News from the PTA

 

 
Pre-Order School Supplies
Time to order your 2012-2013 School Supplies. There are a few changes this year. Pre-Ordering will be available on-line only. Please do not send payments to the school as it will be returned to you. View the flyer here.

Order Securely Online Starting April 30th thru June 25th.
Go to www.epipacks.com.
Enter the school ID, WIL051 (3 letters followed by 3 numbers)
Follow the directions to complete your order
• Please use your child’s full name as it will appear on the class roster; no nicknames.
• On the teacher field, please put NA.
Tax will be added to your order at checkout.
For questions, please contact Brooke Bray at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Willowfork Drainage District Projects Finalized
The final bid for the Willowfork Drainage District Project has been presented to our WFDD Committee. The total for the items listed below amounts to $106,885.75. The JWE PTA Budget Committee will be meeting to consider allocating funds to cover the $6,885.75 overage. A General Membership vote at our May 16th General Meeting (Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast) will be needed to approve funds for this use. You may view the plan here.

Jogging Path (1/4 mile)
Fitness Equipment
Playground Equipment (extension of existing set)
Playground Equipment – Cozy Dome
Playground Equipment – Saddle Spinner
Playground Equipment – Talk Tubes
Planting – Including trees and 90-day maintenance

These projects will be completed in the summer and will be ready for our children to enjoy on the first day of school next year.

A big thank you to everyone who voted for Proposition 1 & 2 in the fall. Your vote enabled this fantastic improvement to our JWE Backyard.

PTA MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES
March General membership Meeting Minutes can be found here.

 

Volunteer News

 

Volunteer Positions Still Available
Howdy Wrangler Moms and Dads,

In early April, I sent a note home introducing myself as well as inviting you to ask yourself how you can serve our students at JWE. I am hoping that you’ve had the opportunity to reflect on your interests and skill set and you are ready to say YES to volunteering at JWE! Through volunteering at Williams, I feel as if I am making a direct impact on my children’s education and I’ve met some really fantastic people and forged lifelong friendships. I want you to join me!

We’ve still got a few leadership positions available and nothing would make me happier than going into the summer with everything filled. Below is a short description of each position and its estimated time commitment. Please feel free to email me with any questions or contact the person who oversees each of these positions.

PROGRAMS:

Position: MVP
Description: The Math Volunteers Program at JWE is your perfect opportunity to make a huge educational impact in the lives of the students at JWE. MVP aims to tutor students who don’t qualify for Katy ISD assistance but could use a little help in math. Led by JWE faculty member Mary Harle, the PTA’s MVP Chair will work with Mary by gathering volunteers from local high school programs such as National Honor Society. Mary will communicate with teachers on what individual students’ needs are and coordinate that information with the tutors.
Time Commitment: MVP runs from October through April, Monday – Thursday from 3:00-3:30 pm. The MVP Chair does not need to be present every afternoon but periodic check-ins are a good idea (especially as the program is starting). This is not an Executive Board position, so no monthly meetings are required. This position falls under Curriculum Support, Tiffany Ferrell, who can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Position: Robotics Academy
Description: The Robotics Academy at JWE is an after-school enrichment program that is geared toward stimulating the imagination and creativity of our kids through the use of Legos. We are still in the process of planning out next year, but there will likely be three 6-week sessions in which parents can register their students. The duties of this position include getting the word out about signups via the Pony ePress and helping to coordinate the JWE administration and the American Robotics team.
Time Commitment: This is not an Executive Board position, so no monthly meetings are required. This position falls under Curriculum Support, Tiffany Ferrell, who can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Position: RSVP
Description: The Reading Support Volunteer Program provides one-on-one reading assistance for our 1st-3rd graders and group assistance for our 4th-5th graders. Led by JWE faculty member Jamie Mullenberg, the PTA’s RSVP Chair will work with Jamie by gathering parent volunteers for 1st-3rd grade and high school volunteers for 4th and 5th. Jamie will communicate with teachers on what individual students’ needs are and coordinate that information with the tutors.
Time Commitment: RSVP runs from October through April. The RSVP Chair does not need to be present for 1st-3rd grade reading sessions. We are still in the planning stages of the 4th-5th grade program. This is not an Executive Board position, so no monthly meetings are required. This position falls under Curriculum Support, Tiffany Ferrell, who can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

MEMBERSHIP:

Position: Yearbook - Portraits
Description: Our yearbook publisher, Jostens, has facial recognition software available that we would like to start using to ensure that every child who is allowed to be is represented in the yearbook. The Yearbook-Portrait position will entail working with teachers to verify that the portraits supplied (and tagged) by the portrait company are accurate, then tagging the photographs placed in layouts designed by the yearbook team.
Time Commitment: The portrait company will upload the portraits into the Jostens database in late November, and initial verification should happen shortly thereafter and should take around 6 hours. The tagging of photographs used in layouts should take around 2 hours per week and can be done off-campus. This is not an Executive Board position, so no monthly meetings are required. This position falls under the Yearbook Chair, Sue LaPrade, who can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

FUNDRAISING:

Position: Fall Fundraiser (Student Fun Run)
Description: Instead of selling cookie dough door-to-door, next year we are trying something new – a Boosterthon Fun Run! The Boosterthon company wraps fitness, leadership and character together in a 9-day fundraising experience for students culminating with the final event – a fun run on Halloween (during school hours).
Time Commitment: According to another KISD school who took part in this fundraiser last year, the Boosterthon Fun Run team does all the heavy lifting. That being said, we will need someone to manage it on our end. I do not know the exact time commitment other than the Boosterthon team will be on campus from October 22nd through October 31st. This is not an Executive Board position, so no monthly meetings are required. This position falls under VP Fundraising, Adriana Rubin, who can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Position: Various Hoedown Positions
Description: Being our largest fundraiser of the year, Hoedown also requires the most volunteers. There are a variety of Hoedown positions available: Auction Donation Coordinator (assist the Auction Chair), Basket Coordinator (make purchases for and assemble baskets for raffle), Communication Chair (oversee the Catalog, Hoedown Packet, Signage, Proofreaders and Publicity – all of which are available positions), Carnival Chair (oversee Decorations, Food/Drinks and Games – games is the only position filled) and Volunteer Coordinator (organize volunteers).
Time Commitment: Each of these positions vary in time commitment and each of them ramp up at different times. None of them are Executive Board positions, so no monthly meetings are required. However, the Hoedown Committee has meetings approximately once a month. Please contact Kristi Poe at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.

