How you can make a difference in your childs educational experience...
The Soaring Eagles Alliance (SEA) is the parent and
teacher organization at our school, technically called a PTO. We also have the
added benefit of being a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization . The SEA's
sole purpose is to support the needs of the entire school at a local
level.
Because we are a non-profit organization with a tax identification
number, the SEA follows all tax regulations regarding donations and is a
legally registered a non-profit, making all donations to us 100% tax
deductible.
The great advantage of SEA is that we, the parents and
staff, can personally determine the best use of monies collected. This means we
can directly and efficiently serve our community and our students since we have
the best knowledge of our needs at Eldorado K-8.
One main way a PTO functions is to have a direct
capital campaign to bridge gaps between district funding and the needs of the
school. Increasingly, the budgets for our schools continue to decline
while the needs grow.
Annually, we now have a capital campaign where we aim
to raise the majority of our "gap funding". Our campaign goal for 2009 is
$75,000 or about $75 per student. We choose this method to allow for an
immediate influx to address the current school year needs. 100% of these funds
go directly to the identified school needs while allowing for 100% tax
deductions to the contributors. In comparison, traditional fundraising
(such as door to door) only nets 40 to 50 percent for the individual school and
prohibits tax deductions since a product is sold.
With the goal of $75,000, our school has the potential
to have a tremendous impact on our students and community.
What does SEA do with these monies? Last
year, SEA was able
to donate over $35,000 directly to the teachers for them to purchase items for
their classrooms. This year a grant process will be implemented to fulfill the
ever growing "must, need and want" lists. In addition, SEA sponsors the
following:
School Historian project
New school communication system
Box tops for Education
New student packets
E-gear (Eldorado spirit wear)
Community Spirit Nights
Ice Cream Social - Back to School
Community Dinner
Spirit Club (middle school level)
Conference Dinners for teachers
Teacher Appreciation Week
Enrichment Grants
Walk to School Day
Crossing Guard program
Book Fair Volunteers
Read-a-Thon
6th grade welcome
Kindergarten welcome
Continuation Ceremonies for 5th and 8th
grade
March Madness
Field Day volunteers
PEN (Parent Engagement Network)
CAP
Volunteer Recognition Breakfast
Student Council
Tree Planting
along with MANY other
community, safety and beautification projects for Eldorado K-8 throughout the
year.
All of these activities,
combined with the money that goes directly to the grants, make up Eldorado K-8
and the whole school wide experience of being at Eldorado K-8.
SEA is currently collecting
donations to the capital campaign at this time. The capital campaign ends
September 30, but donations are always accepted through the year.
Make Eldorado K-8 your home
too! We'd welcome your contribution, big or small.
