Dear Mustang Family!

As we start out with the 2017/18 school year I wanted to reach out on behalf of the Manoa PTO board with news, updates and insight!

~ President – since the end of the last school year the board has been working closely together but without a President. We feel that the school year is still off to a great start and the remaining board members, their families and existing event chairs are working a little bit harder to make that possible. The ideal plan moving forward would be to conduct an election and install a new PTO president. If this is not possible for any reason the board will continue to work closely with other active Manoa community members to ensure we all have a great school year!

~ Dues – (part 1) – PTO dues are now $20 per family, regardless of the number of children you have attending Manoa. These dues have increased from $10 due to the annual financial deficit the PTO was operating at, losing somewhere in the region of between $3-$4k each year. We feel these dues are still great value and represent the smallest outlay in the Haverford school district.

~ Dues – (part 2) – the PTO dues go towards a number of fun and educational activities, including, but not limited to, all assembly programs, young writers day, bingo night, classroom parties, field day gifts, ongoing community events and much more!

~ Homeroom Money – following along from the overall financial situation, homeroom parents will be given a budget based upon dues collected rather than a flat predetermined amount. Children in every classroom will still enjoy the same fun events and celebrations throughout the school year, rest assured!

~ Registry – our school wide registry will no longer be printed and physically handed out. Instead it will be made available online in a password protected format and will be available to each family when dues have been paid. The board feels this is a progressive change that allows the registry to be updated regularly if necessary and accessed easily by everyone.
In the interests of complete transparency the board will continue to communicate through monthly board meetings and also ongoing social media posts and our website. Please never hesitate to reach out with questions, thoughts or feedback. Our next monthly board meeting will be held on Tuesday September 19th @ 7pm in the school library. All are welcome to attend! We encourage you all to attend!!

As acting president and current vice president, and on behalf of the entire PTO board, I look forward to seeing many of you this week as we kick off the 2017/18 school year with our amazing faculty, principal, custodians and all other members of the Mustang family!

Best wishes,
Iain McClements