PPE PTO Newsletter – August 22nd, 2025
Art by George Truex, 4th Grade
2025-2026 Navigator Day Shirt Design Winner
New Doors, Same Roars!
Important Dates
Note: Dates are subject to change. The BEST way to stay updated is with our PTO Google Calendar – view and subscribe here!
- August 26th: Kindergarten Mom’s night out – more info below.
- August 29th: First Navigator Day and House Meeting!
- August 29th: First day forms are due to your child’s teacher! You can find them in your child’s first day folder.
- September 1st: Labor Day/No School
- September 5th: Fall community event – PPE Block Party! More info below.
- September 8th: Registration is open for Tiger Cup, Moms, Mahjong (sold out), and Mimosas 2025!
- September 16th: PTO General Meeting
- September 18th: Percy’s Vintage Closet (more info on donation requests below)
- October 8th: Songwriters Under The Stars
QUICK NEWSLETTER TABLE OF CONTENTS:
- SCHOOL UPDATES: Spotlight on music, CLUBS!, Invest, Percy’s Vintage Closet
- COMMUNITY EVENTS AND FUNDRAISERS: Kindergarten Moms Night Out, Block party, Tiger Cup, Songwriters Night
- CALLS TO ACTION: Photos/photographers needed, don’t forget to sign up to volunteer, small ongoing fundraisers (Katelyn Brown photography, save the date for mums and pumpkins, Nashville SC game)
SCHOOL UPDATES
Spotlight on Specials Section
(say that 5 times fast)
This week it’s…..MUSIC!
What’s new in Music?
There’s a lot to be excited about in Music at Percy Priest this year! Every grade level will once again have its own performance—back by popular demand! Performance dates can be found on the PPE shared calendar.
In music class, students sing, dance, and play instruments as they grow their musical skills.
Right now:
- 3rd–5th Grade are rocking out in our guitar unit! They’re learning iconic riffs from Chicago, Ozzy Osbourne’s Crazy Train, and Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes. This year they’ll also explore bass, drumset, piano, and singing.
- 2nd Grade is preparing for their first performance in September, celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with songs in Spanish.
- Kindergarten & 1st Grade are developing foundational skills like pitch matching, steady beat, movement, and playing non-pitched instruments. Later this semester, they’ll also begin learning ukulele and drums.
- We’re also thrilled to launch new after-school music themed clubs this year—Choir, House Band, and Ukulele Club! If you have questions about these opportunities, reach out to Ms. Taylor at danielle.taylor@mnps.org.
- A major highlight from this summer: the Percy Priest House Band had the incredible opportunity to open for Wynonna Judd at Ascend Amphitheater during CMA Fest! You can check out their performance here —we are so proud of these talented students.
. 
IT’S CLUB TIME!
This year our PPE teachers and staff have an even larger variety of after-school club offerings!
Please see the list below for clubs and check your child’s Friday folders over the next several weeks for more information.
Clubs will be starting the first full week after Labor Day or the following week.
MONDAYS and WEDNESDAYS:
Taylor Swift Club: Mrs. DeGuira & Ms. Cary (3rd-5th, flyer coming soon)
TUESDAYS:
Imagination Club: Mrs. Acker (1st-3rd grades, flyer coming soon, blurb below!)
