Fundraising

Food Days – Session 2 (April 5-June 21, 2013)

/ Ross Road PAC

Food Day ordering is now open for Session 2.

  • We will be ordering using MunchaLunch, www.munchalunch.com
  • There will be 9 Food Days between April 5 and June 21. The deadline for ordering is Friday, March 8 at midnight. Parents must order for the ENTIRE SESSION (9 food days) as ordering will not be open again for the rest of the school year.
  • We have added wraps to the Booster Juice days, and you will now have the option to order baguette sandwiches and salads on pasta days as well.
  • You can refer to the bottom of this notice for a complete list of lunch themes for this session.

PLEASE NOTE:
APRIL 12th: MR. LAM AND MR. HAAG’S CLASSES AT BIGHOUSE
MAY 3rd: FRENCH GRADE 7’S ON FIELD TRIP.

The last day to place your order is Friday, March 8 at midnight.

Please scroll down to the bottom of this post for a complete list of lunch themes for this session.

HOW TO ORDER:

MunchLogo95x95

  1. Click on the green Munch a Lunch logo above, or go to the Munch website: www.munchalunch.com
  2. First-time users  must create an account by clicking here. After registering, you will be taken to the My Children page to add children to your family account.
  3. Follow the easy steps to “Create my Account” and proceed to “Order Lunch!”
  4. As a returning user, click on “Login Here” using the same email and password and proceed to “Order Lunch!”
  5. Return anytime by going to: MunchLogin.com or via the bright green Munch a Lunch logo
  6. Please remember to click “ADD” after choosing lunch items in each menu before clicking next menu or your food items will not be added to your order.

Click here for more information about ordering through MunchaLunch.

ORDERING DETAILS:

  • Online ordering will be OPEN until Friday, March 8 at midnight.
  • If you need assistance with your lunch ordering, or do not have access to the Internet, please contact Wendy Ross at jwrosshome@gmail.com

PAYMENT DETAILS:

  • All payments must be received either by credit card/paypal through the MunchaLunch website or by cheque made out to Ross Road PAC and inserted in the PAC drop box in the school foyer no later than Wednesday, March 13 or your ORDER WILL BE CANCELLED. No late payments will be accepted. If possible please pay at time of ordering.
  • If you don’t receive a reminder email the day before each food day confirming your child’s lunch please contact us as your order may not have been processed.
  • Please double-check your order and review it with your child so he/she knows exactly what you’ve ordered for them each food day. Often children come to us confused thinking they were meant to receive food, but in fact their parents just didn’t order for them. We usually do not have any extra food to give out.

***PLEASE NOTE: If your child is ill on a lunch date, you are welcome to come to their class at 12:10pm and pick up their lunch but we cannot keep the food for them. Consistent with previous years, there are NO REFUNDS as this is a PAC fundraiser. We appreciate your support for our hot lunch program as the funds go toward general fundraising within the school.

Our thanks to the Ross Road parent community for supporting this important fundraiser and to our wonderful volunteers who help make this program a success!

Lunch themes for Session 2:

  • April 5 – Sushi
  • April 12 – Pinkberry frozen yogurt
  • April 19 – Subway
  • May 3 – Booster Juice Smoothies and Wraps
  • May 17 – Verdicchio Pasta, Baguette Sandwiches and Salads
  • May 31 – Flying Wedge Pizza
  • June 7 – Sushi
  • June 14 – Subway
  • June 21 – Pinkberry frozen yogurt

Update – iPad use in Ross Road classrooms

/ Ross Road PAC

Dear Ross Road parents,

Last year the Ross Road PAC decided to fundraise for iPads as we felt it was paramount to get more IT (Information Technology) into the classrooms. The reality is that there is a significant lack of funding for IT from the North Vancouver School District. Here is a summary of how they are currently being used in the classrooms:

  • They are consistently being used in both the primary and intermediate grades for various purposes and and in different ways.
  • Some teachers are utilizing them with their buddy classes and having the older students work with with their younger buddies on specific activities such as math games and watching science clips to support learning.
  • Other teachers are using Safari to explore on-line educational sites for research projects such as social studies. In particular, several teachers have had great success using the iPads for math drills and mapping skills.
  • The NASA app is excellent and popular.

An IT committee of teachers has been established to provide education and information on iPad use and apps. Each month at a staff meeting they provide a presentation for staff. The North Vancouver District also provides educational camps which include some instruction on using iPads in the classroom.

Of course with any new technology there is a huge learning curve as well as challenges that that are continually being worked out. Ross Road teachers continue to learn and experiment with this new technology to further enrich and support our children`s education.

— Ross Road PAC
rossroadpac@gmail.com

ipad_rossroad

Count-down to the 2013 SPELLATHON on Thursday!

/ Ross Road PAC

spellathon_heartsOnly one more day to go!

