Rowe PTO News

On behalf of the Rowe School Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), we are so excited to welcome you to the 2024-2025 school year at Rowe! For new friends, we welcome you to the Rowe community and hope to meet you soon. We encourage you to learn more about what the PTO does at our website. For returning friends, we hope you had a wonderful summer and look forward to engaging with you throughout the year. If you have not already, please complete this survey to provide feedback to the PTO.

Warmly,

The 2024-2025 PTO Executive Board

• Ashley Eiler, Acting President / Parent to George (2nd) and Peter (K)
• Janna Stefanowicz, Treasurer / Parent to Leah (PreK), Bode (1st), Theo (3rd), Elin (5th)
• Audrey Bartholomew, Secretary / Parent to Betty (4th)
• Kayla Theriault, Community Building Co-Chair / Parent to Anna (4th)
• Emily Davis, Community Building Co-Chair / Parent to Theodore (3rd) and Louise (5th)
• Melanie Caldwell, Fundraising Co-Chair / Parent to Elijah (1st)
• Jay Weinberg, Fundraising Co-Chair / Parent to Frannie (1st)

• Saturday, 8/24, 10:00-12:00: Rowe Garden Cleanup
• Wednesday, 8/28, 3:00-4:30: Meet Your Teacher at Rowe
• Wednesday, 8/28, 3:45-4:30: Popsicles on the Rowe Playground (during Meet Your Teacher)
• Tuesday, 9/3: First Day of School, grades 1-5
• Wednesday, 9/4: Early Release
• Thursday, 9/5: First Day of School, PreK and K
• Saturday, 9/14, 2:30-4:30: PreK and Kindergarten Playdate on the Rowe Playground
• Thursday, 9/19, 6:00: PTO Meeting (hybrid option offered)
• Thursday, 9/26, 6:00-7:00: Rowe Open House

Join us on Wednesday, August 28th! After you meet your student’s teacher and explore this year’s classroom(s) (3:00-3:45 pm), join the PTO and other Rowe families for Popsicles on the Playground (3:45-4:30 pm)! If you are able to volunteer, Sign up here

As we gear up for the school year, we'd love your help tidying up the garden.

Join us on Saturday, August 24th from 10am to 12pm to weed, harvest, catch up, and ready the garden for students' return! We will NOT have access to the school building, so bathroom access will be limited. Bring a water bottle. We will have some tools, but feel free to bring additional gloves and tools to use and share. Sunscreen and bug spray are also recommended.

Contact the Greening Committee with any questions.

Every member of the Rowe community is a member of the PTO. We encourage you to attend our first meeting of the year to learn about the PTO’s plans for the year, understand how the PTO’s budget process works, hear directly from Rowe administrators, share your opinions and ideas, and meet other members of the Rowe community.

When: Thursday, September 19, 2024, 6:00 pm
Where: Hybrid - Rowe Library & Zoom

Featured Speaker: Melissa Richard, Rowe Assistant Principal

* Childcare will be provided for school-aged children.

* Join us after the business meeting for light refreshments and chatting!

Welcome to Rowe! We are hosting a Pre-K/K Playdate on Saturday, September 14th from 2:30 to 4:30 pm at the Rowe Playground! Come meet your child's classmates and connect with their families. We will provide snacks and water. Please note that the bathrooms will not be available during this time. We look forward to seeing you!

Thanks to all those who took our survey and provided helpful feedback as the PTO plans for the year. We loved hearing your ideas and suggestions!

Have an idea for an event?

Would you like to see a movie night? Do you want to coordinate a school-wide service project? Do you think it would be fun to have a play date for your student’s entire grade? We need YOU to make it happen! Submit an event application here to detail your idea and let the PTO know how we can support you.

Want to start a student group or club?

We know that many of you would love to see more extracurricular clubs for students afterschool. The PTO provides stipends and other support to Rowe School student clubs to help offset some of the costs for supplies and fees. Clubs, which are led by parent volunteers, must be open to all eligible Rowe students to qualify for PTO funding. If you have an idea for a student group or club that you would like to lead, please submit an application here.

The PTO is run entirely by volunteers! We would love help in any capacity, whether it is serving as a Room Parent, taking on a leadership role, or signing up for one-time volunteer opportunities.

Ongoing Opportunities: If you are able to take on an ongoing role, we have the following openings - please contact president@roweschoolpto.org if you have an interest in any of these roles or want to learn more:

• Vice President (Room Parent Coordinator): The Vice President is part of the PTO Executive Board and is responsible for recruiting room parents, communicating with room parents throughout the year, and creating a school-wide directory. This is a 1-3 hour per week commitment.
  
  

• Social Media Manager: Are you a Canva whiz? Do you love catchy hashtags? Help the PTO by running its social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram. This is 2-4 hour per month position.
  
  

• Website Manager: We need a tech-savvy webmaster for the Rowe PTO website (managed on the Square platform). This is a 2-4 hour per month position.
  
