Food Drive - A wonderful opportunity to teach children about giving back.

     The ECDC PCC is kicking off a food drive this month to support the
Franklin Food Pantry. As part of the PCC Community Involvement
initiatives, this donation opportunity offers families a wonderful way
to teach children about giving back.

      The collection bin is conveniently located in the ECDC front lobby and the drive will run until Thursday, December 17th. More information about the drive can be found on the attached flyer. You can also visit www.franklinfoodpantry.org to learn more about the Franklin Food Pantry.

Thanksgiving Placemats

   
             News from PCC Community Involvement Committee

     As part of ECDC PCC Community Involvement, this month the children were busy creating beautiful placemats for Franklin's Meals on Wheels (Tri-Valley Inc. Nutrition Program, for more information, click HERE).

     They had fun stamping, stickering and gluing 125 mats that were then laminated and delivered to the program to be distributed in time for Thanksgiving. Many recipients look forward to their placemats and keep them year after year! Here are some pictures of the great work that was done.

 

 

Minutes from PCC Meeting - October 2015

 

Francis X. O’Regan Early Childhood Development Center

Parent Communication Council

Meeting Minutes – October 19^th, 2015

  

CURRICULUM NIGHT – Thursday, October 22^nd

• Fall basket fundraiser:
  • Donations have come in for the baskets.
  • Raffle tickets will go home to families with fliers about the event (10 tickets per student).
  • Spirit wear table will be set up for the evening.
    • Jen to look into getting a tote with the new ECDC logo. Has contact with a supplier who appears to be cheaper than our current supplier. Once quotes have been received, order forms will go home to families.
  • Volunteers arranged to sell raffle tickets on the door, as well as to sell spirit wear.

RESOURCE LIBRARY

• Kelty has around $200 available from a grant to contribute to this.
• It was suggested that items be made available for families to borrow, as well as suggestions being available for books to borrow from the library.
• Jen offered to work with Katie to look into working on this project.

FUNDRAISING

• Yankee Candle:
  • YK now offers 40% of money made back to non-profits.
  • Information being sent home to families on November 1^st and will run for 2 weeks, with delivery before December break.
  • Items will be delivered to school and will need to be sorted to go home to families.
• Coupon books: We made $1125 on the coupon books, with $125 in direct donations.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

• Thanksgiving placemats: Scheduled to be delivered to Meals on Wheels on November 20^th.
• Food Pantry: Communicate to parents the week after Thanksgiving. Delivery to Food pantry scheduled for December 18^th.

OTHER BUSINESS

• The Cricut machine has been ordered.

PCC Meeting - All parents welcome

Calling all ECDC parents - PCC 3rd meeting 2015/16

 Our third PCC meeting is on Monday, November 16th, from 7 to 9 pm with an opportunity to socialize beforehand starting at 6:30. All ECDC parents are welcome to join the meeting, share their input and get to know more about our committees, volunteer opportunities, activities and events planned for this year, regardless of their ability to come to future meetings. Many of you have showed interest in volunteering, but more helpers are always needed and appreciated, keeping in mind our mission of enhancing the school experience for students and their families, as well as supporting teachers and staff.

 If you cannot make it to the meetings, this blog will help you stay in the loop. Visit it often to check for announcements of upcoming events, pictures of past events, meeting minutes, and to answer our polls, comment on the posts, read about the PCC's mission, activities and much more. Feel free to navigate previous posts in this blog. Here is a link to an introductory text about the ECDC PCC, its mission and activities CLICK HERE.

Below are the minutes of our previous meetings from this year.

Francis X. O’Regan Early Childhood Development Center

Parent Communication Council

Meeting Minutes – September 19^th, 2015

UPDATE FROM THE PRINCIPAL – Kelty Kelley

• Kelty has booked Elaine Kessler to come in and entertain the ECDC families during the Curriculum Night and asked if the PCC would cover the cost ($250). A vote took place and this was approved.

• In recent years, the PCC has allocated funds to the classroom teachers and specialists to help cover the costs of items purchased out of pocket. The PCC agreed to do so again this year at a cost of $100 per classroom teacher (6) and $50 per specialist (5).

• At the end of the last school year, the PCC had discussed purchasing a Cricut machine to assist the teachers in their classroom prep. At that time, a decision was put on hold pending further investigation. Kelty has found a suitable machine for $370 and asked if the PCC would fund this. A vote took place and this was approved.

CURRICULUM NIGHT – Thursday, October 22^nd

• Papa Gino’s: A fundraiser with Papa Gino’s is often done in conjunction with this event. The PCC agreed that this should happen again.

• Fall basket fundraiser:
  • The PCC discussed whether companies should be approached for donations and decided against this.
  • A flyer needs to go out to ECDC families soliciting fall-themed donations eg: candles, hand towels, decorations etc. If any family would like to donate a whole basket that would also be welcomed.
  • Volunteers will be needed to help put the baskets together the day of the event.
  • Volunteers will also be needed that evening to sell raffle tickets on the door, as well as to sell spirit wear.
  • Joanna L. needs to apply for lotto license (to hold raffle).
  • Families will be asked to bring in donations for the Franklin Food Pantry.

