Regular opportunities to connect:

  • PTO meetings once per month on Wednesdays
  • Community Coffee Hour /  Friday after PTO meetings
  • Follow us @melrosepto on INSTAGRAM
  • Questions to: president@melrosepto.org

PTO – RAJ RAGHAVAN

  1. Everyone is part of the PTO!
  2. Opportunities to get involved and volunteer
    1. Email president@melrosepto.org to connect, lend your skills
    1. Needs:
      1. Family fun night coordinator
      1. Photographer for school events
      1. Beautification lead (Gardening, carpentry)
      1. Melrose Star Mascot
      1. Pipeline for leadership positions
    1. Charity Buzz
      1. Donate your time and skills to raise funds for the school
      1. Email president@melrosepto.org
  1. Upcoming events
    1. First Community Coffee Hour – this Friday Sept 15
    1. Star Science Night – September 28
    1. Harvest Festival – Friday, October 27, 2023
      1. event on campus with food, games, activities
      1. LOOKING FOR: Food trucks // Does anyone have a connection?
    1. November Family Fun night – outdoor movie – Likely Nov 9
  1. Annual Giving: September 18 – October 13, 2023
    1. Donate online: http://melrosepto.org/donate
    1. Some of the most core projects we love about Melrose are funded by the PTO not by the school: Garden ranger, Got Game, (new) Star Science, (new) Storiwr Theater, Field trips; also provide needed hardware like Keyboards, headphones, yearbooks **only able to do these things because of PTO fundraising
    1. GOAL: $150,000
    1. If you can: $1050.45 per child to cover all PTO programs
    1. Aim for all families to participate in the next month. Accept donations of any amount. **Donations are kept confidential
    1. Welcome donations from local businesses
    1. Check with your employer if they match donations
      1. Send paperwork to president@melrosepto.org or treasurer@melrosepto.org

Mathew Needleman // School Updates

  1. Plumbing – fixed and should be good now
  2. Ms. Alysen, Librarian and awesome volunteer, has left Melrose
    1. Have interviewed potential candidates and expect to hire someone this week
    1. Some downtime on the library but will be open as soon as the new Library Aid is back
    1. Cannot have a parent volunteer
  1. iPad Shortage in the district
    1. need more ipads for Kindergarten
    1. No replacement iPads – so if the ipads are lost of broken, there are no replacements; will now have to request a chromebook through the district
  1. Theater Class: New program for the class / Finding Nemo for grades 3 – 5
    1. 4th + 5th grade have started
    1. 3rd grade in Spring
  1. Star Science: in the classroom + Star Science Night
    1. September 28, 5:30 – 7:30
    1. All school invited – kids, parents, care givers, siblings welcome
    1. Pokemon theme
    1. Burritos for sale
    1. Need volunteers for some of the stations
  1. School has a nurse now 2 days per week (Wed and Friday)
  2. Don’t have: Ms. Aimee or Ballroom Dancing
    1. Refocusing to Theater and Star Science
    1. Involves a lot more students in a lot more ways to learn arts
  1. Weekly spirit day on Fridays – encourage to wear Melrose clothes
  2. School Safety
    1. Closed toe shoes to school every day
    1. Detroit street is not for drop off! Don’t park in the bus lane, don’t cross in the middle of the street
    1. Closed campus:
      1. Grades 1 – 5 // parents say good bye at the gate
      1. K // encourage parents to drop off at the gate. If they want to walk in, walk in and then say good bye. If you want to hang out longer, can volunteer to help supervise.
      1. Parents are welcome at the monday assembly
      1. Please don’t talk to teachers in the morning
  1. Volunteers
    1. Ms. Monica can help with registration on the volunteer app / 8 – 1:40
    1. Melrose In – House Volunteer Interest Form https://forms.gle/Hn7FHjFNcssJQv3SA
    1. Apply through LAUSD – in the parent portal
      1. Vaccine + TB test
  1. Homework
    1. Still optional, but highly recommend
    1. But, asking families to keep up with Dreambox (1 – 2 activities) at most 20 minutes
      1. ** 3rd grade Families: students should finish the 3rd grade curriculum in Dreambox
      1. Need to connect to the VPN
      1. Have to go through schoology
    1. Read with your child about 20 minutes per day
  1. English Learners
  2. Special Education
  3. Covid
    1. No evidence that there has been spread
    1. Lot of covid
    1. Recommend that your child wear a mask if they’re sick
    1. Take a test if they have symptoms
    1. If they are positive, upload to the daily pass (dailypass.lausd.net) + note the date
      1. Call the main office to tell the school
  1. Attendance
    1. “Chronically absent” if you miss more than 12 days
  1. Communications through lots of methods
    1. If you’re not getting any, check spam
    1. Add calendar with school events: subscribe from school website
  1. Local School Leadership Council – in person
    1. First meeting: October 2, 3pm in the Parent Center
  1. Cultural Arts Passport Survey: https://forms.gle/W5DDBmBLQtHYc1hn9
    1. Funds available from the district
  1. eChoices opens Oct 2nd
    1. Applying for younger siblings – echoices OCT – NOV
      1. Melrose will not have TK
    1. 5th graders need to apply for middle school
      1. October 4 – melrose middle school night
      1. Should also seek out and go to tours
      1. OCT 21 SAT – REGION WEST MAGNET FAIR: 9 AM – 12 PM (Los Angeles High School, 4650 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90019, USA) School Events
  1. Enrollment:
    1. Down 15% across the district
    1. At melrose is 100%, but we want to keep it that way.