FIRST PTA MEETING Thursday September 11. Dinner for a Dollar and T-Shirt Sales Begin. Join the PTA. Happy Labor Day Weekend to All.

TURN IN PTA SURVEY BY TODAY, August 29 and BE IN THE GIFT CARD DRAWING.

PTA MEETING, SEPTEMBER 11, 2008, 6:00 PM in the SGE CAFETERIA.

Fill out your PTA parent Survey and turn in by today, August 29th.  Among the returnees in each grade, we will hold a drawing for a $25.00 gift card. One parent in each grade will win. We appreciate your time. The teacher with the most returns will be eligible for a drawing for a teacher gift card! We appreciate teacher’s time and effort.

THE PTA MEETING WILL BE THE FIRST CHANCE TO BUY A SPIRIT DAY T-SHIRT for $10.00. Students can wear the school T-Shirt every Friday!

THE PARENT SURVEY IS IN YOUR PACKET TODAY: WIN A GIFT CARD!

Win a Gift Card. Help your Teacher Win a Gift Card. Fill out the survey in your Child’s “Back to School” Package. Take time to reflect also on what you want this year as a PART of the Shamrock ROCK! This survey will help. Take a look here, then fill out the paper form and return right away. You could be a winner; mostly we all win! Thanks. Lib Willard. PTA Board Member

NAME: __________________________ (Optional)
SCHOOL NAME: Shamrock Gardens Elementary
PARENT SURVEY – PART I
Dear Families:
The North Carolina PTA Parent Involvement Initiative wants to help improve parent involvement at your
child’s school. In order to do that, we need to hear from you. Please fill out this survey and respond to the
following questions. Please return this survey to your child’s teacher no later than Friday, August 29th.
1. Do you feel welcome in your child’s school?
Yes.   No    If no, what are some things your child’s school can do to make you feel more welcome?
(Check all that apply) £ Invite me to school £ Send home newsletters £ Be nice to me £ Show me respect
Other: ________________________________________________________________
2. Do you feel that you can talk to the school principal when you need to?
Yes
No If no, why not _____________________________________________________________
3. What types of help do you feel you need from your school to help improve your child’s progress?
(Check all that apply) £ Reading material £ Tips on helping w/ homework £ Tutors £ More communication from teacher
£ School supplies £ Better understanding of expectations £ Information about testing £ Guidance counselor support
Other: ________________________________________________________________
4. What types of programs would you like to see offered at your school for parents?
(Check all that apply) £ GED Completion £ Parent education/advocacy training £ PTA/PTSA £ Job skills training
£ Fitness programs £ Fun/Social activities £ Social services £ Time management training
Other: ________________________________________________________________
5. What grade is your child in? __________________________________
6. Do you feel that the school respects your cultural heritage?
Yes
No If no, explain _____________________________________________________________
7. What is the school doing that is most helpful to you as a parent? ___________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
8. How do you receive information regarding your child’s progress at school?
Telephone call Mailed correspondence Guidance Counselor E-mail
Parent/Teacher Conference Other, please explain: _________________________________
Fill out and return
today for a chance
to win a
FREE gift card!
Page 2 of 2
9. Is there another way to better communicate with you? ___________________________________
10. Do you have an understanding of the information and skills your child should master at his/her
grade level?
Completely Mostly Average A little Not at all
11. Are you familiar with the school report card which is released annually in October for your child’s
school?
Yes No
12. Have you identified a regular time and place in your home for your child to do homework?
Yes No
13. Do you check/monitor child’s homework?
Yes If no, what prevents you from checking/monitoring your child’s homework?
Sometimes Time Lack of subject matter knowledge
No Other, please explain: ______________________________________________
14. Share one thing that you wish the school would do to improve the learning experience for you and
your child.
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
15. If there is a PTA or parent group present at your school, do you feel welcome at their meetings?
Yes
No If no,
a. What could the PTA/parent group do to make you feel more welcome?
__________________________________________________________________
b. What type of information and resources would you like your PTA/parent group to
provide you?
__________________________________________________________________
16. Your school has been selected to have a NC PTA Regional Parent Involvement Coordinator work
with you. What information, resources and guidance would you like to receive from her?
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for your participation.

PARENTS IN THE PTA + MAGIC

When we get together and work together and eat together, we relax and enjoy and find the treasures in our school and we make treasures  where none exist.  The PTA is not about meetings and more meetings.  We are about collaborations and clubs and commitment to Shamrock Gardens Elementary and to the children and the teachers.  

This is what I know.  When we say, Let me know what I can do, nothing happens.  When we say,  I will do this, greatness occurs.  Enjoy the first week of school and let the magic begin.  Then join the PTA so the magic will go on.

