.

• Typically held the first Friday of the month.
• This is a great way to get to know the admins, meet other Arco families and learn more about the school.
• We hope to see you on Friday, October 3rd at 8:35am. We will meet in the gym. Please enter through the gym doors at the back of the building and be mindful of drop-off traffic.

• We had another great turnout for the parade this year! 
• Thanks to Mario for coordinating this fun event again this year!!

Restaurant Nights – Our first Restaurant Night was at Chipotle on Thursday, August 28th 

• We’ll have updates on sales when we get them! 
• Thanks to everyone who came out to support Arco!!
• Upcoming Restaurant Nights: Save the Date for: Wednesday, September 17th at MOD Pizza! Come hang out with other Arco families or take it to go and eat it at home! This is an ALL DAY event!! 
• Located at 12196 SW Scholls Ferry Rd, Tigard, OR 97223 
• Please use the code MODGIVES20 when ordering online and make sure you let the cashier now you are with Arco if you check out at the location.

• MOVE-A-THON: 
  • Move-a-thon: one of our biggest fundraisers of the year: October 6th -17th! Get ready for a good time! We are hoping for 100% participation this year!
  • Charter schools are publicly funded but we do not receive the same level of support as regular public schools. Arco Iris receives 85% of the per pupil funding allocated by the state and we must make up the remaining 15% through fundraising. In addition, charter schools like ours are required to cover expenses that traditional public schools do not, such as technology services, rent/mortgage, etc. As a result, we operate with a considerable shortfall per student.
  • Last year our move-a-thon raised about $90,000 for our school. Our fundraising target for the school year is $1000 per student. We have over 400 students at Arco this year so we are hoping to raise over $400,000 dollars during the school year.
  • Stay tuned for more information that will be coming out after Back to School Night.

• Bottle Drop: TBD 
  • Please pick up the “Blue Bottle Drop” bags in the office lobby or at Back to School Night! We don’t have a date scheduled yet but there will be a collection day during the bonus period in November.

• Stock the breakroom was Tuesday, Sept 9th for 5th grade students
• Next one is for 4th grade families on Tuesday, October 7th 

Picture Day is Tuesday September 23rd

• Students should wear uniforms as usual that day.
• Pictures can be ordered online ahead of time if you wish at mydorian.com

• The school uses the VicNet/Volgistics platform for all volunteer opportunities throughout the year so please make sure you are signed up.
• New families make sure you’ve completed the Volgistics Volunteer application form and complete the background check. The background check will be sent to you a few days after your application was submitted. This will come from Verified First so make sure you’re looking for that message.
• Current families please make sure you fill out the updated volunteer expectation form if you haven’t already so you’re able to volunteer. Openings won’t appear on VicNet until you have completed this.
• It’s important to sign up for an account even if you’re not planning to come in as sometimes opportunities pop up that you are able to help with and it’s important to have this done before hand as the verification process can take up to a few weeks to complete and we don’t want you to miss out on anything.
• Many teachers allow parents to come in as a “Mystery Reader” for their child’s birthday. You WILL need to be registered on VicNet and have completed the background check to participate in this!!

• Friendly reminders: 
  • Please be mindful of lining up on Hall during morning drop-off. If traffic is backed up on Hall please drive down to Nimbus and enter from that direction.
  • Please do not line up on Straus and Creekside before 3:15 pm for 2nd – 5th pick-up. Use street parking until 3:15 as it blocks pick up for the kinder and 1st grade families trying to enter the parking lot to pick up their students.
  • It also blocks emergency access if there is a need – police and fire would not be able to get in if needed – this has happened in the past. 
  • Thank you for your help making our drive line run smoothly!
• Next PTO meeting: Wednesday, October 9th at 7:00 pm.
• PTO Officers and Team Leads/Co-leads please stay on for a quick beginning of the year check-in! Thanks!