PPT President's Letter

Greetings!
Since it's still November and Thanksgiving season, I believe I can get away with presenting a list of things that made me thankful yesterday at our PPT meeting:

• I am thankful that superintendent, Mr. Mike Munoz, joined us at our PPT meeting, and that he understands how lucky we are to have our kids in such a learning-rich environment at Lincoln.
• I am thankful for Cathy Nathan who organized Mr. Munoz's visit to Lincoln. She is remarkable!
• I am thankful that our kids have Mr. S. encouraging and challenging them every day. How fortunate we are!
• I am thankful for the many parents who attended last night's meeting. I felt proud of the welcome we were able to give our new superintendent.
• I am thankful to our PPT secretary, Karen MacLaughlin, who made a welcome banner and had students sign it. It looked fabulous!
• I am thankful for the entire staff at Lincoln. They are the heart and soul -- and arms, legs, brains, etc. of the school.
• I am thankful for the many parents who volunteer to make Lincoln an extraordinary place, and I am thankful that I found a way to volunteer through PPT.
• I am thankful if you are still reading this, and if you haven't done so already, please consider attending our PPT meetings. The next one is scheduled for January 23rd in Lincoln's media center. If you come to the meeting, I'll be so thankful!

Chris Harmon, PPT Co-President

Prinicpal's Letter

Dear Lincoln Families,

I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer and is as excited as I am to come back to school!

Family involvement and staff commitment that occurs for Lincoln’s benefit, even during the summer months, continues to amaze me! It is easy to see why Lincoln is such a special place with so many incredibly dedicated people. I am really looking forward to the school being filled with our energetic students, the talented staff, and involved families. It is going to be a fantastic year!

Of course, there is a whole lot of anticipation for the first day of school (September 6 for Grades 1-8 and September 8 for Kindergarten students), but there is a lot of preparation taking place in August including:

• Preparation for the Meet the Teacher event is well underway. We would like to extend an invitation to all families to attend two special events on
August 31. Meet the Teacher will take place from 3:00- 5:00pm. This time will allow students and their families to visit the classrooms and connect/ reconnect with staff members and classmates. The Information Fair in the gymnasium will provide important information for families. Please make plans to join us for this important event.

• The Lincoln Back to School Picnic will follow Meet the Teacher Day on August 31 from 5:00-6:30 pm at Lincoln. All Lincoln families are encouraged to attend this special event. The picnic is sponsored by Lincoln’s Programming Planning Team (PPT) and organized by the PPT Social Committee. Their hard work will be evident at the Back to School Picnic and other exciting events throughout the year.

More information about both of these events and other back to school news can be found in this August Lincs newsletter.

I would like to personally welcome and congratulate all incoming Kindergarten students, new students and new families that will be joining Lincoln K-8 this fall. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help make you feel at home.

Please feel free to contact me at 328-3550 if you have any questions, concerns, or comments or would just like to converse about the “Greatest School in the Universe” - Lincoln K-8 Choice School!

You can reach me by e-mail at jasonju@rochester.k12.mn.us.

Sincerely,
Jim Sonju
Principal

PPT May 2011

Greetings!
It's hard to believe the end of the school year is here already! We had our last PPT meeting of the year on Monday, May 16th, and we had several things to celebrate.

First, congratulation to Jeanne Depman. This former Lincoln student and up-coming JM grad was the recipient of Lincoln's Ellen Hunt scholarship. Well deserved, Jeanne!

Lincoln volunteers Noel Taylor and Pat Lyniugh also received an honor. These devoted Lincoln volunteers won the REA human rights award. What wonderful role models they are for us and our children! Congratulations!

Lastly, congratulations to Karen MacLaughlin our new in-coming PPT secretary and to Donna Layton our new PPT president-elect. We are excited to have you both in PPT leadership positions.

That's all there is to report for now! Have a wonderful summer break, and we'll see you back at Lincoln -- the greatest school in the universe -- next fall!

Chris Harmon
PPT co-president

January PPT Presidents' Letter

Happy 2011 from your Lincoln PPT where every parent is valued and welcome!

