General PTA Meeting

GENERAL PTA MEETING: December 7th, 2011, 9:30 a.m. in the Faculty Lounge.  All PTA members are invited to attend. We will be discussing the Nominating Committee for this year and hope to vote in the members of that committee by the end of the meeting.  If you know of anyone that may not have time to be on the PTA Board next year, but would like to serve on our Nominating Committee, please contact Mindi Barker 801-768-2222 for more information. The time commitment is minimal and mostly involves making phone calls. Thank you! :) Mindi

Minimal Monday

• Minimal Day
• A Track - 8:00am-12:30pm

B Track - 9:15am-1:45pm
Kindergarten AM - 9:15am-11:15am
Kindergarten PM - 11:45am-1:45pm

Patriotic Week

Thunder Ridge PTA

This week is Patriotic Week, so please talk with your children about the activities that will be going on. (Mindi) Here's what to expect:

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    Thunder Ridge PTA MONDAY: Students will receive numbered wrist band that will be called throughout the week for fun prizes. They must have on the wrist band to win. (Mindi)

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    Thunder Ridge PTA TUESDAY: Students will be writing letters to Soldiers from Utah who are currently serving overseas.

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    Thunder Ridge PTA WEDNESDAY: There will be a side walk chalk contest outside (weather permitting). Each class will create a patriotic scene. The winning class will earn a cookie party on Thursday.

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    Thunder Ridge PTA THURSDAY: Soldiers will come during lunch recess to help the kids do a fun series of exercises and activities.

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    Thunder Ridge PTA FRIDAY: Veteran's Day Assembly. It will be a wonderful time to honor those who have or are currently serving our country. (Mindi)

Event Dates

Box Tops!!  Next Friday, October 28th, is the fall deadline for turning in Box Tops for Education.  We are trying to collect as many box tops as we can and are teaming up with Riverview Elementary to see who can earn the most money for their school!  Please collect all of your box tops and have your children turn them in by the 28th.  There are baskets in all of the classrooms or you can turn them into the office. 

Reflections Reminder!  Reflections entries are due on October 28th.  The theme is "Diversity Means . . . " so if your children have created some type of Music, Photography, Visual Arts, Literature, Dance, Theatre, 3D, Film and Video, please have them fill out an entry form (located across from the office) according to their grade level and turn it in.  NO entries will be accepted after October 28th. Please email Darcey Williams at darceywilliams@hotmail.com if you have any questions. (Mindi)

Wear GREEN Day!

Tomorrow is "Wear Green" day for Green Ribbon Week. Please remind your children to wear Green and to turn in the Safety pledges that were sent home today. The green ribbons that were on the pledges are great for backpacks and car antennas.  We hope to see LOTS of green tomorrow! :)  Thanks! Mindi

Busing for Sunrise Meadows

I have had a number of people ask about busing for Sunrise Meadows and when it will end.  Mr. Theler contacted the District today and they said we will be bused through next week. Starting October 24th we will no longer be bused and will need to make other arrangements for our children. (Mindi)

Lunch with Mr. Theler

Congratulations to Noah Vanderstappen who had lunch with Mr. Theler today from our FB "Likes" contest.  He was joined by his mother and little sister and was as happy as could be! :)

SO Much Fun!!

The Auction was SO much fun last night!  Thanks to everyone that came and everyone that donated items - we could not have done it without you.  We raised $3,433 and are very pleased.  We are still a little shy of our goal, so if any of you would like to make a flat donation to our PTA, we would gladly welcome it.  You can turn it in to the front office and let them know it is for the PTA.

I am going to see if I can get some pictures from Mr. Theler to put up on the blog, so that you can all see what a fun night the auction ended up being.  Thanks to Sheryle Coray for organizing the entire event and thanks to Jamie Thayne for being her right hand man.  Also, thanks to EVERYONE that helped in any way with food, decorations, getting items donated, etc!  I am very grateful for ALL of your help!!

