Exploris PTO News

1/13/20 Monday Minute

  1. PTO Meeting Friday – join us!
  2. Donations Needed
  3. North-South Bicycle Facility- Important Survey
  4. Yearbook Reminders and Deadlines
  5. Equity and Diversity- Volunteer Opportunities
  6. School Calendar
  7. Applications for 2021
  8. Upcoming Events

1. PTO Meeting this Friday, January 17 at Tobacco Road Sports Cafe.  Please join us!  11:30am

2. Donations needed! Two signups below.  Thank you for all the support you give through donations, PTO participation, volunteering, and willing to help lend a hand when needed to support our school community. 

We have changed up how we are doing student snack/back up lunch donations. Please note we have asked for a few supplies to help support the program as well. This new sign up will go through the end of the year and have slots for each month. 
 
This other sign up is for yarn and knitting material for a service project 1st grade is doing and an elementary exploration coming up.

3. North-South Bicycle Facility SURVEY s5_logoImportant: The City of Raleigh Downtown North-South Bicycle Facility may be placed on Harrington Street which would block the Exploris Middle School carpool lane.

An Open House on January 6, 2020 provided residents and interested parties to learn options about the Downtown North-South Bicycle Facility that will provide bicycle infrastructure on streets in downtown Raleigh connecting the Glenwood South and the Warehouse Districts as well as two future greenways. This project was formally referred to as the West St. or Harrington St. Cycletrack, but has been renamed to more accurately describe the scope of the project. The open house provided opportunities for public input on six potential options.

Survey: If you were unable to attend the open house, view the options and take the online survey at: https://publicinput.com/a234. The survey is open until February 3, 2020 at noon.

Timeline: After the survey closes on February 3, all public comments will be considered to choose the most favorable alternative for all parties involved. City designers will work to provide a 60% design concept for a public open house in Spring, 2020. The final design concept will then be presented to City Council. If approved, the project will be sent for a construction bid with a possible installation in Fall, 2020.

download (3)4. Important Yearbook Reminders!

*Yearbooks for Sale – Click here to purchase your 2019-2020 yearbook. The price is $35. Price increase and deadline to have the yearbook personalized is January 31, 2020! 

*REPLAY IT APP Parents and students, can you please download the replay it app to your phones or use the website to submit pictures for yearbook! Thank you!   

*8th Grade Baby Pics! Don’t forget to email Jessie (jessie@exploris.org) baby/childhood pics of your 8th grader by January 31st

*Yearbook Ads for 8th graders!: You can purchase an ad in the yearbook to wish your 8th grader well! Here is the direct link if you want to check that out! DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 13, 2020!

5. Help us Grow Access to Exploris in January 2020

The Exploris Equity & Diversity Team is a group of parents, staff, and stakeholders committed to strengthening the culture of equity, diversity, and inclusion at Exploris. Over the last few years, the team has made significant progress in this work, beginning with establishing a weighted lottery. The team’s most measurable impact has been the enrollment of increased numbers of underrepresented students in each of the last two years. We are proud of these results, and are focused on keeping the positive momentum.


Between now and the application deadline of February 7, 2020, our goal is to increase the number of applicants from underrepresente students and families. 


We will be hosting a recruitment event on January 26 from 2:00-4:00pm. 

We are looking for more parent and community support to help us meet this goal.

6.  School Calendar 2020-2021
The calendar committee including parents, staff, and administration have drafted the 2020 -2021 calendar and are getting feedback before finalizing the calendar.  We anticipate presenting the 2020-2021 calendar to the Board for approval at the January Board meeting.   The Board approved the start date of August 19, 2020 for the 2020-2021 school year at the December Board meeting so that families could make summer plans around the start of school.  Please remember that it is critical for all students to be present on the first day of school to ensure that we receive full state funding.

7. Exploris Applications due February 7
Applications are now being accepted for the 2020-2021 school year.  Please remember to complete your applications for siblings by the February 7, 2020 deadline.  We also ask that you share information about Exploris with your friends and neighbors.  Please post the admissions link here to your social media pages to promote Exploris and ensure that all families are aware of the February 7, 2020 deadline.  The lottery will be held on March 6, 2020.  Good luck to all.

8. Upcoming Events
  • Friday, January 17 – PTO General Mtg @ 11:30am
  • Monday, Jan 20 – MLK Holiday
  • Friday, February 7 – Teacher Workday – Portfolio Conferences
  • Monday, Feb 17 and Tuesday, February 18 – Presidents’ Day Holiday
  • Friday March 6 – End of Second Trimester
  • Monday, March 9 and Tuesday March 10 – Teacher Workdays
  • Spring Break – Friday, April 3 (3:15pm) – Tuesday, April 14 (8am)
  • Friday, May 15 – Teacher Workday
  • Friday, May 22 – No School for 8th grade only – passage portfolios
  • Monday, May 25- Memorial Day Holiday
  • June 1 – June 12 – EOG Testing Window
  • Friday, June 12 – 8th Grade Graduation (10:30 am), early dismissal
  • Friday, June 12 – End of Third Trimester, last day of school

The 2019-20 Exploris Google Calendar and PTO Calendar links are here: https://explorispto.org/about/calendar/

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Thanks to all of the Explorations teachers and volunteers this session!  Exploris Elementary kids are having a great time learning.  On January 10, Tonya Thornton’s class had a fun and messy time making Pom Poms. 

 

Thanks for reading the Monday Minute!  We publish this Exploris PTO blog post each Monday during the school year.  

If you would like to submit information, please email your text (copy ready), photos, and links to Dana Deaton by 9pm Sunday at news@exploris.org