Every Child, One Voice

Dear McGaugh Families,

The PTA will soon be selecting its Board and Committee Chairs for the 2011-2012 school year.  There are a variety of positions available and truly every person and position makes a difference.

We would personally like to encourage you to get involved with the PTA by taking a position or volunteering for a committee next year.  At McGaugh, the PTA positions are selected through self-nomination.  Everyone has an equal opportunity to participate.  On the attached page you will find a list of positions.  Please take time to review these positions and determine which may be a good fit for you.  Please feel free to contact current President, Tom Motter, or current Parliamentarian, Elena Osti, should you have any questions about any of the positions.

The PTA is the oldest child advocacy organization in the United States.  The rights of children and opportunities for children continue to be the highest priorities for the PTA on local, state and national levels.

We look forward to having you be a part of McGaugh PTA and to another successful year.  Please join us for our next PTA meeting on Thursday, February 3^rd, in the Auditorium.

Thank you for your support!

Elena Osti, McGaugh Elementary Parliamentarian

Project SEEK is Almost There

CALL TO ACTION

January 23, 2011 

McGaugh Families:

The Call to Action continues.  As we enter the last week before we must forward fund to the district, we remind you all that there is still time to make a donation to help Project SEEK maintain the media center and computer lab at McGaugh Elementary School.

Thank you to all the generous families that have already donated.  Due to your contributions, we are pleased to announce that we are just over half way to reaching our goal of raising $40,000.00 to save these important enrichment programs.

Remember no donation is too big or too small, every penny counts, so please make a donation today.  Donations can be dropped off in the school office or mailed to Project SEEK at PO Box 626, Seal Beach, CA 90740.

Dining for McGaugh

DINING FOR MCGAUGH

PRESENTS

On Tuesday, January 25th, Chronic Tacos will donate 20% of the profits to our school. Print your flyer and stop by for some food and fun between the hours of 3:00pm and 7:00pm. Chronic Tacos is located at 6602 E. PCH in Long Beach (in the same plaza as Whole Foods, PetCo, and Mimi's Cafe). Tell your family and friends and don't forget to bring your flyer. You won't want to miss their delicious signature tacos!

Help Bring Back the Sea Lion Mural

   

Cadette Girl Scout Troop 674, on behalf of The Sea Lion Fund, will be selling McGaugh Rocks! shirts and Sea Lion decals between January 24th and February 4th.  All proceeds and donations will go directly to The Sea Lion Fund and will be used to have the Sea Lion Mural repainted on the front and back of the McGaugh Gym.

Seminar for Parents and Grandparents

The Los Alamitos Child Development Center and School Readiness Program will be sponsoring a seminar for parents and grandparents at the District Office on February 23rd titled "Raising Responsible Kids" featuring Dr. Darrell Burnett.  Check the attached flier for more details.

Help Send Them Off

We Need Temperature Takers for Outdoor Science School!

Prior to leaving McGaugh for OSS, our 5th graders must have their temperatures taken. We need 10-15 volunteers on the morning of January 24th immediately after dropoff to assist.  It should only take 30 minutes if we get enough volunteers.

Please respond to Anjie Whitman Asap if you can help. Thank you.

Reflections Gallery Tonight

Please Join McGaugh "Reflections" Winners at the

Los Alamitos District Reflections Gallery

 Friday January 14, 2011

McAuliffe Middle School

Multi-Purpose Room

4112 Cerritos Avenue

7 pm- 8:30 pm

Please join us and enjoy the creativity of McGaugh and other Los Al District students who have received an award for "Reflections".

"Reflections" is a national PTA program that celebrates art and encourages students to explore their artistic talents. It recognizes them for their artistic efforts in dance, film production, literature, musical composition, photography and visual arts.  The contest is held nation-wide from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Each year, more than 500,000 students participate!  This year at McGaugh, we had 34 students participate and 9 student entries were advanced to the next level of competition.

Join us tonight at McAuliffe and celebrate our creative students!

Michelle Samuelson

2010-2011 Reflections Chair

Project SEEK Needs Your Help

 

McGaugh Families and the Seal Beach Community-

As you are all aware, McGaugh Elementary School provides a wonderful learning environment – an educational community complete with a fully equipped media center, an art lab, and a hands-on computer lab.   We believe all of these are an essential part of the well balanced education that we all want for our children.  Unfortunately, state and district budget cuts are threatening the continuance of these vital programs.  WE NEED YOUR HELP!  Please do not let our computer lab and media center close.

We would like to encourage you to help keep McGaugh Elementary the first-rate school our community has come to expect. A five-time winner of the California Distinguished School honor, we are proud of the academic excellence our school demonstrates on a daily basis.