Mindi

Auction Correction

Dear Thunder Ridge Parents,

I have received feedback, regarding our PTA Auction, expressing concern over the bidding of playing a College fight song at the school each Friday throughout the year.  In an attempt to make the auction fun and lively, I have encouraged BYU and Utah fans to rally together to participate in a bidding war of sorts to raise money for our childrens’ programs.  I enjoy the local rivalry with my BYU and UTAH friends, however I respect the feedback I have received, asking that we not introduce that rivalry into the school setting.  While most of the interactions involving the Utah/BYU rivalry are light-hearted in nature, there are instances when feelings get hurt and contention results.  Therefore, we have decided to pull this item from our auction.

There are over 100 other amazing items that we will be auctioning off this Friday, October 7^th, 7:00-8:30 p.m. at Talon’s Cove and I hope you will plan to join us for this fun, adults only, event!  This is a great opportunity for you to do Christmas shopping, Birthday shopping, Baby shower shopping and all other kinds of shopping while helping support the students of Thunder Ridge.  Many volunteers have put countless hours into making this night successful and ALL of the money will go directly to school programs and activities.  This is the only fundraiser our PTA has planned for the year so we encourage every person with a vested interest in Thunder Ridge students to please come and join us.

Thank you for all of your support!

Mindi Barker

CRAZY SOCK DAY!

Tomorrow (September 30th) is "Crazy Sock Day" for Spirit Days so don't forget to have your kids wear crazy socks and/or school colors!

Quick Clarification!!

The Cold Stone Celebrity Scooper night with Principal Theler is TONIGHT..WEDNESDAY September 28th at the AF Cold Stone from 7-8:30pm!! See you there!!

Make Up Picture Day and Cold Stone Celebrity Scooper Night

Reminder: Tomorrow, September 29th is Make Up Picture Day and Cold Stone Celebrity Scooper night.  Mr. Theler will be at the Cold Stone in AF to scoop up ice cream from 7-8:30 p.m. - just one more excuse to spend time with your family :)

Green Ribbon Week Volunteers

I am in need of volunteers to help with Green Ribbon Week! We will have a "walk to school" day on Wednesday, October 19th. You would help when the buses and students arrive and leave school and help with the traffic flow. It should only be about a half hour to an hour of your time. The time are 8, 9:15, 2:15. & 3:30. I would love as many people as I can get for each time. Thanks, Kiley Wing (Safety & Welfare Commissioner)

Book Fair Volunteers Needed

Our Fall Book Fair is next week!  And I still need people (lots of people!!) to help as volunteers at the Fair.  Please click on the link below and sign up for a time slot to come help.  Please contact me, Talya, at mamaloohoo@gmail.com if you have any further questions.  I’ll be at the Fair most of the time so I can help you know what to do if you’ve never done book fair before.  It is so much fun---hope to see you there! 

link>>> Book Fair Volunteer Sign Up Sheet <<<link

6th Grade Raptor Reading Date

The 6th Grade Raptor Reading Date (formerly known as Donut Date) will be one week from today on Friday, September 30 at 9:15 a.m. - this was originally scheduled for September 2nd and had to be rescheduled.  We just received this new date and hope you will help us spread the word.  If you know anyone with a 6th Grader at Thunder Ridge, please encourage them to come and read with their child next week!  Thank you! Mindi

(For more details about the Raptor Reading program, please read the description on the right hand side of the blog.)

Thunder Ridge Auction - Adult Night Out :)

Our Thunder Ridge PTA is starting a new, fun, tradition for all adults, with a vested interest in Thunder Ridge Elementary.  PTA offers amazing programs for students of all ages and being that we are a new school the PTA cannot run without raising money.  Our Board has decided to make this fundraising opportunity an enjoyable one, at an impressive location, where you can come and bid on fabulous items for you or your children while eating wonderful desserts, hanging with friends, making new friends, and out-bidding your competition to win what you want . . . in other words, I'm personally going to rally a bunch of BYU fans to win the "Cougar Fight Song" being played on the school intercom every Friday for the entire school year and if a bunch of UTE fans try to outbid us, so their fight song will be played, you can rest assured that auction will be a lively battle to the finish.

There will be many silent auction items, including class baskets from all of your students' teachers and each of those auctions will end at different times so that you will be able to bid on more than one item if desired.  Toward the end of the night we will have a live auction for some of the bigger items and you will definitely want to stick around to be a part of that.