Lib Willard  PTA Board Member

THE NORTH CAROLINA PTA PARENT INVOLVEMENT INITIATIVE AT SHAMROCK GARDENS

Shamrock Gardens Elementary School will this year benefit from an exceptional resource. The North Carolina PTA Parent Involvement Initiative wants to help improve parent involvement at Shamrock Gardens. The first order of business will be to fill out a parent survey. Parents: fill the survey out and enter yourself in a drawing for a $25.00 GIFT CARD. Teachers: collect the forms and become eligible for a $25.00 GIFT CARD. One for each grade level will be awarded!
We need to hear from you. Please fill out the survey, respond to the
questions, and then, to be eligible for the drawing, please return this survey to your child’s teacher no later than Friday, August 29th.!!!! Survey is confidential and will only be reviewed by the Mecklenburg PTA Administrator!

FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE YEAR’S WORK AHEAD.

Parent Involvement Initiative

NORTH CAROLINA PTA

We Must Involve Parents in Their Children’s Education, In Every School.

Informed and involved parents are essential to every child’s educational success.

Declining parent involvement is a crisis, and it is hurting children.

NCPTA can help North Carolina respond to the crisis.

With 240,000 members,
. . . NCPTA is the oldest and largest parent organization in our state;
. . . NCPTA understands that different schools require different approaches;
. . . NCPTA has vast experience with parent involvement programs.

Why Now?

In a historic move, the North Carolina General Assembly in July, 2007, appropriated
$262,500 to the NCPTA for the NCPTA Parent Involvement Initiative. With this new
legislative appropriation, NCPTA will be able to begin building a parent involvement
program that can potentially reach every parent in the state. NCPTA is ready with a plan
that, if fully funded, can accomplish this goal.

What Is Needed?

NCPTA has the history, credibility, and vision to attract major funding from both private
and public sectors. NCPTA’s goal is to raise $1 million by May 1, 2008. With over
1,300,000 children in our public schools, that is less than $1 per child.

How Will NCPTA Involve More Parents?

By funding a creative statewide effort to make sure there is a parent involvement
program in every school and community, designed and run by volunteer parents and
NCPTA professionals working cooperatively with school teachers, school administrators,
and community leaders.

The goal is to expand NCPTA’s statewide network of volunteers working to improve
parent involvement in every school and community. This can be done in countless
different ways, and NCPTA has experience with virtually all of them.

The goal is not to impose on schools a centrally-designed “parent involvement program”
from Raleigh, which will never work.

The heart of the NCPTA Parent Involvement Initiative is finding, encouraging and
advising volunteer parents who can then lead parent involvement activities in their
schools. NCPTA will utilize professional expertise in areas most beneficial to parents to

Parent Involvement Initiative

help make this happen. Volunteers often need help getting started; after that, they can
and do work miracles.

NCPTA Parent Involvement Initiative will be led and managed by NCPTA President
Debra Horton. The headquarters of the NCPTA Parent Involvement Initiative will be the
NCPTA office in Raleigh. Top professional staff will be employed to assist Ms. Horton in
this Initiative. With sufficient funding, NCPTA’s goal will be to hire a professional
coordinator in each education region whose job will be to increase parent involvement in
his or her assigned education region.

NCPTA Parent Involvement Initiative staff will work to gain a comprehensive
understanding of parent involvement programs across the nation and incorporate
aspects of the most successful programs. Good ideas that work in one area will be
disseminated statewide.

NCPTA will use a creative combination of modern and time-tested techniques, from
online communication and user-friendly resource materials, to hands-on assistance from
NCPTA professional staff in each education region, all designed to help local volunteer
parents help their children in ways that work best for them.

NCPTA will collaborate with other organizations focused on improving education in North
Carolina.

NCPTA will measure the success of the Initiative and report the results to the General
Assembly and private donors.

Slow Foods At Shamrock This Summer. Visit their Link. Volunteer with them at Shamrock!

NEW T-SHIRT! COMING TO THE FIRST PTA MEETING!

OPEN HOUSE IS FRIDAY AUGUST 22 from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM Stop by The PTA Table!

Meet in the Cafeteria.  Stop By the PTA Table.  Visit Your ClassRoom, Meet your Teacher!  classroom, 

Beautification Day Spirit!

SGE Students paint the restored SGE letters on the North side of Shamrock Gardens.  Good Job Kids!

LOWE’S AWARDS TOOLBOX GRANT TO SHAMROCK GARDENS

NEWSFLASH!

Vegetables, Flowers, Butterflies: Thanks Lowe’s!!

Shamrock has won a $5,000 Lowe’s Toolbox Grant to create a butterfly habitat and organic vegetable garden at our school. This fall, we’ll be clearing dirt, building beds, and planting shrubs. We need your help!