Alice M. Harte Charter School

Parent-Teacher Organization

5300 Berkley Drive

New Orleans, Louisiana 70131

School Phone Number: 504-373-6281

www.hartepto.com

Mark Your Calendar for the Harte Holiday Cafe

Join us for the “Harte Holiday Café and Gift Shop,”  Thursday and Friday, December 11 and 12 from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the school cafeteria at 5300 Berkley Drive (with entrance at the Eton Street gate). Purchase gift items, get your gifts wrapped, and enjoy coffee, pastries and snacks while you wait. All funds will support academic and athletic programs at the school.

Want to make a donation?

In support of this event, the PTO is seeking the donation of gift wrap, ribbons, bows and gift tags. Drop off your donations in the school office before Dec. 5.

It's Never Too Late to Get Involved?  

Join the PTO now for the 2008/2009 school year. Complete the membership form linked above and drop it off in the school main office or with your child's homeroom teacher.

Help Raise More Funds for Our School

In addition to the various fundraisers the school sponsors, did you know that each time you make a purchase at Target the school can receive funds? Here's how the program works:

1. Apply, get approved and get your REDcard^SM (if you don't have one already).
2. Enroll. Sign up for Take Charge of Education and designate an eligible K-12 school.
3. Shop. Target will donate up to 1% of your REDcard purchases to your chosen school.*

Here's how to sign up for the Take Charge of Education program:

Target^® Visa^® Credit Card and Target Credit Card^SM holders

Target Check Card^SM holders

Eligible Target Business Card^® holders

A Parent Primer on PBS

So what is PBS? No, it's not the channel so watched Sesame Street on as a child. PBS is the acronym used to describe the Positive Behavior Support initiative. PBS is the application of evidence-based strategies and systems to assist schools to increase academic performance, increase safety, decrease problem behavior, and establish positive school cultures.

In 2003, the Louisiana Legislature passed the Juvenile Justice Reform Act 1225, which provided direction to the Louisiana Board of Elementary & Secondary Education to formulate, develop and recommend a model master plan for improving behavior and discipline within schools that includes the utilization of positive behavioral supports and other effective disciplinary tools.

So how can families support PBS?

Get involved. The presence of parents in the school setting not only assists academically but it provides a sense of community.

According to http://www.pbis.org/families.htm:

States, schools, and districts that have high levels of family involvement in the school-wide PBS process have made action plans for including families and communities in all aspects of the collaborative process. One of the most consistent predictors of parent involvement in school is the degree to which the school practices encourage and guides parent involvement. For instance, one school included a list of volunteer activities that parents sign up for each year. An activity at this school involved writing form letters to request free samples and resources from sports teams, celebrities, and other business so that these items could be used to reinforce students for positive social behavior throughout the school year. Parents with the highest volunteer hours are presented with recognition awards at school celebrations where school-wide PBS efforts are the major focus of the festivities. School practices that inform and involve parents are stronger determinants of parent involvement in education than parent education, family size, marital status or student grade level. Family events are scheduled to introduce the school-wide expectations, show progress on school-wide outcomes, and provide families with access to information about community resources

What's the first step?

Knowledge truly is power. The first step towards supporting PBS is understanding what the expectations are and integrating them into your home environment. At Harte, the Six Pillars of Character are the foundation of the PBS initiative (Try memorizing TeRRiFiC Kids):

Where do I go for more info?

The http://www.lapositivebehavior.com site is an excellent resource for parents on the initiative. You can also get more information on PBS from the ACSA PBS Coordinator Alan Delery or Harte's PBS Facilitator Shannon Sanders.