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PTA Committees:

The PTA’s primary purpose is to enrich the experiences of all Oak students. Oak’s PTA accomplishes this goal by providing both monetary and volunteer support. Our goal is to have 100% participation of all Oak School families. This section lists the programs and fundraising opportunities we support. There are many ways to become involved. Your participation will make a difference for all Oak School children. Click here for a PTA Volunteer Form. For direct donations, Oak School's PTA tax ID# is 95-6207647.

Agenda for PTA Meeting on 6/4/08.

PTA Fund Raisers

PTA Committees Working with Students

PTA Committees

Art Docents
The Art Docent program is a district-wide program that teaches art appreciation and skills in conjunction with grade-level curriculum.  The program needs volunteers to help teach art lessons throughout the Los Altos School District. Art docents choose which classes they are interested in teaching. Anybody with an interest in art is encouraged to join. There is a two-hour commitment each Wednesday for the first six months. Thereafter the time commitment is between three and four hours per month.

Assemblies
The Assembly Coordinator works with the school principal to select assemblies that will be beneficial to the student body. The topics support the curriculum in informative and educational ways, or broaden exposure to drama and music. The coordinator attends PTA meetings when needed to report on the proposed assemblies and also promote the assembly to the school through NFO.

Auction/Parent Social
The Spring Social and Auction is a fun event that not only strengthens the parent community but is one of Oak’s largest fundraisers. A successful event requires the dedication of many committee members who plan and manage the event–there is something for everyone on this committee, whether you prefer creative or administrative work, dealing with soliciting local merchants, or working behind the scenes. If you don’t have the time to serve on the auction committee, there are also plenty of opportunities to help at the event itself; for example, you can spend an hour or two setting up and tearing down, registering guests, or acting as a cashier at the end of the night.

Baking
Parents provide baked goods on several occasions throughout the year, including the Holiday Faire, Staff Appreciation events, and assisting the Sunshine Committee.

Book Fair
The Book Fair is a fundraising event that benefits the Oak School Library. The event offers products from a nationally recognized bookseller at competitive prices. Volunteers are needed to help as cashiers and book selectors, and to help with set up and tear down.

Box Tops for Education
This is a fundraising program where Oak families collect and turn in the “Box Tops for Education Labels” found on many grocery products to earn money for our school. This volunteer advertises the program and collects and redeems the labels. This is a good job for a working parent who can routinely stop by the office to pick up the labels.

Buy-A-Brick
The Buy-A-Brick program allows families to purchase personalized bricks for the courtyard near the flag pole. Typically, this program targets new families and kindergarten families, and occurs towards the end of the school year. One or two parents publicize the program and coordinate purchasing and installing the bricks.

Campus Improvement
This hands-on committee oversees projects to improve the school or school grounds. These projects are normally suggested by the principal. The Site Improvement committee makes recommendations to the PTA regarding site improvement projects, equipment, layout of the playground structures, landscaping plans, costs, and a schedule for completion. Committee members work closely with the principal, district officials, city government, and state regulators.

Dinner Out
The Dinner Out program is a great fundraiser that encourages community building while earning money for the school. This program requires someone to coordinate and advertise “Oak School Nights” at local restaurants, where the business donates a portion of each bill to Oak School.

Directory
The Oak PTA produces the Oak School Directory at the beginning of each school year. This handbook combines important PTA information with a directory of student and parent names, addresses, and telephone numbers. It also includes a section for Oak parents to advertise their businesses for a nominal charge, both supporting their business and assisting in covering the cost of the handbook. Volunteers compile, edit, produce, and distribute the handbook.

Emergency Preparedness
This committee manages the emergency supply shed and runs a yearly earthquake drill. Checking and supplies and water generally takes a few hours once a year. This can be done on a weekend with prior arrangements with the Committee Chair. Additional volunteers run a school-wide earthquake drill in the fall. Volunteers assess Oak’s procedures and process with a practice scenario. Training is provided before the drill. Volunteers are needed for several hours during the drill and for training before and evaluation after the drill.

eScrip and SchoolPop
Oak School encourages all parents to participate in the SchoolPop and eScrip programs. In these programs, local and national merchants contribute a portion of each purchase to Oak School. The Oak parent who administers this program promotes it in the Oak community, helps parents register as needed, and manages contributions. This is a great job for parents who want to be involved but cannot be on campus during the day.

