News

PTO Newsletter 1/31/25

So many great things to share this week, Tiger Families, so read on for more details on how to see the talent show TONIGHT, how to buy tickets for the spring auction, ways to get involved, and how to share your favorite PPE memory for our building memory book!


Important Dates

Note: Dates are subject to change. The BEST way to stay updated is with our PTO Google Calendar – view and subscribe here!

  • January 31: Navigator Day (TODAY!)
  • January 31: Talent Show (TONIGHT!)
  • February 3-7: Teacher Appreciation Week
  • February 7: Field Trip (2nd Grade)
  • February 8: Belmont Basketball Game Fundraiser
  • February 10-12: Used Book Sale
  • February 14: Valentine’s Day Class Parties
  • February 17: No School (Professional Development Day)
  • February 18: Read-A-Thon Begins!
  • February 21: Read-A-Thon PJ Day
  • February 23: Parnassus Spirit Night
  • February 25: Family Skate Night
  • February 27: Percy’s Reading Party
  • February 28: Navigator Day

Upcoming Community and Fundraiser Events

Teacher Appreciation Week is NEXT WEEK!

Our Teacher Appreciation team has so many fun things planned for our teachers and staff next week. How can you help shower our teachers and staff with appreciation?

  • Encourage kiddos to make a note for the APPRECIATION STATION. This will be set up all week in the front lobby.
  • Help with the TREAT CART! Sign up to bring items or help run it on Friday.
  • Encourage students to leave a chalk message on the front walk.
  • Help your classroom Room Parents an sign up to bring a special surprise for teachers (look for Room Parent emails about this)

Used Book Sale: February 10-12, Volunteers needed!

Thank you so much to those of you who have already sent in so many great books! We are still accepting book donations! We welcome books that are appropriate for Kindergarteners through 5th graders, and we especially need chapter books. Donation bins are on the PPE front steps.

This event happens about a week ahead of the Read-A-Thon so the kids will get excited and have “new” books to read.  Each book is $1 on February 10th and 11th. On February 12th, the books are buy one get one free! Your children will have the opportunity to shop the sale during the school day. Go ahead and set your reminder to send your kids with cash for the sale before all the good books are gone!

We need volunteers to help us work the sale. Sign up here. Feel free to reach out to Gillian Stewart, gstewart0707@gmail.com, or Avery Van Pelt, avery.t.vanpelt@gmail.com, with any questions!


Get ready for one of our favorite community events of the year – Percy’s Reading Party (Feb 27)! We are busy planning a great night of activities, reading, Percy the Tiger appearances, themed fun and special snacks. Want to be part of the planning crew? Email Megan Gesell to help out meganmgesell@gmail.com.


TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

Spring Auction: March 29th at Richland Country Club

Time for one of the best events of the year, the PPE Beach Ball Spring Auction! By participating in the silent auction you support the PTO and provide crucial funding for Interventionists, Special Area Teachers supplies and assistance, and teacher professional development opportunities. THANK YOU for your support!

Percy Priest’s Beach Ball
March 29, 2025
6-11pm
Richland Country Club
BUY TICKETS NOW!

Seeking AMAZING Auction Items to Help Raise Money!

Have game tickets or any business services? What about a beach condo or rental property? Maybe you have a relative in a fun city that has something they can donate? All donations are tax deductible with a tax receipt. Any and all suggestions are welcomed. Please email percypriestauction@gmail.com.


General Announcements

Percy Priest has an open Classroom Associate position ready to fill now! This part-time role is 3 days a week (flexible which days) and consists of covering classes when teachers are out last minute, supporting teachers with preparation of classroom materials, and helping out at the most wonderful school in town! Interested? Email Dr. Young TODAY Russell.Young@mnps.org!


The deadline for ordering a 2024-2025 PPE yearbook is fast approaching! Prices on the yearbook will be going up on February 1st and the deadline to order is February 14th, so order your yearbook TODAY at jostens.com by searching for Percy Priest.
You don’t want to miss out on this precious book of school memories!
To make this yearbook the best ever, we need your help. The yearbook committee is looking for pictures of students to add to the yearbook. Class photos with groups of students are especially needed. We know that you snapped some amazing photos this past semester! Please share those with us by sending to: Grace Bryan (615-804-5514) gracebryan516@gmail.com or Gillian Stewart (615-598-7854) gstewart0707@gmail.com. When you email or text those photos please include the name of the teacher if it is a class photo and the name of the students in the photo.

