Dear Palo Verde Community,
As the 2021-2022 school year draws to a close, we wanted to take a moment and reflect back on this year.
As some of you may remember, the PTA was reassembled in late October. The new board had to scramble, get our budget approved and start planning out events even under the shadow of the pandemic.
Remember the temperature checks, the vaccination registrations, the requirements to keep the masks on, the events that had to be held in the Mitchell Park Center? Thankfully all of that feels distant. We are grateful for our wonderful volunteers who showed up even in those trying times and helped us with the events. Thank you also to the parents who brought their children out to the events and showed their support & encouragement. So, went the Marionette show, the Spelling Bee, the Math Festival, and the Math Kangaroo. We also managed to pull off a beloved school tradition – the Ice Skating Party at the Winter Lodge.
And before we knew it, it was already February. We realized we didn’t have enough funds to set up the 2022-23 board for success. We had to appeal to your generosity and are grateful for all the donations and the matching funds that helped us exceed our target. As of May 20th, we have $64,007 in the bank. This money is going to help us provide art/science and classroom supplies for our kids, buy books for our library, fund field trips and organize events that hopefully become a part of our children’s fond memories.
In the midst of all of those activities, several parents stepped up to scrub our school tables, volunteer at our COVID clinic and helped us weather through a surge. Thank you for responding to the OnePaloAlto call!
We then had the Book Fair in March – the kids enjoyed picking up books at Linden Tree. We constructively conveyed our need for buses to Greendell. Then came our first on-campus event in 2 years, the Science Festival – hooray!! It was also time to elect our new board. Huge gratitude to the incoming 2022-23 board for stepping up.
Then came the International Fair in May- what a turnout!!! Thank you to all the parents & family members who made our campus buzz with a special energy. 300 children attended the fair & learned about the different cultures that come together in our campus. We also had several bike safety training sessions and signed petitions to help our streets be safe & bike friendly.
With mask mandates, health scares, children & parents adjusting to being on campus after a year of “distance/hybrid” learning, dealing with all the external stress and still making our school a place our children go to with a smile – the past year has asked a lot of our teachers. Our Room Parents decked out our campus in style, organized for flowers & cards from the children to show our gratitude for our teachers. Teaching is indeed a work of heart and our teachers are all heart!
The 4th & 5th graders had a fun trip to Academy of Sciences and the Alcatraz respectively. Aren’t such experiences what makes school years one of our best memories of our lives? Our 5th grade promotion event is just around the corner. Eagles 2021-22 – soar high and know that community will always be rooting for you!
A huge shout-out to our group of room parents. You made all the special days extra-special with crafts and treats for our children & teachers. Thank you for your work!!
Huge thank you to Annora, our teachers & staff and all of our children at Palo Verde Elementary for a heart-warming assembly to thank the PTA. You make all of our effort worthwhile.
We thank all of you for your support, friendship, generosity and encouragement. We could not have pulled off this year without you.
With much gratitude for being a part of this community,
Signing-off,
Your PTA Exec Board for 2021-22,
Abraham, Crystal, Molly, Naama, Rakhee, Steven, Sudipta, Suju, Vani & Vishal