Dear University School Families,
First, let me say I hope you and your family are safe and healthy as you read this letter. As we close out the school year, I wanted to thank our parents, teachers, staff, administration, and volunteers for an amazing year. Because of your generosity and volunteer efforts, we were able to offer many events for our families, like our Fall Festival, Barnes & Noble Christmas Event, and monthly family engagement opportunities at our restaurant partners. We had planned an exciting spring fundraiser, "Bluegrass @ The Barn," but regretfully, we had to cancel the event due to COVID19.
While it is easy to see our Foundation in action by highlighting events like those above, it may be difficult to see the day-to-day impact that the Foundation has on University School and our children. I wanted to take a moment to highlight some of those items to help you understand the importance of your continued support. This year our Foundation raised approximately $13,000 from our fall fundraiser, Barnes & Noble Event, Family Engagement Dinners, and T-Shirt Sales. While we raised $13,000, the Foundation spent over $23,000 to support our school. You may have noticed the new office furniture in the main office and the new water fountains on the 2nd and 3rd floor for our middle and high school students. The Foundation, with your generosity, supported our teachers with their requests for classroom items, including a new color printer for the library, supplies for the robotic teams, a new motor for the kiln in Ms. Squibb's art room, sealing and striping of the outdoor basketball court and four-square areas, and many other requests. Each year our Foundation supports our new student orientation program by providing lunch to our new students and their parents. We also support our senior class to provide our students with funding as they participate in various activities throughout their senior year. Also, the University School Foundation supports our student-athletes and coaches throughout the year by providing financial oversight to the team managers and supporting our spring and fall student physical program.
I want to take this opportunity to invite you to participate in the 2020-2021 University School Foundation meetings. The Foundation meets on the first Monday of each month, from 3:30 pm to 5 pm, at University School. I would also like to introduce you to our 2020-21 Board of Directors.
President: Christine Hutchinson VP: Myra Elder
Secretary: Dionne Ganger Treasurer: Tracy Lehrfeld
Athletic Treasurer: Ginger Hare Fund-Raising Chairperson: Open
The Foundation is searching for a Fund-Raising Chairperson, Apparel Chairperson, and multiple parent volunteers for committees to support our Foundations projects. If you have any interest in serving on the University School Foundation as a board member or representative, please contact Myra Elder at melder@embarqmail.com.
Please watch your email for more information regarding Foundation events for the school year 2020-21. The Foundation is working closely with Dr. Partin to plan our events safely. Our Fall Fundraiser Event is tentatively scheduled for Friday, October 23, 2020, and will include many of the same activities as last year's event. Many families made contributions to our “Bluegrass @ The Barn” event through donations for baskets and auction items. The items will be offered for sale at the Fall Foundation Event, more details to come.
Lastly, I want to express my gratitude to our board of directors, our teachers, our staff, and our administration. A special thank you to our board members for their commitment to University School. I have enjoyed my time serving as the President of the Foundation, and I welcome your new President, Christine Hutchinson. Christine previously served as the Fund-Raising Chairperson and will make a great President for the 2020-21 school year.
Our success depended upon you and your families. Please accept our sincerest thank you for all you have done to help the University School Foundation succeed this year. We want to wish all of you a healthy, safe, and happy summer. See you next year!
Sincerely,
John Dixon, University School Foundation President
We welcome and need your involvement in the University School Foundation, which is our version of a Parent/Teacher/Student association that serves the faculty, staff and students at University School. We are a volunteer group of dedicated parents, teachers, and administrators and YOU are a member. Like and follow us on Facebook.
What does the University School Foundation do?
The primary mission of the University School Foundation is to support the children, students, and faculty and staff that attend and are employed by University School, to assist in providing an enriched physical and intellectual environment so that each individual has a positive place to learn and/or work, to operate exclusively for charitable, scientific, literary, physical, and educational purposes and more specifically for the support, improvement, and perpetuation of the University School of East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, Washington County, Tennessee.
How does the University School Foundation raise money?
We organize fundraisers. We run a fall fundraiser and a spring fundraiser each year and will host additional fundraisers as necessary to meet the needs of our school. An opportunity to make monetary donations directly to the Foundation or specific projects is also available. Donations of any amount are greatly appreciated and all donations are tax deductible.
What does the Foundation do with money that is raised?
We fund requests from teachers which may include tools and materials, curriculum (educational
materials), and technology.
Who can be a member of the Foundation?
Any parent/guardian of a University School Student who subscribes to the purposes of the Foundation.
When does the Foundation meet?
2nd Monday of the Month at 3:30pm. Meetings begin in August and we do not meet during breaks.
Where does the Foundation meet?
In the 3rd Grade Classroom (Room 103)
What are some of the Volunteer opportunities?
Volunteer Committee
Using these completed forms the coordinator and this committee will plug volunteers
into various events throughout the year via telephone calls or emails. This is a great
way to meet people.
Box Tops Committee
You know those box top labels you see on products in the grocery store? Well, they
can add up to a lot $ for our school. Our coordinator could use one or two committee
members to help collect, count, and mail box tops throughout the year. These committee
members will collect box tops twice a year (Spring and Fall) and total time necessary
is about 5 hours.
Field Day Committee
Everyone loves Field Day! If you choose this, you'll work one on one with Coach Cradic
to coordinate volunteers for the special day. Committee members will spend 1-2 hours
pre field day and can spend up to 7 hours on field day.