We hope all of you will consider joining us for this event!  We know that times are difficult for many of us and spending the extra money may not be in the budget, but we would appreciate seeing as many people there as are able to come.  You can come alone, come as a couple, come as friends, come with Grandma and Grandpa, come with a neighbor, but PLEASE come.  You may find that there are items you would purchase anyway that now you know your money will be used for supporting children's school programs.  We appreciate your support and since this is our only PTA fundraiser for the year, we hope it will be the greatest success!

Thank you!

Mindi Barker

Thunder Ridge PTA President

Take Home Reading Library

We are in need of volunteers to help in the Take Home Reading Library at ThunderRidge Elementary.  We are looking for volunteers who are willing to come in for one hour a week to help switch out books.  You are welcome to bring younger children with you. 

 

We will begin sending books home with the 1st and 2nd graders on October 3rd.  We are excited to have a brand new take home reading library for our students to use.  This is a great program but it cannot be run without the help of great volunteers!  If you are willing to help, please email our take home reading coordinator atJaime.Hutchings@gmail.com. 

 

Thank you!

 

Andrea Durrant, Education Commission

Jaime Hutchings, Take Home Reading Coordinator

Reflections 2011 "Diversity Means . . . "

Parents and students it's time for the annual PTA Reflections program! For 40 years the Reflections program has encouraged the Arts in school.  The theme this year is "Diversity Means...". Registration forms are available in the front office and a complete list of rules can either be found in the front office or online at www.utahpta.org.  All entries need to be turned into the front office no later than Friday, October 28th. Nothing will be excepted after this date!! Any questions can be sent to our Reflections chair, Darcey Williams atdarceywilliams@hotmail.com

Minimal Mondays

"Minimal Monday" is a creative solution the district came up with to provide professional development for teachers in spite of the fact that the state drastically reduced funding for professional development. 

• Track A students come from 8:00-12:30
• Track B students come from 9:15-1:45
• AM Kinder runs from 9:15-11:15
• PM Kinder runs from 11:45-1:45

"Minimal Monday" will occur four times this year--Sept 26th, November 14th, February 13th, and March 26th.  While the students do leave about an hour earlier than they usually do on a Monday, this time allows the staff to engage in professional development activities from 2:00-5:00 and the district only needs to compensate the teachers for one hour of contract time (a teacher's contract hours are 7:30-4:00). This time is very valuable because it allows all of the staff to be together for a significant period of time to discuss student learning.

Jason Theler
Principal, Thunder Ridge Elementary

Fingerprinting and Background Checks

Hello Parents,

Many of you have desires to volunteer in the classroom. We are so grateful for your service and excited about the things we can accomplish with your help. However, circumstances in this day and age require that we be cautious about who has access to your children. Therefore, you may be asked to complete a background check or fingerprinting in order to work with children at school. Just so you are aware, a background check will quickly tell us if someone has any recent illegal activity. This costs $15 and can be completed in the office of Thunder Ridge. Fingerprinting will give us a more comprehensive history, including illegal activity that happened long ago or in a different state. This costs $40 and must be completed at the district office in American Fork. Here are the guidelines about who needs what level of clearance:

• All employees have a background check and fingerprinting as part of the hiring process.
• Anytime volunteers will be working with students in a location away from teacher oversight, they NEED to complete a background check.
• If a volunteer is simply helping in the school, but will not work with students in a location away from teacher oversight, they DO NOT need to complete a background check.

I hope this helps clarify any questions about this issue and communicates to you another example of the care and concern we have for your child's safety. We love having you come and volunteer and hope to see you at Thunder Ridge on a regular basis!

Sincerely, Mr. Theler



Mr. Theler also said that if you are not sure whether your past background check is still current, please contact Kathy Loveridge (school secretary) and she will let you know.  If there is no record, you will have to pay the $15 to have another background check.

Thunder Ridge School Website

Hey Everyone,

The school website is up and running - Yea!!  You can go to: http://thunderridge.alpineschools.org/ to see all that Mr. Theler has done.  There is a link to this blog as well, so now you can easily go back and forth to find out all the information you need.

Yippee!

