Washington GT Magnet Elementary School

PTA Programs

Washington PTA Programs and Activities

What does the PTA do? The Washington PTA supports the students, teachers, staff, and parents. Here is a summary of Washington's PTA programs and activities. If you would like to work on any of these programs, please contact the committee chair for that program.

Communications and Recognition

The PTA publishes a monthly Newsletter, which includes the PTA calendar, highlights and updates about the current programs.
Our Student Directory lists all families by classroom and again by last name. It also includes a staff listing with e-mail addresses, and the PTA committees with contact information.
The PTA helps produce the school Yearbook, assisting the photographer on student picture days, taking interesting pictures throughout the school year, collecting and organizing pictures offered by room parents, and overseeing the orders and distribution of the yearbook.
The PTA Media Relations committee informs the public of accomplishments and announcements.
In addition to showing support throughout the year, the PTA recognizes and rewards staff on birthdays and during Staff Appreciation Week and Bus Driver Appreciation Week.
The PTA Staff Awards committee nominates outstanding staff members and PTA committees to a countywide recognition program.
The Character Education committee promotes Character Eduaction and rewards students who have demonstrated good character.

Community Support

The PTA's tutoring program, Weekly Readers, matches community volunteers with first or second grade students identified by their teachers as reading below grade level. These volunteers commit to reading with their student at least one half hour a week for the entire school year.
The National Boy's and Girl's Club has a satellite club at Washington GT Elementary to help serve the after-school needs of students. Our PTA supports this club by providing snacks, art supplies, and a budgeted sum to assist them with their program needs.
Camp Morning Star helps prepare students for testing, by offering additional educational time before school. Volunteers are also needed to help in an elective that serves students who need extra help preparing for standardized tests.
Our Washington Neighbors committee offers aid to school families with illnesses or other challenges. The Washington neighbors committee has mobilized several times to round up and deliver donations of furniture, household items, and clothing to families who have suffered from a house fire or experienced other setbacks.
In the same spirit, the PTA sponsors Holiday Magic, a program that offers holiday cheer to school community families. Our school counselor identifies students from families who may have needs during the holiday season. Washington families adopt a student anonymously, providing Christmas gifts for that student based on student wishes. In December of 2004, 116 students received Holiday Magic from Washington PTA sponsors.
The PTA supports Washington's Ready-to-Learn Center by providing volunteers to help staff the services of the center. In the past volunteers have helped with kindergarten registration and with a preschool-aged playgroup.
Our PTA will sponsors a Kids Voting booth during elections. Kids Voting encourages students to accompany their parents on voting day and cast their own ballot at the Kids Voting booth. Kids Voting results are displayed on TV news reports. Through the program, students develop an early interest in the election process.

Media Center

The PTA assists the school with the Book Adventure program. Students earn points by reading books and taking reading comprehension tests. We reward the accumulation of points with various incentives and prizes.
Our Feed-the-Seed volunteers read books hand-picked by the Media Specialists to their child's class. During the year these books include the North Carolina Children's Book Awards nominees, and students then vote on their favorite book. Their votes are tallied and the children's vote becomes Washington's vote in this statewide award program.
During the summer, the PTA sponsors a Summer Reading Challenge.. All students, including rising kindergartners, are encouraged to read for 2000 minutes. All students who participate will attend a celebration at the beginning of the school year and receive prizes for their reading accomplishments.
Families can have a book placed in the Media Center in honor of a special student or teacher through the Spring Dedicate-a-Book program.
The Scholastic Book Fair comes to Washington each fall, offering parents an opportunity to purchase popular books for their children or their teachers.
Volunteers can work one Saturday at the Media Center Workday, cleaning and fulfilling a small wish list of tasks organized by the Media Specialists.
Volunteers who wish to help all year long are welcome to be Media Center Volunteers. These special volunteers get to play "librarian" by helping at the circulation desk, checking in and out books, shelving books, and assisting the Media Specialists with other tasks. This work frees up the Media Specialists to spend more time with our students. Volunteers get to know a wide range of Washington students, and volunteers' children are usually quite proud when their classes come to the Media Center and find Mom (or Dad!) at the circulation desk.

