We are so excited for all of the events we have coming up! In this newsletter you will find information about:
Scholastic Book Fair coming to Hollymead this week
Book Fair closing event on Friday, April 29th (don’t forget to sign up for pizza and popsicles by Tuesday, April 26th!)
Dining Night Out at Mane Course Sandwiches on Tuesday, April 26th
Hollymead and District-wide Teacher Appreciation Week May 2nd-6th
PTO Sponsored Kids Night Out May 13
Don’t forget to follow us on social media to get updates on these and other events we’re looking forward to as we close out the final few weeks of the school year. And thanks, as always, to our volunteers, parents, caregivers, students, and staff for making Hollymead such a wonderful and supportive community!
We hope everyone enjoyed—or stayed safely away from—the crazy winter-like weather we had this weekend. While it kept us from holding our outdoor Talent Show on Saturday, we are so grateful to all of the parents, caregivers, volunteers, and—of course—talented Hollymead students who pulled together to make sure the show happened on Sunday. The students worked so hard in rehearsals throughout March, and we enjoyed watching them perform their incredible acts in front of their families and adoring fans! A big thank you to everyone who came to watch or helped set up for the Talent Show, and a very special thank you to our Talent Show Chair Katie Arostegui for planning such an amazing show!
A few reminders for this coming week:
Please join us for our Dining Night Out at Torchy’s Tacos on Wednesday, March 30th. Don’t forget to bring your flyer to ensure that a portion of the sales goes to benefit Hollymead! (Also, parents and caregivers—please be aware that Torchy’s menu has some colorful descriptions of some of their entrees; we encourage you to check out the menu ahead of time to ensure that your family has a good experience!)
April 1st is a half-day for students (so it will not be an April Fool’s joke when your child tells you they’ll only be in school for half of the day!).
Spring Break starts on April 2nd and runs through April 10th.
Our next PTO meeting will be on Wednesday, April 13th (rescheduled from the first Wednesday of the month due to Spring Break).
We hope everyone has a wonderful week and an awesome Spring Break!
Happy (almost) March! Now that the weather is getting a little warmer it certainly feels like spring is just around the corner. The third semester is flying by!
This coming week is Read Across America Week and all Hollymead students are invited to participate by showing their bookish spirit! The theme schedule for the week is as follows:
Monday – Hats Off to Reading (wear a hat)
Tuesday – PAWSitively Wild About Reading (wear animal-print clothing or clothing with an animal on it)
Wednesday – Team Up for Reading (wear a sports shirt)
Thursday – Snuggle Up and Read! (Wear pajamas)
As a reminder, Friday, March 4th is a Teacher Work Day so there will be no school for students.
We also wanted to extend a big THANK YOU! to everyone who donated to our most recent Stock the Lounge for Hollymead staff. And of course thank you to our wonderful Hospitality volunteers, Shannon Hall and Allison Argawal! We’re so grateful to be able to show such appreciation for our awesome Hollymead staff!
A few additional dates for your calendars include:
Saturday, March 26th – Hollymead Talent Show (4:00 PM)
Events are definitely starting to pick up as the weather (and COVID numbers!) improve, and we’re excited to hopefully be able to host more events this spring. As we solidify more events, we will be sure to keep you updated through newsletters and social media. Stay tuned, and go Hornets!
Happy February! We hope everyone is enjoying the nice reprieve from winter weather we’ve had this week.
All families and caregivers should have received a copy of the Hollymead Directory in the past few weeks. We’d like to take a moment to thank our Directory volunteers–Tara Goodrich, Jonelle Kinback, Rachel Cann, and Kate DeLuca–for putting everything together and making sure that this year’s Directory was such a success! If you see any of these wonderful volunteers around the neighborhood or at school pick up/drop off, please be sure to thank them for all of their time and expertise!
Thank you, as well, to everyone who attended our February Dining Night Out at Skrimp Shack! We love to see everyone coming together to support both Hollymead and a local business. As always, thank you as well for our DNO volunteers Nicole Felini and Kristen Jones for putting the event together!
Finally, please save the date for our next Hollymead Talent Show, which will happen in-person, outside on March 26th (rain date: April 16th). More details will be going home in folders soon!
Wishing everyone a fun-filled weekend of football and Valentines,
Thank you, Hollymead, for a year we’ll not soon forget. We’ve been so proud of how the Hollymead community has stepped up to make sure our students and staff had all the things they needed to make this challenging year go as smoothly as possible. You’ve turned in your Box Tops, emptied your closets of shoes, Dined Out, kept kids reading, made magic, created an amazing yearbook, showed tons of teacher appreciation, and got competitive with a raffle. All those things allowed the PTO to purchase different kinds of playground equipment, buy outdoor seating pads, help adapt classrooms, and keep our teachers and staff fueled.
Hollymead is an incredibly special community. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the ways, big and small, that each of you have contributed. A strong PTO and family involvement really does make a huge difference – that’s you!
Enjoy your summer! Congratulations to our fabulous 5th graders and those who will be moving on. For all you returning to Hollymead in the fall, we look forward to seeing you again soon. Go Hornets!