Mindi

Day of Play

This was just sent to me from Utah PTA, in case any of you are interested.

http://www.pta.org/wwdop-online2.html

Mindi

Vision Screenings - Volunteers Needed :)

VISION SCREENINGS. I just found out this morning that the school nurse needs some PTA volunteers to help with vision screenings this Wednesday (14th) from 9:00 a.m. - lunch time (around 11:15 p.m.). If you are willing to help, please go to this link to sign up,  comment here or email me at byusportsfanatic@yahoo.com. Thanks, Mindi

Spirit Days

Spirit Days starts tomorrow! Be sure to have your children wear school colors as the main color of their shirt or pants and they will help their class be eligible to win the Spirit Days Trophy for the week. Also, their name will be put in a drawing for prizes at the end of the month. Go Raptors!

Speech and Hearing Screenings

We still need two volunteers to help with the Speech and Hearing Screenings tomorrow, September 6th, from 9:10-11:45 a.m. - If you are able to help, please email me at byusportsfanatic@yahoo.com

Thanks,

Mindi

Back to School Night

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT is next Tuesday, September 6, from 5:30 -7:00 p.m. - Meet in the gym for a quick introduction from Mr. Theler and a short PTA General Meeting (to introduce the board and vote on the budget for the year). Then attend your children's classes (four 20 minute sessions) to find out what to expect for the year. You can order t-shirts and sign up for PTA as well. Hope to see you there!

(Parents are encouraged to leave children home, if possible.)

AUCTION DATE CHANGE!!

Hi Everyone!

As you may have noticed, the date of our PTA Auction has changed from September 30, 2011 to October 7, 2011.  We discovered that the BYU v. Utah State Football Game was on September 30th and we knew that would affect our turnout!

PLEASE mark your calendars for October 7th and plan to come for a very enjoyable night out with adults!

:) Mindi

Room Moms Needed!

We are looking for Room Moms for:

Schimdt-1st grade

Pita-2nd grade

Tucker-2nd grade

Smith-3rd grade

Smith-4th grade

Ghato-6th grade.

If you have a student in one of these classes, please consider volunteering as a Room Mom - or Dad :)  You can double up with another parent and be Co-Room Parents if you like.  It’s a lot of fun and the teacher's appreciate it immensely!

If you are thinking about being a Room Parent and are not sure, please join us at our Room Mom Social, tomorrow (Sept. 1), 3:15 pm, in the teacher’s lounge.  You will have an opportunity to meet with your teacher one-on-one and can ask what they expect for the year.

Thanks for being willing to volunteer!

Saratoga Ballroom Team

Mr. Theler asked me to post the following information. Looks like a lot of fun!

Come Join the Saratoga Ballroom Team

-Make New Friends

-Learn Cool Dance Moves

-Perform For Your School

-Enjoy a Team Experience

-Build Your Confidence

-Have Fun With Your Friends

-Open to 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th Graders

-Boys and Girls Team Sport

-Girls are guaranteed a spot on the team if they recruit a Boy to join the team

-Classes taught by experienced Coach:  Julie Peterson

Thursdays 3:40 to 4:25 in Saratoga Shores Gym      ONLY $40 PER STUDENT FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR

Start Date:  In September TBA soon    Location:  Saratoga Shores Gym

Register by Friday Sept. 9^th – Pick up your registration form from the School Office

Questions Contact:  Heather Kuntz, PTA Ballroom Coordinator  801-766-8841  heather.kuntz@gmail.com

Room Mom Social

If you are a Room Mom for one of our fabulous Thunder Ridge teachers, please join us this Thursday, September 1st for a Room Mom Social. We will be meeting in the Teacher's lounge at 3:15 p.m. for a visit with the PTA Room Mom Coordinator, Julie Spencer, then the teacher's will join us at 3:30 p.m. You will have the opportunity to talk with your teacher one-on-one and find out all the exciting things you will be involved with this school year and of course there will be dessert.

Hope to see you there!

Mindi

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!

What an EXCITING day!!! So many new faces smiling as they walked into their NEW school with NEW classes..NEW teachers..NEW Hallways..NEW Classrooms...NEW friends to meet...That all help make for a WONDERFUL and NEW school year adventure for our Thunder Ridge Raptors!!

Hot Dog Hello

Our first Thunder Ridge Open House was on August 19, 2011 and was a great success.  The halls were filled with excited parents and children.  The teachers welcomed everyone with the same excitement and Mr. Theler was amongst us all.  We hope you all had a great time!