We would love to see you at our monthly PPT meetings. The next one is scheduled for Monday, January 24th. We will be discussing the Special Projects application process and timeline. This is important to the Lincoln community because it determines how we spend the proceeds from Lincoln's Auction. The process is finished for this year, but we will discuss any proposed changes to the process for next year. This is where your voice comes in. We value your input. Then at February's meeting, we will vote to put those possible changes in place.

It's been fun to see some new faces at our meetings. We are working hard to keep our meetings informative and pertinent. Please join us! It will be time well spent!

Thanks for all you do, Parents!
Chris Harmon
Lincoln PPT Co-President

Presidents' Letter for October

Greetings from the Lincoln PPT where every parent is valued and welcomed!

We had a successful meeting in September to start off the year. It was wonderful to see so many new faces at our first meeting.

Part of our New Business at this meeting was to gather responses to following question: "What are some reasons that you attend -- or will continue to attend -- our Lincoln PPT meetings?" The responses we heard were inspiring: "It makes me feel part of the family of the school." "I learn a lot." "It's my new school year resolution to be more involved." "I get to meet people." "Parent involvement leads to a well-rounded child." "Many hands make light work!" It's no wonder that Lincoln is the Best School in the Universe with responses like that!

Another topic of discussion was Chris "the fish guy's" idea of hosting a possible "Zebra Fish Boot Camp." The idea is to train parents about the Zebra Fish Project and to simply "have fun at the lab with Chris." More information about this will be posted in up-coming blogs, so watch for it if you're interested!

Of course the big news right now is the Lincoln Auction. Hopefully you will attend in order to support all of the good causes that the Auction funds. In fact, at November's PPT meeting, you can be part of the decision on how the money is spent. We will review the Special Projects at November's meeting and vote on the projects to be funded with the profits of the Auction. This is a great way for you to be involved!

Lastly, I want to invite you to the October 25th meeting. It is an important one. The Referendum committee is coming to our PPT meeting to discuss the importance of voting "YES" for the November election. The meeting is at 7:00 in Lincoln's Media Center.

We hope to see you soon! Have a BOO-tiful week!
Chris Harmon
Co-PPT President

FROM THE PROGRAM PLANNING TEAM (PPT)

The Lincoln Program Planning Team (PPT) welcomes you to the Lincoln K-8 Choice School family if this is your first year at Lincoln, and welcomes you back if we've seen you before.

We're going to try some new things with our PPT meetings this year, so if you haven't been to one before, or have and didn't feel a connection, please come to our first PPT meeting on September 27th - - we want your feedback!! The PPT meets on a monthly basis during the school year, starting in September, usually on the last Monday of each month at 7:00 PM in the school's Media Center.

The PPT is made up of Lincoln parents and guardians, staff representatives, and the principal. All parents and guardians are members of the PPT simply because your child attends Lincoln, giving ALL parents and guardians, staff representatives, and the principal voting rights in the business of the PPT and the expenditures of money raised by the PPT.

The PPT organizes a variety of school activities and works to support academic and social enrichment opportunities for our students that are typically not available at other schools, helping to make Lincoln K-8 Choice School a very special place we like to call "The Greatest School in the Universe".

PPT meetings allow you to stay plugged in to what's going on at Lincoln, to learn about the many opportunities for you to help out with PPT activities and other educational efforts at Lincoln, and to positively influence the experience you and your student have at Lincoln. For the Lincoln PPT to succeed, we encourage all parents/guardians to become participating members of the Lincoln Community by volunteering and enjoying the social events offered by the PPT.

As many of you know, the Lincoln Auction is the PPT's primary fundraiser. Its success is essential to continuing the wide range of programs and activities that benefit Lincoln students and the entire Lincoln community. So, please take time to read more about the Auction and, if you are new to Lincoln this year, check out the many volunteer opportunities available.
Where to look for more information about upcoming PPT meetings and other activities?

• This and future editions of the LINCS
• The LincolnLincs blog at www.lincolnlincs.blogspot.com,
• The Lincoln Parent E-Files electronic newsletter,
• The Family Folder you will receive at the Meet the Teacher Information Fair
• The PPT website at http://www.rochester.k12.mn.us/school97/ppt.

