Welcome from the Beach Parents Organization!

On behalf of the Beach Parents Organization (BPO) Board, I would like to welcome you and your family to the 2009-2010 school year at Beach Elementary.  The BPO is a group of parent volunteers who support Beach by running programs and raising funds for our school.  We meet each month (see schedule below), and I encourage all Beach and Havens kindergarten parents to come and participate in these informative discussions.

During the online registration process, you were asked to join the BPO and sign up for volunteer activities at Beach (but don’t worry, it’s still not too late to do either!).  By joining BPO not only do you get a directory, but your membership dues help to fund the curricular and enrichment programs that are paid for by the BPO.  These include our science and math specialists, the library and our art programs.  If you have not yet joined BPO but wish to do so, please pick up a form in the Beach School office or contact Mark Tellegen at tellegen@pacbell.net.

Volunteers are essential to many of the activities at Beach – and with the wide variety of volunteer positions available, there is something to fit everyone’s schedule and style!  Involvement can take place in the classroom by being a room parent or helping with class projects and field trips.  You can also participate in school-wide programs from Hot Lunch to the Book Fair to volunteering time in the library.  District-wide opportunities include involvement with the Annual Campaign, Harvest Festival, and the Spring Fling Auction.  Support groups such as PAINTS, CHIME, PRAISE and the Green committee are additional ways to get involved.

Please join us at the Welcome Coffee on the first day of school, August 26^th from 8:30 am to 9:45 am in the Auditorium.  This is a wonderful opportunity to catch up with friends, meet new people, sign up for groups and volunteer opportunities (everything listed above and more) and confirm your directory information.

We also plan on continuing the tradition of grade-level Parent Socials this fall – a great way to meet and socialize with parents who have children in the same grades at Beach.  These dates will be coordinated by room parents once school begins, and then announced in the Wednesday News.

I look forward to working with you in the coming school year as we support the efforts of our administration and teachers, all of whom make Beach Elementary such a special place for our children.  If you have any questions about the Beach Parents Organization, you can contact me at 654-4610 or laura_katter@yahoo.com.

Sincerely,

Laura Katter
BPO President 2009/2010

2009-10 BPO Meeting Schedule – MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
All Meetings 7:00 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room
Mon Sept 14	Mon Feb 1
Mon Oct 5	Mon Mar 1
Mon Nov 2	Mon Mar 29
Mon Dec 7	Mon May 3
Mon Jan 11	Mon Jun 7

Tri-School Dads Softball this Saturday

Baja Padres Softball

It’s almost here! The Dads Club rivalry continues. Root for the Baja Padres (Beach Dads) Saturday, June 13th, 2-5 at Coaches Field.

Come out and support the Baja Padres at the 3rd annual tri-school softball game.  BBQ and games for the kids in deepest right field. Proceeds benefit the APCP program of the winning school’s choice.

Thank you from the Beach Librarians

June 5, 2009

Dear Beach Parents’ Club Board,

We can’t believe that another year is just about over! The McHugh Library’s support to our school community of motivated learners, both student and adult, is buoyed by the BPO’s continuing financial assistance and enthusiasm.  Our dedicated group of library volunteers does an amazing job of taking care of the various jobs, i.e., shelving, readying new books, staffing the circulation desk during classes and lunchtime, assisting during research projects, and the like. Our volunteers logged more than 320 hours as recorded on our library logs, and that doesn’t include the hours parents have spent on various projects implemented at home. Our student volunteers, the Beach Booksters, have provided yet another core group of book lovers to help out in our busy library.

The funds dedicated from the Tri-School Auction of 2009 will serve us well next year as we continue to augment our collection, adding many books to the non-fiction collection at a variety of reading levels, and purchasing fabulous picture books and novels, audiobooks and DVDs to continue our tradition of a well-stocked library filled with interesting and relevant reading, listening and viewing materials. We continue to subscribe to two databases for use both at home and at school. Ed1stop and Worldbook Online can be accessed via our school website, as can the library’s catalog.

As you know, Kitty Nemechek, library assistant, will be retiring after 24 years of working in the library.  Her job as a library assistant is essential to the functioning of the library and its programs.  Kitty is responsible to provide support in maintaining the library environment so that it is conducive to instruction and learning, to assist in maintaining, ordering and processing of library materials, to assist in the training and supervision of volunteers, and to work with the teacher-librarian, classroom teachers, students, parents in order to share appropriate materials and information. The funding for her position this next year is in question at present and the BPO input will be essential in finding solutions to maintain the library assistant’s position in these times of budget crisis.

We can’t thank you enough for your continuing generosity and support of the library and its programs. With our continuing partnership, our students will certainly develop into lifelong readers!

With warmest regards,

Robin Ludmer                                     Kitty Nemechek

Teacher-Librarian                                Library Assistant