PPE Events x INCLUSION
A message from the PPE CARE team!
We get it. Going out in public can be really challenging and exhausting. Our homes are predictable and safe, but we want to be included in community events. Maybe even really talk to an adult without interruption (too far? wishful thinking?) PPE PTO wants to do better but, like always, sensory needs, accessibility, inclusion, and beyond are admittedly not as automatic for the general public. We are extremely grateful for the PTO leadership wanting to support our families. So, you guessed it…WE NEED YOUR INPUT! Send your suggestions to ppecares@gmail.com! Even better, volunteer to be a voice on a specific committee and be hands-on making change happen!

Free Vanderbilt Women’s Basketball Tickets!

The Vanderbilt University Athletic Department is offering free tickets to staff and community. Fill out this simple request form to get your tickets.

The upcoming games with free tickets are:

  • Feb. 2 vs Ole Miss | 2PM (National Girls and Women in Sports Day/ Alumni Day)
  • Feb. 13 vs Mississippi St. | 8PM(Play4Kay/ Breast Cancer Awareness)
  • Feb. 27 vs Texas A&M | 6:30PM (Black History Month Celebration)

GO’DORES!


Did you know that our school has a free Online Art Gallery? How delightful is it to receive and email with your favorite Percy Priest Artist’s artwork in it? Well, I can tell you that it is pretty awesome! You may be a parent of one of the 254 students who are not registered and connected to Artsonia.com, our school’s amazing online art gallery! Registration is free and you only have to register once for each artist…ever. That’s right, not every year but just once for each of your Tigers! Once you are registered you will have access to your artist’s digital portfolio of every artwork they have created at Percy Priest Elementary School! Plus, Artsonia.com has a gift shop with high quality products featuring your favorite artist’s work, an excellent resource for the upcoming gift-giving season. Click this link to connect or scan the attached QR code!

Watch this space for updates, FAQs, important information and more. 

Update 1.31.25

A memory photo book to document our current building is in the works and we need your pictures! Upload your favorite photos over the years at PPE – think events, friends, field day, and more. Visit this site to upload photos and leave your favorite memories.

FAQ 3: What will change about carline? Transportation will be different at our new school including separate loops for cars and busses. Watch for more information coming late summer on transportation protocols.

FAQ 4: How many Pre-K classes will there be? We will have two Pre-K classes of 20 students each and they will have a separate playground.


Fundraisers

Yummy Cookie Decorating Kits – buy before 2/9!

Help celebrate this Valentine’s Day with a cookie kit from My Sweet Dessert! The cookie kit includes 6 undecorated cookies, 3 colors of icing, 1 spatula and 1 bag of sprinkles. Orders can be placed now through February 9th and pick up will be from 2:30-4:00 on February 12th. If that date/time doesn’t work please feel free to reach out to Marcy Burridge to make other arrangements. Order cookies here!


Belmont Basketball Game Fundraiser

Come cheer on the Bruins and support our school Saturday, February 8 when Belmont takes on Missouri State. Purchase tickets here and Belmont donates money back to PPE!



Get Involved!

Come Have Lunch!

Parents, grandparents and special friends are welcome to eat lunch with students! To help us with space and accommodating guests, we ask that visitors sign-up to come eat lunch using the bookings link below. Please be sure to select the correct grade level and teacher. When signing-up, we also ask that you only sign-up for one day at this time. Thank you for your help and we hope to see you for lunch soon. Sign up to come eat lunch with your student!


Grandparents and Special Friends Email List

We know there are many grandparents, family and special friends of PPE students who would like to be involved. You can keep up with the latest news by signing up for the PPE Grandparents, Family & Friends List here.


Small Fundraisers Spotlight

For a list of all of our ongoing small fundraisers, please visit our Small Fundraisers webpage.


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.

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