Originally delivered on 9/6/2024 1:00 pm

SUBJECT: BT Flash: Welcome Back!

BT FLASH - September 6, 2024

Everything you need to know for the next month and beyond

Included Information

President's Message

Quick Reference Calendar

BTPTO Welcome Back Picnic

Volunteer Opportunities

PTO General Meeting

5th Grade Pretzel Fundraiser 

Yearbook Photos

2024-25 Annual Appeal

MTK Directory Information

Upcoming BOE Meetings

Community Happenings

President's Message

Dear

     We have lots of information to share about the upcoming events and opportunities at Bear Tavern. Be sure to check out the calendar below for events! Each month, we will send a BT Flash newsletter to keep you updated on what is going on with the BTPTO. It will include the calendar, Current Happenings, Community Happenings, and information regarding ways to support our students and the BTPTO. Also, we are always looking for volunteers. Please take a look at our volunteer page to see if there's anything you can do to help.

Thank you for your support!

Mark your Calendar...

Sept 9: BOE Town Hall Referendum Meeting 7pm

 Sept 10: Room Parent Meeting (Zoom) 7pm

September 11: Back to School Night 

Sept 13: PTO Welcome Back Picnic 

Sept 26: PTO General Meeting (Zoom) 7pm

October 3: No School - Rosh Hashanah

October 14: No School - Staff Development

Current Happenings
Welcome Back Picnic

Let's gather on the BT Blacktop & Playground and connect with old friends and new members of our BT Community. Bring your own picnics, blankets, and chairs. Dr. Treece will be available during the Back to School Picnic to discuss and answer any questions you may have regarding the upcoming HVRSD referendum.

Not sure what to do about dinner on Friday?  Let the BTPTO pre-order a pizza for your family!

Pizza Pre-Orders will be available for pickup at the BTPTO table at 6:15 pm

Cheese Pizza, Vegan Pizza, and Personal Size Gluten Free Crust Options

 Pizza Ordering Options:

16" Large Cheese Pizza - $18

16" Large Vegan Cheese Pizza - $18

12" Gluten Free Crust Cheese Pizza - $20

*Pre-Orders will close on Thursday, September 12th at 7:00 pm*

Uncle Ed's will be onsite selling ice cream cups and bottled water. 


We could also use a few volunteers to help with pizza distribution and spirit wear sales. Please click here if you're able to help out!


Questions/Info: Email Jean Ulkloss - jeanmara@yahoo.com or 

Jo Fradkin -  jefradkin@gmail.com  

First Annual PTO Meeting

Please join us on September 26th at 7pm for our virtual General PTO meeting. Be on the lookout for an email with the Zoom link to join the meeting in the next few days. We hope to "see" you there!

Volunteer Opportunities

Calling all volunteers! There are many ways to get involved to help support our Bear Tavern students and teachers for the 2024-25 school year! Please see the opportunities below and consider donating your time if you are able! 

PTO Committee Volunteers/Chairs

Events include Book Fair, Holiday Shop, Fundraisers, Picnics, and more! 

Media Helpers

Sign Up to volunteer as a library helper in the BT media center. Volunteers will provide assistance to our Librarian, Ms. Tozzi.  Media Center volunteers will spend 60 minutes on a weekly basis helping students check in/out materials, shelve books and help with special projects. Please note that HVRSD policy requires all media center volunteers to complete a fingerprint background check.  

Room Parents/Class Photographer

Volunteer to help plan and attend in-person classroom events, attend general PTO meetings, and help your teacher provide communication to your classroom parents/guardians. In addition to room parents, each class will have a designated photographer. This will allow room parents to help while the photographer documents the festivities for the yearbook! If you sign up to serve as a Room Parent or Photographer, you will be asked to attend a brief virtual meeting on 9/10/24 at 7pm. A Zoom link will be provided after sign ups are complete. 

Click HERE to order pretzels for the 2024-2025 school year!

Support the BTPTO Annual Appeal

The BTPTO is excited for the upcoming school year and is hard at work planning picnics, events and enrichments for our children and BT Staff.  Our Annual Appeal - BT Donation Campaign is our primary fundraiser for the year.  We are passionate about maintaining the superior quality of educational enrichments that our children enjoy.  

