Vote For Devo School Site Council Parent Reps

Monday, May 14 through Friday, May 18

Under state law, every public school in Massachusetts must have a Site Council made up of the principal, parent representatives elected by the parents in the school, teacher representatives selected by the teachers in the school, and community representatives. The Site Council assists the principal in identifying the educational needs of the students attending the school, reviewing the annual school budget, and formulating the school improvement plan. The Devotion School Site Council is 4 parents, 3 teachers, and 1 community representative who meet regularly with the Principal to achieve these objectives. The current parent representatives on the Site Council are Pam Katz, Tom Downes, Dena Sacco, and Paige Scott ­Reed. Tom and Pam will be completing their terms in June, leaving openings for two parent representatives starting a three-year term in September.

We have four candidates for the two parent representative seats: Karen Hsu Blatman, Diana Nygren, Michael Toffel, and Maria Luisa Victoria.

Vote online via our Survey Monkey ballot, or by paper ballot, available in the Main Office. One ballot per Devotion parent/guardian.

Voting will take place from Monday, May 14 through Friday, May 18. The new representatives will be announced in the Weekly Update on Monday, May 21.

Questions? Contact DevoPTO

Cradles to Crayons Clothing Drive - EXTENDED

Last day of collection: Friday, May 18

Cradles to Crayons is a Boston nonprofit that provides homeless and low-income children with the essentials they require to thrive - to feel safe, warm, ready to learn, and valued. Brookline schools, churchs, synagogues and other organizations are joining together to collect much needed essential clothing for more than 6,000 children in our area. Devotion will be asking its faculty, students, and families to reduce, reuse, and recycle new and like-new kids' items by donating them to Cradles to Crayons.

Items needed include:

• clothing (sizes: newborn—18/20 and Adult S, M, L)
• winter coats & boots
• shoes (sizes: infant—Adult size 10, socks & underwear (new only)

If you would like to get involved with the organization, please visit Cradles to Crayons. For specific questions about the Devo cothing drive, please email: Maya French, Sarah Hough, or Laurel Sgan.

Think Cake

for Calkwalk during Carnivale on June 11 (or raindate)

This is the 5th annual Cakewalk and this year we want to have 175 cakes donated to the event. In order to achieve this goal, we need your help. Please email how many cakes you can promise to bake or purchase for the Cakewalk. By the end of the week we will post Baking Tips.

Baking Pan Sale For your convenience, the week before Carnivale, we will be selling 9x9 and 9x13 baking pans with a matching protective cover (for easy transport). Sold for $5 in most stores, we will have it available for $1. Watch for an email blast.

FAQ

Used Books Lollipops Swap

Tuesday, May 22 at 2:20pm in the lobby

Bring your used book donations to the lobby on Tuesdays after school and we’ll give the kids a lollipop to thank them! Your donated books will help ensure that every student leaves the Big Book Bazaar with a great book. We are especially in need of chapter, teen and young adult books. Sorry, we can’t accept baby/board/pre-K/reference/adult/activity/travel/hobby/cooking books. E-mail with any questions.

Teacher and Staff Appreciation Day

May 24

If you're new to Devotion, this is an opportunity to provide breakfast and lunch items to the hardworking Devotion staff, throughout the school day. Parents can help by making a favorite breakfast or lunch dish or purchasing something and dropping it off at the Teacher's Lounge on the morning of Thursday, May 24 (or the afternoon of Wednesday, May 23 if that's easier). We are also looking for a bunch of volunteers to devote one hour throughout the day, to help staff the Teacher's Lounge. We will need people for the following shifts:

7:30–8am Set up
10:30-11:30am
11:30-12:30pm
1-2pm Clean up
Food will be available to the staff from 8am -1pm.

Consider bringing one of the following: quiche, bagels and cream cheese, smoked salmon, fruit salad, cheese, smoked salmon, veggies, cold cuts, salads of any kind, rice dishes, Asian food, Middle Eastern food, fruit drinks or flavored water, desserts, etc. Everything is appreciated, but dishes that include a protein source are particularly popular. Questions? Contact Amy Mayer

Volunteer Opportunities

PLEASE HELP: VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR SPRING CARNIVALE ON MONDAY JUNE 11 (Support our Smart Boards)
Spring Carnivale will be held on Devotion's back field on Monday June 11, from 3-8 pm (rain dates are June 12 or June 14). We need 150+ volunteers once again to help manage the many rides, games and serve food. Don't miss the fun and the memories as we wind down from the school year. Last year’s proceeds directly supported the purchase of new Smart Boards and this year’s funds will continue to fund the continued rollout of SMART Board technology for the classrooms (hopefully, 40-50% of classrooms will have them after this year’s Auctions/Carnivale)!
Contact CIndy Tungate to volunteer. Please let us know what times you would be available and if you are available all three days or just one or two. The Carnivale time slots are 3-5, 5-6:30 and 6:30-8. We also need set up volunteers between 11 and 2.

AFTER HOURS U is looking for parent volunteers to lead short-term or long-term workshops related to math and/or science. If interested in volunteering or to learn more, contact Daniel Lipton.