MEMBERSHIP: We are giving each and every one of you a Rudy Ruettiger worthy standing slow clap. Our Membership enrollment has blown our goals out of the water! We have an income of $13,950. That's 200% over our budgeted amount! If you haven't joined yet, there's still time!

MULE MARKET: Once again, we are exceeding our budgeted amount for Mule Market. Our revenue on Mule Market is over $2600! Way to get excited about the blue and yellow!!! Special thanks to chairs Anne Davidson & Ashley Person.

HEIGHTS CLOTHING CLOSET: The Cambridge PTO donated 22 Cambridge Spiritwear t-shirts for our Heights Clothing Closet. We want all of our Cambridge kids to have the chance to don their yellow and blue!

BOOK FAIR: Book Fair sales were over $20,900! We were able to provide 36 economically disadvantaged students with free books thanks to parents and students donated extra money to cover the cost. Approximately 170 books were purchased by parents for teachers to add to their classroom libraries through the Classroom Wish List program. And since our Cambridge Library keeps a portion of the profits from the Book Fair, our Library was able to earn $4,840.22! That money will be spent on our World Book Online subscription, Facts4Me subscription, magazines, storyteller payment, Destiny Circulation Desk program renewal, and new books for the library. A huge thank you to Book Fair Co-Chairs, Bevin Crow and Julie Bruton, and the numerous Book Fair volunteers!

FAMILY PLAYDATE: What a fun night! Big superhero sized high fives to our incredible coaching team for a great first Family Playdate. The Superhero Theme was on full display and our families had a blast getting active at Cambridge!

HOWDY PARADE: Did you spot the Cambridge PTO in the Howdy Parade? Thanks for all of the waves along the parade route and a special thank you to ReBath for donating their truck for us to use in the parade!

Did you know that each year over 35% of the entire Cambridge PTO income goes directly back to our school and classrooms in the form of Grants & Allocations? For the 2018-2019 school year, our PTO has budgeted over $100,000 for our Curriculum and Enrichment Grants. Whoa! That's a lot of dinero!!! So how exactly does this whole money thing work??? We're so happy you asked!

So now what are we talking about?: The Cambridge PTO has a grants and allocations form online that's made available for teachers and staff throughout the year. As our Cambridge Staff has needs that arise in their classrooms, as teams, or school-wide, they are able to complete a grant request.

And when does this happen?: Our grant applications team officially meets in March and April to review each grant request based on the income raised by the various PTO fundraisers. In 2017, the PTO also made a change so that grants could be reviewed immediately for any needs that came up during the school year. 

Got it. So who says 'yea' or 'nay'?: Once approved by our principals, the grants are sent to the grant applications team. The grant applications team consists of a parent from each grade level, a member of the PTO Board, and a representative of the Alamo Heights School Foundation. This process ensures that the funds and items being requested align with our school and district goals, and ensures that the item or items requested aren't items that could be covered by another monetary source, like bond money, district funding, school budgets, or other grant sources. 

Enough with the nitty gritty. What are we paying for?: PTO Grants cover a WIDE variety of needs. Last year's grants totaled over $128,000!!! These included everything from Visiting Author fees and library books to science lab equipment, arts & PE supplies to field trips for our different grade levels, even sending our incredible Cambridge teachers to professional development opportunities, plus much more. With state budget cuts towards education increasing each and every year, the funding provided by the PTO becomes more and more crucial for the success of our students and school. 

SOLD! I want our school to be the best! How do I support these grants and allocations?: Cambridge fundraising opportunities are far and wide. Coming up in the next month will be our first Cambridge Dining Night, plus the kick off of Mule Games! Sales from our Mule Market Spirit Wear, PTO Membership, HEB Cards, Box Tops, and Balloonfest in the spring all contribute to our funding of grants as well. We also welcome donations made straight to the PTO. Our donation page can be found on the Cambridge PTO Website by signing in and clicking HERE.

Mule Games is just around the corner! Mules Games is our BIGGEST fall fundraiser that centers around our kids raising funds for Cambridge. This fundraiser is student-focused, student-driven, and student-spirited! The festivities kickoff on Friday, October 26th with a school-wide pep rally for students and staff (if you are reading between the lines, parents will not need to attend). Then we kick off two weeks of your kids call on grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, and spreading the word on social media to raise money for Cambridge and there are plenty of prizes for grade levels and individuals in this fun, FUNdraising competition. All you need to do as a parent is to simply help your child set up their fundraising page - more details to follow! (Can I get a hallelujah???) Mule Games will culminate in our Mule Games Event Day on Friday, November 9th that take place DURING the school day at Specials. 

We'll have LOTS more information coming out this month about Mule Game in a flyer that will come home. Plus, keep an eye out for a Special Mule Games Edition of the Cambridge Chronicle. 

Fire Prevention Week is next week. The Cambridge PTO is hosting our Alamo Heights Fire Department for lunch after their student fire prevention presentations. Thank you to our firefighters and the role they play in our community!!!

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