The anticipated activities and enrichments will cost an average of $70 per student for the 2024-2025 school year.  These costs include 2-3 Assemblies, Grade Level Field Trips, Visiting Author, Innovation Expo, Community Building Events, Field Day, Alumni Scholarships, Teacher Supply Reimbursements, Classroom Technology and much more.

We ask that you please consider sponsoring the enrichment costs for your BT student(s).  The success of the Annual Appeal Campaign will determine how many, if any additional fundraisers will be held throughout the school year.  The goal is to achieve 100% family participation, regardless of donation size.  

100% of your Annual Appeal donation goes directly to BTPTO, when we partner with other companies to do item sales or -athon fundraisers, we only receive a portion of the proceeds.  

Please click HERE to donate!

Questions/Info:  Kellye Jones, BTPTO Treasurer - kwarn76@gmail.com

Membership Toolkit Directory Information

In alignment with the Hopewell School District, the Bear Tavern PTO will continue to use Membership Toolkit for our Student Directory and Communications for the 2024-2025 school year.  

Once you update your Membership Toolkit Account you will have access to the directory, PTO newsletters, donation links, volunteer opportunities, and much more.

You must update your information every year to be included in the directory! For those families who have children attending other Hopewell Schools, you will need to update your information for each school that your children attend.

Here's how: 

  1. LOGIN at https://beartavernpto.membershiptoolkit.com. (You must login with the email address where this newsletter arrived.) Once the Primary Account is set up, the Primary User can "invite" other email addresses to access the account.  This allows the Secondary User to have their own login information, but still have access to the family account.
  2. For those who are new to Membership Toolkit, please follow these instructions:
    1. Go to https://beartavernpto.membershiptoolkit.com.
    2. Click on the Register/Login button.
    3. Select "New User".
    4. Select "Create Account" and fill in your name, email (please use the email where this newsletter arrived), and password.  
    5. Click "verify my email" and then check your email for a link to complete the process. The link expires within 2 hours. If you do not receive the email, check your spam or junk folders.
    6. Once you have verified your email address, log back in and finish the 3 step registration process.
  3. Complete the Parent/Family and Student Information.
  4. Complete the Directory/Publish Preferences. By marking active, you are allowing other Bear Tavern families to see whatever contact information you choose to share. This is a great feature to foster friendships with playdates, birthday parties, etc.

Questions?

Reach out to Caitlin Stratuik- caitlin.stratuik@gmail.com 

BTPTO / MTK Mobile App

For Directory Access from a smart phone, users can download our Mobile App from the Apple store or the Google Play store. 

The app features:

  • Directory on Demand
  • Secure & Password protected
  • Parents always have control over which data will be included in the directory.
  • Volunteer Sign ups
  • Purchase spirit gear and Make Donations

The app is available for free in the Apple Store and in Google Play. Download it one time for all of the organizations that you are affiliated with that are using Membership Toolkit. If you belong to 4 organizations that are using Membership Toolkit, when you log in to the app you will see all four organizations presented and you can toggle between organizations.

Upcoming Board of Ed Meetings

The Hopewell Valley Regional School District Board of Education welcomes and invites public comment. During the meeting, public comments will be accepted in-person only. (There will not be an opportunity for those watching the live stream to comment.)

Meeting Schedule:

September 16, 2024
October 14, 2024
November 18, 2024
December 16, 2024
January 6, 2025 (Organization)

Minutes of Board meetings are posted after they are approved at the following month's Board meeting. 

Community Happenings
HVRSD Bond Referendum
Quick Links

EMERGENCY CLOSING INFORMATION:

For all emergency schedule changes consult one of these sources:

District Website:http://www.hvrsd.org
District Emergency Phone Message: 737-8449
District Phone Line: 737-4000
HV-TV: Comcast Channel 19, Verizon Channel 32
HVRSD on Facebook

IMPORTANT BTPTO ONLINE LINKS
Everything you need from the PTO:
Bear Tavern PTO Website


We are also mobile!

The app is available for free in the Apple Store and in Google Play.


Bear Tavern Elementary School website (District Website):
http://btes.hvrsd.org/

Virtual Backpack (important flyers and forms)

https://btes.hvrsd.org/o/btes/browse/112859


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