Hamden Public School Brag Sheet

• Hamden High School is named #32 out of 139 CT public high schools ranked by Connecticut Magazine in October 2008.
• Hamden High had a “Cool Day” where over 650 students showed up at 5 AM, complete with live news coverage. Principal Highsmith got pies in the face.
• Church Street’s Principal, Joyce Kossman, awarded the Hamden Chamber of Commerce 2008 Educator of the year award.
• Grace Griffin, a Church Street school teacher was given the prestigious Milken Award and a $25,000 grant. Griffin and other teachers at Church Street have helped to boost student performance in math, writing and reading on state mastery tests.
• More info at Hamden Public School's site, http://www.hamden.org/

Please comment to share your school's accompolishments.

Education Budget 2009 - All Hands On Deck

The following were ideas we shared on how to increase awareness of all the great things you do for your schools, and ways to frame the argument for fully funding the upcoming education budget:

• Get kids involved in the process, as spokespeople for their school. What has their experience been like? What do they get out of it? Tim Nottoli has will lead a kid letter writing campaign in early spring.
• Always accentuate the positive and offer solutions, rather than just complaining.
• Make the correlation of property values and town prosperity to educational system.
• Build / talk about alliances between the Hamden business community and Hamden Public Schools.
• Get testimonials from parents, alumni and grandparents. Where are they or their children now and how did HPS help them get there? Ask council members, Mayor Henrici and his staff, BOE members, teachers, staff, business leaders, HHS alumni group and family members.

Please Post Testimonials in Comments Below ...

How to Make Lemonade - Hamden PTA Idea Bank

The faculty basketball game between Dunbar Hill and Shepherd Glen was an “off-the-hook” success.

Who’s pairing up next?

The following is the start of a list of fundraising/family fun ideas:

• Inter-district ball game


• Bottle collection/return


• Crazy hair / clothes / hat days


• Skate party
• Duckpin bowling
• Collect receipts – Big Y, Shaw’s
• Faculty and student waiters at Applebee’s, TGIF’s
• Hamden / School Pizza Night – get a bunch of area pizzerias to pledge 10% of bills from HPS families one or two nights this year
• Walk-a-thon / Dance-a-thon / Read-a-thon
• Talent show – parents, teachers, kids, pets
• Silent Auctions
• Movie Night
• Game Night
• Father / Daughter Dance
• Themed Festival or Fair
• Bingo
• Alumni event
• Local Pro Baseball, Basketball, Hockey Games (Sun, Bluefish, Wildcats, college)
• Coco Keys (at Waterbury Holiday Inn) – discounted rates while they are building clientele
• ESPN free tours

More ideas at:

• www.pta.org/pta_great_idea_bank.asp


• www.ptoideas.com/category/1/Fundraisers


• www.globalideasbank.org/site/home/

Remember to have a membership table at all events