PTA Updates

• Back-to-school night: The Ross Family Engagement committee, led by Ms. Greene, is asking for feedback from staff and families about back-to-school night structures. Please share your feedback using this form.
• School counseling needs assessment: Please fill in the brief school counseling needs assessment survey, which can be found here. Please see the PTA general body presentation for more information.
• Middle school survey: Please take this survey (in English, Español or አማርኛ), which will help with planning around a new DCPS middle school, expected to be built on the former site of Banneker High School at 800 Euclid St NW.

The U.S. Park Police joined Ross students, siblings, parents and guardians on their walk through the "neigh"borhood on October 4 for Walk-to-School Day. Students had an opportunity to pet one of the horses after arriving at Ross. Thanks to Ms. Juriga for arranging this special surprise!

Ms. Juriga is always collecting photos of Ross events and fun for the yearbook. Please send snaps to rosselemyearbook@gmail.com.

The Ross Game Library is now open on the top floor right next to the library. This is a library of games that teachers and families may borrow. Games are arranged by age, and there is a self sign-out/-in binder for teachers and parents (children should come with their parents/guardians) to fill out when borrowing a game. You can find more information here, including how to donate games. We are especially in need of games for older kids. If you have questions, suggestions, or games you would like to donate games, please contact Sarah Roma (sarahandsokol@gmail.com).

On Thursday, October 26, Ross students and families will meet on the Ross field and playground starting at 4:30pm for the annual Ross Halloween Spooktacular, with music, games, crafts and prizes! Costumes encouraged, and bring your treat bags! We need adult and student volunteers to help with games, trick or treating and more! SIGN UP HERE

Starting at 6:00pm, kids and parents will depart in groups for Trick-or-Treating on 17th Street, supported by our Ross neighborhood businesses. Groups will depart by class/grade. Parents and guardians should plan to accompany their child at all times. Siblings welcome.

Neighborhood restaurants will offer Ross families discounts on dinner that night, including: Floriana (20%), Mikko (15%), DC Vegan (10%), Annie's (10%), and others.

The PTA's annual Fall for Ross fundraising and engagement drive is underway. This fall, we ask you to support the Ross PTA and help us to continue to host community-building events; support our teachers and staff; and enable Principal Searl to invest more of Ross's DCPS budget in staffing!

How is the PTA Budget Used?

• $98.5K (63%) of the annual PTA budget goes to supporting Ross school operations, including purchasing classroom and curricular supplies, cleaning supplies, and technology. This enables Principal Searl to spend all of her DCPS budget on salaries for teachers and staff to be in the classroom with our children.
• The remainder of the PTA budget goes toward community events and support, as well as fundraising expenses.

You can support your PTA in 3 important ways:

1. Make a monetary donation. We ask families to consider donating $50/month ($600 annually). We understand this isn’t possible for everyone. Please give as you’re able and help your PTA maintain its strong programs.
2. Volunteer to help with PTA activities. Volunteering your time and talents is a great way to get to know Ross, meet other Ross families, and to support your child’s education.
3. Sign up for PTA communications. (If this email was sent to you directly, then you're already signed up!)

Our campaign goal is to raise $50,000 and engage with all Ross families. Your support is appreciated!

October is National Principals Month! The PTA is planning some fun ways to say "thank you" to Principal Searl. But if you see her, please thank her for everything she does, seen and unseen, to provide a quality education to our kids.

The Ward 2 Education Council's October meeting is on Wednesday, October 11 at 7:00pm. Register for the meeting here. Anthony Hiller from DCPS' Office of Teaching and Learning will join the meeting. Anthony spoke at the council this spring about middle school English instruction. The council will continue that discussion and also discuss DCPS' math initiatives, where many middle schools are making what used to be the "accelerated" track into the default so that most or all students reach Algebra I in 8th grade. You can read some more about this in this article by W2EC Corresponding Secretary (and Ross parent) David Alpert. If you have questions you'd like us to consider asking about at the meeting, please send them to us at w2edcouncil@gmail.com.

