Thornhill Elementary PFC Newsletter

Has your child come home from school excited to tell you about the delicious, crunchy apples they found while gardening? Has your child told you all about practicing letter sounds with their favorite teaching assistant? Have you heard all about PE with Mr. Shell?

If you can say yes to any of these questions, you’ve already experienced some of the special parts of the Thornhill experience that are funded by the PFC!

Hopefully by now, you’ve received the contribution form and pre-stamped bright yellow envelope that came home in your student’s backpack. So far, we’ve received just over $36,000 which is 14% of our $260,000 goal and 10% of families participating. That’s a great start, but we still have a long way to go! Our goal is 100% participation, with each family contributing what they can. By working together, we can achieve our fundraising goal!

Your contribution to the Annual Fund might be eligible for a company match, doubling your impact! To request a match, submit your receipt to your employer’s matching online gift portal or check with your HR department.

Here are some companies that offer a matching program: Disney, Pixar, AAA, Airbnb, Expedia, Google, Pandora, Adobe, Kaiser, Genentech, PayPal, Apple, Salesforce, PG&E, Williams Sonoma, Microsoft, Verizon, Clorox and more! To see if your employer offers matching gifts, visit Charity Navigator to submit a match request online.

All contributions are tax deductible: Thornhill PFC 501(c)3 Non-Profit Tax ID #94-2529197

Questions? Email annualfund@thornhillschool.org

In partnership,

Stefani Miller, Vaidehi Seth, Annie Sartor & Ashley Hart

Annual Fund Committee

We are excited to share that our ThornChill Fall Festival planning is officially underway! This year's theme is "Rooted In Our Community". We had a wonderful kickoff meeting last week, filled with enthusiasm, great ideas, and a shared excitement for making this year's ThornChill another event to remember!

Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to the positive energy. Stay tuned for more updates and subcommittee volunteer sign ups on Konstella (coming soon). For further information, contact bac@thornhillschool.org.

Join the Thunder Dads as we kick off the football season and bring the Thornhill community together!

We’re gathering at Taps & Take Out for the 49ers vs. Rams Thursday Night Football game. Whether you’re already involved with the Thunder Dads, interested in learning more, or simply want to meet and hang out with other Thornhill dads, parents, and friends, all are welcome!

📆Thursday, September 10

⏰Game kicks off at 5:20 PM

📍Taps & Take Out: 5736 Thornhill Dr., Oakland, CA 94611

Come early, grab some food and drinks, meet some new people, and enjoy a little football with the Thornhill community.

Good food. Good football. Great community. We hope to see you there!

The BAC would like to welcome families to come together for a relaxed afternoon of play and connection at Montclair Park on September 27th @ 3 pm. Click Here to Sign-up!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the first Coffee with the Principal! It was a great turn out and a perfect opportunity to connect with Principal Scott, meet other parents and learn about priorities for the coming year.

Items discussed were as follows:

• Coffee with the Principal also serves as our School Site Council (SSC) where any matters arising, ELA and Math metrics and our school site safety plan will be shared and discussed.

• We were joined by Families in Action (FIA), who are partnering with the BAC and Principal Scott with an exciting opportunity for parents to help with student literacy at Thornhill. The goal is to form a dedicated parent group to support our students with all things related to literacy and student data. One key vision for this group is training family leaders to help other families understand beginning, middle, and end-of-year school literacy data. A message with full details has been sent to your inbox and you can fill out the interest form here.

• We discussed options for improving the play yard for our students, including ways to increase shade, new planting opportunities, improvements to play options for students and creating new areas of interest. We agreed to form an informal group to brainstorm ideas and create change. Thank you to Deepa Lounsbury, Ibby Sasso, Ms Alexis and Kasey at Terremoto for getting the ball rolling! If you are interested in helping out by sharing your ideas, time and expertise, please join the planning meeting Friday, September 11th 3:30 to 4:45 pm at Thornhill Coffee Shop. Everyone is welcome!

Dear Thornhill Families,

We have an exciting opportunity to partner with a program called Lit for Literacy to support our students and school community!

Do you have a child in grades K–5? Are you interested in:

• Helping your child achieve key literacy milestones?

• Learning effective strategies to support reading and learning at home?

• Strengthening teacher-family communication?

• Developing your leadership as a literacy champion for our school?

We are forming a dedicated parent group to support our students with all things related to literacy and student data. One key vision for this team is training family leaders to help other families understand beginning, middle, and end-of-year school literacy data—what it means, and concrete steps to support kids at home. Parent leaders will also have the opportunity to design and lead their own literacy initiatives!

A couple of families have already expressed interest, but we need more parent leaders to make this happen.

Tentative Schedule & Time Commitment:

• Session 1: September 23

• Session 2: September 30

• Session 3: October 14

• Session 4: October 21

• Session 5: October 28 (Morning classroom observations)

• Post-Institute Activity: Conference Week in November

• Session 6: Parent-Led Research Action – December 9

Thank you in advance for your support. We could not do this work without your partnership!

Link: Fill out the Interest Form Here

Warmly,

Ms. Scott

What is the PFC?

The Parent Faculty Club (PFC) is the heart of our school community. We partner with teachers, staff, and administrators to enrich the educational experience for every student at Thornhill. From organizing school events and community gatherings to funding programs that go beyond the classroom, the PFC is powered entirely by volunteers like you. Every family is automatically a member and every family's voice matters.

We Need You: Open Board Positions

Our board is only as strong as the people on it. We are currently seeking dedicated volunteers to fill critical roles:

🎉Auction Chair (can be shared by two people!)

Organizes the school's annual Benefit Auction & Dinner with a team of volunteers. Creates the theme for the event and all printed/web materials for promotions, advertising, catalog, etc. Writes (or delegates) weekly auction updates for the newsletter as needed. Meets regularly with co-chairs and team leaders. Manages or oversees the coordination of all auction areas: financial goals, donor solicitations, database entry, facility rental, food and beverage orders, creating or purchasing decorations, setup and take down on the day of the event, and managing checkout. Provides a budget summary after the funds have been collected. Provide or obtain training for operating the Auction software. Planning commences at the start of the school year.

Webmaster

Maintains and updates school website (including calendar and posting newsletter). Ensures website content is updated at the beginning and regularly throughout the school year. Requires 10-12 hours a week at beginning of school year, then 1-2 hours per week thereafter, higher during event times.

Parliamentarian

Gives instructions in parliamentary procedure when needed at meetings. May make a record of all standing rules adopted by the Board. May bring a copy of this record and Robert's Rules of Order to all meetings. Ensures the bylaws are followed. Requires an average of 1 hour per month.

No prior board experience is required for any of these roles. Just enthusiasm and a willingness to show up for our kids and our community.

Get Involved

Whether you want to step into a leadership role or simply lend a hand where needed, we would love to hear from you. Email us at president@thornhillschool.org. No ask is too big or too small.

Thank you for being part of the Thornhill family. I look forward to a wonderful year ahead.

We warmly invite you to join us!