Our PTO officers for the 2011-12 school year:

• Co-President: Wendy Burke
• Co-President: Courtney McCreadie
• President-elect: John Pottow
• Treasurer: Jenny Freisthler and Steve Swaney
• Secretary: Elizabeth DeRose and Jenny Jalet
• Volunteer Coordinators: Kathy Cramer and Lauren Kinsherf
• Fundraising Coordinator: Melissa Bruzzano

Send a message to the PTO with our contact form.

Welcome!!! If you have a student who is attending Burns Park for the first time, and if you have any questions at all about our school or processes, please use the contact form and we’ll get an answer for you!

Look for the New Family Packet in the office if you did not attend the New Family Orientation.

On behalf of the students, staff, teachers and parents, we are so pleased that your family is joining the Burns Park community. You will find Burns Park to be a friendly school, where families work and play together to create a safe and comfortable environment for our children.

The Burns Park community said farewell to our principal, Mrs. Kathy Morhous, just before graduation on the last day of school.

After eleven years of service to the students and faculty of Burns Park Elementary, Mrs. Morhous has been asked to become principal of King Elementary to fill an open position. The faculty, staff, parents and students of Burns Park joined together on the last day of the 2010-11 school year to say "Thank You!"

On behalf of the school community, the PTO planted a young tree in front of the school to honor Mrs. Morhous; PTO President Wendy Burke spoke for all of us as she praised the caring leadership Mrs. Morhous has brought to our school and community. Students presented Mrs. Morhous with a huge banner, reading "Thank You!", that every student in the school had also signed. Music teacher Cynthia Page-Bogen led the student body in a wonderful series of songs and dances to celebrate our principal and wish her all the best in the future.

Please join us in wishing Mrs. Morhous all the best for the future!

We’re making copies of the 5th grade graduation slideshow available on DVD at no charge to parents. Please follow the link below to the order form. If you would like, you can also make a donation to the PTO to support the costs of the DVD, this year’s graduation and next year’s fifth grade. Thanks!

http://bppto.wufoo.com/forms/burns-park-5th-gr-graduation-slideshow/

Please click on the headline, or on the "read more" link at the bottom of this entry, to use the table of contents links.

Highlights for the week:

• Ice Cream Social is this Wednesday, June 1st 5:30-8:00pm. We will have lots of games, a cakewalk, a bouncer, and live music! Pizza slices and some salads will be available for purchase. This year, we will have 15 tables and 90 chairs so that you can sit and enjoy the music. Come join other families for this very fun annual event! Contact Devra Kellen at dkellen at umich.edu or Jennifer Monk- Reising at jmonkreising at gmail.com with any questions or concerns.
• Several informational tables will also be set up at the Ice Cream Social. Please check them out to learn more about programs such as: The Burns Park Foreign Language Initiative and Ms. Walters’ class efforts to help survivors of the Alabama tornadoes.
• Also, please remember to bring your best dessert to the Ice Cream Social on Wednesday. Details below.
• Bearclaw Coffee will be sold at the Ice Cream Social. Buy a bag for your favorite coffee drinker!
• Used Book Exchange is back. Bring your books to school by Thursday, June 2nd.
• Volunteers needed to help with the Book Exchange program on Friday, June 3rd 2:45-3:40pm.
• Volunteer liaison needed to support the Girls on the Run program.
• Sign up today to help with the school garden over the summer. Details and a link provided below.
• Joe Reilly’s Japan Aid Concert, Sunday, June 5th from 3:30-5pm at the Ann Arbor Senior Center at Burns Park.
• A Retirement Party for Ms. Cramer and Ms. Weinmann has been scheduled for Monday, June 6th from 3:45-4:30pm at the flagpole. Please mark you calendars and plan to come join the celebration of these amazing kindergarten teachers, give a hug, and enjoy a popsicle. All families are welcome!
• Love Our Library bookshelf organizing party, Monday, June 6th 2:30- 3:30pm
• The Burns Park Foreign Language Initiative Needs Your Support and Contributions. Read details below and find a link to donate today.
• AAPS has organized a panel on digital citizenship, cyberbulling & sexting to be held on June 6th at 6pm at Forsyth Middle School.
• Ann Arbor’s Green Fair is Friday, June 6th from 6-9pm and is free to the public.
• Seeking photos! Please send in a photo of your child if he/she is or was a student in either Ms. Cramer or Ms. Weinmann’s classrooms. You can also drop these off to Mrs. Kyle in the main office or place them in the PTO mailbox.
• Field Day is scheduled for Tuesday, June 7th.
• End-of-the-year classroom parties have been scheduled. Please look for emails or notes from your student’s teacher and/or room parent and offer to help in anyway you would like!
• On Sunday, June 19th the Tour de Kids event will take place in downtown Ann Arbor at South University and East University.

Dear Burns Park Families,

I consider it an honor to have had the privilege to serve the Burns Park School community for the past eleven years. I will be leaving Burns Park to become the principal of King Elementary in June. Virginia Bell, Ed.D will become the new principal of Burns Park. You will be receiving a letter from Virginia and our Superintendent Robert Allen tonight.  I'm sure you will welcome Virginia as you so warmly welcomed me. She is very excited to be given this opportunity.

As they say, live is full of chapters. As I move on to the next chapter of my work life, I want you to all know that the Burns Park chapter is full of fond memories of an active, caring community that values the richness that diversity brings to all of us and the important role that public education serves in our community. I just can't thank you enough for allowing me to serve as your children's principal. They are wonderful and I will miss them. Thank you for sharing them with me.

Educationally Yours,

Kathy

Kathy Morhous

Principal

Missed the meeting? Look here first!

In an effort to include more parents and teachers in the workings of the PTO, we are posting minutes of the meetings here so that you can catch up on PTO news even if you couldn't be at the meeting. Sometimes the minutes will be preliminary, and subject to change before they are approved at the next meeting. Check the list below for the latest meeting minutes.

The Burns Park Press is the monthly newsletter of the PTO, distributed to all families, faculty and staff in electronic and paper format. The Press is our regular way of communicating as a community, and carries news, an events calendar, and regular contributions from PTO officers and our principal. All families receive the electronic version of the press, and can get a paper copy sent home upon request.