Showing Appreciation For Our Crossing Guard

Ms. Sonya with her handmade card

Here at Dan Mills we feel strongly about honoring ALL the people who help our school run smoothly ... and our crossing guard, Ms. Sonya, is no exception! Dan Mills' parent, Elizabeth Sullivan, spearheaded an effort to collect money from parents and gift something to our steadfast crossing guard for Crossing Guard Appreciation. And boy did you all come through! We were able to raise more than $500!!

Families gifted Ms. Sonya with a beautiful, homemade card and a gift card in the amount raised. She was very grateful for the surprise gift. And we are so glad we could show a tiny bit of appreciation for all that our crossing guard does every school morning and afternoon.

Thank you to all the parents who contributed money, the students who signed the card and Ms. Holt and the art department for designing the card.

Ways To Help Our School Amidst Budget Cuts and Spending Freezes

As most of you have probably already heard, MNPS has proposed an adjustment in the budget and allocation of funds to individual schools for the 2018-19 school year. The district has also immediately instituted a hiring, travel and purchasing freeze at schools in light of a $7.5 million shortfall for the year.

I'm not here to discuss the ins and outs of MNPS budgeting, though you may read about it on The Tennessean here: "How the upcoming Nashville public schools budget proposal will impact your child's school" and "Nashville school board members call for a review of expenditures in light of $7.5 million shortfall."

Dan Mills' PTO is dedicated to supporting our school in whatever way possible so that our students, teachers and administration can thrive. So here are some things you, the parents of Dan Mills, can do to help our school.

• Reach out to your child's teacher and ask if there's anything they need in the classroom to get through to the end of the year.
• Attend our Spring Auction fundraiser on April 19. And bring your wallet! ;)
• Volunteer in the classroom. Talk to your child's teacher and see if they have tasks they need help completing.
• Get involved with the PTO.
• Gift your child's teacher with an Amazon gift card or another gift card to a school supply store.
• Attend our PTO Live! meetings to see where else you can plug in.
• Tell your teachers "thank you."
• Donate to the PTO - contact us if you'd like to. The funds collected by the PTO directly go back to the school to fund such things as increased security measures, computers, teacher supplies, literacy kits, teacher requests, and all kinds of other things.

Have more ideas? Share them in the comments!

You Got It? We'll Take It!! A Call For Auction Items.

Do you own a business? Do you provide a service? Do you have a talent? Do you know someone else who has any of these? Do you have access to cool people - artists, musicians, etc.? Do you not have any inhibitions and can ask people for anything?

If you answered yes to any of the the above, then by golly tell us! The PTO is still collecting auction items for our Annual Spring Auction. It can be a gift card to a restaurant, teaching guitar lessons, providing electrical work, really cool memorabilia (you know, for anyone who is tied to the music business ... wink, wink), babysitting services, or anything you can think of that people might want. We also need volunteers who can go door to door to local businesses and ask for donations.

We're determined to make this auction the best one yet! Proceeds from this fundraiser will hopefully go towards security measures AND help offset yet more budget cuts at Dan Mills.

If you have items to donate to the auction or want to help solicit more auction items, contact Jen McCarter.

East Nashville Chiropractic Donates to Dan Mills PTO!

In December East Nashville Chiropractic, owned by Dan Mills' parent Kathleen Inman, set a goal of raising $1,000 for Dan Mills Elementary. Well, they met that goal!! At Tuesday's PTO Live! meeting Kathleen presented us with a check for $1,000. 

Thank you East Nashville Chiropractic! It is because of local businesses like you and the great parents we have that we've been able to build a fantastic PTO to support our wonderful school!

Adults (left to right): Kathleen Inman, Dr. Sanders, Paula Howell

A few clarifications on fundraisers

There quite a few fundraisers going on right now at Dan Mills. We know! And while none of these current fundraisers are "PTO fundraisers," we know there have been a lot of questions about them and wanted to get some answers for you parents. So here are details on the school staff contact who is responsible and the deadline for each of the three fundraisers going on right now:

1. Snackin' USA Fundraiser - Principal Yates sent a letter home about this one. It was a fundraiser secured at the beginning of the school year by the main office to help offset budget cuts. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Dan Mills Elementary. Deadline for orders is TOMORROW, February 7. 
2. St. Jude Math-A-Thon - This is a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Hospital. School contact is Mr. Edwards and deadline for donations is this Friday, February 9.
3. Jump Rope for Heart - This is a fundraiser for the American Heart Association. School contact is Ms. Willliams. There will be a school-wide event on Valentine's Day, February 14, and fundraising ends on Friday, February 16.

Hope this helps clear some things up for everyone.

Everyone Crushed the Dragon Dash!

Our Dragon Dash fundraising officially ended and it far exceeded our expectations! Our school goal was $20,000, but thanks to all the students, parents, teachers, volunteers and administration we more than surpassed that goal, we crushed it! Coming in at over $34,000!!

This money has allowed the PTO to award $175 to every teacher in the school, including specials and exceptional ed teachers. What a gift for all the teachers who do so much for our students! And, of course, the money raised was already earmarked to help purchase literacy kits and more computers for the computer lab.

The day of the Dash was no small event either. So many students in all grade levels ran their hearts out. We were so excited to see students participating in such a healthy event AND having fun with it! We heard several students saying what fun they had and that they wish we could do it again. Well, don't you worry ... this will be a repeat event next year for sure!

On your mark. Get set. Let's Dragon Dash!!

