Daily Le Courrier (Dallas I.S.- PTO Blog)

Hi All! I am writing to let you know that we had a FABULOUS Playdate at the Park today for the Newcomers Committee.  I believe there were well over 100 parents and children at the event.  It was a great success.  I did not get an exact count but I had 100 nametags and they were gone pretty quick.  Plus many families did not have nametags.

Everyone had a great time as they mingled and made new friends.  I am hopeful that the turnout at this event is a positive sign for future PTO events!!  It was also wonderful that several returning families came to mingle as they noticed the invitation on Tracy’s emails.  

A big thank you also those working on the Newcomers Committee:  Natasha Ksendzov, Quynh Chau, Melissa Stokely, Rick Christenson, Natalie Lemmon, Liz Pasquinelli, Marilyn Naylor.

Also thank you to Sheila, Julie, Tracy & Veronique for their support.

Thanks so much for your help and ideas!

Sharon Mawet

I just wanted to tell everyone thank you so much for your help today at
orientation!!!! I really appreciate it!I wanted to let everyone know that we sold $3000.00 in merchandise between
the hours of 4pm-7pm!  Not bad!

Le Courrier !

This has been special project completed by special people. To have the final draft to the printer last Thursday morning and delivered to my door step in less than a week is an amazing turn around. Thank you so much to all involved especially Nathalie, Eileen and Geraldine. First impression and a good start are so important to our success.

Albert Chia

Wednesday August 23^rd, 2006

To Mrs Sharon Mawet,

Dear Mrs. Mawet,

Thank you for this information … not really surprising for me J

This morning we sent the attached document to answer the first questions.

You are bringing to my attention other questions that we will answer in the days to come.

- Tornado risks will be addressed the same way as the rest of the school. Children will be directed to the shelters. They will have tornado drills like the others. There are alarms in the classrooms.

- Reason. Why CP and not other classes? If I had designated CE2 or CM1 or whatever classes I would have had the same question from CE2 parents or CM1 etc. CP is the sole level for which I am sure to have 3, even 4 classes every year. Secondary students are too numerous and the requirements for the Special Use Permit are different (parking lot …). Maternelle kids are too young and they need adapted restrooms.

- My intention is to invite parents for a tour, of course. But we are late and I wanted to show them the site when it’s totally finished, landscaping included. I will wait until the last minute to have a tour with them so that they will have the fewer criticisms possible.

- We decided to install temporary buildings very late. I was not sure at all to get a SUP from the City hall of Dallas. I announced in many occasions my projects during the months of April, May and June. I decided to install CP classes when I came back from vacation, at the beginning of August. Orientation Day was the first occasion for me to make an announcement.

- You know that we did our best to find another solution to our problem of space, more particularly by trying to re-house the Secondary classes on another campus. We are pursuing our search and we are studying various real estate options for the future.

In a nutshell, these 4 new classrooms are absolute part of our campus. I do not see any difference with another part of our buildings.

Feel free to forward this message to anybody who would contact you. It could save me some time … J

Dear Mrs. Mawet, thank you for your help.

Best regards.

I strongly urge you to send a letter/email to the CP parents as soon as possible to relieve a few of their immediate concerns.  I suggest this week before the parents have time to really get started on their complaints.  Here are some of their specific concerns.

1)       Tornados – (a real and legitimate concern in Texas) They want to know more than the fact that you have a plan.  They want to know the specifics about the tornado drill and procedures for these rooms. Where will the kids go?  How will they hear the siren, etc?  Be very specific.  If you have a document you have given (or will give to the teachers) – then give the same to the parents.

2)       Security – ######## delete by Albert Chia

3)       Reason- what reason did you have, if any, for putting the CP kids in this area.  I think they are just curious.

4)       Show & Tell – When can the parents get in to see this facility?  I know the CP Parent night is Sept 19^th.  That is 2 weeks after the kids will supposedly be in their rooms.  DIS parents are not the type to wait and many (I am sure) will try to find a way to get into the campus to see the rooms.  You may want to consider having an ‘open house’ event during the first few days that the rooms are open.  For example, have a drop-in ‘look & see’ from 7:30am-8:15am or something like that.  If that is not possible, then I also strongly urge you to personally be available at the CP parent night to have a Q&A session with the parents or just be visible around those rooms for parents to approach you.

