Moira Brennan & Allison Gordon, co-presidents
Matt Blank, secretary
Tricia Davies, treasurer
Thank you for everyone who showed up to participate yesterday morning for the officer elections and discussion & vote on the preliminary budget for next year.
Here are the full notes from our meeting:
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Book those sitters for Saturday May 4, and come eat, drink, and be merry with the EVCS crowd. Your invitation is in the mail (thank you K-dad, John!), but in case you just can’t wait another second to purchase your Fiesta tickets, you can do so immediately right here.
Like to lend a hand to make this an even more successful event? We can use help in advance of the event (organize a raffle? Sell tickets in the yard?) and during (bartend for an hour!). Volunteer now! Or email volunteer coordinator Julie Endich (please put VOLUNTEER in the subject line).
Silent auction donations are rolling in (eco-lodge stay in Nicaragua, anyone?), but your ideas and your powers of persuasion are still most welcome.
We’d especially love to add more fine art pieces, body/mind services such as massage, destination hotels, and restaurant gift certificates. If you have a connection, or can make your own donation, let us know at events@evcsnyc.org. (Please put AUCTION ITEM in the subject line.)
See you May 4! Ole!
Next week is the start of standardized testing for the city’s 3rd through 5th graders. This means that in the last few months, a great deal of time has been spent on test prep, and there’s tremendous pressure on kids, teachers and families do well. If you’re a family about to go down that rabbit hole, we wish you all the best in getting through it in one piece!
While the PA has not, as a body, taken an official stance on the enormously complicated issue of testing, we are deeply concerned at the implications of increased high-stakes testing, and the ways in which it’s reshaping the learning environment and potentially threatening EVCS’s proudly arts-based, civic-minded curriculum. The PA will be forming a Testing Committee (if you’re interested in taking part, please email Jen Nessel.) Meanwhile, here’s a report from Jen on a meeting she and a few other EVCS parents attended Monday night at The Earth School.
From Jen:
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Anyone with a child at EVCS is automatically a member of the Parent Association, welcome to come to monthly meetings, and responsible for approving the PA’s annual budget. But much of the event organizing and fundraising — as well as decisions about what programs to fund — is spearheaded by the PA Executive Board, including elected officers and standing committee chairs.
Elected officers are the president, treasurer, and secretary. A vice-president may also be elected, or two people may be elected together as co-presidents. Each officer serves a one-year term, starting July 1; the term limit for each officer position is two consecutive one-year terms.
There is a great opportunity this year for parents who have not been a part of the Executive Board before to become much more involved in the Parent Association.
Here’s how the process works. Nominations for PA officers are being accepted now through the next general PA meeting on Wednesday, April 17 at 6pm. You can nominate any EVCS parent for any position — and you can even nominate yourself. Nominations will be officially closed during the April 17 meeting, and elections will take place one month later at the May 15 PA meeting.
You can submit nominations using the form distributed to all students; in person at the April 17 PA meeting; or using the online form below. (Descriptions of each officer position follow the nomination form.)
Our big spring Gala will take place on Saturday, May 4, from 6pm to 11pm.
There will be a live Flamenco Trio, dancing, DJ, Raffles, and a silent auction.
Appetizers and cocktails begin at 6:00, followed by dinner and desert. shootdigital, 23 East Fourth Street, 8th Floor.
It promises to be a festive and memorable event. We hope you can share in the fun in helping us raise money for our kids.
You are more than welcome to invite friends and family to join you at this event. Even if you are unable to attend, please consider making a donation at one of the support levels listed above. All proceeds go to the EVCS Parent Association, to make sure that programs including guest speakers, music, and drama will continue to be available for EVCS students.
From Moira, our indefatigable fundraising chair:
Dear EVCS Parents and Families,
I’m about to ask for your help, and for your money.
But before I do, I want to update you on the phenomenal success of our PA fundraising efforts to date, and to loudly and clearly thank you!
