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PTO MESSAGE
Welcome to Year 3! Frances Harper Junior High parents certainly rose to the challenge of building a new school
community in the first two years. We have had two successful fundraising campaigns and parents have volunteered
their time and energy whenever the call for help went out. There have been field trips, concerts, drama productions,
radio broadcasts, a fabulous spaghetti dinner, two �Days on the Green,� and two classes of ninth graders were
�graduated� off to high school. A school spirit drive has begun, and the students even have a real husky mascot now!
Another sure sign that Harper is defining its unique place in the community is the mural that will be installed at the
school entrance in the near future. This mural is a community effort and it celebrates the life and poetry of Frances
Ellen Watkins Harper, the school�s namesake. We have grown a lot in the first two years.
But as any adolescent can tell you, growth sometimes causes growing pains. Harper is now the largest junior high
school in Davis, and that presents new challenges. There are more students, more teachers, more classrooms, and that
translates to more classroom needs. Over the next few weeks, the PTO Fundraising Committee will be considering a
long list of funding requests from school staff. A preliminary look at this list shows requests for items that the PTO
already purchased last year, such as dictionaries and copies of literature for the English classes. More copies of these
are needed for the additional students. It�s a good thing that these additional students also bring additional parents into
the Harper community, and that can translate to more ideas, more energy, more learning, and more fun!
I encourage all parents and teachers to consider attending one or more PTO meetings this year. For our October
meeting, we�ll keep the business portion very brief and invite several teachers to give presentations on their programs.
The 7:00 p.m. meeting will be held in the multi-purpose room and we�ll have refreshments. In addition to our
meetings, we are also working on plans for parent education events, and hope to create some opportunities for
socializing with other parents and families as well.
Thank you to all of the families who became members of the PTO this year, and also to those who turned in the
volunteer forms. Please be aware that sometimes our calls for specific volunteer help may not always be a personal
phone call. We all have busy lives, and sometimes we have to resort to mass media, such as this newsletter, the PTO
website, and the PTO listserver to get the word out about our needs. These are the best tools we have for
communication, so please � read the newsletter, subscribe to the listserver
(http://www2.dcn.org/mailman/listinfo/fhpto), and check the website for updates (http://www2.dcn.org/orgs/harperpto).
If you have any questions or ideas regarding Harper PTO, you may contact me at [email protected], or leave a
message for me at 750-7943.
Jane Schafer-Kramer
Harper PTO Co-President for 2006-07
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The Principal�s Corner
Only the few, the proud and the brave get to be Huskies! That includes of course everyone who
attends Harper Junior High. At this point in the school year, just four weeks along so far, every
staff member at Harper believes all our students are at the top of their class. Both students and
staff are excited, undefeated, anticipating and ready for huge academic success. And of course,
we are all looking forward to tons of fun this school year as well. I am pleased to report that, from
the staff perspective, we have had an excellent start and I am hoping that your children have
given you that same report at home.
We have a large batch of new teachers, 12 in all, that are on fire and love working with your
students. Each month I will be highlighting several of the new staff so that parents feel more
familiar with the new faces we have educating your children at Harper. Look further on in this
newsletter for short biographies of these new teachers.
Welcome to the 2006-07 school year At Frances Harper Junior High School! This promises
to be the best year yet and we encourage all parents to be involved with our various student
activities, with the PTO and through other groups that help support our school.
Some special announcements:
The Davis Schools Foundation has included a flyer in this newsletter regarding their contributions
to the Davis Schools and their hope that more parents will help to fund the Foundation�s activities.
The Foundation is asking parents to consider �A Dollar A Day� in support of the Davis schools.
$365 dollars is a sizable amount of money, but it is still less than a Starbucks a day. Last year
the Foundation was able to make a significant contribution to our school library for much needed
books and research materials. The parents of Davis have been tremendously generous in their
support of our school and activities, and we are grateful. Thank you!
The Davis School Arts Foundation is also seeking members to support the Visual and Performing
Arts in our schools. Please see the attached flyer.
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PARENTCONNECT WELCOMES YOU BACK!
The ParentConnect website is now online
ParentConnect displays student information for the current grade-level and school year. Parents who have
User ID and passwords from last year can use them to log on this year.
New to ParentConnect? Here's the steps to register for an account.
Visit http://parentconnect.djusd.k12.ca.us/ and click on Register
One account per family - can include all secondary students � except at DaVinci, King and DSIS
Registration info is processed within 10 working days
After day 10: Go to your eldest child�s school to receive your User ID and Password information � Photo
ID is required
Log on at http://parentconnect.djusd.k12.ca.us/ and use your user ID and password!
Go to Settings: change password and set up parent preferences.
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WHAT�S FOR LUNCH?
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