SPELLATHON Schedule

  • Monday Feb. 4th:  SPELLATHON parent letter, word list and pledge sheet go home with students. (If you did not receive a SPELLATHON package, click here to download a PDF version.)
  • Feb. 4th to Feb. 14th:  Seek pledges.  Practice words at home.
  • Thursday Feb. 14th:  TEST DAY!
  • Friday Feb. 22nd:  SPELLATHON scores will be sent home. Collect pledges.
  • Thursday Feb. 28th:  Return pledge money by this date.

If you have any questions please email Janice Sardari at j_blok@excite.com

Thank you Ross Road families for supporting our Valentine’s Day SPELLATHON!

– Ross Road PAC

Ross Road SPELLATHON 2013

/ Ross Road PAC

spellathon_heartsIt’s SPELLATHON time! Please check your kids’ backpacks for a letter, pledge sheet and word list about this event.

We hope you will enjoy the beautiful Valentine-themed words.  Please practice these words with your child and help them collect pledges for the event.

The funds raised by this year’s event will be directed to updating the library to help ensure its relevance within the new BC Education Plan (see http://www.bcedplan.ca/assets/pdf/bc_edu_plan.pdf).  The new plan calls for going beyond the four walls of the school to the world; to that end, we would like to purchase a projector and computer to be permanently stationed in the library for the purposes of led and collaborative research and to replenish/supplement the books.
 
The Schedule

  • Monday Feb. 4th:  SPELLATHON parent letter, word list and pledge sheet go home with students.
  • Feb. 4th to Feb. 14th:  Seek pledges.  Practice words at home.
  • Thursday Feb. 14th:  TEST DAY!
  • Friday Feb. 22nd:  SPELLATHON scores will be sent home. Collect Pledges.
  • Thursday Feb. 28th:  Return pledge money by this date.

If you did not receive a Spellathon package, click here to download a PDF version.

Thank you Ross Road families for supporting our Valentine’s Day SPELLATHON.

If you have further questions please email Janice Sardari at j_blok@excite.com

Wealthy Schools Revolution update

/ Ross Road PAC

The Ross Road PAC has decided to discontinue our participation in the Wealthy Schools Revolution grocery delivery fundraising program at this time.

The WSR organization is emergent and continuing to develop its offerings and policies. Should future developments to the program make it more amenable to Ross Road’s needs, this decision could be revisited.

Thank you to all parents who have participated in the WSR – and other fundraising endeavours – this year. Your support makes our school great.

The Card Project was a wonderful success!

/ Ross Road PAC

As part of the Card Project, each student in participating classes made an original work of two-dimensional art and had it made into a professionally printed greeting card. Each family was then able to buy boxes of these personalized Christmas cards! How cool is that?

We had a tremendous response in card orders and Ross Road raised $1,000!

It was exciting to see such a variety of beautiful cards that can be shared with family and friends. Scroll down to see a selection of student art – one piece from each participating class.

Thank you to those students, staff and parents who participated by supporting this new fundraiser.

And thank you to Deborah Clegg, who spearheaded the project and managed it with great enthusiasm and professionalism!

—Ross Road PAC

Ross Road PAC awarded $3000 grant

/ Ross Road PAC

We are pleased to announce that our school was awarded a grant for $3000 in October of this year.

S’Cool Life Fund supports D.R.E.A.M.S – which stands for Drama, Recreation, Extra-curricular, Arts, Music and Sports.

The PAC applied last February for a combined grant covering 6 new guitars to make up a full set to be used for Intermediate grades, and choir risers. It will be exciting to see those risers being used in the upcoming Christmas concerts!

We are currently considering the focus of our next application which will be due in May 2013 for the new school year 2013-14.

–Ross Road PAC Executive

Christmas Craft Fair 2012 – an amazing success!

/ Ross Road PAC

DRUM ROLL PLEASE..

…we made an astonishing $10,000 at the Craft Fair!!! We believe this is a record number and we can all be very proud of ourselves in being part of such an amazing community event. The Christmas Craft Fair  is one of our major fundraisers for the Ross Road community and all proceeds will go to make the school a better place for all of our kids! See below to learn more about how PAC dollars are spent.

Class reps and parents, you truly outdid yourselves with the class baskets this year. They alone raised $3,786! Congratulations to all the lucky raffle basket winners!

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Thank you for all of you who volunteered – behind the scenes and/or at the fair – we couldn’t have done it without you! We count ourselves as extremely lucky to be working with such a committed bunch of people. Thanks again for contributing your amazing energy, creativity and hard work to make this such a successful Craft Fair.

And thank you to everyone who came out on November 30th and bought raffle tickets, food, drinks and crafts, and contributed to the amazingly festive atmosphere of this year’s Christmas Craft Fair!

Have a wonderful Christmas holiday – enjoy the well deserved time off with your family and all the best for 2013.

—Bettina & Desiree
Christmas Craft Fair Committee and the PAC Executive
rossroadcraftfair@gmail.com

 A NOTE ABOUT FUNDRAISING AT ROSS ROAD SCHOOL

WOW! We made so much money at the Christmas Craft Fair! Ross Road parents ROCK!!!