On October 10, 2023, the current meal payments portal, MySchoolBucks, will be replaced by a new meal payment solution, LINQ Connect. Existing MySchoolBucks account holders must register for a LINQ Connect account. To get the new account set up:

1. Register: Create an account at https://linqconnect.com and select register. Have your student’s ID number available.

2. Verify Account: Click the email verification link sent to the provided email address to verify your account.

3. Sign In: Now, you can sign in at https://linqconnect.com using your email and password. Please note: You will need to add your student to your LINQ Connect account. Click on +, then type and complete the information to link your student. You will need to complete this process for each student you wish to add.

All student and adult staff meal account balances will automatically roll over to LINQConnect. However, to add funds or check balances after October 10, you must have a LINQConnect account. MySchoolBucks accounts will no longer be in use or available for those functions.

You can learn more about this change and how it impacts your school community in this helpful Q & A document. Students will never be refused a meal or served an alternate meal selection if there are no funds in the student account.

The Ross garden is in need of repairs and maintenance. Please let us know if you can help or if you have connections to landscapers or garden supply stores who might be willing to donate time or supplies.

We are looking for someone who can do or donate:

• Wood repairs (bridge)

• Paint/painting

• Live plants/gardening skills

• Sawing (down the dead tree, and stumps)

To help: Contact Holly Kilness Packett (hollykilness@gmail.com)

At Ross and for field trips: Want to volunteer at Ross or chaperone field trips? Make sure to complete the DCPS volunteer clearance process.

The PTA is ISO volunteers for the following:

• Ross Spooktacular Halloween event: Do you enjoy Halloween? Got a little goblin at home? We need volunteers and ideas for decorations, games, and trick or treating! Please contact Holly Kilness Packett at hollykilness@gmail.com if you are interested in participating.

• Ross Clothing Swap: Save money, support other Ross families and your local community, and help our planet, all by increasing local circularity of clothing! Reach out to BeckyBall@gmail.com and ptapresident@rosselementary.org if you are able to support this special event. We need a few volunteers to make it a success.
• Partnership with Miriam's Kitchen: This year, we’re excited to continue and grow our partnership with Miriam’s Kitchen, a local nonprofit working to end chronic homelessness in DC. This partnership will include a range of activities and ways for Ross families to engage, such as education around homelessness, opportunities to donate high-value items, a student volunteer event and a weekend family volunteer event. We’re looking for parent/caregiver volunteers to support this partnership. If you’re interested, please reach out to Liz Lowry at ptapresident@rosselementary.org.
• Holiday Tree Sale & Festival - This is one of our biggest fundraisers of the year. For two weeks, the Ross field is transformed into a holiday tree lot, where we sell trees and wreaths to the Ross community and our neighbors! We will also host a Holiday Festival and Bake Sale on Saturday, December 2, open to the neighborhood. During the weekends of Nov 24th and Dec 2nd, we will need volunteers to sell and deliver trees, donate baked goods, and staff the bake sale. Email PTApresident@rosselementary.org to get involved!
  

• Ross Auction: The 16th Annual Ross Auction Committee is seeking volunteers for our 2024 event, to take place on March 2 at Toolbox Pilates Art Studio. The Ross Auction is the single largest fundraiser of the year, critical to meeting PTA fundraising goals to cover basic supplies, extracurricular activities and technology updates at Ross. It is a large undertaking, only possible with the help of this community. Beginning in late fall, we need volunteers to help with donation outreach to local businesses, event planning, and more. We also are looking for parents with graphic design or video editing skills. Please email rosselementaryauction@gmail.com if you can lend a hand!

This free hands-on festival on Saturday, October 14 from 10:00am-4:00pm provides opportunities for kids and adults to build, design and construct side-by-side with roofers, plumbers, engineers, designers, and artisans while celebrating the world we design and build. More

1) All DC residents are invited to join DC educators for family-friendly fun at the 2023 DC Teacher Voice Festival. RSVP now to join us at Eastern Market Metro Plaza on Saturday October 14th from 11:00am to 2:00pm. There will be go-go music, carnival-like games, a food truck, kids face painting and balloon animals, and more fun all while you can explore tables hosted by local educators to discuss action on things like reforming standardized testing, school ratings, teacher retention, culturally responsive education, ending child and family poverty, and so much more. Please register to join.

