Rowe PTO News

• Wednesday, 12/18: Staff Appreciation Cookie Extravaganza and Hot Chocolate Bar
• Wednesday, 12/18: Snack donation drop off and buy your Spirit Wear during morning drop off
• Wednesday, 1/15: Rowe Community Dinner at 6:00 PM
• Thursday, 2/6: PTO Meeting. "High School of the Future" presentatio with Superntedent Scallon at 6:00 PM in the Rowe Library and on Zoom
• Wednesday, 2/12: Pokemon Night at 5:45 at Rowe

Welcome to our last newsletter before Winter Break!

We wanted to thank all our Rowe Families and staff for an amazing start to our school year. We are thankful for each and everyone of you and hope you enjoy some rest time over break with families and friends.
Please mark the morning of December 18th, during drop off, on your calendar. We will be selling spirit wear, accepting snack donations for students and staff, and setting up for our annual Cookie Extravaganza! Please read more below for how you can support us.

Join Us for the Annual Staff Cookie Extravaganza!

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, December 18th as we celebrate our dedicated staff with our beloved Cookie Extravaganza and Hot Chocolate Bar! We’re looking for 55 dozen cookies or treats to create a delightful spread, allowing each staff member to pick a dozen cookies as a heartfelt holiday thank you. We will also have a hot beverage station available.

We invite you to dust off your favorite recipe or grab some treats from your favorite local bakery—whatever works best for you! Let's show our incredible staff just how much we appreciate all they do.

How You Can Help:

• Sign Up: Please use this link to indicate if you can bring cookies and/or hot chocolate supplies, or if you’d like to assist with setup or cleanup: Cookie Extravaganza Sign up

• Variety Matters: We have staff members with various dietary needs, including vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, and peanut allergies. Your contributions will help us ensure everyone can enjoy the treats!

• Comment: When you sign up, kindly note what you’re bringing to help us avoid duplicates. Here is a wishlist on Amazon for ideas: Hot Chocolate Bar wishlist

Thank you for helping us make this celebration special for our amazing staff!

Need some swanky last minute gifts? Rowe PTO will be out on the morning of December 18th selling spirit wear. NEW items include Rowe crewnecks and zipper hoodies AND super cute winter beanies!

Please note, inventory on the website is not reflective of current inventory but we are working on it. We will share on social media when the website has been updates.

Join other Rowe families for an evening meal and activities!

January 15th, 6-7:30 pm
Snow date: January 29th
Catered by Wayside Food Programs
Transportation will be available (information coming soon!)

Interested in volunteering to support the community dinner or donating supplies? Sign up here!

Please reach out to Lara Rosen (lara.k.rosen@gmail.com) with any questions.

We look forward to seeing folks then!

Our next PTO meeting will be on Wednesday, February 6 pm in the Rowe Library and Zoom. Our guest speaker this month will be Superintendent Ryan Scallon, who will lead a discussion about the “High School for the Future” plan for Portland Public Schools. We will also have an agenda for PTO business. Childcare for school-aged children will be available, and we will have snacks for those attending in person! Please contact Ashley with questions at president@roweschoolpto.org.

Help stock our snack supply before we leave for winter break!

The PTO is putting out a call for snacks for students and staff. Crackers, cookies, bars, you name it, we will take it and make sure it gets into the hungry bellies of students during snack time AND also used to stock the snack bin in the teacher's lounge.

We will be outside of Rowe on the morning of Wednesday, December 18th to collect your donations!

Our wonderful Rowe nurses have asked for donations of new or gently used pants that can be used as extras as cold and wet weather approaches! We are looking for pants (boys and girls) in sizes = 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18. The nurse does not need any other cloting donations currently. Please drop off any donations of pants to the Rowe office.

We are looking for a handful of volunteers to assist with reaching out to businesses in our community to ask for donations (gift cards, tickets, items, etc…). We have everything you need to be successful (spreadsheet with contacts and emails, letter template to email). This doesn’t require a lot of time and it would be very helpful to share the load to fill our calendar with some amazing prizes. Please contact Melanie/Jay at fundraising@roweschoolpto.org if interested.

If you or anyone you know works at an organization or business that wants to be a corporate sponsor for this year's RoweFest, please pass their information along to Melanie/Jay at fundraising@roweschoolpto.org. Our corporate sponsors help offset the costs to make RoweFest happen and really make this a community event with lots of fun games to be had. We have a lofty goal and would appreciate any help to get us there.

During the month of January, the Rowe School PTO will receive $1 for each $2.50 reusable Community Bag sold at the Hannaford located at 787 Riverside Street in Portland. Thanks for your support!

Thank you to all who came out to the Maine Celtics Game and participated in the 50/50 Raffle! If you are interested in leading the charge on either a Mariners Night or Sea Dogs in the spring please reach out to president@roweschoolpto.org.

Are you looking to connect with other Rowe families? Look no further than the Rowe School Directory! Information is organized by Teacher Last Name and will be updated regularly.

Not yet included? There's still time to sign up! Don’t forget to also consent to having your information shared in the School Directory. You can also opt in to the class directory organized by Room Parents too!

For updates to your information or questions, email vicepresident@roweschoolpto.org

Support the PTO by joining our monthly giving program and becoming a Rowe Champion! The PTO provides vital funding to our teachers and staff for enrichment programming, field trips, classroom supplies, and school safety projects. As just a few examples, the PTO last year:

• Helped fund the new fence at the school to improve student safety

• Provided Puberty Packs for all 4th Grade Students

• Funded 3d Grade field trip to Portland Ovations and Maine Wildlife Park

• Funded 2d Grade field trip to the Children’s Museum and new books

• Paid for supplies for 1st Grade classes to raise chicks and build bird curriculum

• Sponsored the Kindergarten Passamoquody guest speaker

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!

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

The Portland Public Schools News and 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

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Here is a link!