So what is the PAC going to spend all that money on? Most of the money will go towards covering items already in our budget and some of it will likely be saved up for a rainy day or a special purchase yet to be decided on. (All potential purchases above $300 will be put to a vote at a PAC General Meeting, so as parents at Ross Road, you will have a direct say on what we spend the money on, if you come to the General Meetings. The next one will be on January 30, 2013. Exceptions to this are the items already in the budget, which was unanimously approved at the Annual General Meeting in May.)

Here are some of the things we’ve spent PAC money on in the past year or so and will be spending money on again this year as per our budget:

  • $3,000 donated to the school library (we do this every year) to supplement its rather slim annual budget.
  • Three theatrical / musical performances per year at school assemblies. Without PAC funding, there would be NO performing arts events at Ross Road! The School District does not fund these events!
  • Classroom Discretionary Funds: Remember that adorable Mother’s Day craft your child brought home last year? Or the special arts project? Or the new bookcase for the classroom? The PAC gives $200 to each classroom teacher to spend on whatever ‘extra’ they would like to do with their class each year!
  • Educational Speakers: Were you happy that Saleema Noon came out to speak to your child’s class about body science? Or that Jesse Miller came to speak to the intermediate students about internet safety and social media awareness? Or did you reluctantly go to the LICE 911 parent talk last year? The PAC funded them all. The School District cannot afford to put on these events.
  • Emergency Preparedness: Did you give a toonie for emergency preparedness this year? Thank you! That money goes towards emergency food items. On top of that, the PAC puts $500 towards emergency preparedness every year. It’s all stored in the large container at the back of the field.
  • Grade 7 Farewell: Did you know that the grade 6 parents always put on a fabulous reception for the grade 7 students and their parents on the last day of school? The PAC pays $600 each year to help make it amazing!
  • Environment Club: Have you seen the beautiful garden that the Environment Club has created next to the field? The PAC funds the Environment Club with $500 each year.
  • Bike-to-School Week: Did your children get their helmets checked and tried out the obstacle course? Did your child have fun biking to school and parking the bike in the new bike racks? The PAC funds Bike-to-School Week each year and recently purchased the three bike racks at the front of the school.
  • 30 iPads for student use. Students and teachers love them! The School District does not fund IT equipment for student use. If the PAC had not purchased the iPads and several sets of laptops over the past five years, the school would only have 25 laptops for 537 students — in total!
  • Items from the “wish list” that we asked the teachers for in May: levelled home reading books for all primary classes, new novel sets for intermediate grades, various art supplies and more. There was no money in the school budget to fund these items.
  • Sports Equipment: Did you ever see the hockey gear in the gym that was patched together with Duct tape? Or the old balls that couldn’t hold air? The PAC spent $2000 on new gym equipment two years ago. There was no money in the school budget for that!

The funds raised at the Christmas Craft Fair will help pay for all these items.

Without them, we would not be able to do all these things and our kids would miss out! So once again, THANK YOU very much for being such fantastically supportive parents in our school community!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Fundraising makes an important contribution to the vitality and growth of the École Ross Road School community.  Fundraising provides our school with the financial means to acquire and/or upgrade equipment, supplies, material and programs beyond normal assistance covered by the District and Province.  The additional funds are an investment in our school to enhance programs, policies and activities. Fundraising activities also provide a great opportunity for community-building. We like to have fun AND raise funds at the same time!

  • For more information about PAC fundraising at Ross Road School, click here.
  • To read more about the 2012 Craft Fair and view photos and the list of raffle basket winners, click here
  • If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, please contact the Ross Road PAC Executive: rossroadpac@gmail.com

Snacks and drinks for sale at lunchtime this Friday

/ Ross Road PAC

Drinks and snacks (potato chips and Pirate Booty) left over from the Craft Fair will be sold at lunch time recess in the lobby this Friday, December 7th!

Send a loonie or toonie with your kids on Friday if they would like to buy some fun treats! All proceeds go to the school.

Thanks,
Ross Road PAC

p.s. List of Raffle Basket winners and Craft Fair photos to come soon!

WSR Grocery Orders are Due!

/ Ross Road PAC

Have you noticed families leaving the school with cardboard boxes on Thursdays? Those are groceries! And up to 15% of every order goes right back to our kids’ school.

It’s a fundraising initiative called Wealthy Schools Revolution (WSR) that allows you to buy some of your everyday grocery items, at a benefit to Ross Road.

Until November 21st, you can still get in on the next order: click here to link to the WSR website.

This week’s sale section features Adam’s peanut butter and Annie’s roasted seaweed snacks. Both household favorites at our house!

You can also order holiday items – I found some nice stocking stuffers in the health & beauty section and purchased my requisite scotch tape in preparation for wrapping.

Questions? Email Tovah Paglaro at tovahp@mac.com

Happy grocery shopping Ross Roaders!

—Tovah Paglaro