FUNDRAISING – Laura and Jim Laing (absent)

• The PCC discussed doing a big fall fundraiser in November and it was agreed that this should happen.
• Two and three years ago we did spring fundraisers with Yankee Candle that were very successful. It was decided that we should pursue a YC fundraiser this fall – encourage holiday buying. This could also be promoted at the Curriculum Night.

OPEN CHAIR POSITIONS

• Stefanie Kerner agreed to chair the Construction Committee (teacher prep help) and agreed to set up a Sign Up Genius to solicit volunteers.
• Jen McCabe offered to chair School Enrichment, as well as Spirit Wear.
• We still need somebody to chair Staff Appreciation.

NEW SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN – Kelty Kelley

• Kelty brought along the latest school improvement plan which she will be presenting at the next Franklin schools committee meeting.
  • One item mentioned was the funding of a parent resource library. This is something that the PCC will consider funding.

OTHER BUSINESS

• Randi Heiselmeyer, on behalf of the staff, thanked the PCC for the start of year breakfast that was organized for them.
• It was suggested that the PCC sponsor a beginning of the year “boo hoo breakfast” for new parents on the first day of school so they can meet other families at the school.
• Kelty would like to host two “coffee with the principal” events this year. These will take place while the children are in school and are another way of reaching out to ECDC families.

The PCC at Curriculum Night

   ECDC first Open House (Curriculum Night) is tomorrow, October 22nd, from 5:30 to 7PM. The PCC will be raffling off baskets of Fall and harvest themed items and each ticket will cost $2. Please consider buying tickets to help raise funds that will be used to enhance the school experience for our children as well as ECDC teachers and staff.

   Again this year, the PCC will be funding the performance of Elaine Kessler during the Open House. Make sure to enjoy her "Creative Expression Through Music and Play". www.elainekessler.com

We Need help for the Fun Fest

The ECDC PCC is sponsoring our annual Family Fun Fair on Tuesday, June 23 from 9:00-11:00 (rain date of 24th). We need some help in order to make this event a success. From 8:00-9:00 we need people for set-up of tents, tables, and fair items and at 11:00 we need help cleaning up and taking down tents. We are also in need of 7 pop up tents as it's typically a very hot day! Please click HERE to go to our sign-up-genius page, to volunteer and/or donate tents! Thank you in advance for your help!

Pictures of Teachers and Staff Appreciation Week

ECDC Night at Spruce Pond Creamery

Sign Up to join the PCC in 2015-2016 school year

With the end of the school year approaching, many of the chairs and helpers of the PCC are leaving their positions, as their children transition to kindergarten and off ECDC. We need your help for the 2015-2016 school year. We have created an easy method for signing up to one of the available positions. If you are interested, please click on the link below to start the process.


Sign Up Here

Many parents may hesitate to sign up, thinking they have tight schedules or younger children at home who demand constant attention. We understand that and we appreciate help in any possible way. Some volunteer parents prefer to help from home, others just lend a hand in one event, once a year. No matter how often, any help will contribute to enriching our children preschool experience. In fact, the majority of our volunteers cannot attend on a regular basis, but are willing to pitch-in and help whenever their schedule permits. To know more about the PCC, its mission, activities and commitees, check out this previous post:

PCC Purpose, Activities and Commitees

Hands-on... craft gifts for Teachers and Staff Appreciation Week

 Here are a few pictures of ECDC children making their gifts for the teachers. They are so excited and proud about the whole thing!

Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week

To show our appreciation to all our wonderful ECDC Teachers and Staff we have planned a week of events to say Thanks! (June 1-5)

If you are able, we would appreciate your assistance with monetary donations, food donations and/or volunteer time. (Any participation is appreciated and completely voluntary.) Coordinators will reach out to those that have signed up to discuss specifics: drop off of donations and/or volunteer opportunities. Please be sure to include your contact information. Thank you so much for your generosity and help in making this a great Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week for ECDC.

Here are some ways you can help:

•Monetary donations-Due by May 22 (please send these in your child’s backpacks, checks can be made out to ECDC PCC)

•Volunteer and/or donate snacks at SIGNUP GENIUS use this link: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/9040A4DADAC29A20-ecdc

Have questions? Please contact: Kimberly Frigon (Baree’s mom) 508-561-7157 or kimmy_pal@yahoo.com

Thank you for supporting the PCC and our students!

Minutes of PCC meeting (May 2015)

ECDC PCC MEETING MINUTES

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

• Treasurer’s report:

Balance as of 3/23/15        $5,426.36

Withdrawals:

 (teacher reimbursements, Pumpernickel Puppets

 Franklin Education Foundation, fundraising costs)        $2,072.00

Deposits:

 (fundraisers)        $1,156.00

Bank statement as of 4/19/15        $4,510.36

Ending balance as of 4/19/15        $4,422.83

Variance: teacher & PCC reimbursement             $87.53

Kelty asked if the PCC would be prepared to fund a new die-cut machine for the staff, at a cost of approximately $1500. It was decided that we would wait until June to decide and see how the bank balance looks then.

