Important PTA Meeting!

December meeting moved to Thursday, Dec 9th to eliminate conflict with the Barnes and Noble Reading Night. Please join us at the meeting. Kathy Smith (FCPS Chairwoman) and Liz Bradsher (School Board Member) will be attending our meeting. It is your opportunity to ask questions about the boundary study, and how it might affect you!

Please let your voice be heard!

Under the FCPS's Strategic Governance Initiative the School Board establishes “Operational Expectations” (OEs) for the Superintendent to direct the operations of Fairfax County Public School's (FCPS's) various departments. The OEs provide the “values” the school board wants FCPS operational departments to achieve. The school board has proposed new OEs for all FCPS operational departments. Based on the approved OEs, FCPS staff will develop measures of effectiveness and efficiency that will provide the school board the means to evaluate the superintendent's and staff's performance. The proposed new OEs as well as the current ones can be read and compared at: members.cox.net/fccpta/oe_proposed_compare.shtml.

Comments are due by 11/18/10, at which time the School Board will vote on new OEs. Please let your voice be heard!

Don't Forget to Vote!

The PLP, the Proposed Legislative Program, contains issues and proposed positions on which PTA members are asked to vote upon. The members will decide if the Virginia PTA should advocate for these issues.

Read The Proposed Legislation

So, please take a moment to read the attached Action Items and Policy Statements. For your convenience they are offered in both Microsfot Word DOC and Adobe PDF format.

Be Heard, VOTE!

Votes must be turned in by Monday, October 18th! Below is a printable ballot in both Word DOC and PDF format. Please fill out this ballot and drop it off at the school office.

Ballots Are Due Monday, Oct. 18th.

Attention Dads!

The National PTA's MORE (Men Organized to Raise Engagement) Alliance and the National Fatherhood Leaders Group have teamed up to launch A Million Hours of Power, an initiative to inspire 350,000 American men to dedicate three hours of service to the education, health and well-being of children.

Three hours of service—truly a small amount of time to invest—from 350,000 men totals more than 1 million hours of true power to the lives of children, resulting in educational, social and physical benefits to kids across the nation.

Read more about this program at PTA.org.

Dear CES Parents, Families, and Friends,

Welcome to the Centreville Elementary School PTA website. I encourage you to take some time to review this site to learn more about how the PTA bridges our school and community to provide a safe, nurturing environment for our students to be the best they can be!

As a parent, becoming a member of the PTA connects you to a network of information and parents who are working together to provide rich learning opportunities for our children. With approximately 950 children in the school, our goal is at least one membership per family. Just complete the Membership form and send it in to the school with your child. Remember, PTA membership gives you a voice in making decisions that affect your child, our school, and its many activities.

The PTA offers many opportunities for your child to excel through activities such as Mad Science, Lego League, Chess Club, FLEX (Foreign Language Experience), Girls on the Run, Arts Across the Curriculum, and the Reflections Program (students explore the arts through a national level competition). Within the classroom, the PTA has supported purchases such as Smartboards, books, laptops, visiting authors, and bus transportation for field trips. Look down any hallway in the school to see the bulletin boards purchased by the PTA that display the beautiful artwork created by our students.

Community activities sponsored by the PTA, such as Spirit Nights at local restaurants, Bingo and Movie Nights, the Father/Daughter dance, our annual Spring Carnival, as well as Skate Night and staff basketball games, provide great opportunities for families to come together and have some fun as a community. As a volunteer involved in any of the PTA supported activities, you will help us create a closer community of families working to make CES the best it can be! These programs and activities can only happen with volunteers like you. Please check out the Committees link for more information on the many ways you can become involved.

The PTA is able to support many initiatives within CES through our ongoing fundraising efforts. These fundraising programs are voluntary, yet critical to our ability to support the student activities, teachers and other programs. We are always looking for help with running our Fall Fundraiser, Book Fairs, and the Spring Carnival. More information on our fundraising activities can be found via the Fundraising link.

We cannot do this without your help! New volunteers are always welcome! I invite you to volunteer in any way you can. There are many opportunities throughout the school year, and it's always wonderful to see the smiling faces of the children when parents and families volunteer in their classrooms and in their school. If you don't know where to start, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator at VolunteerCoordinator@centrevillepta.org.

Please make your child's education your priority – begin by supporting the CES PTA!

Sincerely,
Susie Collier

Welcome our 2010-2011 PTA board members...

• President – Susie Collier
• 1st Vice President – Deb Smith
• 2nd Vice President – Kathy Taylor
• 3rd Vice President – Michael Munsterman
• Secretary – Robin Costanza
• Treasurer – Connie Christiansen

On January 7, Superintendent Jack Dale presented to the School Board a $2.3 billion FY 2011 proposed budget that includes $104.8 million in program cuts and cost avoidances, nearly 600 position cuts, and $3.4 million in increased and new fees. As residents of Fairfax County, you should follow the progress of these budget discussions. More information can be found at: School Budget Discussions Website

The Fairfax County School Board received feasibility studies on renovating Clifton Elementary and overcrowding solutions at southwestern elementary schools prepared by the Department of Facilities and Transportation last year. At that time, FCPS staff recommended that a community engagement process should be held over the next several months prior to School Board consideration of the issues. The studies address water, transportation, site, and construction challenges at Clifton Elementary and current and future student capacity at neighboring schools in the southwest county area. Centreville Elementary will be impacted by the decisions made by this study. Keep up to date on the current boundary study progress at: FCPS Boundary Study Website

Welcome our 2009-2010 PTA board members...

• President – Susie Collier
• 1st Vice President – Farah Chohan
• 2nd Vice President – Kathy Taylor
• 3rd Vice President – Michael Munsterman
• Secretary – Robin Costanza
• Treasurer – Connie Christiansen

Please be aware that the Centreville Elementary 2009-2010 school bell schedule has changed.

Bell Schedule

• Monday (9:15 a.m. - 1:25 p.m.)
• Tuesday - Friday 9:15 a.m. - 3:55 p.m.

PAC Bell Schedule

• Monday 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
• Tues., Thurs. & Fri. 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
• Wednesday 9:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.