Frank I.

Brown Elementary School

37 Highland Avenue
South Portland, ME 04106
Margaret Hawkins, Principal
Telephone 207-799-5196
Email Address: hawkinma@spsd.org
FAX
207-767-7742
April 29, 2015
Dear Brown School Families and Friends,
As I write this letter to you we are about to return to school after our April break. I hope you had
an enjoyable one. As we return, there are only 39 school days left. I keep count, not because I am
anxious for the year to end, just the opposite. I am keenly aware of how much needs to happen
between now and June 19.
There is still much teaching and learning that will occur during these last 8 weeks and of course
some of that learning comes during some much anticipated field trips. Classroom teachers will
keep you informed about the details of those trips.
Field trips add an extra component to our curriculum. They enrich and extend your childs
learning experiences. Many of you have been on these field trips and have seen firsthand just
how much they add to our curriculum. However, what you may not realize is that our field trips
are not part of our school operating budget. All of our field trips are paid for by you, our Brown
School families, through the fundraising efforts of the Brown School PTA. We have been extremely
fortunate over the nine years that I have been at Brown School to have this support. Annually,
the field trips cost approximately $9,000 between transportation (we pay the mileage on our
school buses) and admission fees. We have never had to ask parents to pay for field trips and we
hope that we never have to ask in the future. I share this information in order to give you a
better idea of what the PTA does. In addition to working on the fundraising efforts, our PTA also
provides many family friendly events such as the Ice Cream Social and the Valentine Pancake
Breakfast. They also provide enrichment activities such as our annual Activity Day, Field Day,
visiting authors, artists and musicians.
Our PTA Greening Committee is responsible for much of the planting around the school, the
pergola, the picnic tables and the sandbox. Our Enrichment Committee is responsible for our
annual Activity Day and for grant writing that has provided the funds to start our very successful
recycling and composting program. Also our PTA sends out a newsletter throughout the year.
The staff and I are very grateful to the PTA and to all the parent volunteers who come into
classrooms every day to lend a hand. We feel very supported by all of you.
As we look forward to another school year I would like your input on how to expand parent
involvement at Brown School. Within the next week you will receive a survey. Please take a few
minutes to complete the survey in order to help us plan events and activities that will give
parents even more reasons to come in to Brown School. We want to hear your ideas about
speakers, topics that you are interested in, family friendly events to add to the ones that we
already have. We also want to hear your suggestions on how to keep the PTA growing. So, please
watch for the survey and take a few minutes to share your thoughts.
As always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.
If you need assistance with translation of this document, please contact Instructional Support at 871-0555.
Si desea que esta traducida, por favor comunquese con la oficina de Apoyo Educativo en el 871-0555.
Nu bn mun c ny dch, xin vui lng lin h vi vn phng h tr ging dy ti 871-0555.
Hadii aad dooneysid in laguu tarjumo fadlan la soo xiriir Xafiiska caawinta wax barasho ee telefoonkeedu yahay
871-0555.

Frank I. Brown Elementary School

37 Highland Avenue
South Portland, ME 04106
Margaret Hawkins, Principal
Telephone 207-799-5196
Email Address: hawkinma@spsd.org
FAX
207-767-7742
Sincerely,

Margaret Hawkins

If you need assistance with translation of this document, please contact Instructional Support at 871-0555.
Si desea que esta traducida, por favor comunquese con la oficina de Apoyo Educativo en el 871-0555.
Nu bn mun c ny dch, xin vui lng lin h vi vn phng h tr ging dy ti 871-0555.
Hadii aad dooneysid in laguu tarjumo fadlan la soo xiriir Xafiiska caawinta wax barasho ee telefoonkeedu yahay
871-0555.