• 501c3 update:

• We are being asked to submit our articles of incorporation to proceed to the next step in the process, however we can probably submit the bi-laws.

• Staff Appreciation:

• Kimberly and Renée have set up a schedule for a week’s worth of events to take place during the first week of June. A letter and sign-up genius will go out by Friday May 15th outlining what will happen and how families can help out, with options for giving money, food and time – all contributions welcome (and optional)!

• June Family Fun Day:

• Many activities will remain the same as last year, with the exception of ponies (not doing), photo booth (adding) and having a dj and bubble machine (also adding).
• We will need tents to provide shade. A request will be sent out to families asking if they could lend us any.
• Julie anticipates spending a maximum of $600 on related costs.

• Next year:

• We still need a president, and other positions also need filling.
• Amy will send out a sign-up genius requesting volunteers for the PCC for next year and Kelty will forward this to incoming families.

• Other business:

• The Best Buddies program is paying for Elaine Kessler to come in and perform for the children on June 3rd and 4th.
• After the school year ends, Kelty will be running social groups for incoming preschool families to attend. The PCC will have a table set up so families can get information on volunteering for the PCC and purchase spirit wear.

We need YOUR help!

    The PCC at ECDC is always in need of volunteer parents to help with activities and project. Some parents may enjoy and be able to be part of the PCC Board, engaging more consistently in the organization of the projects. Nonetheless, other parents cannot take long-term commitments because they have tighter schedules or younger children at home who demand constant attention. We understand that and we appreciate help in any possible way. Some volunteer parents prefer to help from home, others just lend a hand in one event, once a year. No matter how often, any help will contribute to enriching our children preschool experience.
   We still have plans for the rest of this academic year, and need help with, for example, the Teacher Appreciation Day and the Family Fun Fair. If you are interested, please contact Amy Danahy at fischyswim@yahoo.com Other events and activities organized by the PCC this year were the park play date with prospective students, teacher reimbursements, kids coupon fundraiser, Autumn basket raffle, Elaine Kessler at open house, Thanksgiving placemats for nursing homes, Santa foundation, Valentine's for seniors, parent education workshop with Jeanine Fitzgerald, Pumpernickel puppets, spiritwear, lotto ticket raffle, sponsorship of 2 teams for Franklin Education Foundation trivia bee and the ongoing teacher prep with the construction committee. 

ECDC Purpose and How You Can Help

     Welcome to our blog! The purpose of the Parent Communications Council (PCC) is to enhance the family experience and to support the ECDC teachers and staff.  Take a look at the next post in this blog to see what events and activities were held by the ECDC PCC this year so far.

     Each month, the PCC meets to discuss and plan projects and special events. There are a number of specific committees and parents are always welcome to join the committees at any time. PCC meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:30 PM at the ECDC, with the exception of December. While we welcome and encourage you to attend, it is important to note that you do not need to attend the meetings in order to volunteer on a committee.  In fact, the majority of our volunteers cannot attend on a regular basis, but are willing to pitch-in and help whenever their schedule permits.

Here is a list of the committees in need of volunteers:

• The Cultural Enrichment Committee plans special events for the children at ECDC – usually it is a spring (March/April timing) event which takes place during the school day.  Previous years have included Rick Golden, Elaine Kessler, and Pumpernickel Puppets.  The kids and staff love the event(s) the committee puts together!

• The Blog Committee posts news from PCC and other material of interest to parent and caregivers, to help keep you in the know with regard to what’s happening at school.

• The Community Involvement Committee helps coordinate a number of great community events such as:  food drives for the Franklin Food Pantry; making holiday placemats for Meals on Wheels; working with the Santa Foundation during the holiday season; delivering Valentines at the Forge Hill Senior Center.

• The Fundraising Committee coordinates a small event in the fall and one larger fundraising event which takes place in the spring.  The fall event includes coordinating and creating gift baskets for raffle during the Open House in October.  Our larger spring event has included working with vendors like Mixed Bag Designs and Flower Power.  The money is used to support the teachers and staff and provide them with some “extras” that help enhance the educational experience of our children.

• The Spirit Wear Committee promotes school spirit and pride by ordering and selling ECDC logo apparel.

• The Staff Appreciation Committee and the June Family Fun Fair Committee each work to organize these end-of-the-year events that celebrate our teachers and our students. 

• The Construction Committee helps teachers get the class material ready, by photocopying, cutting, gluing, stapling, etc.

There are many ways to be involved and the PCC welcomes and encourages your participation! If you have any questions about the PCC at ECDC, please feel free to contact the Chair, Amy Danahy, at fischyswim@yahoo.com.  

Thank you for your interest in the ECDC - PCC!