- With your cash donations and pledges, we have reached our goal for family contributions
- We also nailed our goal for the Fall Ball
- We exceeded our goal for the Jubilee and
- We are on budget, and on target for reaching our year-end goals.
As always, your generosity and engagement are what make this all possible. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Spring Gala — May 4
Now we’re in the homestretch with our biggest fundraising event coming right up, and we need your help on two fronts:
1. Planning committee volunteers
The Spring Gala needs hands! Can we borrow yours? You can help with decor, set up, clean up, food, sound, lights and more. To volunteer, please go to www.signupgenius.com/go/8050F4FAEA92EA31-evcs and select a task. Julie Endich will contact you once you’ve signed up.
2. Solicitation and/or donation of auction items
The Gala silent auction is the centerpiece of the event (with the exception of Bradley’s pole dance, which – rest assured – is on!). It typically raises around $10,000, or roughly 20 percent of the total PA budget … a fair chunk. To achieve this, we need your help soliciting items of value. And, not to be crass, but the higher the value, the better.
Think about your friends and neighbors…
As Kevin Bacon taught us, you are probably no more than six degrees away from some universally adored person, place or thing that could be a hot ticket in the auction. Identify who or what that might be and then, if you feel comfortable asking, go for it!Think about yourself…
Even better — are you a universally adored person, place or thing? Can you donate an item or service of value? We especially love auction items that come directly from the hands and hearts of our own community members.Think about The Man…
Would you employ your proven charm and obvious beauty to make a cold solicitation from a corporation or major established business? Many have entire departments set up to deal with these kinds of requests. The Man is literally waiting for your call!We are open to all your ideas. Here are a few general categories to inspire:
- Extraordinary Experiences A walk-on in a Broadway show! Barefoot grape stomping in Napa! Survivalist boot camp! A sail on New York Harbor, or any harbor!
- The Body/Mind Bliss Spa packages! Surf lessons! Meditation retreat! Herbal-remedy immersion (I don’t even know what that is, but it sounds awesome!)
- Kid Focused Birthday-party packages! A week or two of Lego camp! Sleepover party at a museum! A visit from a magician just for you!
- Family Friendly Tour of the White House! Yankees tickets (yeah!)! Mets tickets (boo!)! Tickets to Cirque du Soleil!
- Beauty and Fashion Outrageously priced age-defying face cream! Finely tailored designer togs! Those shoes! Yes, those ones…!
- Food/Wine Romantic dinner for two! Bottomless ice cream cone! Wine-bar gift certificate! A CSA membership!
- Services Life coaching sessions! Financial planning! House cleaning! Babysitting gift certificates!
And whatever else you can think of that sounds thrilling and auctionable…
Solicitation Forms
Please see attached letter and donor form, which provide you with all the info you need. If you have questions, email me at events@evcsnyc.org with AUCTION QUESTION in the subject line.That’s it!
With your friends, your talent, and your willingness to ask total strangers for freebies, the Gala will be a big success and our fundraising year will close out with wins across the board.Thank you in advance for your help!
Moira Brennan
EVCS PA Fundraising Chair
Should have gotten this out right away, but you know how it is? More after the jump …
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If you can help get items/services/etc to be auctioned at our Gala in May — thank you! You should download this letter and donor form; the letter helps explain what you are doing and why; the donor form should be filled out by the donor or solicitor (that’s you) and returned with the item being donated (when applicable) to Moira Brennan, or email to events@evcsnyc.org.
First of all, many thanks to those of you who have already filled out your parent survey–a high rate of return on these surveys has a real impact on our school’s annual “Progress Report,” and gives us a lot of information about where things at EVCS are working well, and where they need improvement.
RIGHT SURVEY, WRONG LETTER: A few of you have brought to my attention the fact that the letter accompanying the survey is directed to parents of 6th-12th grades students! Indeed, the wrong letter was appended to our schools’ surveys. But the survey honchos at the DOE have informed us that the survey is the same for all schools, regardless of the grade level. So as long as your child’s name is on the survey material, please go ahead and fill it out!