1. New and Noteworthy - Annual Appeal, PTA Vacancies, Picture Retake Day, 3rd Grade Halloween Party

2. Calendar of Events

3. Celebrating What We Do Best - New VP, PTA Meeting, Walk/Bike/Roll to School Day, Library updates

4. Around Belmont - Friends of Chenery Park, Halloween Celebrations, Fall Activities, WIC Diaper Drive

5. Volunteer Links and Reminders

The PTA is officially kicking off it’s 2024-2025 Annual Appeal to Winn Brook families.  We humbly request $125 per family to support our work this year providing students with valuable enrichment opportunities, and teachers and specialists with instruction materials and appreciation events.  $125 is the suggested amount, but ANY amount big or small helps us get there! Learn more about how your contribution supports Winn Brook here.

Last year we raised just over $12,000 from 93 families.  This year, due to the realignment of the district, we have set our goal at $11,000.  We would love to blow that away and increase participation this year, as we have strived to get word out about all the GREAT things that are happening because of the support you provide!  Please also visit this link to see our budget for the year and the capital projects we have completed and are working on as well.

If you have a corporate or workplace match, this is an amazing way to DOUBLE your impact.
Check to see if your employer matches charitable gifts!

• Winn Brook School PTA’s EIN is 04-2982429

• Need a receipt? Email treasurer@winnbrookpta.org 

Donations can be made through Paypal, Venmo, or a check made payable to the Winn Brook PTA and mailed to: 
Winn Brook School
ATTN: Winn Brook PTA
97 Waterhouse Rd. 
Belmont, MA 02478

Coming up on October 24th! Details here. To volunteer, please sign up for an open slot here https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0848A5AD2DA6FF2-52147839-third

Co-Vice President - We are absolutely delighted to announce our new acting Vice President, Navneet Kaur! Navneet is a second grade parent and won’t be at Winn Brook much longer. We would love to add a co-vice president who has younger children and might be interested in continuing to a co-president position next year and the year after. Interested in learning more about what we do? Please email presidents@winnbrookpta.org. Expressing interest is not a commitment.

Make a Gift Committee Chair(s) - The Make a Gift Fundraiser collects students’ artwork and transforms them into plates, mugs, keychains, pillowcases, totes, and more. The committee chair(s) help to organize everyone’s orders and distribute the gifts back to students when they are received. In the past artwork has often been collected in early spring, but this is completely flexible to the chairs' schedule and availability. Interested in learning more? Please email presidents@winnbrookpta.org and we’ll connect you with last year’s chair. Expressing interest is not a commitment.

Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Chair(s) - This committee is responsible for organizing our Walk/Bike/Roll To School events (3 annually, we just had our first!), Crossing Guard Appreciation Day, promoting the MA SRTS Yard Sign Design Contest, and applying for grants if desired. This position requires just a few hours annually and is a great opportunity to have a strong impact promoting safe transportation. Interested in learning more? Please email presidents@winnbrookpta.org and we’ll connect you with last year’s chair. Expressing interest is not a commitment.

Per Hayward Photography’s request, we will connect with them at the end of the month to schedule retake day. As a reminder, retakes are available only to families that pre-ordered or missed picture day. Once the date is set, we will distribute a signup sheet and further instructions on the process; photos will be taken during your child’s lunch/recess period. 

Welcome Navneet Kaur as our new acting PTA Vice President! Navneet is a second grade parent who moved to the US recently from London. We are thrilled that she has volunteered to step in as VP and immerse herself in the Winn Brook community. We will vote her in officially at our next PTA meeting on January 24th.

As mentioned above, we are aiming to fill a co-VP position to look towards the longevity of the Executive Committee; You will be lucky to work along side Navneet.

Thank you to organizer Libby Weintraub and our wonderful early morning volunteers for cheering on our community with hand stamps, stickers, and bookmarks for coming to school on this International Walk to School Day in environmentally friendly ways!

Just like your laundry, the WB library is always non-stop! Over the summer, Winn Brook parent Georgina Lamont created new signage displays to assist the students in being independent library users. The new signs feature our own Winnie exploring the world of non-fiction books. The signs are placed within our non-fiction section to guide students to their general area of interest. 

If you are new to WB and its library there were some big changes last year. Older and taller bookcases were replaced with more age appropriate bookcases (thank you PTA!) to open up the space and provide easier access to the books for our younger population of students. When the old bookcases came out the older carpet squares were showing, yikes! The Belmont Town Facilities Department is working in the library this week to replace the old carpet squares with new ones, yippee! We will be rehousing the books from their temporary location next week to their new and improved homes/bookcases. 

If you are interested in being part of the Friends of the Library group, which helps with odd jobs throughout the year, please reach out to Doreen Cameron at dcameron@belmontschools.net. If you are interested in helping out when the classes visit the library, please volunteer through your class sign up.

There are many more Belmont events to explore:
Belmont Voice Community Events
Belmont Public School Community Events

Libby Weintraub & Meenal Bagla & Michal Feldman

Winn Brook PTA Co-Presidents

presidents@winnbrookpta.org