2) The DC Teacher organization EmpowerEd is conducting a public education community survey of DC residents with a focus on parents/families with kids in DC public or public charter schools, students and educators about pressing issues in DC education. You can take the survey in English, Spanish or Amharic (click the language at the top). It should take 7-8 minutes and will be useful in helping educators advocate to improve the education system in DC.

Come out for a morning of chess with the Dupont Circle Chess Tournament on October 21. Any student in grades 1-12 can register to take part. This tournament is not nationally rated, and students do not need to have any tournament experience in order to participate. They do require students who play to be familiar with all of the rules of chess, including castling, stalemate, and the touch-move rule. Students who are not familiar with the rules are welcome to spectate, as are other family members and friends. The first round of the tournament starts at 9:00a.m. and the last of the games will finish around 11:45a.m. Space is limited, and it is $5 to register. Registration in advance through Eventbrite is required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/chess-in-dupont-circle-tickets-730708086557?aff=oddtdtcreator.

Join Imagination Stage for the (free) Arts for All! Children's Fest on Saturday, October 21, from 10:00a.m. to 1:00p.m. The fest is geared towards children ages 1-8, but will be fun for all ages. There will be a dance party, face painting, chalk art, and food trucks, as well as classes and workshops with collaborators from the DMV area. Some of the events at this action-packed festival include:

• A Scene from The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show - fun for all ages
• Creative Drama Class by Imagination Stage - best for ages 3-6
• ASL-Theatre Workshop by Visionaries of the Creative Arts - best for ages 5+
• Salsa Class by Salsa with Silvia - best for ages 6+
• Poetry Workshop by DC Scores - best for ages 6+
• Puppet Painting Activity by VisArts - best for ages 3+

Optional early registration for this festival begins on October 11, and putting your email into this pre-registration sign up will ensure that you receive a notification when registration is open.

MPD's 3rd Police District presents the (free) "Halloween Haunted House of Screams" event on Monday, October 30 and Tuesday, October 31, from 6:30pm-9:00pm, in the parking garage of 1620 V Street NW.

Keegan Theatre's 2023 Gala: A Night in the Speakeasy is on Thursday, November 9 at St. Francis Hall. This is an opportunity to support our local theatre--and a Ross partner--and its productions, education program, and initiatives.

2023.24 DCPS Calendar

Wednesday, October 11: Ward 2 Education Council Meeting, 7:00pm

Friday, October 13: Parent Coffee (Parent/Teacher Conference Focus) 8:30am in Library

Monday, October 16: October LSAT Meeting

Thursday, October 19: Parent/Teacher Conference Day (NO SCHOOL)

Friday, October 20: Teacher Professional Development Day (NO SCHOOL)

October 23-27: Ross Bullying Awareness Spirit Week

Thursday, October 26: Ross Spooktacular

Friday, November 3: Professional Day for Teachers (NO SCHOOL)

Saturday, November 11: Mariam's Kitchen/Ross Fun Run, 7:45-10:00am

November 24 - December 3: Holiday Tree Sale & Festival

Saturday, February 24: Ross/Imagination Stage Theater Trip, 1:00pm

Saturday, March 2: Ross Auction

The mission of the Ross PTA is to support the education of all Ross students, to support Ross faculty and staff, to foster relationships among parents, staff and community members, and to assist faculty and staff to provide a safe and nurturing environment where all students, families and faculty can thrive and grow.

Email: ptapresident@rosselementary.org
Website: http://rosselementary.org/pta-board/
Location: 1730 R Street NW Washington, DC 20009
Phone: 202.673.7200
Facebook: facebook.com/RossElementarySchool/
Twitter: @RossESDC

If this email was forwarded to you, subscribe to Ross PTA emails here.

Do you have updates or announcements that you think would be of interest to our school community? If so, email Ross PTA Secretary Melanie Mayhew.