Assemblies: We funded three school-wide assemblies this year, up from one last year. These included BMX riders / bike safety, quadriplegic surfer Jesse Billauer / understanding differences, and Imagination Machine actors / creative writing. We'll continue to fund assemblies next year, increasing our '26-'27 budget for them to $6k, reflecting how fun and meaningful they've been for our kids!

Grants: We granted our classroom, STEAM+, and special ed teachers, plus our office staff, school counselor, and school psychiatrist a total of $39.5k (up from $36k last year) to support continuing education, curricular enhancement, materials purchases, and more. We have another increase in grants budgeted for '26-'27 reflecting rising costs and in recognition of the great learning opportunities they make possible for our students.

Campus Equipment: We purchased a mat for our gaga ball court, digital piano for our classroom wing, and two foosball tables for indoor recess play. We'll also be funding the purchases of two 3D printers for our Innovation Center and blackout shades for our MUR; these require coordination with the district and are expected to arrive on campus by the beginning of the '26-'27 school year. Funds that the PTA is currently holding in reserve will allow us to continue to contribute to similar upgrades & additions as needs arise.

After pausing this award during COVID, we've brought it back this year -- and set the bar very high in honoring Sarah Hunt!

Mom to 4th grader Sadie, she played an instrumental role in running our talent show & Wonka Jr. production, led one of our Science Olympiad teams, and served as the PTA's informal design consultant. She's always behind the scenes working tirelessly for our kids -- we appreciate you, Sarah!

Mrs. Chung & Mrs. Kowieski's sixth graders wrote very sweet notes of thanks to our many PTA volunteers, highlighting the events and programs that had been especially meaningful to them during their time at the Heights.

Mrs. Spetter's sixth grade class also put together an awesome video capturing their collective gratitude for our volunteers. Hear firsthand from these students in terms of what they have appreciated about our volunteers over the years! Video here.