Hospitality Committee
Let's make our teachers feel special with some hospitality. As a member you will work
along side the coordinator, to help with school wide teacher appreciation projects
(i.e. breakfasts/lunches), teacher appreciation week, and other special events your
group may decide upon together. Committee members will help with these special events
throughout the year, total time necessary is 1-2 hours per event.
Spring Fundraiser Committee
Every spring, around Mothers Day, University School sponsors a plant sale. Our Fundraising
Coordinator could use several committee members to help with the planning and coordination
of the plant sale. Committee members will help with this once a year event for several
weeks before with planning and during the event; total time necessary is 5-10 hours.
Fall Fundraiser and Committee
Work with Fundraising Coordinator and the University School Foundation board to plan
and execute the fall fundraiser, collection of money, and distribution of materials.
Time needed 4-5 hours planning, 4-5 hours collecting and tallying monies, 12+ hours
distributing. (This committee needs several members)
Community Service Committee
If you like to help others than this is for you. Team up with the coordinator and
University School faculty and help with Drives. Canned food drives, coat drives, clothing
drives, etc. Time needed varies with each drive.
Special Events Committee
Volunteers in this area will help with school special events like Pickin in the School
Yard, Annual Musical Productions, School Beautification Days, Middle School Mixer,
etc. The Special Events Coordinator and you will work with the University School Faculty
member or foundation representative for each grade level. Time needed varies with
each event.
Come to a meeting! Join us! Participate in fundraisers!
How can you get more information?
Contact any of the board members listed or show up at a meeting. Everyone is welcome.
The University School Foundation will normally meet every 1st Monday of the month, in Room 219, at 3:30 p.m. Some meetings will be rescheduled when breaks interfere.
2019-2020 University School Foundation
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President |
John Dixon |
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Printable University School Foundation Athletics Committee (USFAC) Sports Passes Request Form
Printable Schedule for Sports Physicals Dates
University School faculty and staff may apply for funding through the Foundation by completing a Funding Request Application. Email or return to Leisa Harvey ltharvey@charter.net or UniversitySchoolFoundation@gmail.com
Dear University School Families,
I hope you had the opportunity to attend the University School Foundation Fall Festival on Friday October 18, 2019 (photos below). The attendance at the event was beyond my expectations and we can be thankful that the weather cooperated to provide us with a wonderful day for the event. This year our Foundation had a goal to provide more opportunities for families to be engaged in our school. To start the process of Family Engagement our Foundation decided to work together with our restaurant partners to schedule a monthly mealtime event. Each of our restaurant partners provides a percentage of sales back to the University School Foundations. We have had two successful events one at Chick-Fil-A in September, and Freddie’s in October. Kelly Ransom is coordinating our monthly events, please be sure to watch our social media posting for future restaurants and dates.
I want to thank our Foundation Board of Directors, our volunteers, and the families and students for working together to make the event a success. A special Thank You to our Fundraising Chairwoman, Christine Hutchinson for her vision to start the Fall Festival and bring back the family engagement to University School.
It is challenging to find ways to engage the student population in a K-12 school. As I walked around and talked with students and families on Friday night, everyone that I spoke with thought the event was a huge success. The event seemed to have something for all ages and our students were engaged in the wide variety of activities.
It takes an army of volunteers to make events like this happen. Without volunteers this event would not be possible. Thanks to Linda Glisson for coordinating our volunteers. Thanks to Tracy Lehrfeld for coordinating the Trunk or Treat. Thanks to Myra Elder for coordinating the Chili Cookoff and our food for the event. Thanks to Jill Hayter for coordinating the Haunted Hustle. Thanks to Kristi Bode for coordinating the Scare Area and Decorations. Thanks to Heather Moore for coordinating the Gaming Truck. Thanks to Kelly Foster for her help with the Online Sign-up, Movie Snacks and Treats. Thanks to Ginger Hare for coordinating our Costume Contest. Thanks to Amy Horton for selling our University School apparel. If I’ve left anyone out that should be thanked it was inadvertently and know you are appreciated!
I also want to thank the faculty and staff at University School. Our administration at University School was supportive in our efforts to make this event a huge success. Our teachers and staff were engaged in our activities to ensure our students were welcome and safe throughout the night.
Again, I want to express my sincere thanks to our Fund-Raising Chairwoman Christine Hutchinson. Your vision to hold this event and your creativity for this year’s fall festival was exactly what we needed to re-engage the students, families, faculty and staff at University School.
Please mark your calendar for our annual Fundraiser at Barnes and Nobel to be held on Tuesday December 3rd, from 5:30pm to 8:30pm. This is a great opportunity to buy a gift for your child’s teacher or books for their classroom.
To close out the school year, we will have another fundraising opportunity on April 18th, 2020. This event will be a casual event to be held at a farm or barn location somewhere in the area. The theme for the event will be Bluegrass, BBQ, and Brews. The event will feature a live auction, silent auction, music, food and an opportunity to fulfill teacher requests for classroom items.
Thanks again for a wonderful event, without your help, this could not be possible. In the next week we will be sending out a survey to our families, faculty and staff for their feedback on the Fall Festival. It is my vision to make the fall festival an annual event at University School. The engagement across elementary, middle, and high school students and their families is crucial to the success of the University School and the University School Foundation. We will be working with the administration to establish a date for 2020, so each family will be aware of the timing and plan to attend the annual event.
Sincerely,
John Dixon
University School Foundation President
