PTO Update

I have a love / hate relationship with September. The weather starts to turn, humidity levels fall, my electric bill is one again cheaper than my mortgage and, most importantly, I can stop paying for camps.

Of course, there's the flip side.

EVERYTHING starts in September. Which makes it, in my opinion, the most hellacious month of the year for maintaining your sanity. By the end of the month I'm like Will Ferrell in the debate scene from Old School - "What happened? I blacked out."

So believe me that, as I write this and lay out everything you have on the calendar for this week, I FEEL YOUR PAIN. All I can tell you is embrace the September suck, because it's for the kids.

As always, please reach out to either Angelle (pto@ludlowtaylor.org) or Chris (ptopresident@ludlowtaylor.org) with any questions, comments, or concerns. Copying both of us on any email will enhance our ability to respond promptly.

- Angelle Baugh & Chris Hanley (PTO Co-Presidents)

• The first PTO meeting of the year was this past Thursday. If you missed it you can find notes here.
• Following the PTO meeting, the community submitted questions to Principal Miller and AP Watson. You can find their answers here. (We are providing this document to you just as we received it, with no edits or editorializing to the answers from your friendly PTO.)
• Back to School Night is today (9/10) from 6:00 - 7:30.
• The first LSAT meeting of the year is Thursday (9/12) from 6:00 - 7:00. Childcare and pizza will be provided by the PTO.
  
• The Event Committee kickoff meeting is Wednesday (9/11) starting at 7:00.
• Movie Night is Friday 9/20 starting at 6:00.
• We need volunteers for the Facility Improvement Team related to the new addition.
• Coming soon - the LT Student Directory (with a hat tip to Mr. Barnes and Principal Miller).
• Field trips start soon. Do the DCPS Volunteer clearance *now* if you want to chaperone.
  

Back to School Night is today from 6:00 - 7:30 pm. The event, which is run by the school (not the PTO), will begin with an overview presentation by the administration at 6 pm in the multipurpose room. Following this presentation to the community, individual classroom teachers will host twenty-minute sessions (6:25 - 6:45 pm; 6:50 - 7:10 pm) for caregivers in their classrooms. Each teacher will hold two sessions to help facilitate parents of multiple children. A third rotation from 7:15 - 7:30 pm is an opportunity to meet the wellness team, specials team, the special education teams, Principal Miller, and/or AP Watson. This is a great opportunity for parents to come into the school to get an overview of the academic year, chat with teachers, and see their classrooms.

Our first schoolwide LSAT meeting is Thursday, 9/12 at 6pm in the Multipurpose Room. This will be the only in-person meeting the LSAT holds this year - future meetings will be via Zoom. In an effort to make this meeting as accessible as possible, the PTO will provide pizza and childcare from Rising Stars. Please RSVP here by 10:00 am on 9/12 to ensure we have enough pizza and staff from Rising Stars.

FAQs

• What is the LSAT? The Local School Advisory Team is a group of elected and appointed members that exists in every DCPS school. The team consists of parents, teachers & staff who advise the principal on matters that promote high expectations and achievement for all students. LSAT meetings are generally open to the community and the notes are shared out publicly. More information can be found here about the LSAT.
• What's on the agenda? It's a busy meeting. On the agenda we have:
• Welcome from Principal Miller & LSAT overview.
• LSAT member introductions.
• Nomination & election of Chair & Secretary.
• Scheduling of future meetings.
• Funds reprogramming discussion (additional 1st grade teacher).
• Comprehensive School Plan ("CSP") review.
• Diversity committee discussion.
• Open community Q&A.

Join the whole school community on the LT field to watch Moana on the big screen ... for free! The field will open at 6pm and the movie will start just after 7pm. Be sure to bring your picnic blanket and chairs to snag your spot.

FAQs

• Will there be food? If you want delicious Stellina pizza during the event you must pre-order here by noon on Thursday, 9/19. We will also have an ice cream truck and a concession stand with fresh popcorn, drinks and snacks for sale.
• Do you need help? Obviously! And to up the ante, all movie night volunteers will get to access the field and secure their spot 5 minutes early. Sign up here to volunteer.
• Will there be photo ops with Maui? I know it's a lot--the hair, the bod. But you'll get your chance with the demi-god!

Oh, you noticed that? Well - the LT addition project is underway. The intent of the project is to add classrooms, academic support spaces and other areas. You can find more info on the conceptual design here.

While this project was introduced to the LT community in the spring of 2023, DCPS / DGS communication since then has been sporadic. To improve this DCPS has created a website dedicated to the project here. Follow the link and you will find more details on the project stages, timeline, etc, including an August 2024 memo to the community.

