What's New?

Thomas Kelly Elementary PTA Newsletter

April 2, 2024

Looking to get more involved in Thomas Kelly PTA leadership but unsure how? 

Try PTA Spring training!

We are especially seeking a fiscally minded PTA leader-in-training! As an incentive to self-select into a fiscal role, PTA is offering you a no-cost gym membership certificate to a local In-Shape Family Fitness (formally CalFit). This 3-month gym membership certificate was generously donated to help us announce and fill key roles next year. It's yours to enjoy if you train to become a new fiscal PTA leader.

Now through the end of the school year, a spring training phase will give you the chance to gain the hands-on experience that will help you decide which role fits you best (e.g. auditing, dues collection, budgeting, filing taxes, e-shop, etc) for School Year 2024/2025. 

Anyone from the Thomas Kelly Community can be a PTA Leader including parents/guardians, grandparents, aunties, uncles, adult siblings, school staff, neighbors and community stakeholders. 

Contact Sandy Navarro, PTA Treasurer 2023/2024 (& Ian’s Mom/3rd grade/Sanchez) at 916-213-9893 text/call, sandyknavarro@gmail.com or find me at the last PTA Association meeting @6:30pm wed 4/3/2023. 

Jan 26, 2024

Family Picnic Day - Come have lunch with your child on Friday, Feb 16th, weather permitting.

Box Tops - Please consider helping raise funds passively for Thomas Kelly Elementary PTA by downloading the Box Tops App and scanning in your receipts.  Specify us, 'Thomas Kelly Elementary PTA', to benefit from your purchases of BoxTop eligible items. 

• Since December 2023, $27.80 was raised for school year JUN 2023 - JUN 2024!

We don't even have an official Box Tops Coordinator pulling in that $27.80. Imagine how effective you could be taking on this volunteer-from-home fundraiser role for us??? Mentorship is available if you are willing to be the go-to BoxTops lead to help fund PTA activities. Contact Sandy Navarro.

See's Candy Sales - Keep an eye out for our See's Candy Yum Rasier Shop to be announced as a live link (Spring 2024). This is a passive fundraiser. That means, you use our link to shop, your purchase is directly shipped to you, and a donation check is directly written to PTA. 

Read A thon starts on Monday, March 4th, 2024. Don't miss out on the fun and prizes. 🏆 Please sign your student up and be sure to share the link with your family and friends.

Who are we? Thomas Kelly Elementary PTA (that's our full legal name) is a non-profit charitable trust formed around the same time the school was originally opened in the 1960's. As an offical PTA public charity, we fall under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) which means we can accept charitable donations in our name and, generally, are not required to pay State and Federal taxes. But....we are required to file taxes -- which means record keeping, forms & receipts consistent with our by-laws is very important to make it easy for the Treasurer and auditing volunteers dealing with it. We use that money in benefit of Thomas Kelly students, teachers, and campus. PTA 3rd District of California https://www.3rdpta.org is our primary point of contact. Within "3rd District", we are CA Unit ID #501. If a Thomas Kelly PTA leader (an elected or appointed trusted adult from our community such as parent, grandparent or school staff) doesn't know where to start, they can look up the website and email of 3rd District leaders. It's the first place to snag the latest forms, check the due date calendar and to submit official documents. PTA Leaders can call on 3rd District if we lack capacity or have questions that can't be answered by Thomas Kelly PTA Leadership. There is important resources also at California State PTA website https://capta.org/ and National PTA website https://www.pta.org/. For example, Teacher Appreciation Week is organized this year as "Teachers Drive the Future for Teacher Appreciation Week, May 6-10, 2024" on the National PTA website. As you can see from their page, it's often unnecessary to develop big new ideas and material from scratch. And often the Thomas Kelly Elementary PTA has a budget item spelled to execute such a meaningful effort like 'Teacher Appreciation Week'. Unfortunally we often lack capacity of volunteers to execute such events.  Not-So-Subtle-Hint: We currently lack a lead volunteer to sort out the details of a catered lunch and help get the word out to families that "Teachers Drive the Future" that week in May 6-10, 2024. We do have budget funds for you if you want to lead or co-lead this upcoming effort. Please notify us if you are inspired to fill the role; mentorship is available. 

For the most current info - join the Facebook group PTA Administers for it's current students & teachers: "Thomas Kelly Eagle News". 

