Valley View Newsletter: New PTA Board, New Teacher and More

Ideas! 

This week's meeting PTA meeting on Wednesday, August 29 at 8:05am in the VVE Library will be devoted to IDEAS! Please come to this special meeting to share your ideas and brainstorm ways our PTA can make more money or spend more wisely, provide more services or just more fun!

Thank you to everyone who came to the 1st PTA meeting of the year last week. We introduced the board and talked about committees where you could get involved and make a difference. We went through an overview of this year's planned events and programs, budgeted expenses and fundraising goals, and overall expectations for this school year. See Events Calendar and Budget.

Be sure to turn in your PTA Membership forms into the office, or come to any PTA meeting to drop them off. Also, don't forget your Directory form and Volunteer Opportunities form. Valley View parental involvement is part of what makes our community so special. So take a moment and fill out your forms for the PTA, and turn them in to the office. If you need forms, see the office, or come to a PTA meeting on Wednesday mornings.

Thanks everyone, and see you at Wednesday's IDEA Meeting!

Bonnie George

Valley View PTA President

Coming up this Tuesday is our annual Back to School Night. Please be on time to meet in the Auditorium at 5:30pm with Principal Kim. Then proceed to your child's classroom for a presentation by their teacher. If you have more than one child, you can then move on to your next child's classroom where each teacher will repeat their presentation.

Congratulations on a great start to the new year and the new fundraising campaign.

In just two weeks our families have donated over $8,000 to Valley View Elementary School's Annual Fund Drive!

Money raised from the Annual Fund Drive supports the PTA's funding priorities that include Library Services, Teaching Aides, Field Trips and Assemblies, and Campus Upkeep. In the midst of massive LAUSD budget cuts, the Valley View PTA has voted to make these services a priority.

 While we have made great strides in just two weeks, please know that in order to continue funding these PTA Support Programs we must raise a total of $58,000 by the end of the school year.

Learn more about the upcoming fundraisers and how you can get involved by attending the PTA meeting on Wednesday, September 5 at 8:05am that will focus specifically on fundraising.

Lucie Murray

Fundraising Chair

Hundreds of local and national companies will match your donation dollar for dollar. Here is a list of just some of the companies that have Employer Matching Programs:

AIG

Amgen

AOL

Bloomingdale's

Comcast

Edison Int'l

GE Foundation (NBC Universal)

Getty

Google

Hallmark

Macy's

Nestle USA

Sony

Time Warner (Warner Bros)

Universal Music Group

Verizon

Wells Fargo

Yahoo

If you are not sure, please ask your Human Resources department. And remember, you can also ask your family members too. If they are interested in donating, Valley View may receive double the initial donation.

The matching program is an easy way for Valley View PTA to raise the funds it needs to maintain its wonderful programs, reduce class size, and hire additional staff/aides. 

HOW TO START THE PROCESS...Get a matching gift form from your employer's Human Resources department, fill it out, and include it with your donation form. 

Any questions? Contact Lucie Murray at fundraising@valleyviewelementary.org.

Thank you to everyone who supported Valley View through the Target GiftCard giveaway! Target reached their donation goal early and has closed the program, but not before Valley View reached over 150 votes! Thank you so much to everyone for the quick response which reaped such simple and sweet rewards.

There are so many other painless ways you could give which would help our school, year-round.

Tuesdays --Valley View is being offered a special offer from our local Panda Express at 3728 Cahuenga Blvd in Studio City. EVERY TUESDAY between 1:30pm and 9pm, go to the local Panda Express and show your Valley View PTA card (or just say you're a Valley View family), and Panda Express will donate 20% of all your purchases to Valley View! At any other time, show your Valley View PTA card and receive a 10% discount on your purchase.

ESCRIP -- Many merchants and restaurants donate a percent of your purchases back to Valley View PTA. Participating merchants include Vons, Bristol Farms and Sephora.  For step-by-step instructions on how to sign-up,click here. 

BOX TOPS -- Collect Box Tops from your favorite products including Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Ziploc, Kleenex, and Hefty. For each Box Top collected we earn $.10 for our school. Please turn in your Box Tops to the main office.

TARGET -- Shop Target with your Target Red credit card, and sign up for the Take Charge for Education Program. Valley View receives a percent back for your Red Card purchases.  This is in addition to the 5% you receive back by using your Red Card.  Click here to sign-up. 

We'll have info to come on other programs throughout the year. Thank you for your continued support!

We live in a large virtual world, and Valley View has stepped into it with both feet this year.

You've already signed up for our newsletter. If you missed last week's, see here. 

Don't forget to check our website calendar for updates on what's happening at Valley View. 

You can Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter @ValleyViewES. 

Stay informed! Get involved! We can't do all that we do without YOU!

Valley View PTA received Runner-Up in a nationwide contest in PTO Today magazine for Outstanding Family Events 2011-12!  

We entered 2 events for consideration.

Pajama-Rama is our first event of the school year and the kick-off for Book Fair (which supplements our Library). At this evening event, everyone comes to school in their jammies for animated readings of children's books, topped with hot cocoa and cookies. The event itself is good old-fashioned fun, and it brings us together for the first time each school year as a community to work together.

Spring Fling is our big off-campus festival in April, and one of our biggest fundraising events as well the biggest use of volunteers of the school year, bringing our entire community together. You'll hear much more about that as time goes by. 

Our events have long been a source of community pride, and now we have some fun bragging rights!

Congratulations to the entire school: students, parents, faculty and staff of Valley View, who make our events so special!

Bonnie George, President, president@valleyviewelementary.org 

Lucie Murray, Executive Vice President, fundraising@valleyviewelementary.org 

Mike Szymanski, Vice President, vicepresident@valleyviewelementary.org 

Robin Coles, Treasurer, treasurer@valleyviewelementary.org 

Ariane Price, Secretary, secretary@valleyviewelementary.org 

Kelly Cole, Historian, 

historian@valleyviewelementary.org 

Caroline Pinkey, Parliamentarian, parliamentarian@valleyviewelementary.org 

FIVE QUESTIONS 

JUAN SALMERON

My name is Juan Salmeron. This is my sixth year teaching within Los Angeles Unified School District and first year at Valley View Elementary. Aside from teaching third grade, I have also taught first, second, fourth, and fifth grades. Before coming to Valley View, I worked at several other schools: Mariposa-Nabi Primary Center (1st and 2nd grade), Hobart Boulevard (4th and 5th Grade) and Queen Anne Place (1st Grade) Elementary. My favorite subjects are Writing, Math, and Technology. 

 Q1: Where were you born?

JS: I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California.

Q2: What is your favorite color?

JS: My favorite color is dark blue.

Q3: What do you do in your free time?

JS: I love spending my free time with my family and organizing my garage and home. 

Q4: What is your most treasured possession?

JS: My wife and son are my most treasured possessions.

Q5: What was your first car?

JS: My first car was a black 1989 Nissan Maxima. I bought it from my uncle when I got my first job.