Dear Parents: On behalf of Havens Parents Club, welcome to a new year at Havens. Your family is one of 350 families that attend Havens. The Havens Parents Club was founded over 50 years ago and currently represents about 50% of all K-5th students in Piedmont schools. The Havens Parents Club’s primary goal is to provide support to Havens Elementary School. We do that by volunteering at school and by funding school enrichment programs and personnel in art, science, music, math, technology and reading. There are four principal ways to get involved. Join the Havens Parents Club Your annual membership dues entitle you to receive a copy of the School Directory, which lists contact information for all students and staff in the Piedmont Unified School District. You may wish to buy an additional copy for your car and office. All proceeds support your Havens Parents Club. Volunteer There are many ways to help out at Havens: Be a hot lunch server Help out with the checkwriting campaign Make an entrée or salad for a teacher’s luncheon Work on the annual auction “Fiestaval” Be a lice checker (no prior experience required) Man the library desk during your child’s library time Work in the class room or coordinate those who do by being a room parent These are just a few of the opportunities where you can volunteer.  Monthly Meeting One of the main functions of the Havens Parents Club is to promote communication within our school community. Mark your calendar and plan to attend our monthly meetings. You will receive updates from our School Board Representative, and Tery Susman, our Havens Principal. Your input is valuable. We plan to continue incorporating outside speakers. Past speakers have included a Piedmont firefighter speaking on how to prepare your family for a disaster and a Piedmont Police Officer who discussed internet safety for kids. Please email me with topics of interest to you. Our meeting schedule for 2006-2007 is as follows: September 12, 2006  (minutes) October 3, 2006  (minutes) December 5, 2006  (minutes) January 9, 2007  (minutes) February 6, 2007   CANCELED March 6, 2007  (minutes) April 3, 2007  (minutes) May 1, 2007 June 5, 2007 All meetings are in the Auditorium at 9 am except the September 5 and February 6 meetings, which are in the Multipurpose Room at 7pm. Fundraising The Havens Parents Club is able to spend a significant amount on each Havens student by providing additional services no longer financed by the district or the state. This is possible because of the extraordinary efforts of the Havens parent body. The primary efforts include the annual check writing campaign, Fiestaval, hot lunch sales, gift wrap sales, library book fairs, merchandising and the HPC membership drive. The funds are spent largely on enrichment to maintain a quality educational experience for your children. Parents can also receive the school newspaper, Havens Highlights, electronically by sending an email to our Havens web master Jim Baack at jbaack@piedmontparents.org. Thank you in advance for your support. Sincerely, Dana Low President, Havens Parents Club danahlow@yahoo.com (510)547-8360

Hot Lunch Form

The Havens Parents Club has three important functions: To promote communication between the parent community and our school regarding educational issues. To raise significant revenue (over $200,000) each year through various fundraisers. To select programs, materials and resources at Havens to fund in order to enhance the educational experience of our children.

Bylaws of the Frank C. Havens School Parents Club

LINK to The Bylaws Committee of the Board

Monthly Meetings

The Havens Parents Club meets during the school year on the first Tuesday of each month (go to calendar). Dates and times are listed in the Havens Handbook. Virtually all Havens families sign up for membership in the Parents Club at the beginning of each school year for an annual membership fee of $50 and, as part of their membership, receive a copy of The Student Directory - an invaluable resource which lists the names, addresses and phone numbers of all students in the district.

Parents are encouraged to come to the monthly Tuesday meetings. Members of the Board are required to attend. Current school issues and club activities are discussed.

Tery Susman, our principal, presents a report each month, provides answers to our many questions regarding school practices and policies, and listens to our input and perspective. Short presentations are often given by teachers or resource specialists on specific Havens programs. These monthly meetings provide a wonderful opportunity for parents to keep abreast of issues and to participate in an ongoing exchange of ideas and comments concerning education. A synopsis is included in Highlights and will be posted on this website. Minutes may be obtained from the Secretary of the Parents Club.

To Promote Communications

In addition to monthly meetings, the Parents Club promotes communications by sponsoring various parent education events. Education Affairs Forums on curriculum topics of significant interest to a large portion of the parent community are hosted three to four times per year. At these events, our principal, teachers, and/or resource specialists provide in-depth information and discussion opportunities.

Fundraisers

The Parents Club enhances our childrens' education through fundraising and its careful selection of programs, materials, and resources to support. The Club raises over $200,000 each year. It has always been important to the parent community to have this direct opportunity to contribute to our school.

Fundraisers include:

• The Fiestaval - a silent auction and party plus the carnival in the Spring. www.fiestaval.org
• Checkwriting Campaign - simply writing a check to the school in the Winter.
• SCRIP - certificates purchased at face value; the store donates 2-20% to our schools.

• Hot Lunch - organized hot lunches served to the children every other Thursday.
• Book Fairs - Fall library book fair and Spring 'Adopt-a-Book' fundraiser.
• Merchandise - gift wrap, lunch bags, shirts, etc. available to purchase.

Distribution of Funds

The money raised by parents through fundraising efforts is distributed by the Parents Club annually. The Club funds teacher aides, computer software and hardware, the computer resource specialist, the library, a math resource specialist, the science resource specialist, 5th grade chess, PEP, CAP, and much, much more.

Parent Participation Opportunities

The Parents Club is a terrific organization which provides a wide range of opportunities to participate - from positions which require significant time and effort throughout the year to "one-time only" assistance on a specific project. Whatever your time constraints, there is a volunteer opportunity that will fit. Many times our school calls on the skills, talents, and knowledge of our parent community for special projects (eg. it's very useful to have a volunteer landscape architect handy when improving the playground). For specific details on volunteer opportunities and Parent Club activities, parents can refer to the Havens Handbook or call the Board member handling the activity. Board positions, although requiring significant commitment, offer the opportunity to work closely with our school. Each spring, a committee is formed to nominate interested parents to Board positions for the following year. Parents interested in serving on the Board should contact the President of the Parents Club by March. If you are a parent with special expertise, please mention to the President that you would be able to assist on projects in that area.