Builder’s Club: Ms. Faison & Ms. Wall (K-2nd, flyer coming soon)
Cooking Club: Mrs. Williams & Mrs. Zeller (1st-3rd, flyer coming soon)
All Sports Club: Mrs. Townsend & Mrs. Davidson (4th-5th, flyer coming soon)
Choir: Ms. Taylor (2nd-5th, flyer coming soon)
Craft Club: Ms. Laposky & Mrs. Calzadilla (3rd-5th, flyer coming soon)
Dance Club: Mrs. Conner (formerly Zimmerman, 4th-5th, flyer coming soon)
WEDNESDAYS:
Game Club: Mr. & Mrs. Tanner (1st-5th, sign up using this link and see the blurb below)
Imagination Club: Mrs. Acker (1st-3rd, flyer coming soon)
Yoga Club: Ms. Fine (1st-4th, flyer coming soon)
Drama Club: Mrs. Conner (formerly Zimmerman, 1st semester: 3rd-5th, 2nd semester 4th-5th, flyer coming soon)
Wonderful Wednesdays: Mrs. Condra & Mrs. Dick (K-1st, flyer coming soon)
Podcast Club: Mr. Bray & Mrs. Williams (5th only, flyer coming soon)
Ukulele Club: Ms. Taylor (1st-5th, flyer coming soon)
THURSDAYS:
Game Club: Mr. & Mrs. Tanner (1st-5th, sign up using this link and see blurb below)
Minecraft Master Builders: Mr. Bray & Mrs. Van Lenten (4th-5th, flyer coming soon)
Builder’s Club: Ms. Faison & Ms. Wall (K-2nd, flyer coming soon)
SEL/STEAM Club: Mrs. Lester & Mrs. Strobel (K-2nd, flyer coming soon)
Art Honors Society: Dr. A (3rd-5th, by invitation, more info to come)
All Sports Club: Mrs. Townsend & Mrs. Davidson (2nd-3rd, flyer coming soon)
Rock Band: Ms. Taylor (4th-5th, by audition, more info to come)
PE+: Mr. Swift (1st grade only, flyer coming soon)
FRIDAYS:
Passport Club: Mrs. Parker (2nd-4th, flyer coming soon)
GAME CLUB
IMAGINATION CLUB
The Imagination Club will focus on a balance of stories and art. Sessions will have a fun combination of literature and hands-on activities. We will explore the world of artists, nature, history, engineering, cultures, and plain old discovery and conversation. Here is a sample of club meetings: What is your superpower?, Ancient Egypt, Monster Mash, Dude, you sink my battleship!, The Greatest Show on Earth, and more…
When: Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Who: 1-3rd graders
PASSPORT CLUB
INVEST CAMPAIGN
Help us keep the momentum going on Invest and don’t wait to donate! The students get fun prizes for class participation. If a financial donation not in the books right now? That’s ok! Remember to log your participation in Invest through the link here. This very professional 😉 video can help you navigate how to log participation without a monetary amount. That way, your child’s classroom gets 100% participation.
PERCY’S VINTAGE CLOSET – DONATIONS NEEDED!
“Percy’s Vintage Closet” is your chance to buy gently used PPE attire. If your tiger has outgrown any of their PPE clothes or accessories, the donation bin is on the front porch of the school. Save the date for the sale on September 18th. you have any questions, feel free to reach out to, Gillian Stewart (gstewart0707@gmail) or Grace Bryan (grace.bryan516@gmail.com)
COMMUNITY EVENTS
Kindergarten Mom’s Night Out
Let’s Get Together – Fall Community Event and Block Party!
September 8th at Old Natchez Country Club
Spots are filling up fast – don’t hesitate to secure yours for this amazing event. We’ve added lots more information on how the event will run, what you can sign up for, registration links, and more on the Tiger Cup page.
Songwriters Night – Save the Date 10/08/2025!
Stay tuned for more information about this popular event! While you wait, please sign up to help out the volunteer committee. We need:
FUNDRAISERS AND CALLS TO ACTION
We Need Photographers and Photos For the Yearbook
Not a photographer? No problem. We still need your photos for the yearbook! Please upload any photos you have of students at Percy Priest events to our Yearbook committee year round using this link (code: percypriest). This helps make for a very amazing yearbook each year. If you have any questions, please contact Gillian Stewart, gstew
ONGOING SMALL FUNDRAISERS
Orders open 9/8
Calling all PPE soccer fans! Join us for a Nashville SC game! Tickets are $25 and $5 from each ticket goes back to the Percy Priest Elementary PTO. 
Click the image to book on her website!
Have Lunch With Your Student!
Did you know that at PPE you can sign up to go eat lunch with your kids during their lunch time?
Here is a helpful page with each grade level’s lunch time and the official sign up to eat lunch with them. Reminder: same day lunch plans are permitted, but the calendar doesn’t let you sign up same day. Please email catherine.gerald@mnps.org for same day lunch plans to let school know you’re coming so that your badge is ready to go.
How to Stay Connected
Email Lists
New families – Be sure to sign up for our school newsletter, which includes grade-level information each week. Register today.
Add PPE happenings to your calendar automatically!
You can subscribe to our PTO calendar and have all of our events show up on your calendar, so you never lose track of important dates! Following the links below will prompt you to subscribe to the calendar via your preferred calendar app. Any time the PTO updates an event through the website, it will update on the calendar of all subscribers (how often your calendar pulls updated info will be based on your individual personal settings – every 5 minutes, 1 hour, 1 week, etc).
For Calendar Apps (apple calendar etc), click here.
For Google Calendar, click here.