Dragon Dash fundraising kicked off on Friday, September 15. The PTO hosted a fun and entertaining pep rally at the school for students and teachers, and race packets were sent home with every child. Make sure to check out the Dragon Dash section of the website for how to get started.

Our total school goal is $20,000. If every student raises just $50 we can meet that. Better yet, we can surpass our goal if you raise more! Proceeds are benefiting teachers in their classrooms, funding new computers and purchasing literacy kits for classrooms. And we get to raise the money all while promoting a healthy lifestyle. Everybody can win! 

To make it even more fun, we are offering all kinds of individual goal incentives, daily raffle prizes for students bringing in donations and team rewards. The very TOP earner in the school will even win an Amazon Kindle! Check out more of our awesome incentives here.

Thanks to Emily Masters and her dance students for coordinating the cheer and dance portion of our pep rally.

After School Clubs

We are excited to announce that Dan Mills has even more after-school clubs for the 2017-2018 school year! We are officially accepting registrations now until Thursday, September 24. 

School club registration is now closed. For questions or concerns, please contact us.

Kicking Off the 2017-2018 School Year Right!

We had a stellar turnout at our first PTO Live event this past Tuesday! And we're excited for all the amazing things we're going to do this school year. It's going to be the best year yet! Starting this fall out with awesome events like the Songwriters in the Round, Dragon Dash fun run and, of course, our ever popular Dragon Jubilee. Some really fun after school clubs are kicking off this year too!

Read the PTO's first newsletter of the school year here to get updated on all things shared at our first meeting.

And, stay in the know! Make sure you're signed up to receive all our newsletters!

Dragon Jubliee - Tips for making the most of it!

Dragon Jubilee is here! This is one of our biggest events in the Dan Mills Community, and we’re excited about your family joining us. Here are some tips for making sure you have a great time!

Before the event:

-Pre-order your bracelets. Skip the long lines by pre-ordering your bracelets with the orange forms sent home in your student’s folder. Pick them up at Will Call during the week of the event, and you can skip the lines at the door!

-Plan to volunteer. We need everyone’s help! Find a time to volunteer that fits with your schedule. Consider swapping childcare with a friend so you both can pitch in! http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4aa5a72ea1f58-dragon1

At the event:

-Carpool or walk. Our parking area gets crowded, so if you can safely walk to the event, consider doing so. Carpooling is another great way to save space!

-Find the map. Did you know we offer a map of all the games? You may not have time to try everything, so the map is great way to plan your evening.

-Bring or make a bag! You’ll need a way to carry all those prizes, so bring a bag from home or head to Mrs. Greer’s class to make one.

-Let us take care of dinner! $5 meal tickets include a complete meal. You won’t want to miss Dr. Messenger’s BBQ sandwiches and the veggie burgers from Drifters.

-Bring cash for the bake sale. Just wait until you see what our bake sale team has created for you! Feel free to browse the book fair while you’re in a buying mood!

-Leave the stroller at home. Because Dragon Jubilee is such a popular event, the hallways can become quite crowded. You may be more comfortable wearing or carrying small children.

-Divide and conquer. We love it when you invite extra family members and friends, but the crowds make it hard to stick together. Considering dividing into smaller groups to enjoy the classroom games even more.

Most of all, have fun and be safe! Thank you for supporting Dan Mills!

Time to Re-Register those Kroger Plus Cards!

It’s August… which means it’s that time of year to enroll or re-enroll your Kroger Plus Card with the Kroger Community Rewards Program!  Even if you have enrolled in the past, you will need to go into your account and update and select Dan Mills Elementary.  If not, towards the end of August you will be dropped from the program.
 

Kroger Community Rewards Program Registration Instructions
Dan Mills Elementary School’s organization number is: 88397

The Kroger Community Rewards program is an ideal way to support Dan Mills Elementary while doing your weekly grocery shopping!  The program allocates funds to participating organizations based on the purchases that registered members, family and friends of the organization have made at Kroger using their Kroger Plus card.  This program does not affect your Kroger fuel points. Each individual should enroll their Kroger Plus Cards online at the Kroger secure website, www.krogercommunityrewards.com and then choose the organization they wish to support.

Register your Kroger Plus card online at krogercommunityrewards.com
•    Be sure to have your Kroger Plus card handy (you will need the number)
•    If you do not yet have a Kroger Plus card, they are available at the customer service desk at any Kroger
•    Click on Sign In/Register
•    Click on SIGN UP TODAY in the ‘New Customer?’ box (unless you have previously registered online).
•    Sign up for a Kroger Rewards Account by entering zip code, clicking on favorite store, entering your email address and creating a password, agreeing to the terms and conditions
•    You will then get a message to check your email inbox and click on the link within the body of the email to finalize card registration.
•    Click on My Account and use your email address and password to proceed to the next step.

Link your Kroger Plus Card with Dan Mills Elementary
•    Log into your account at krogercommunityrewards.com
•    Click or Edit Kroger Community Rewards information and input your Kroger Plus card number.
•    Update or confirm your information.
•    Enter Dan Mill’s organization number (88397) or find Dan Mills Elementary in the list of organizations and click on it to confirm.
•    To verity you are enrolled correctly, you will see Dan Mill’s on the right side of your information page.

Tips
•    REMEMBER, purchases will not count for Dan Mills until you have registered your card and linked it to Dan Mills Elementary!
•    If you use your phone number (alternate ID) at the register instead of swiping your card, call 800-576-4377 and select option 4 to get your Kroger Plus card number.
•    You must swipe your registered Kroger Plus card, or use the alternate ID that is associated with your registered Kroger Plus card, when shopping for each purchase to count.