What's Up Ahead

10/24/23 PTO Spirit Night at P. Terry's 5-10 pm
10/26/23 PTO General Meeting at 9am - ALL invited
Principal's Cookout, TBD

Message from the PTO President

October 2023

Hello and Happy Fall!

I would like to thank Mr. Norton for his presentation at our September PTO meeting and emphasize to all our community members how important it is to GO VOTE! Early voting begins Monday, October 23rd and will end Friday, November 3rd. Election Day is Tuesday, November 7th. For more information about this bond election, visit https://www.ltisdschools.org/bond. Please do not rely on social media or sites that do not have our students' interests at heart. Seek the information directly from the source, our district officials.

I would also like to thank 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 fundraising goals, but we're not there yet! We still need your help. Our PTO will continue working hard to plan events for our students and staff, however without adequate funding, some events may have to be cut or minimized.

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 at our next scheduled PTO General Membership meeting on Thursday, October 26, 2023 in LTMS rm 653. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact info@ltmspto.org.

Go KNIGHTS!
Michelle Lovering
LTMS PTO President

LTISD Bond 2023

Learn the Facts

Visit the LTISD Bond page to learn more - in particular, the Frequently Asked Questions section is helpful to explain this process to parents who are new to Texas or who simply need clarification.

Election is Tuesday, November 7, from 7am-7pm. Early voting begins Monday, October 23 and continues through Friday, November 3. Early voting will be available at Bee Cave City Hall, the Lakeway Activity Center, and the Lake Travis ISD Educational Development Center.

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 Membership Meetings, which 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!

Current Volunteer Needs

Occasionally, our PTO receives requests from teachers or staff to arrange for volunteer help on campus. This is exactly what a Parent Teacher Organization is for - to work together to improve the educational experience for our students.

Current volunteer needs on campus:

7th Grade Resource Reading Partners - Sign Up Here

Day of Service 2024

We are still 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.

This is a large event requiring many volunteers and we still need volunteers in the following positions:

Sponsorship Team
Plaques & Certificate Team
T-Shirt Art Design Team
On Campus Organizations
Communications and Volunteer Recruitment Team
Supplies Team
Return to School/Rally Team

Some volunteer work needs to begin now and other positions require work in the spring semester. Feel free to reach out to our Day of Service Coordinator, Janina Roberts, with any questions about how you can support Day of Service at dayofservice@ltmspto.org.

And we will need MANY parent volunteers on the day of the event. Please mark March 28, 2024 on your calendars!

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 $5,505.

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.

Fundraising

World's Fastest Fundraiser is No Hassle!

Allows LTMS PTO to use 100% of the proceeds on:

Campus Requests: Supplies for Classrooms and Workrooms
Fun Field Days and Events Per Grade Level
Dances and Celebrations
Supportive Roles to LTMS - Teacher Appreciation Events & Student Events

Our Goal this Year is $9,000.

Without your Continued Generosity, none of this is possible! We depend on your support to continue these vital programs for our students and staff. Every donation matters!

PLEASE DONATE TODAY!

Thank You to our World's Fastest Fundraiser Donors!

We really appreciate all the family donations that have been made so far. If you would like your name on this list, donate now and be sure to leave your family name in the donation recognition field.

The Williams Family

Zak And Sacha Crosby

The Suh Family

Gail McClung

The Hanken Family

Marissa Saunders

The Elliott Family

The Staben Family

The Howe Family

The Schatte Family

The Krothe Family

The Mahmood Family

The Acuna Family

Eric & Melissa Bauer

The Mathiason Family

The Zimmerman Family

Brianne Poole

Stephanie Kocik

The Mitchell Family

The Trent Hughes Family

The Hawkins Family

Cortney Neves

Leslie Ouellette

Ranjit Gujja

The Zazado Family

The Centella Family

The Soto Family

The Fellin Family

The Kasian Family

Lyndie Percivill

Meghan And Mike N

The West Family

The Carroll Family

Justin Dalton

The Sitra Family

Phil And Susie Sublett

The Mead Family

Tuli Davenport

The Miranda Family

The Long Family

Krushi Setlur

The Lovering Family

Kelly Toye

Kamila Radford

Brian And Shayla Price

Amy Stine

Reema Desai

Staci Curtis

Nicole Shapiro

Noelle Mcdaniel

Rick Correa

The Hoover Family

Aubrey And Joseph Shaw

The Villa’S Family

Sarah Jackson

Kristyna Smith

Mandy Shanklin

Hazard

Erika Shepler

Jody Verhoeff

Estela

Anonymous Donors

Spirit Nights

Thank you to everyone who came out for our Lefty’s Spirit Night held on September 26. You helped us raise $300. A generous 6th grade family became our very first Knight In Shining Armor by matching the Spirit Night total. That brings our total for our first Spirit Night of 2023-24 to $600.

Mark your calendars for our next Spirit Night. It will be held on Tuesday, October 24th at P. Terry’s and we are excited to announce that another family has already stepped up to be our October Knight in Shining Armor and will match the proceeds from that night's total.

If you are interested in being a Knight in Shining Armor for an upcoming Spirit Night, please contact Jocelyn Fary-Holzwarth or Tina Broussard at fundraising@ltmspto.org

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.

This year we have a brand new and very exciting sponsorship packet for local businesses. If you are affiliated with a local business, this sponsorship opportunity will not only help the LTMS PTO, but it will also give your business increased exposure. If you are interested in learning more, email Jocelyn Fary-Holzwarth or Tina Broussard at fundraising@ltmspto.org

We hope your business will join us in supporting education in our community.

Double Your Donation

Did you know that you can 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. It is a simple and effective way to double your 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 4th 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 - October 2023