For the past 17 years Project SEEK (Seeking Educational Excellence for our Kids) a non-profit fund-raising foundation has raised money to support school enrichment programs.  This year SEEK's fundraising has not produced enough money to continue to fund the credentialed teachers in the art lab and media center and the two computer center and media center aides that it has funded in the past.  We are $40,000.00 short of our goal!  With the joint effort of PTA, the McGaugh community and the local Seal Beach community we are hopeful we can reach our goal and continue to provide these programs for our children. 

So, how can you help right now? Please donate to this worthy cause.  No dollar amount is too large or too small, every penny counts.  We are hopeful that with your help our children will continue to enjoy the incredible education they deserve.

Thanks in advance for your support. We know the children of McGaugh will appreciate your donation too.

Sincerely,

Christie Berg                                                    Tom Motter

President, Project SEEK                                  President, McGaugh PTA

Letters Home to Parents and Students

January 6, 2011

Dear McGaugh Families,

As you may know, the salaries of many of our enrichment staff, including the art and media Center teachers, are paid by Project SEEK, our school fundraising group.  In order to fund these positions, the Board of Education asks that the money for next year's salaries be set aside for forward funding by February 1^st of the current year.  This year, in spite of numerous fundraisers and generous donations from our families and community members, we find ourselves short of the money required to fully fund all of our current positions.

The total amount needed to fund all the current positions at McGaugh (two teachers and two instructional assistants) is $136,000.  Last night, at a joint meeting between Project SEEK and the McGaugh PTA, it was reported that Project SEEK could forward fund $80,000 of this total.  PTA generously offered to contribute, contingent on a vote by the membership.  Additionally, the school can set aside $15,000 from this year's budget to support this cause.  This still leaves the school $40,000 short of the total needed to fully fund all the positions in the media center and the art lab. The impact of this shortage would be the closure of Media Center for two days a week due to a lack of staffing. 

In the next week, you will be receiving information from Project SEEK and PTA as we try to collect the additional $40,000 needed so that our media center can continue to operate five days a week with qualified staff to support the instructional program.  I cannot stress enough how vital our art and technology programs are to our students.  Research continues to validate the importance of arts education programs and their positive impact on creative problem solving, spatial reasoning, and confidence.  Moreover, technology and media fluency are increasingly prerequisites for access to higher education and meaningful employment. 

I encourage you to consider making any donation that your family can afford during these challenging times. Given our current state budget, it is evident that in order to maintain art and technology programs at McGaugh, and in other California schools, we will have to support these vital programs as a community.

Our community has been amazing in contributing to our enrichment programs in the past and for that we are all most grateful. I hope that you can find it possible to contribute to this year's final push to fully fund our art and technology programs. Please watch for more information from Project SEEK and PTA.

Sincerely,

Daryle Palmer

Middle School Visits

Attention 5th Grade Parents,

McAuliffe and Oak Middle Schools will be hosting Parent Tours and Parent/Student Social Dates in February.  The tours are an excellent opportunity for parents to visit classrooms and to learn about instructional and extra curricular programs.  This social event is a pleasant time for the parents and students to visit one or both of our middle schools.  Some classrooms, the computer labs, the media centers, and the technology centers will be open.  For more information, including dates, times, and who to contact, please read the attached flier.

Motion for School Gift

At this morning's PTA Membership Meeting, an important motion was made that will be further discussed and voted upon at the next PTA Meeting on Thursday, February 3rd.

The motion was made for PTA to gift to Project SEEK up to $34,609.  This gift would then be used to assist in securing the Forward Funded Positions for the 2011-12 school year.  The school has four such positions, including the Art program instructor, the credentialed Media Center instructor, and two Media Center/Computer Lab aides.  You will be hearing a lot about the Forward Funded Positions in the coming weeks as Project SEEK strives to meet their financial goals, and a contribution from the PTA would assist them but not fill the gap completely.  To date, the PTA Membership has voted on and gifted $7,600 for the purchase of 16 new computers using gift funds carried over from last year.  If the motion is approved and the full amount is gifted to Project SEEK, no other school gift is likely for this school year.

Chinese Language & Cultural Enrichment Program - Updated

The Los Alamitos Educational Foundation's Language Enrichment Institute will be offering beginning level Chinese/Mandarin Language Classes beginning in February.



Attached is a flier with more information as well as the registration paperwork if you are interested.

PTA Membership Meeting Tomorrow

Please join us tomorrow for our first PTA Membership Meeting of the new year!  We have some important issues to discuss, including a report from Principal Palmer on the status of the Forward Funded Positions (Art Lab and Media Center) for the 2011-2012 school year.