Welcome Back!

I hope that you and your families had wonderfully relaxing and fun summers! I know getting back into the swing of things can be difficult, so I wish you all an easy-as-can-be transition into the new school year! Personally, I am not looking forward to getting my four boys, grades 4th, 3rd, 1st, and Kindergarten, up and out of the house by 8:00! I am however, looking forward to what I know will be a great school year ahead as the PTO Executive Board, Mrs. Mirrione, and all of the teachers at Franklin, have been working hard to create an excellent year. Mrs. Mirrione and the teachers will inform you about all that they have planned at Back to School Night on Wednesday, September 14th at 6:30 pm. Here is a snapshot of what the PTO has planned so far, and I promise, more to come!

• 1st ever Welcome Back BBQ on September 23rd from 5:00 to 7:00. Grab a picnic blanket and come join friends on the Franklin field for one last BBQ of summer! Towne Deli will be cooking hot dogs and hamburgers for us; all you need to do is buy your ticket online at www.myschoolanywhere.com and show up! Tickets are $15 per person; 3 or more people maxes out at $40 and children under 5 are free. Each ticket includes dinner and entertainment. We have a DJ and karaoke lined up as well as (and I might regret this!) a Dunk Tank where you can dunk me and maybe some teachers! To end the night right, an Ice Cream truck will arrive at 6:30.
• Three Assemblies for our children. In October, our children will explore the three states of matter and challenge your ideas of hot and cold as we introduce matter to liquid nitrogen. In November, author Audrey Veronica will visit and shortly thereafter, in the winter, our children will hear poetry put to bluegrass music. We are hoping to add another assembly as well!
• 4th and 5th Grade Musical! It’s a musical year and we couldn’t be more excited about the new approach we are taking. The PTO has found a team of professional theatrical teachers who will run the main parts of musical so that us parents can do the fun parts! We are finalizing the musical now…stay tuned!
• Favorite Annual Activities. The Book Fair, Holiday Shop, Movie Night and Franklin Fair are all set to return! Per your feedback, we are also looking into adding more community events like a Special Person/Daughter Dance or a Bingo Night.
• After School Enrichment Opportunities. The Chess Club and Crazy 8’s are all set for this year; read the weekly email blasts for details. We are also looking into doing a short After School Enrichment program in the winter. Stay tuned!
• Paper Directory! I know this isn’t an activity that we planned, but it is something we know everyone wanted! Yes, the paper directory is coming back. The online directory will still exist as well. Please make sure to update or confirm your information at www.myschoolanywhere.com so that when we go to print later this month, all information is accurate and every family is included. Please contact Kim Leonard at kimkleonard@gmail.com if you have questions.

All of these activities are made possible by your PTO Memberships and our fundraising events. We know there is a desire to minimize fundraising and are working towards that (as a start, this year we eliminated the Holiday Plant Sale) but need your help to do so! Please make sure to join the PTO by clicking here for membership dues. The more dues we collect, the less fundraising asks!

Our School Volunteers also makes these activities possible. We are grateful for all who have volunteered so far and are still looking for a few more volunteers. Please sign up here to volunteer or contact Betsy Flaim at elizabethflaim@yahoo.com to express your interest. No amount of time you can give is too small!

Lastly, please bookmark the PTO Website www.FranklinParents.com on your phone, your computer, your i-Pad, your whatever-electronic-device-you have! We updated the site over the summer to ensure it offers as much information as possible for parents and will be utilizing it more and more for communications as well as sign-ups for activities! We are trying to go paper free to make sure to read the weekly Email Blasts about anything we have up on the website!

I am very excited about the year ahead and I look forward to seeing all of you on the 1st day of school! When you are there, make sure to stop and enjoy the Franklin Falcon footprints; thank you to everyone who made the new walkways possible and helped to create better gathering places for our children! If you missed out, no worries, we will be offering the opportunity to buy more bricks again this year!

All my best to you and your family,

Sheila Cheney
PTO President
smccraith@hotmail.com