I believe that if we can rally the CP parents to get them comfortable and feeling positive about this new change, then it will save you a lot of headaches over the next couple of years.

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.  I look forward to working with you again this year.

Merci. Sharon Mawet

We are off to a terrific start for 2006-2007!  Thank you to everyone for all your hard work at the Parent Orientation sessions!  I have received lots of great feedback about Le Courrier, the Newcomers’ Playdate, the Spirit Store and about the positive air that surrounds our new Board.  It’s going to be a wonderful school year!

Hello DIS community,

                     One of our new parents has asked us for help. Both parents will return to work soon and are need of child care for their 3 kids afterschool. They range from CE2 to 4EME. If anyone can help or know of someone who they can recommend, please drop me an e-mail. They live in the 75248 zip code.

Thanks,

Albert Chia

albertchia@ti.com 

Mini-Camp:
Sat. August 26^th 9-12 AM $30.00 per player

 
Come meet your coach: Anatoliy DmitriakovAnatoliy was born in Odessa, Ukraine, and has played at pro level for almost 10 years.  He has been coaching both boys and girls in the Dallas area since 1998.  He holds a USSF “D” coaching badge.

and teammates for a fun day of pick-up soccer. Prior registration is required.
Contact Sophie Davis

Looking Forward to see everyone tonight. A special thanks to Nathalie Lemmon for all her hard work

4:30 pm          Access to the gymnasium for decoration set-up

6:50 pm          Childcare Helpers Arrive

7:00 pm          Guests arrives, volunteer parents serve cocktails

7:15 pm          Dinner served to the children in cafeteria

7:55 pm          Mrs. Kozah welcomes everyone and introduces Roxanne Daubois, DIS Circus after-school performer under the direction of Fanny Kerwich

8:00 pm          Mr. Vittoz’ speech

8:05 pm          Mr. Chia’ speech and Mrs. Wolf’s speech

8:10 pm          Volunteer Parent Award presented by Mrs. Kozah and Mr. Vittoz

8:15 pm          Demonstration dance from Alpana Jacob Dance Studio

8:20 pm          Resume event

8:55 pm          Mrs. Kozah announces the childcare service close at 9pm

9:00 pm          End of the party, clean-up crew arrives and volunteer parents put away decorative items

10:00 pm        End of evening

We had a wonderful night. The turnout was more than we imagined. And to Nathalie for coordinating all the details, a special thank you for you hard work from all of us.

here is Natalie’s message….

Dear friends,

This is a special thank you from me to you, from the bottom of my heart.  Thank you very much for all your efforts to help DIS, PTO and me.  I appreciate your precious time to set-up, served the beverages and to clean-up. 

Albert, Beth, Tracy and Robin were such a huge help with the set-up and to bring my vision into reality. Thank you for your trust! 

The amazing speedy bartenders, Craig, Natasha, Patricia and Ruth kept the guests very happy with cocktails all night and must have blisters from openings all the bottles!    

Thank you to Tracy for being such a wonderful master of ceremonies.  You know how to capture the crowd! 

Roxanne Daubois, Louise’s daughter, displayed an amazing and unique performance to the crowd.  You are a true DIS star in my eyes! 

Thank you to Albert, Craig, Eileen and Sheila for making the clean-up fast and painless for me!…Oh!  And, thank you for keeping the last open bottle of white wine for me…I needed it!    

Sincerely,

Nathalie

Wednesday morning at La Madaleine

http://www.pto-dis.org/muffin.html

Kaboom Town Firework show!

Pepsi Kid Around

One of the rare time a rain storm came through this summer was during the 4th of July weekend. The rain dampen one of the area’s bigger firework show, shortening the show by 20 minutes. The town of Addison has decided to cash in everyone rain check.  

2006-08-31