Nov 28, 2023

It's #GivingTuesday. Thomas Kelly Elementary PTA is tax-exempt nonprofit organization. Please consider sharing our donation web page within your network circle. Some employers even plan out tax deductible charitable donations and you, as the employee, simply need to recommend us. 

• Short-term, we seek donations for the Giving Tree/Holiday Food Basket/Food Closet activities happening over the holidays. 

• As a generational project, we seek funds to start an Arboretum Restoration. 

• A general donation supports all the great PTA programs and activities throughout the year that strengthen our community, support our teachers and enrich our student's lives. 

Join us on Friday, December 15th, for an old fashioned neighborhood caroling party! 

Thomas Kelly Elementary PTA Newsletter

2023 Sep 27

Family Picnic Day! Come have lunch with your child on Friday, Oct 20th.

The 2023-2024 Thomas Kelly Elementary PTA membership drive runs October 3, 2023 through October 26, 2023. 

Our first Halloween Costume and Spirit Gear Drive got underway on September 22nd. Now you can donate your gently used costumes or Thomas Kelly Eagles shirts/sweatshirts so they can bring joy (and candy) to a different child. The donation box is at the school office by the door. Need a costume this year? Want to rock your Thomas Kelly spirit with a shirt? Please contact the PTA at thomaskellypta@gmail.com or call/text your awesome PTA leader Patrick Dunkerly at (323) 244-3539. 

Red Ribbon Week starts Monday October 23. 

It's tamale time! Order a dozen tamales ($25) no later than November 1, 2023 and help our 5th graders go to camp. They can be eaten right away or frozen to be served over the holidays.  Order forms have been sent home with students or you can talk to Kelly in the office. Tamale order pick up day is Thursday Nov 16, 2023 from 3pm-4:30pm.

Kelly Karnival is on Saturday, November 4th, 2023.

Did you know Thomas Kelly Elementary PTA is a charitable organization? Yes, since TK PTA inception in 1960, this PTA files annually with State of California Attorney General as a charitable organization, pays insurance, files tax returns, has bylaws, etc. Our volunteer elected board members get the boring stuff done so your PTA can fiscally operate as a legit PTA unit to support your school. We've been slowly adding digital operations to use in tandem with good old fashioned paper. For example, members can join PTA on the JoinTotem membership portal, buy a t-shirt at our Square Shop, or order a school Year Book (ID: 1138224). We are very happy to announce we can now take an e-donation from our new DONATION PAGE! We know it may sound silly that we are just now getting to that part, but seriously, this work takes research, time and persistence among our elected all-volunteer leaders. If you are tech savvy or a quick learner, please consider becoming a PTA leader to contribute to our efforts to fully embrace the digital age. We are in the process of securing the domain name ThomasKellyPTA.org and a team-based Google Workspace. What do the volunteer board members get in return? It's unique to each volunteer. PTA leaders can build career skills, develop friendships, and feel more in touch with their child's school experience. You get the satisfaction knowing you are volunteering with a local Parent Teacher Associations (PTA). Local PTAs are instrumental in establishing programs and services to improve children’s lives.

2023 Aug 02

It's 'Welcome Baaaaack' time for Thomas Kelly families! School starts Aug 10th, 2023. PTA will be reconvening shortly. 

We hope you'll be a part of the 2023/2024 PTA efforts to organize activities at your school and deepen the Thomas Kelly Eagle's Spirt within your community. 

Here's a few ways you could start to engage with your PTA at Thomas Kelly: 

• check our Facebook page for the latest announcements, 

• become a PTA member, attend meetings & vote,

• take on a leadership role or be mentored into leadership within our tiny but mighty PTA crew,

• thank a PTA leader when you see one in action, 

• purchase School Spirit Gear for your child to wear on Fridays,

• come say, 'hi' to a PTA  representative at the Popsicle Meet and Greet on Aug 8th at 11-11:30AM on campus when you come meet your teacher, 

• enjoy a family movie night on Friday Sept 8th

• purchase a Kona Ice for sale after school Friday, Aug 18th or Sept 22.

• PTA Association Meeting

• save the date for a Family Dance Sept 22nd.

• remember to email quality photos for the yearbook to Erika tkyearbook@gmail.com throughout the year---including of first day of school pictures!!!

Bookmark this page and check back for updates. 

Please attend our first PTA Association Meeting on Wed, Sept 6 6:30pm on campus.

Current Events Calendar

'What's New? Archive' contains PTA updates from the recent past.