Author: cherokeeapt

Prize Reminder!!

Parents,

Just one last reminder to have your students order all the prizes that they (or you) want by Friday! Read-a-Thon will be mailing these out early next week. Any RAT bucks left over are forfeited forever. So if they want a stuffed animal, or some wireless earbuds, etc, PLEASE order it for them by Friday! Don’t hesitate to contact us if you need any help!

Thanks again for a very successful fundraiser. In the end we ended up raising almost $75,000, which is PHENOMENAL!

Mason and Abby Renfer, and the entire Cherokee APT Board!
#602-791-7879 Mason #480-225-4015 Abby

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We Are All About Reading!

Cherokee Elementary APT is all about reading right now! There are only 6 days left in our read-a-thon!

Would you please tell your friends and family about our Read-a-thon sending them a quick email?

https://www.read-a-thon.com/readers/tool/CRmICD/2

Thanks so much,

Cherokee Elementary APT

Address to APT Members

To our fellow Cherokee APT Members:

We have loved seeing our school come to life over the last few weeks.  We have overcome many challenges in the past year, and we still have more to come. In order to provide full transparency within our community, we wanted to make you aware of some changes you will see related to our Cherokee APT Board.  The Board is committed to instilling trust from you, our members, in our mission of supporting our teachers, classrooms, and our community.  We have some great plans this year!

The Cherokee APT funds provide the following at our school:  

  • Teacher aides:  Every classroom, every student benefits from our teacher aides.  Our teachers really appreciate having the extra help, and it makes Cherokee the place that attracts THE VERY BEST TEACHERS!   We currently have ten teacher aides supporting all six grade levels and classrooms.
  • Reading and math specialists:  We are committed to ensuring our students have everything they need for success regardless of their academic level.  Because of this, we have three certified teacher reading and math specialists that are instrumental to our children, pulling kids out in small groups to give them the support they need.
  • Community building events:  We want to have a strong community, and in order to do that we want to get people involved.  We believe in-person events such as the upcoming Fall Social, Trunk or Treat, Spring Gala, and others are the best way to foster that community.  We also continue to think of ways to appreciate staff members and allow our families and community to enjoy our beautiful new school.
  • Instructional resources: Academic programs, teacher professional development support and classroom supply budgets.

The APT Board spends time each year reflecting on the bylaws and determining any necessary action related to those.  This year is no different; however, this year, we plan to make some significant changes:

APT Member Meetings:

First off, we are committed to transparency with our APT members (YOU!).  The Board will start having periodic open-attendance meetings throughout the year to keep our members informed about decisions and action items.  As a member, we ask for your active participation in these meetings and want you to have trust in our path.  We ask for flexibility and patience as the scheduling of these meetings will be determined by the rules set forth by the SUSD in regards to ongoing COVID mitigation strategies.

Nominating Committee:

We will create a nominating committee in accordance with our bylaws in the spring that will provide a slate for the APT Board going forward.  The nominating committee will be made up of Cherokee APT members.  This committee should be diverse and represent our broad parent population. 

Code of Conduct:

We are working to create a code of conduct for our Board that is modeled after other schools within the district.  Those that commit to serving on the Board will be held to the code of conduct.  These revisions are intended to promote community, ensure every voice is heard, as well as provide additional transparency.  

We also have some changes to report related to board members and positions.  Below, you will see the list of board members who will be in office for the remainder of the 2021/22 academic year. 

Kelly Shaughnessy – President

Lyndsay Mancini – Vice President & Director of Events

Valerie Pesch – Treasurer

Ashley Hsu – Secretary

Je t’aime Green – Director of Communications

Amy Shafer – Director of Classroom Parents

Rachel Loftin – Director of Facilities and Purchasing

Katherine Zamora – Co-Director of Fundraising

Charlotte Flynn – Co-Director of Fundraising

Florence Kaeslin – Director of School Relations

Thank you to our amazing group of parents and teachers that support our school.  We are confident in the continued success of our school and students!