Inclusion and Your BPE PTO

 

Welcome to your Burns Park Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization! Your PTO aims to fully include all BPE students, families, and staff in our community. We have resources available: people who can share their knowledge about BPE and the ways things work; money for things such as transportation to and from events, food, and costs that come with going on field trips; and a genuine commitment to learn, ask, explore, find, and pave paths to connection and inclusion in our community.

 

Your BPE PTO has a budget and people power to support our goal that all students, families, and staff have the opportunity to engage the full BPE experience!

 

Please feel free to reach out to Christine Modey (the BPE PTO Inclusion Liaison) when you have requests or ideas about how we can support you, or other individuals or families you know in the BPE community. Your PTO inclusion liaison also connects BPE teachers to your PTO, so please also feel free to reach out to a teacher or principal instead, and they can bring Christine your request anonymously. BPE staff have an evolving list of some of the many things the PTO can do or provide.

 

Some of the things your PTO can do:

  • reimburse teachers when they purchase supplies for their students;
  • provide lunches during field trips for students who typically would get them at school;
  • provide or reimburse families for transportation to Science Olympiad, school concerts and plays, the Family Sing Along, and other non-school-day happenings (whether they are school- or PTO-sponsored);
  • walk newcomers through events like the Burns Park Run;
  • share local knowledge about the school or BPE community;
  • pass on what we know about scholarships for district-related activities such as Rec and Ed soccer;
  • identify and provide resources to enable multiple points of access, including around for example languages, abilities, and ages;
  • encourage people in asking how BPE PTO events can be more inclusive;
  • and more.

 

If you feel a BPE PTO activity or event could be more inclusive, please let us know! We welcome your suggestions, requests, and feedback. You also can give these messages to Chuck Hatt or Laura Wolf.

 

Want to help? Great! Donations are always welcome–of time, talent, or treasure! A committee of volunteers to learn and share information, run an occasional errand, support other committee chairs in their inclusion efforts, and create paths for fully inclusive engagement could be a perfect fit for you.