What's Up Ahead

9/13/23 School Picture Day - We need volunteers!
9/21/23 PTO General Meeting - ALL invited
9/26/23 PTO Spirit Night at Lefty's Pizza from 5-8 pm

Message from the PTO President

September 2023

Hello and Happy September!

We would like to express our sincerest appreciation to those who have already supported our PTO through donations to the World's Fastest Fundraiser, purchases from the Knight Spirit Store, and through business or personal sponsorships. The donations are helping us get closer to our PTO goal of raising $9,000. We're not there yet! We still need your help.

If you have not registered with Membership Toolkit (MTK) or taken the time to update your Family Information, we encourage you to do so. Members receive our monthly newsletter, have access to volunteer sign-ups, Membership Toolkit (MTK) notifications through the app, and participation in surveys and polls.If you have any questions about PTO membership or with the MTK platform, please reach out to our Membership Coordinator, Kamila Radford at membership@ltmspto.org.

Please join us for our next General Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 21, 2023 at 9:00am. We will start with a special address from Superintendent Norton, followed by our Principal's Coffee with a campus update from Principal Hudson, and then start our General PTO Board meeting thereafter. We hope to see you there!

Go KNIGHTS!

Michelle Lovering

LTMS PTO President

Bond Presentation

Are you registered to vote? Deadline is October 10th!

If you are new to Texas, have recently moved, or want to check poll locations & hours, visit: Voter Registration Info

General Meeting and Principal's Coffee

Everyone is a member of the PTO at LTMS! We do not charge dues to participate and everyone is invited to attend General Board Meetings. Meetings give a glimpse into what is happening at the school and inform you of upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.

As our kids mature, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for parents to be in the classroom. PTO gives you the chance to be on campus and support your student through special events.

And when General Meetings are paired with Principal's Coffees, you get the opportunity to ask our Principal questions and learn first-hand what's on the horizon. Plus, you get free coffee in the morning!

Bond Presentation on 9/21/23

Superintendent Paul Norton will present information regarding the upcoming bond election on Nov. 7, 2023. This is your easiest access to district officials and the best opportunity to ask questions.

We Need Volunteers

We need volunteers to help with Picture Day on 9/13/23. If you can help, please sign up for a shift here: Volunteer for Picture Day

Want to Help Us?

We are seeking volunteers for the 2024 Day of Service Planning Committee.

Lake Travis Middle School and our PTO support and facilitate an annual Day Of Service community outreach event where almost every student participates, either on or off campus, to serve others in the greater Lake Travis/Austin community.

Day of Service had a two year hiatus due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, but returned in the spring of 2023 with great success. We have facilitated five Day of Service events supporting 25-40+ service sites working with a broad range of services, from senior citizen care to animal shelters.

We will kick off planning on September 27, 2023 at 9:30 am in the LTMS room 653. This is a large event requiring many volunteers in the following positions:

Sponsorship Team
T-Shirt Art Design Team
Service Site Team
Student Assignment Team
On Campus Organizations
Communications and Volunteer Recruitment Team
Supplies Team
Return to School/Rally Team

Please attend the meeting on September 27th and/or reach out to our Day of Service Coordinator, Janina Roberts, with any questions at dayofservice@ltmspto.org.

Treasurer's Snapshot

It’s been a busy start of the school year with fundraising events including the World's Fastest Fundraiser, School Supplies, and Spirit Store sales. This year, our World's Fastest Fundraiser goal is $9,000.

I wish we could say we have reached our goal, but we have quite a way to go and for some reason, donations are lagging this year. We are only at $5,480.

LTMS PTO operates on a very small budget. Our total expected income for the year totals $26,595, with the rest of the income coming from spirit store sales, business sponsorships, school supply sales, spirit night and our new program, Knights in Shining Armor. For the full details, click here and feel free to attend the next general meeting to ask questions.

We focus on a couple of student events and teacher/staff appreciation. If we do not meet our fundraising goals, some of those programs in the second half of the year will have to be cut. If you can give, please help. Keep in mind that donations to athletic and fine arts booster clubs are important too, but PTO programs benefit ALL students and staff at LTMS. Please spread the financial love to everyone.

Your Donations at Work!

One of our Staff Appreciation perks for the year is a $50 Amazon gift card that is meant to cover resources purchased for instructional learning. These have been sent to all classroom teachers on campus as well as visiting therapists (speech, audiology, dyslexia, etc.) We realize that some teachers spend a whole lot more than $50 of their own money each year, but we hope this little bit can help.

Fundraising

September Spirit Night

Participate in the next Spirit Night at Lefty's Pizza Kitchen. They are giving us a generous 20% of the proceeds for the evening between 5-8 pm - dine in or take out. Have stuff to do that night? Plan ahead and pick up at 5 pm to beat the rush or order ahead and pick it up on the way home from one the many activities that keep you busy!

Lefty's Pizza Kitchen Spirit Night image

NEW - Knights in Shining Armor

We are launching a new fundraising initiative!

What is it?

A way to give back to our kids and community through matching funds. While we are supporting local business though spirit nights, we are also collecting matching funds from families that help PTO host wonderful school activities for students during the school year.

How can YOU be a Knight in Shining Armor?

We are looking for families or business who want to match the proceeds from Spirit Nights. It can either be recognized by name or anonymously. We have September and October already. So, we are looking for the remainder of the year.

September's Knight in Shining Armor

(anonymous)

Fundraising Opportunities

Not sure how else to help the LTMS PTO raise funds? Here are just a few more examples of how you can help:

Community Partners

Do you own a local business and wish to partner with us to impact the programs and activities provided to our students and teachers? As a valued business sponsor you will be recognized through various benefits depending on the sponsorship level you choose. We hope your business will join us in supporting education in our community.

Double Your Donation

Increase the impact of your PTO donation with a matching gift. Employee matching gift programs are corporate giving programs in which the company matches donations made by employees to eligible non-profit organizations like LTMS. A simple and effective way to double a contribution at no additional cost to you. Details here.

Volunteer Grants Make a Difference

Volunteer grants are corporate giving programs in which companies provide monetary donations to non-profit organizations where employees volunteer regularly. If you volunteer at LTMS, it’s an easy way to provide the school with additional financial support at no cost to you! Details here.

Spirit Store

No matter the season, Spirit Store is OPEN! and stocked with shirts, stickers, and other LTMS swag. You will receive an email notification when your order is fulfilled and ready for pick up at the school. All in-stock items purchased through Curriculum Night are ready in the office now.

Note: Hoodie orders will be accepted through October 20th so they can be delivered to purchasers by the end of November.

Purchases of LTMS gear support PTO fundraising efforts. Thank you for your generosity!

Helpful Info for Parents

Lake Travis ISD Mobile App

The Lake Travis ISD Mobile App for both iOS and Android devices is available for download. With the app, you can set your preferences so that you can receive notifications from more than one school, access SMART tag and txConnect parent portal pages, view lunch menus and account balances, and easily access district and campus event calendars.

Search your app store for Lake Travis ISD and look for the LT logo to ensure that you are downloading the correct app.

Community Partners

Thank you to our wonderful PTO sponsors. Please take time to patronize our Community Partners who have been generous in their support to our school!

If you are interested in becoming a Sponsor or know a business that would, please let us know: fundraising@ltmspto.org or visit our Community Partners page for more information.

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

SUBJECT: LTMS PTO Newsletter - September 2023