Short answer - not yet. Long answer - you can be that person!

DCPS and LT are in the process of creating a Facility Improvement Team ("FIT"). A FIT is a 10 - 15 member advisory group for an addition or expansion that includes school staff, parents and community members. The FIT provides insight into the school and community perspective on design elements and serves as a link to the broader community by sharing project information & materials. The PTO is responsible recruiting parent / caregiver members of the FIT.

The time commitment for the FIT will likely be 1 to 2 meetings per month, after school hours (likely sometime between 3:30 & 6:00). If you are interested in participating on the FIT, please email Jessica Bowron (ptovp1@ludlowtaylor.org) by this Friday (9/13). Of particular interest would be anyone with experience in design, construction and / or navigating either the DCPS or DGS bureaucracy.

Want to help your son or daughter get to know their classmates better? Want to meet the parents of some of their friends? Want to see what your child's teacher is like outside of the classroom? Most importantly, want to be able to pick the time and place of all this so it fits YOUR schedule? It's easy and the PTO will even pay for it!

Sign up here and the the PTO will provide you with a $100 budget to host a playdate at the time and location of your choosing. Use the funds to get bubbles and face paint, order pizza, or whatever you'd like. Please coordinate scheduling with your class teacher to make sure everyone in the class is invited.

Play dates can be hosted by any parent or caregiver. Of course, if you take it on and decide you loved the experience and can't wait to do it again - well - there's more! Reach out to your teacher and volunteer to help them out this year as a room parent. They will be incredibly appreciative, you will get to meet lots of other parents in your class and again, you will control the schedule. Totally worth it!

The PTO doesn't select room parents, teachers do. If you are a room parent, please let us know on this spreadsheet so that we can coordinate throughout the year.

For the first time in recent memory, LT's administration has given the PTO clearance to publish a LT Student Directory. Gone are the days of spending hours going through random messages looking for the one email address you need to make sure that the whole class is invited to an upcoming birthday party. Thank you Principal Miller, AP Watson, and Mr. Barnes for giving those hours back to me (or at least to you - I have to compile the directory).

The data in the directory will be limited to parent's names, parent's emails, student's names, and student's homeroom. Your information will only be included to the extent you gave DCPS permission to share this information when you enrolled your student. Rest assured though that, even if you consented to this information being disclosed during enrollment, everyone will have another opportunity to opt-out of being in the directory.

More information on this project will be forthcoming via the listserv.

Lots of field trips are coming down the pike in September and October. Thinking about chaperoning a field trip at some point this school year? Then you need a DCPS clearance (which is good for 2 years) and you should do it now. There is a step-by-step guide to the DCPS Clearance process here on the LT website. The process is relatively quick and easy and there are multiple places to get fingerprinted, most with next-day appointments available. Provide Principal Miller's information as your DCPS Point of Contact on the form (Penelope Miller / (202) 698-3244 / penelope.miller@k12.dc.gov) and email your confirmation of approved clearance to Principal Miller, copying your homeroom teacher.

This is a new section of the newsletter that could, possibly, make future periodic appearances. The focus this week is on Principal Miller and AP Watson.

This past Friday I had a great conversation with Principal Miller. One thing came out of it that absolutely shocked me - just a week into school and she already knows over 90% of the kids by name. (I'm taking her at her word here, but if you want to quiz her feel free.) I only know 50% of my kids by name - and I only have 2. I can't fathom how much effort it must take to pull this off, but I'm sure it makes our kids feel incredibly welcome and for that I want to say thank you.

I also had a chance to spend 15 minutes speaking with AP Watson this morning. I asked her how her weekend went - she said awful. She then went on to explain that she spent it doing school work as she is in the third year of a 5-year doctoral program at Maryland where her research focus is on methodologies for improving the educational outcomes of SPED students receiving mid-grade intensity pull-out services. I watched football this weekend (nanny nanny boo boo to all you Notre Dame fans), but I'm really glad that we have folks like AP Watson in our community dedicating their time to better learn how to help our children.

The one benefit of putting these newsletters together is they afford me the bully pulpit every now and then. Today I want to use that to say thank you to Mr. Cooper. He made the day for 7 LT third-graders this weekend by coming to watch their soccer game. Thanks, Mr. Cooper!

The kick-off meeting for the Event Committee, hosted by co-chairs Laurie Burkitt (2nd grade parent) and Lea Laman (1st grade parent) is Wednesday, 9/11 at 7pm at Lea's home (612 8th Street NE).

Swing by to learn more about how you can help pull together LT's free community events. Can't make it to the kick-off but still want to get involved? No problem! Add your name on this sign-up sheet and we'll include you in the Events Committee distro so you can stay plugged in.