: 
home_1.html letter_from_auction_chair.html purchase_tickets_.html corporate_sponsors.html donations.html academic_development_fund.html steele_elementary_school_downloads.html volunteer_.html http://www.steelepta.org/ contact.html

 

 

Dear Steele Community,

 

We are very fortunate at Steele Elementary.  We have a great community that supports an outstanding learning environment for our children.  But that environment comes at a price.  Parents and guardians, grandparents and community members support Steele with time and money. 

 

Why did you send your child to Steele?  Is it because you heard we have great teachers? Or maybe it's because we have good class size and paraprofessionals, interns and student teachers working in the classrooms.  It might be that you live down the street and it is convenient for your children to attend Steele.  Or maybe you live miles away and just like the feel of our building, grounds and people at the school.  Whatever it is, we are all in this together - we are all working to provide the best possible education for our children.   This brings us back to the time and money that we spend to provide just that.

 

In October 2006, the PTA voted to change the name of the Second Educator Fund to the Academic Development Fund (ADF).  Our goal is to have a broader focus than just funding classroom assistance for our teachers.  The ADF is administered by a committee of parents, teachers and the principal. We hope to raise enough money to fund the needs of our faculty and staff that are not supported through the Denver Public Schools (DPS) budget. 

 

The ADF committee has surveyed our teachers and staff to determine what our school needs, above and beyond DPS funding, so we can continue to provide the best possible learning environment at our school.  The survey revealed that we need to fund:

  • paraprofessionals to assist teachers in the classrooms;
  • interns to train in our classrooms and share teaching responsibilities;
  • a reading specialist to give a boost to students with reading issues; and
  • A health paraprofessional to assist our office staff with the many children who present with bumps, bruises and illnesses. 

 

No doubt, adding staff is a costly proposition, but these extra folks serve really important functions in our school.

As you may know, the 2008 Steele Stallion Jamboree and Auction raised $45,000 for the ADF.  We are hoping that the auction proceeds in combination with direct contributions from parents and guardians, grandparents and the community will help us meet our goal of funding the needs of our teachers and staff.   Our goal is to have each family contribute what they can in support of our community. 

 

Thanks for taking the time to think about why you are part of the Steele community and how you might be able to support our efforts to make it the best place possible for our children. 

 

Sincerely,

Steele PTA Officers