Garden Club/Nature Zone
Volunteer to help our Oak School children explore and learn in "the Nature Zone" during lunchtime on Wednesdays and Fridays, exploring plant lifecycles, garden growth, and animal residents of the school. Or, volunteer to help with school landscaping design and planning, and with periodic work days on the weekends to maintain the gardens and school landscaping. Whether you know a lot about garden and nature or very little, we welcome your help and can find a volunteer slot to fit your schedule

Go Green
This committee brings awareness, education, and action as to how the Oak Community can further reduce, reuse and recycle at school, at home, and in our community.

Holiday Fair
This annual event is a student favorite, a successful fundraiser, and community outreach. In addition to vendors selling a variety of gift items, the PTA sponsors a bake sale and the Children’s Table, which features many affordable handmade items and toys. To make this event successful, the Holiday Faire committee requires the assistance of many craft-loving parents to create gifts from preassembled kits, and bakers to bake items for the Bake Sale table. This is a great opportunity to work at home on your own time. If you only have a few hours to spare, you can also volunteer to help with setup, cleanup, and cashiering at the Holiday Faire.

Hospitality
Oak's Hospitality Committee provides refreshments at PTA meetings, Back to School Coffee, and Coffee with the Principal events.

Hot Lunch
The Hot Lunch program allows parents to purchase healthy lunches for students several times a week while raising money for the school. Local vendors provide a wide range of menu options that adhere to state nutrition guidelines. Hot Lunch leads manage biweekly lunches, working with vendors to ensure quality and overseeing lunch service. Servers also work biweekly from about 11:45 to 12:30, setting up the lunches and serving students. This is a great opportunity to see what your kids are eating, and you can bring smaller children to the Multi while you work!

Junior Olympics
This is a track and field day held at Los Altos High School for all Los Altos School District 4th through 6th graders. This event is designed to build school spirit and encourage children to make physical activity a part of their lives. Training for Junior Olympics begins in March during scheduled time with the PE teacher and parent volunteers. Parent volunteers help train the athletes and work one or more shift on the day of the event in the following areas: Set up, tear down, clean up, Oak Canopy Supervision, first aid canopy, ribbons & awards, participation awards distribution, relay trainers for each grade, one grade-level coordinator per grade, jump rope counters, and computer coordinator.

Laminating
A volunteer, on a weekly basis, takes materials that require lamination from the school to the district office. The district print shop sets up a schedule for the schools.

Legislation
The goal of this committee is to educate the Oak community about issues that affect our schools and to encourage involvement and action in these issues. This committee works interactively with the parent community, PTA, LASD School Board, community leaders, legislators, and others that can help.

New Families
The New Family chairperson makes a short presentation to both the new families and the Kindergarten families at the evening Back to School/Orientation Night. The committee welcomes these families to the Oak community and provides information and support to the families. This same information is passed on to any new families who move into the community during the school year.

Noon Day Program
The purpose of the Noonday Program is to help create a safe, fun, and respectful lunch recess. Parent volunteers assist younger children with lunches and supervise the playground, field, garden, and blacktop areas. Volunteers typically work once a week or twice a month between 11:50 and 12:50. Training, a vest, and whistle are provided. Other volunteers lead noontime activities such as games, crafts, and sports. The noonday program is a great way to see how your children interact with friends and on the playground.

Notes From Oak (NFO)
The weekly newsletter of Oak School provides important school, PTA, and LASD information. Volunteers are needed to compile and edit the PTA section of the newsletter. Volunteers are also needed to assemble and distribute the newsletter.

Oak Apparel
This committee is responsible for selecting, ordering, and distributing Oak merchandise, and advertising the program. The committee manages one round of ordering at the beginning of the year so that students receive it before the Walkathon. A second round can occur towards the end of the year if the committee desires.

