Message from PTA President (from August 25, 2008 Newsletter) Be Present and Count Yourself In! Welcome back to Brentfield, where we are growing in so many amazing ways!  Earlier this month we welcomed several new families and celebrated the return to school with our Buddy Family Picnic, Kindergarten play dates, Meet the Teacher Night and the Supply and Spirit Wear Sale.  And just around the corner we have our Ice Cream Social, first PTA meeting and parent education event, Fall Carnival, and much more.  We welcome and encourage each of you to jump right in and participate in the many volunteer opportunities available, from stuffing take-home folders to serving on an event committee.  Each of you helps make Brentfield the award-winning school that it is and we appreciate and need your participation to continue our success. In addition to our fantastic parent participation, our children are excelling in academics and so much more at Brentfield with Mr. Lemons and Mrs. Kelly supporting our stellar faculty & staff, who strive to teach the whole child academically, socially, and emotionally with creative classroom lessons and real life examples.  Our children are experiencing an amazing journey at Brentfield, where everyone is helping to build a strong foundation from which our children will grow and learn now and into the future.  We are so grateful for all our fantastic teachers and their support staff. The future holds many exciting opportunities for our children and as a PTA we are aiming to equip our classrooms with new technology and our children with enrichment programs that will take them to the next level in all aspects of their lives.  We have several vehicles of communication including this newsletter, The Bobcat Bulletin, which will provide you with news and important dates and times for you to put in your calendar.  And as technology progresses we have added electronic communication with periodic email notification of special events and breaking news, an online store, and our website where all of this information and Brentfield news can be found.  Be sure to visit www.brentfieldpta.org to sign up for email listserv notifications and return often for up-to-date news. Although we return to school every fall, it never fails to stir feelings of anticipation in children, parents, and teachers alike.  Thank you to Karen Mantel, Lisa LaRocca, Christa Jones, Robyn Shapiro, Diane Laner, Beth Kahlich, and all the parents and faculty who helped us prepare for this new school year. Please feel free to contact me or any of our board members if you would like to volunteer your time, energy, good tidings, comments, or special talents.  We have an exciting year ahead of us and I’m looking forward to enjoying the experience with each of you. Ginger Newberg President, Brentfield Elementary PTA gingnew "at" sbcglobal.net