School Shirts

If you would like to order school shirts for your kids, or for yourself, order forms are in the front office. If you turn them in by this Friday, August 26th, you will receive your shirts by Back to School Night (September 6th). There will be one more order taken at the end of September, so act fast if you want them fast! Shirts are $8, sweatshirts are $16, and PTA shirts (ladies shirts) are $10.

Bus Routes

Here are the bus routes for the Sunrise Meadows Subdivision.  These are only temporary for the first several days of school. Mr. Theler will let us know when they will be discontinued.

Kindergarten Noon:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B0rIrHYVIr3zOTdlMjQ2NjItMmFjZi00MGUxLTk5ZmMtNzFmY2VjMzQ1Yjc1&hl=en

Bus 1:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B0rIrHYVIr3zOGQ3Y2IxYjEtYWM0OC00NmFmLWI2ZjMtMGMyNTYzYTYwOWNi&hl=en

Bus 2:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B0rIrHYVIr3zZDlhYzdlYjctOTExMy00NjQzLWIxY2YtNjRlMzQ2ZmViZGVh&hl=en

Bus Routes

We are working on getting the bus routes up for Sunrise Meadows.  Thank you for your patience.

Faculty and Staff

The Faculty and Staff lists that are on the right side of this blog are subject to change. If you see any mistakes, please know it is because the faculty list is not final and I am not going to change my lists until Mr. Theler gives me the final list. :) Mindi

More Free Meal Options

WE have decided to add two other free meal options for the Hot Dog Hello. If you bring something to donate for our PTA Auction in September ($10 value or above) you can receive a free meal OR if you donate a themed basket of items to be auctioned off at our auction you can receive free meals for your entire family.

Our PTA is in charge of so many programs and activities that your children love, but we are starting our with very little money and need to raise funds to run our programs. Our PTA Board has decided to have an Auction in September that will be a fun night for all aduls with opportunities to bid on fabulous items. We are currently collecting donations for the Auction and NEED as much help as we can get. If you know of anyone that is willing to auction off a service or an item, please contact Sheryle Coray (801-836-9963 - corayfam@gmail.com). If we don't raise money for our PTA we will not be able to do things like:

1. Raptor Reading

2. Spirit Days

3. Red and Green Ribbon Week activities

4. Patriotic Week

5. Family Week

6. Reflections

7. SEP Dinners for our wonderful teachers

8. March Madness Math Minute to Win It Night

9. Super Bowl Read-a-thon competition with Riverview

10. Talent Show

11. AND MUCH MORE

We are SO excited to get Thunder Ridge up and going and are so appreciative of all the help we have received and will yet receive. It's going to be an awesome year!!

:) Mindi

Open House "Hot Dog Hello"

Our School Open House is Friday, August19th, from 4-6 p.m. It is going to be a "Hot Dog Hello" so you will be able to come check out the new school, meet your teachers, and feed your family a quick hot dog dinner. The dinners will be $2 a meal and will include a hot dog, chips, and water bottle. If you join PTA you will get a free meal, so if both parents join, you get two free meals and can feed your family for a great deal!

PTA membership is $6 and allows you to vote on PTA issues/elections/budgets AND have a voice at General membership PTA meetings. If you sign up, you are NOT required to volunteer and will NOT be hounded by myself or my board. Your membership will just help us carry out our programs for the year and will give you the opportunity to volunteer if you would like. We welcome you all!

Facebook Contest

Thunder Ridge Parents! Help us spread the word about our Thunder Ridge PTA Facebook page and your kid(s) could win the chance to EAT LUNCH with Principal Theler!! When we reach 150 "Likes," we will do a random drawing of one lucky parent and his/her kid or kiddos will get to eat lunch with Principal Theler sometime during the first week of September.

*Winner must have at least one child attending Thunder Ridge Elementary during the 2011-2012 school year!

Meet and Greet Family Picnic

Here's some photos from our Meet and Greet Family Picnic.  Mr. Theler brought a happenin' sound system that the fabulous back door neighbors let us hook up to their outlet since the park had no power.  The teachers had balloons tied to their clothing with their names and grades on them and the kids enjoyed otterpops and playing on the playground equipment.  It was a great night!