Manhattan's Public School 40

The Scholastic Book Fair is almost here again! We are officially open Monday, March 2 at 12:00pm and will be closing Thursday, March 5 at 6:00pm.

We need your help in making this the best book fair ever! Please sign up for a shift OR MORE on the following Sign Up Genius link below.

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0e4aafae23a4fe3-spring1

The online camp auction is open.  The auction will run from Monday, February 23rd at 9:00AM through Monday, March 2nd at 10:00PM.

Starting tomorrow morning go to: https://www.biddingforgood.com/ps40/campauction

Now is the time to make your summer camp plans and take advantage of some great discounts. We have amazing deals on over 30 camps that include Pierce Country Day Camp, Deer Mountain Day Camp, Fashion Camp NYC, New Country Day Camp, Basketball City, Camp Intrepid, Camp Wekeela and many, many more.

Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to bid on some great summer day camps for your child and remember to tell your friends to get in on the bidding too. All proceeds from this auction directly benefit all of the students at P.S. 40 by providing critical educational and enrichment programs.

The P.S. 40 PTA Community Outreach Committee announces its Annual Food Drive for Food Bank for New York City (www.foodbanknyc.org), which will take place right after break, Monday, February 23rd through Thursday, February 26th.

1 in 5 children in NYC relies on emergency food aid. 70% of low-income households with children in NYC have difficulty affording food (more than any other group). More than 500,000 children in NYC (30%) lived below the federal poverty level in 2011.

When you go to the supermarket, please pick up a little extra of the food that you normally buy for your family.

Please drop off the food in one of the collection boxes that will be located inside the entrances of the school (19th and 20th Street sides) from February 23rd through 26th.

We encourage you to involve your children in this activity.  Ask them what kinds of food they think other kids might like to have. Imagine that you were planning a meal for another family. What might they need?  Please make healthy choices.

The PS 40 Food Drive welcomes all shelf-stable, non-perishable foods, but the most urgently needed items are:
• Water
• Shelf-stable Milk
• Peanut Butter
• Shelf-stable Milk
• Proteins (tuna, chicken, salmon, sardines, ham, Vienna sausages)*
• Cereal and Granola/Breakfast Bars
• Juice Boxes
• Dried Fruit
• Crackers
• Personal Hygiene Products and Diapers
*Preferably in pop-top cans or packets

Hungry New Yorkers need your help.

If you have any questions, please contact Fran or Hillary, Chairs of our Community Outreach Committee, at  PS40Outreach@gmail.com .

Thank you!

We are pleased to announce that the P.S. 40 PTA now participates in the Fairway Community Partners program, in lieu of the gift card program. This program is easier for shoppers, easier for the PTA to administrate, and best of all, will definitely be much more profitable for the PTA.

http://www.fairwaymarket.com/community-partners/

We can provide each PS 40 family and staff member with a card to have scanned when they pay for their groceries. Fairway will donate 3% of each transaction (less tax, alcohol and delivery charges) to our PTA. The cards can be used in any Fairway location (but only in-store). There is no additional cost to the shopper, and no personal information will be shared with Fairway or the PTA.

Because there are no retroactive credits, you must remember to have the cashier scan your card BEFORE you pay.

We have received a small batch of cards to get us started and will receive more soon. If you are, or would like to become, a frequent shopper at Fairway, please contact Fran Shapiro (PS40Fran@gmail.com) and she’ll get a card to you!

Once the complete order comes in, we can provide cards to our whole community, and are happy to provide extras for your friends and family.

We hope you all have a great vacation next week! Please keep in mind that when you return,
the online camp auction is back!

The auction will run from Monday, February 23rd at 9:00AM through Monday, March 2nd at 10:00PM. Now is the time to make your summer camp plans and take advantage of some great discounts. We have amazing deals on over 30 camps that include Pierce Country Day Camp, Deer Mountain Day Camp, Mount Tom Day Camp, New Country Day Camp, Basketball City, Fashion Camp NYC and many, many more.

Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to bid on some great summer day camps for your child and remember to tell your friends to get in on the bidding too. All proceeds from this auction directly benefit all of the students at P.S. 40 by providing critical educational and enrichment programs.

A selection of First Grade artwork is now on display at the Pushcart Coffee shop on Second Avenue & 21st Street. Stop by to see these wonderful charcoal pencil and paint self-portraits, created as part of a First Grade drawing unit. The artwork will be up until the end of February. Many thanks to P.S. 40’s Art Teacher, Craig Kane, and parent Linda Phillips for organizing this community exhibition of P.S. 40 art.

Our first traditional bake sale of the year is coming up this Friday, January 16th! And, it is always a wonderful array of tasty treats! So, please help by donating home-baked goodies, as well as by volunteering some time, and remembering to send your children in with some money to purchase these treats, as they will have time at their lunch to shop!

You can drop-off donations in the cafeteria or at the 19th Street entrance, the morning of the sale.But remember, for the safety of our children, please leave the nuts at home! We absolutely CANNOT SERVE any items containing peanuts, walnuts, almonds, cashews, macadamia, pistachio, pecan, hazel or pine nuts. (In addition, if your child has food allergies, it may be helpful to send them in with an index card detailing what they are allergic to.)

Please email Amy (amybglick@gmail.com) or Lauri (ps40lauri@gmail.com), if you are able to volunteer, or to let us know what you would like to bring. Please include your name, your child’s name and their class number, in the email. If you would like to volunteer, help is needed with set-up, morning rush (at and following drop-off), lunches, clean-up, or any time that you choose.

Thank you in advance, for your donations, and for your help!!

We are thrilled to announce the P.S. 40 Annual Auction will be held Friday, May 1, at Slate located at 54 West 21st Street. The auction is the largest fundraising event of the year and generates nearly half of the PTA’s gross annual income. It’s a fun and exciting night for our community to come together and raise funds that go directly to enhancing our children’s educational experience at P.S. 40.

Tickets to the benefit include dinner, cocktails, dancing and a number of different fundraising opportunities, including:
• LIVE AUCTION
• SILENT AUCTION
• TEACHER RAFFLE
• CLASS PROJECTS
• ONLINE AUCTION
Soon we will launch our 3rd annual online camp auction. This online-only auction will run from February 23 through March 2 and is a great chance for parents to pick up deals on popular summer camps. More details will follow as the date approaches.

Your help is needed in order to make all of these events succeed. Here are some ways you may be able to contribute:

SOLICITATIONS:  The auction is only as good as the items we procure and we need parents to solicit local businesses. Tips and hints for soliciting are included below. Click the P.S. 40 PTA logo in the left side-bar for the auction donor form.

SPONSORSHIPS & UNDERWRITING: Sponsorships support the costs associated with running our auction. Defraying the auction cost translates into more funds for our children’s education. Does your employer sponsor non-profit organizations? Do you know someone with a foundation or a family member who wants to donate money? Let us know and we can provide you with more information.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: We are always looking for catalog writers and editors, people who can set up and clean up on auction day, and organizers for class projects.

Click the P.S. 40 PTA logo in the left side-bar for the auction donor form.
Email any questions to ps40annualbenefit@gmail.com.

We are looking forward to a fantastic event. Thank you for your help and support!