VIPS (VOLUNTEERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS):

Position: Hospitality
Description: Throughout the year, JWE PTA provides little treats and reminders that our PTA loves our JWE faculty and staff. Our Hospitality Chair organizes these reminders and we are looking for someone who is creative and can make a dollar stretch! I’ve got an entire Pinterest board dedicated to ideas for this position so if you’re remotely creative, please let us know!
Time Commitment: This will depend on your time available and what you decide to do with the position. This is not an Executive Board position, so no monthly meetings are required. This position falls under VP VIPS, Tiffany Gwin, who can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Position: Interior Beautification
Description: As you walk through the halls of JWE, you will notice three huge bulletin boards the PTA maintains and decorates with interactive themes. The Interior Beautification chair manages these bulletin boards by organizing the use of them by different committees. This summer, we are budgeting money to convert them to murals so that when they are not in use they are pretty enough in their own right!
Time Commitment: With the murals in place, there won’t be any “requirements” for the PTA to embellish the bulletin boards but you are welcome to decorate them as often as you’d like within your allotted budget. This is not an Executive Board position, so no monthly meetings are required. This position falls under VP VIPS, Tiffany Gwin, who can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Position: Junior Achievement
Description: JA is the world’s largest organization dedicated to education students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experimental, hands-on programs. What the PTA’s Junior Achievement Chair will do is work with Angie Schauer, JWE JA Representative, Homeroom Coordinator and Homeroom Parents in garnering volunteers to teach the program for each homeroom.
Time Commitment: This position requires no on-campus hours as most of the coordination can be handled via email or phone. This is not an Executive Board position, so no monthly meetings are required. This position falls under VP VIPS, Tiffany Gwin, who can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Position: Music Liaison
Description: Responsibilities include assisting the JWE Music Teacher in coordinating grade-level musical performances (performed at General Membership meetings) and determining whether the PTA can assist any unfilled needs in the music department.
Time Commitment: This is not an Executive Board position, so no monthly meetings are required. This position falls under VP VIPS, Tiffany Gwin, who can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Position: PE Liaison
Description: Responsibilities include assisting Brenda Pennington, JWE PE Teacher, with spring field days by organizing volunteers, purchasing PE equipment as needed and as budget allows and assisting and facilitating with PE-related programs. One such program is the running incentive program and inputting the students’ running data into a spreadsheet and generating the shoes that are posted on the gym wall.
Time Commitment: This position requires on-campus hours as the data entry (4-8 hours a week) must be entered into the PE department’s computers. This is not an Executive Board position, so no monthly meetings are required. This position falls under VP VIPS, Tiffany Gwin, who can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

I look forward to hearing from you! Thank you for your commitment to our JWE Students. I hope you have a wonderful summer!

Sincerely,
Megan Perkins
2012-2013 JWE PTA President
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Volunteer of the Year
Congratulations to Megan Perkins on being selected the JWE 2011-2012 Volunteer of the Year!  Kudos to you for all you do and congratulations to all the Volunteer of the Year Nominees!  Thank you for being a part of the BIGGER picture!

The 2012 Volunteer of the Year Nominees are (in alphabetical order):
Debbie Blevins
Paige Bowick
Heather Carr
Amy Conacher
Tiffany Ferrell
Diane Groves
Tiffany Gwin
Sue LaPrade
Fiona McKay
Megan Perkins
Adriana Rubin
Joy Siebenman
Michelle Youssef

Please Log in Your Hours!
Howdy JWE Volunteers,

The Volunteer celebrations are coming up and we want to be sure your hours count. Please be sure to log in your hours online atwww.jwepta.org, under the Volunteer tab titled: Submit your Volunteer Hours, or send  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  your off-campus hours so we can record them accordingly.

Whether you baked a treat, volunteered for any of the JWE special events or PTA programs, helped with Spirit nights, family nights, field trips, babysat a JWE volunteer's child so they could come to the school for an event, worked on a teacher basket, sent out class emails, organized a collection, volunteered throughout the school or Eureka or LASSO or recycling and helped with preparations or attended meeting off-campus, etc...we want to hear from you.

 

News from the School

 

Pre-K and Kindergarten Registration
Pre-K registrations for the Fall (2012-2013) will resume in August.

Kindergarten registrations for the Fall (2012-2013) will continue every TUESDAY 9-11a and 1-3p until the campus is closed for the Summer.

Library News
ALL library books were due May 14th and the library will start inventory then.
Credit by Examination offered
JWE parents interested in credit by examination (C.B.E.) should contact Mrs. Poursoltan before the end of the school year for information and for an application. Who should apply for C.B.E.? These students include: students in grades 1-5 who want to advance a grade level or students in grades 6-12 who want to receive credit for one or more subjects. The application period for C.B.E for existing Katy ISD students runs from April 18, 2012- June 22, 2012. Please email Mrs. Poursoltan at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.