School Programs and Events

Arts-in-the-School is an art history slide presentation which prepares 3rd and 4th graders for their trip to the North Carolina Museum of Art.
The Cultural Arts committee brings the arts to the school by funding artistic performances on campus. In the past the students have enjoyed presentations by an opera company, a mime company, and an African dance ensemble.
Athletics/Field Day brings the students outside for athletic participation. Volunteers oversee stations where students are challenged to try various athletic events.
Reflections is a national PTA arts program. Each year a theme is announced and students are encouraged to create a work of art based on that theme. Artwork is then judged at the school level, county level, and state level.
Scientists-in-Residence is a program that brings scientists into the classrooms to elaborate on topics that fit the class curriculum.
Fall Picnic provides Washington families and staff the opportunity to enjoy an evening of food, fun and music together. Everyone is invited to set up a blanket or folding chairs on the lawn, bring an item to share and get to know fellow Washingtonians at this very relaxed event.
For Family Science Night, we invite scientists from several disciplines to come to our school and give a demonstration or exhibition in a classrooms. Exhibitions have included animal science (with live animals), forensics and fingerprinting, soil sciences from N.C. State, physics, chemistry, ham radio, recycling and the ever popular technology take apart room where parents provide old appliances, computers or gadgets, and students use get to take them apart and see what's inside.
The Science Fair is a competition in which students perform a science experiment, display a collection, or create a display of scientific interest. Fourth grade students are required to participate. Community scientists are invited to judge the exhibits. Mentors are provided for students who are required to participate but who may need additional guidance.
The PTA helps with the organization and set up for the 5th grade Graduation ceremony.

School Support

The PTA Room Parents support our teachers with supplies, volunteer coordination, and in many other ways.
The PTA Teacher Grants program starts each school year out by giving every teacher $100 to spend on classroom supplies. Additionally, teachers may apply for additional grants for classroom supplies, training, or curriculum needs. Our funding has provided classrooms with atlases, globes, and software. In addition teacher grant funding provided our autistic population with occupational therapeutic field trips to places such as the library and dentist. Teachers may also request funding to attend teaching conferences. We also provide our principal $500.00 discretionary fund to enhance her ability to support the teachers and staff.
Office Assistants help staff the front desk in the main office, answering phone calls, greeting visitors.
Washington Willing Workers, do very useful jobs for teachers such as laminating, cutting, copying and any other sorts of things the teachers feel confident leaving in the PTA room. All this help from the volunteers frees up the teachers and the assistants to spend more of their time with our children.
The PTA helps maintain the contents of the school Emergency Bags. Each classroom and student area is assigned an emergency bag containing first aid supplies, and other items the Wake County School system thought would be helpful in an emergency. Volunteers make sure the contents of these bags are refilled as they are used, and up to date if they are not used.
The Health Room committee provides volunteers who are willing to provide lots of TLC to students with bumps and bruises. Applying ice bags, taking temperatures, calling parents, these volunteers are special people who truly care.
Another great volunteer opportunity is helping out with the school's Vision Screening program once each year. Volunteers are trained by the school nurse and committee chair and assist as students are screened for vision problems. In many cases, this is where vision problems are noticed that might otherwise go undetected, causing the child headaches or trouble reading in class.
The Recycling committee promotes and encourages recycling efforts throughout the school.
The PTA maintains the Lost and Found area in the first grade hall and arranges for the donation of unclaimed items.
The Allyna Stone Math and Science Courtyard committee works throughout the year to improve the school grounds and our new outdoor classroom.
The Hospitality committee provides refreshments for some of the PTA events.

Ways and Means

Ways and Means oversees our fundraisers, including Membership dues, Wizard Wear clothing (available for purchase at several PTA events), and Passive Fundraising from retailers' school programs such as Harris Teeter, Food Lion, and Target, and Boxtops for Education.

Copyright 2006 Washington Elementary PTA
The Washington PTA Website is written by busy parents who sometimes make mistakes. Any mistakes in typography, grammar or spelling do not reflect upon the quality of education students receive at Washington Elementary School.