Lori Capon & Florie Huppert
Auction Co-chairs

HELPFUL HINTS AND TALKING POINTS FOR 2015 SOLICITATIONS

Below are some key points to mention when soliciting local businesses for auction donations:
• P.S. 40 is a public neighborhood school serving over 650 children from pre-k to 5th grade who live in the Gramercy, Flatiron, Union Square, Stuyvesant and Peter Cooper Village neighborhoods.
• Many of the parents and children at P.S. 40 shop and dine out in the neighborhood, so the auction provides an excellent opportunity for locals to give back to locals.
• Over the years, school budgets have been cut drastically, making us more dependent on fundraising to provide many aspects of our children’s education.
• Money raised at the auction helps pay for teaching assistants, library books, musical instruments, chess instruction in all grades, computer upgrades and much more.
• The donation is 100% tax deductible and the restaurant/store name will be featured prominently in our auction catalog, on our PTA website and in the school newsletter.
• Distribute the accompanying letter and donor form to the business instructing them to complete it and send it to the auction donation address.
In addition, here are some ideas of other personal or business connections with great solicitation potential:
• I know someone who works for or has an affiliation with a Broadway show or sports organization. Could tickets to a show/game be donated; can a special backstage or stadium tour be donated? Or perhaps signed merchandise?
• My child/children take a dance/music/sports class. Would the studio donate a free class or a birthday party?
• My spouse or I travel for business. Could we donate extra airline miles?
• My friend works in the restaurant industry. Could he/she obtain a gift card for dinner, hard to get reservation, or a meet-and-greet with a chef?
• My sister makes jewelry. Could she donate a piece?
• I patronize the same restaurant/shop/nail salon, etc. all the time and they know me, so perhaps they will donate something if I ask!
For all donations, get a business card and contact information for a person to follow up with. Do they want to mail in the completed donation form or have you pick it up? Once a business verbally commits to a donation, please let us know so we don’t solicit them twice.

If you have any questions or want to discuss solicitations ideas, please contact Lori Capon or Florie Huppert at ps40annualbenefit@gmail.com.

Training for Monday’s kick-off of the Reading Olympics?  Barnes & Noble in Union Square is providing even more support to P.S. 40 and more motivation for our readers!  From 1/10 – 1/15, Barnes & Noble Union Square will be offering a 25% discount on purchases made by P.S. 40 families.  And from 1/16 – 1/25, the location will be offering a 20% discount on purchases made by P.S. 40 families.  In addition, the store will be donating a percentage of these sales back to the school!  All you have to do is mention at check-out that you are with P.S. 40 and you will receive the discount and the school will receive book fair credit.  Please remember, this applies to the Union Square store only and cafe purchases will not apply. You do not have to be signed up for the Reading Olympics to receive the discount, but remember, there is still time to sign up. Just click here to sign up by Monday, January 12.

What is the Reading Olympics?
The Reading Olympics is a fundraiser for the P.S. 40 PTA.  It is also a celebration of reading, where all participants receive an award.  Please email ps40readingolympics@gmail.com if you have any questions.

What counts as reading?
Since it is difficult to keep track of reading time during school hours, we ask that you only track reading time after school hours.
• Reading on Your Own
• Someone reading to you (Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grades only)
• Homework reading
• Reading just for the fun of it

What do I need to do?
• Sign up by filling out this form at http://goo.gl/forms/CyoFEPkakm . If you’re unable to use the form, please reach out to ps40readingolympics@gmail.com.
• Complete the pledge and tally form (this will be provided to you after you sign-up): The Pledge form is used to solicit sponsors to pledge donations for participating in the event and the Tally form is to record the number of minutes read each day between January 12 – January 25
• Calculate the total number of minutes read between January 12th – January 25th on the Tally form
• Collect the money from each of your sponsors
• Submit the tally form and all donations to the Reading Olympics box in the main office or through your teacher by February 6

Is my pledge tax deductible? Does the PTA accept corporate matching gifts?
Yes to both!  All pledges are tax deductible. We also welcome corporate matching gifts. Please submit any forms we need to fill out along with your Final Tally Form and payment.

When are the pledge donations due?
Pledge donations will be collected from Monday, January 26th through Friday, February 6th. The donations and tally forms must be submitted by February 6th in order to receive an award for participation. We can only accept checks and money orders which are made payable to P.S. 40 PTA. Please do not put cash in the box.

REMEMBER, you do not need to donate money to participate in the Reading Olympics, but you do need to submit a tally form in order to receive an award.

Celebrate Reading and Thanks for Your Support!!

Please email Chetna at ps40readingolympics@gmail.com if you have any questions.