Author: carmenenchicago

Holiday Food and Gift Basket Program (HFGB)

Irving Parents and Guardians,

It is time once again for those who qualify to sign up for the Holiday Food and Gift Basket Program (HFGB).  This program provides families who reside in Oak Park and River Forest with a gift card for food around Thanksgiving time and gifts during the December holiday season.
 
The criteria used to determine who qualifies for HFGB are similar to the guidelines set up by the federal government for free/reduced school lunch.  All applicants must be part of the Irving School community.   If you do not live in the Irving zone the social worker must already be familiar with you.
 
You must also be the head of your household in order to apply for this program and in some cases proof of income may have to be shown.  Scheduling an appointment with the social worker is the only way to ensure that your application gets completed and turned in on time.  Stop by Irving or call 708-524-5830 ext. 6150 and leave a message.  I look forward to seeing you and I promise it will be a quick process!
 
All applications must be completed in a face-to-face meeting with the social worker by Friday October 10, 2014! Only one application is allowed per household/family and the applicant must sign off as the head of household!
 
Please contact Ms. Kila Bell-Bay, MSW; for more information: 

Kila Bell-Bey, MSW
Washington Irving Elementary School Social Worker/D97 Oak Park
kbell–bey@op97.org
708-524-5630 (office)
708-524-5830 ext. 6150 (voicemail)
708-524-3090 (main office) 

Irving PTO 2nd Annual Trivia Night at The WIRE in Berwyn

It’s BACK!!

Are you ready to eat, drink, and think with us again this year? Please save the date for the 2nd Annual Trivia Night, sponsored by the Irving PTO.

Date: Thursday, November 6th

Location: The Wire, 6815 Roosevelt Road, Berwyn Directions HERE

Time: 7 p.m.

This event sold out last year so START PLANNING YOUR TEAM OF 6 AND RESERVE YOUR TABLE EARLY!! 

Early registration: $40/per person until October 23rd

After October 23rd- November 5th: $45/per person

Pay at the door: $50/per person

REGISTRATION INCLUDES UNLIMITED HOUSE WINE, BEER AND APPETIZERS FROM 7 – 10 P.M. 

Registration forms will be available beginning September 23, 2014. 

This is an event you won’t want to miss! 

Message from your Irving PTO Communications Team!!
Email and Website updates for YOU! 
Attention Irving Family;
We want to help get your word out to everyone so we have created a simple system for you to follow so we can be sure your message, event, activity or notice is posted for all of Irving to see in time. Please follow the following process when submitting your notice/request and we will be sure to get it on both the website and our update email, by your deadline date.
Thanks everyone for your continued help and cooperation. 
Steps to submit a notice or announcement for both Irving PTO lis serve and PTO Website:
1. Prepare email to communications@irvingpto.com
2. Include- Who, What, Where and When (and a little background if you like) of what you want/need posted. Please be sure to include a DEADLINE DATE you would like for posting to go on website and be sent via our update email.
3. You may create the wording of your posting or we can help you with that so be sure your message is clear when you create the above info.
4. Send your message to communications@irvingpto.com
5. Look for your message to pop up by the deadline you’ve indicated.
That’s IT! 
We hope this helps keep everything organized (for you as well as us) and prevents messages from going out too late or too early.
Bear in mind we will have 2 email updates that go out weekly (and also update the website at the same time) with your messages and any other important info/news for you so please try your best to adhere to our deadlines so everyone’s messages can be sent out in a timely manner.
Deadlines for posting to website and update email: 
Sunday evenings no later than 5 p.m. – If your note is received by this time, it will go out or be posted on website the next day (Monday) during the afternoon/evening.
Tuesday evening no later than 5 p.m. – if your note is received by this time, it will go out or be posted on website the next day (Wednesday) during the afternoon/evening.
We do understand sometimes things come up and emergencies arise so rest assure we can certainly make exceptions as nothing is laid out in stone but this process will help keep us and your notices in order. It also helps that we don’t spam you while we’re just trying to keep everyone informed.
Should you ever have any questions or concerns about anything on the website or sent to your mailbox, please feel free to communicate with any one of our board members, (emails here), send an email to communications@irvingpto.com or show up to a meeting. We welcome everyone to attend and we are always happy to hear suggestions or questions should they arise.
Thanks again for your support of the Irving PTO and have a great day!
Irving PTO Communications

Help One, Help ALL- We need water balloon fillers!!
The Math Committee needs your help to fill water balloons on Tuesday, Sept 9th right after dismissal. Every year the Math Committee rewards the students who completed our summer math incentive with a splash party after school. We usually have a really fun water balloon fight!
Our splash party is on Sept 10th so the balloons need to be ready the day  before. We need 10-12 volunteers to fill about 50 balloons each. After a summer of block parties we should all be experts at tying water balloons so hopefully this will go quickly!
Email Hilary Klein or carroyo.org if you can volunteer or have any questions.

Irving Volunteers needed

Volunteering is a great way to meet other Irving families, get to know your child’s friends and teachers, and help out the school! Whether you have a lot of time to spare or just a little, there is certainly a project or two that will work with your schedule.

This coming Tuesday, your child’s packet will contain a volunteer form, for the 2014-15 school year. Please take time to  look over the list of opportunities on the form and if you’re interested in helping out in any way, or if you might be available for occasional projects during the school year, email Hilary Klein  and we’ll contact you when volunteers are needed and you can step up if the timing is right.

Simply, fill out the paper form and put in the PTO mailbox or return to your teacher. There is also an online form for easier access right here:

Thanks so much for your help and commitment to making it a great year for our students at Irving!