Parent Education
The Parent Education committee advertises parent education opportunities in our area, and may organize parent education events at Oak School.

Photo Gallery/Photographers
Members of this committee work closely with the Yearbook Committee and take pictures of day to day activities, classroom shots, field trips, and other Oak events. These pictures will be used for display and also for the Yearbook. The chairperson of this committee will coordinate the development of the film and setting up photo displays at school.

PTA Membership
The Oak PTA strives for 100% membership participation for all Oak School families. The PTA membership committee helps recruit PTA members at the beginning of the school year.

Room Parent Coordinator
The Room Parent Coordinator is responsible for organizing and training room parents at the beginning of the year. The coordinator also maintains a record of room party funds. Room parents recruit volunteers to help with parties, field trips, and other classroom help. Each classroom is assigned one or more room parents, who provide support for the teacher.

Science Fair
All Oak students can participate in the annual Science Fair. Projects are done at home with parent supervision. Each entrant is awarded a participation ribbon (projects are not judged or graded). Volunteers are needed to help with a parent/student meeting, set up/tear down for the event, chaperone class visits, and distribute ribbons. Parents are invited to set up their own demonstrations or hands-on activities either at the fair or at flag salute to show an aspect of a scientific career or hobby.

Social Events
This committee coordinates PTA-sponsored social events. Typically, this includes a Back to School picnic in September which includes Bingo, ice cream and music. and a Spring Carnival in May. The spring social is a carnival shared by the parents, students, and Oak staff. Carnival games, food, cotton candy, music and much more are available. Volunteers are needed to set up, clean up, run booths, food sales, prize area. Shifts are generally 1 hour. Committee Chairs are needed for the overall event, volunteer coordination, food purchases and sales.

Staff Appreciation
This committee provides "Thank you" messages to the teaching staff throughout the year. The committee also plans a December Holiday Luncheon for the staff and organizes special events and a luncheon during Teacher Appreciation Week in May.

Sunshine Committee
The Sunshine Committee provides meals and other support to Oak School families due to immediate family illness/major injury, or hardship.

Technology Committee
The Technology Committee coordinates the maintenance and improvements of technology at Oak School. Mac or PC knowledge and networking skills are recommended for this committee. Maintenance and troubleshooting are also supported via email. The Oak School Web Page and the Oak Parents' Mailing List are also supported by this committee.

Traffic & Safety/Walk to School
This committee promotes safety at Oak School with awareness, assemblies, and training. The committee monitors traffic and safety issues in the Oak community and recommends actions to the parent community, school, district, and/or city, as appropriate. This committee also sponsors the monthly “Walk or Bike to School” events that encourage traffic reduction

Walkathon
The Walkathon, one of Oak School’s biggest fundraisers, is a fun-filled day in which students are actively involved in earning money for Oak. A successful event requires parent participation at all levels: as ongoing members of the planning committee or for a few hours on the day of the event. The Walkathon Committee includes both creative and administrative volunteer opportunities. The amount of time required differs for each position, but attending at least some of the meetings during school hours is desirable. If you don’t have that much time to spare but want to help make this event fun, safe, and successful, you can also sign up for one- or two-hour shifts in a variety of areas, including lap monitors, registration, first aid, and food service, among others.

Webmaster/Web Designer
The webmaster is in charged of getting Oak School website in sync with all activities held during the year including weekly updates in the calendar and coming events. PTA committes will request the creation of new web pages or modification of existing ones during the year. A web designer is also sought to improve the current deisgn. Volunteers must be familiar with HTML and web editor clients.

Yearbook
This committee collects photographs during the school year and compiles the yearbook. The committee chairs oversee the production of the yearbook and work with the yearbook vendor. Ideally, at least one photographer from each class takes pictures of school and classroom events throughout the year. Parents also help layout the pages of the yearbook. This work typically occurs in the winter and can be done at home. Experience with scrapbooking or paste up is helpful.

PTA Volunteer Form

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Oak Avenue School •  1501 Oak Avenue  • Los Altos, CA 94024 • Phone: 650-237-3900 • Fax: 650-964-9634
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