We look forward to seeing you at the Back to School Picnic and Information Fair on September 1st.
Jodie Meurer and Chris Harmon, PPT Co-Presidents

PPT Presidents’ Letter - May

Spring has sprung and we are in end of the year wrap up!  Yet, PPT is still in full swing.  In fact this month at our meeting on May 17th, we'll be voting in next year's officers, so they can get started in their new roles!

The open PPT officer positions are Treasurer, Secretary and President Elect.  Allison Robelia is serving as the current Treasurer.  Her term has come to an end this year, but she is happy to stay on for another term.  Cherie Falk-Philpott serves as the Secretary, she too is happy to stay for another term.  Joscelyn Komer-Martin has stepped forward to serve as President Elect.  We will be voting to fill these positions, so if you too are interested in one of these positions, or would like to exercise your right to vote, please come to the Media Center at 7pm on the 17th!


We will also show a video at the PPT meeting. Stories of the Five-Year Plan is a video on Rochester Public School's Five-Year Strategic Plan to close the opportunity gap and bring all students to proficiency. The video combines success stories of students and staff, data, and powerful information to explain and give updates on the District's Five-Year Plan.


A big thank you to the Social Committee for another successful dance.  We'd also like to thank the Social Committee and Brenda for a fantastic All School Meal.  It is a wonderful Lincoln tradition that the kids love, so thank you for all your efforts!


We'd like to remind you that Special Project Applications are available right now.  We will be taking applications through the summer so that we can disperse the funds earlier in the school year.  If you have any questions about the Special Projects process, or need more information about what Special Projects means, please contact Mary Hansen at rmhansen2002@yahoo.com. Also see page 2 of the LINCS.


We appreciate our Lincoln community! As always if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact Jodie Meurer at odie79@hotmail.com or Chris DeMattos at annabean01@charter.net

PPT Presidents’ Letter - March

The snow is melting and Spring is right around the corner!  As we get closer to wrapping up the 3rd quarter of the school year, there are lots of exciting things happening at Lincoln.  We have many people to thank for their hard work this March.

First we'd like to thank the folks who put on another successful Applebee's breakfast.  It was a great event with great food!  Thanks to everyone who helped cook, serve and clean up!  And a big thank you to everyone who bought tickets and ate breakfast! 

Another fantastic 1-5 grade event was held at the Rochester Family Y. Thank you to all of the parents who organized such a fun activity for the kids.  We had a great turnout of parent volunteers and students as well, so thank you thank you to everyone who participated.

Another thank you to Shelly Glover for being in charge of staff appreciation.  With conferences this week, meals were planned and our staff got fed thanks to Shelly.  We appreciate all your work!

We would also like to thank Nora Dooley, Linda Griebenow and Jodi Hellickson for organizing the Book Fair and Ice Cream Social.  The kids look forward to this event in both the spring and fall, so thank you ladies for doing such a great job pulling it all together!

Just a reminder that the MCAs are right around the corner!  We'd love to see 100% of our students pass the test, so make sure they are logging in those Study Island hours!  Study Island is a great tool for students to use to work on the skills needed to pass the MCAs, not to mention building skills to be successful in school!  So keep answering those questions, and keep getting those blue ribbons!  This year, we can get 100%!  Keep it up!

We'd like to point out that there has been a change to our April PPT meeting date.  Instead of Monday April 26th, the meeting will take place on Tuesday April 27th.  We will be voting on the budget for next year that evening, so if you're interested in seeing where our PPT budget is being spent, please come to the April meeting.

This month's meeting on March 22nd will take place in the media center at 7pm.  Our speakers this month are James Robertson from the Diversity Council, and Zelda Collins-Moore, Minority Coordinator for the school district.  They will give a brief 15-20 minute informational session with our regular PPT agenda starting around 7:15.

PPT has a couple of open committee chair positions next year, so be sure to keep your eyes glued to the EFiles for the descriptions of each open role.  If you are interested in stepping up or have questions, please don't hesitate to contact Jodie Meurer odie79@hotmail.com or Chris DeMattos annabean01@charter.net or Chris Harmon at chharmon@rochester.k12.mn.us.