Dear Orchard Park Families,

Thank you for visiting our Parent Teacher Organization website. Since our conception in 2001, we have continuously strived to foster a creative, educational and fun environment for our students and families.

Our continued goals and objectives are to:

Promote communication between students, faculty and parents.
Foster and enhance the educational environment.
Recruit volunteers and coordinate volunteer efforts for programs and projects that support and enrich the curriculum and educational goals of our teachers.
Create and cultivate a sense of community within Orchard Park Elementary School.

How do we accomplish this?

1. Working closely with our school administration! Throughout the year, we meet to discuss the needs and goals for our school. Last year, we allotted funds for STEAM DREAMS for each grade, which gave our teachers opportunities to dream big and enhance their planned curriculum through additional activities like field trips, outdoor projects and on-site educational presentations, as well as the 5th grade publishing project.That's not all, however. We also provided funding for the One School One Book literacy initiative, teacher grants for classroom supplies, grade level educational subscriptions for students, and continued learning courses for our educators.

2. Partnering with local businesses! Our partners sponsor teacher luncheons, special event raffles, student programs, and school wide educational initiatives. We are so appreciative of of our Eagle, Gold and Silver Sponsors!

3. Help from volunteers like YOU! It takes many volunteers to ensure successful execution of Student Clubs, Special Events like our Winter Dance, Teacher Appreciation Week and our Boosterthon Fun Run. If you are interested in lending your talents and expertise, we are always looking for more hands on deck! Click here to view our organizational roles and responsibilities list for open positions.

No time to volunteer in person? No problem! There are additional (and SIMPLE) ways to help our PTO continue to support our school. Have you heard of direct and indirect fundraising? Direct Fundraising is a significant and important part of our funding. Seventy percent of our annual operating budget is accomplished through our yearly Boosterthon Fun Run. Purchasing Spirit Wear and attending Spirit Events are also great ways we directly fundraise. You can also participate through Indirect Fundraising. By clipping and/or scanning your Box Tops, linking your Harris Teeter VIC Card (School Code: 4654), linking your Publix account, and shopping through our Amazon Smile account, a percentage of funds from your every day shopping are given back to our school.

We are very fortunate to have such a wonderful support system for our school! Please take some time to explore all of the information contained on this site as well as the various club opportunities available to your student. We'd also love for you to join us for our monthly PTO meetings to get the latest news on our school initiatives. The meetings are held on the first Tuesday of every month (with the exception of September & April, which will be the second Tuesday) at 6:30 p.m. in the Media Center.

FREE CHILDCARE IS AVAILABLE AT OUR MEETINGS!

I am looking forward to the upcoming year and to meeting you at our PTO sponsored events. Our PTO team of volunteers is working hard to create wonderful memories for our children and our OPES Family!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via email.

Sincerely,