  

• RoweFest Co-Chair: Do you like checklists and timelines? Are you passionate about bringing together the Rowe community for a joyful event? We are looking for a Co-Chair for our annual RoweFest event (formerly known as SpringFest and WinterFest), which we hope will take place in the late winter/early spring. We estimate this is a role that will take 15-30 hours concentrated in January - March 2025.
  
  

• Rowe @ the Sea Dogs: Take us out to the ballgame! We need a point person for all things related to Rowe’s annual Sea Dogs night - coordinating with the Sea Dogs ticket office, picking a date, advertising ticket sales, and coordinating Rowe attendees to make the night a fun-filled community event. We estimate this is a role that will take 4-6 hours total (not counting game time!), concentrated in the Spring of 2025.
  
  

• Maine Mariners Night: Calling all hockey fans! Combine your love for the Mariners with your Rowe spirit by coordinating with the Mariners organization to organize a Rowe night at Cross Arena and explore potential related fundraising opportunities (the 50/50 raffle, concessions, etc.). We estimate this is a role that will take 5-10 hours total (not including game time!), concentrated in the Fall/Winter of 2025.

• Maine Celtics Game: If you are a hoops fan, we need you! We are looking for someone who can partner with the Maine Celtics organization to organize a Rowe night at a Celtics game this season by securing group tickets, publicizing the event, organizing attendees for a community experience, and exploring fundraising partnerships with the Celtics (50/50, raffles, etc.).

• Hearts of Pine Soccer Partnership: If you are excited about Portland’s brand-new professional soccer team, we need your help in exploring potential partnership opportunities with this new organization. Please let us know if you’d like to be our soccer point person.

2024-2025 Room Parents: The PTO is looking for volunteers to serve as Room Parents for 2024-2025! The time commitment is approximately 2-3 hours per month. Room Parents help build community at the classroom level and serve as a liaison between teachers and families. Recommended activities include creating and distributing a class directory; organizing parent volunteers and classroom donations; coordinating teacher appreciation gifts; and working with other Room Parents from your student’s grade level to organize 1-2 grade level-wide community events. Sign up here. Contact president@roweschoolpto.org with questions.

One-Time Volunteers: If you are not able to take on an ongoing position at this time but still want to help, please sign up to be notified of one-time volunteer opportunities here. We will reach out to you with opportunities for helping at PTO events and when the school is looking for help. Contact president@roweschoolpto.org with questions.

In-School Volunteering: As a reminder: anyone who would like to volunteer at Rowe during school hours in your student’s classroom will need to complete a screening process conducted by Portland Public Schools - click here for the Family Volunteer Application. The process can take up to 2 weeks, and approvals are good and valid for 3 years. If you have questions about whether you are approved, please contact Colby Senior at 207-874-4657 or senioc@portlandschools.org.

The PTO will distribute a schoolwide directory that families can use to contact other parents to coordinate playdates, arrange carpooling, and send out birthday party invitations. You can also opt in to a classroom directory that Room Parents will distribute at the individual classroom level. Sign up here. Please complete a separate form for each Rowe student.

A message from Ms. Rank: Your donation will give students the opportunity to organize and design their own creative learning in art. Using a sketchbook, each student will have a personal space to collect draft ideas and practice new skills. Sketches may inspire on-going, multi-week works of art, stored in portfolios for revision and completion. Using these tools, students can collect ideas, practice and revise, building a collection of work to show creative growth throughout the year. Using the sketchbook and portfolio, artists will have expanded opportunities to experiment with new materials and concepts, apply new learning, make revisions and create high-quality works of art. Students will pursue and record their own, personalized learning using the sketchbook and portfolio as tools to support and organize their ongoing growth as a visual artist.

Sketchbooks and Portfolios for Rowe Art | DonorsChoose project by Ms. Rank

This year, the PTO is excited to introduce Rowe Champions, a monthly sustaining donor program. The Rowe PTO supports many of the day-to-day enrichments our students enjoy by funding field trips, purchasing classroom supplies, and holding community events. Learn more about what the Rowe PTO – a 501(c)3 with an annual $30,000 budget – funds here. Please consider giving $10 per month for each student you have at Rowe, and, if you have the capacity, please consider giving an extra $10 to support another student. Become a Rowe Champion today!

Please mark your calendars for the rest of the PTO meetings, all of which will be hybrid, with an option to join in person at Rowe or via Zoom:

• Tuesday, October 22, 2024, 6 pm

• Wednesday, December 4, 2024, 6 pm

• Thursday, February 6, 2025, 6 pm

• Wednesday, April 16, 2025, 6 pm

• Thursday, June 5, 2025, 6 pm
  
  

We hope to host guest speakers at each meeting - more details to come!

Check out the Rowe PTO calendar for 2024-2025 here.

The Portland Public Schools calendar for 2024-2025 is here.

Each year we raise approximately $30,000 (about $65 per student) to support classroom supplies, books, field trips, families in need, ad more.

You can help by:

Make a direct donation

Join Rowe Champions by setting up a monthly donation

Buy spirit wear

Use PTO Clynk bags for cans and bottles

Support our fundraisers