Crystal Pariseau & Amy Cochran
YEARBOOKS
LAST CALL FOR YEARBOOKS! The yearbooks are in and are being distributed to students. If you have not purchased a yearbook, but wish to buy one, please contact hollymeadPTOpresident@gmail.com. There are a very limited number of yearbooks left, and they will be sold on a first come first served basis.
SILENT AUCTION SUCCESS
A big thank you to Ann Lawrence Grasty for organizing a very fun and successful auction. And a big thank you to all of the teachers that participated by volunteering their time and creativity. The auction provided options to bid on a variety of 43 items. In total we had 306 bids, raising $1,848.57 for your Hollymead PTO!
JOIN THE PTO
We’re looking for a few fun people! PTO Board positions will be open for the coming school year as well as event chairs. If you’re looking for a way to meet a great group of people, be more involved in your student’s school activities, and have fun along the way, there’s a spot for you on the PTO. Everything from helping out with an event to Board positions like Treasurer, Vice President, and more will be open for the coming year. Check out the PRO site forjob descriptions, or email hollymeadptovolunteer@gmail.com or hollymeadPTOpresident@gmail.com with any questions. We’d love to have you!
FIELD ‘DAY’ IS THIS WEEK!
The fun, annual tradition of field day is here! On Tuesday and Wednesday, Kona Ice will be at Hollymead. Virtual students can stop by between 11:30 & 11:50 for their shaved ice. Asynchronous activities will be posted daily in Seesaw. If you would like to share some pictures of your family partaking in the challenges, you can post pictures to Ms. Kopley’s Seesaw page.
NEED LABELS?
As you are prepare for summer camps and summer school, consider Mabel’s Labels. From the school search, look for Hollymead, and 20% of all purchases will then support your Hollymead PTO.
HOLLYMEAD MURAL FEATURED ON NBC 29
Did you see Hollymead featured on NBC29?! Ms. Foster and Charlottesville illustrator, Scott DuBar, worked with students to create a mural for our school!
Please join me in thanking the 2020-21 Hollymead PTO Board and Activity Chairs. Every one of these people volunteered significant time and energy to make sure Hollymead had a great year, and we are so appreciative!
Hello Hollymead! It’s hard to believe that the end of the year will soon be here, but exciting to look ahead to summer and be out in the sunshine. Have your students told you about the new cushions they’ve been sitting on during lunch and outdoor time? The PTO was pleased to purchase branded stadium cushions with pockets for all Hollymead in person students so they can take work or lunch outside and have a little protection from wet or muddy grass. Thank you to all who have donated to the PTO through direct contributions, box top and grocery card scans, and fundraisers to make purchases like these possible for our students!
BOOKFAIR
The Hollymead Bookfair may have looked different this year being entirely online, but our community still stepped up to show it’s love of reading! Huge thanks go out to 4th grade parent Vanitha Perumal and librarian Joette Crone for organizing such a smooth event. Over $2,800 was raised this year, most of which will be invested into our very own library. Way to go, Hollymead!
STAFF APPRECIATION
Hollymead LOVES our staff! Teacher and staff appreciation week 2020 was a blast, thanks to generous family donations and the hard work of 3rd grade parent Corey Hawker & team. All 75 of our teachers, cafeteria workers, office staff, bus drivers, and assistants received gift cards, giant Hollymead beach towels, and delicous gourmet popsicles from La Flor Michoacana (a Hollymead-family owned business). The Attractions coupons company also donated free 2021 books for our entire staff. Thank you to all who helped us recognize those who work so hard for our students every day!
MAGIC SHOW
3-2-1 Presto! The Hollymead/Baker Butler magic show with Wes Iseli was a great success! It was fun to join friends from another school and watch the illusions, as well as learn some magic ourselves. Many thanks to Baker Butler’s Allison Ochs and Hollymead’s Amy Cochran (5th grade parent & PTO Co-President) for organizing the show, as well as Avenue Realty for stepping up to serve as the last minute venue host when there were technological challenges. It was a fun and magical night!
SHOES, SHOES, SHOES
Hollymead’s newest fundraiser, the Got Sneakers drive, exceeded our expectations. Piles and piles of pairs of shoes were donated by the community, which we sent in to be given to people in need or repurposed into new surfaces such as playgrounds and track. Hollymead received a good sized check, and we are very grateful for the time of 3nd and 5th grade parent Kate DeLuca in organizing both the fundraiser and lots of old shoes.
HUNGER HEROS DRIVE
Thank you Hollymead Hornets for participating in the Hunger Heroes Drive for the Blue Ridge Food Bank. We are excited to share that Hollymead collected 177 lbs of food that will help provide 148 meals to our community members.
Thank you so much for your donations that help combat food insecurity!
JOIN THE PTO!
We’re looking for a few fun people! PTO Board positions will be open for the coming school year as well as event chairs. If you’re looking for a way to meet a great group of people, be more involved in your student’s school activities, and have fun along the way, there’s a spot for you on the PTO. Everything from helping out with an event to Board positions like Treasurer, Vice President, and more will be open for the coming year. Check out the PRO site forjob descriptions, or email hollymeadptovolunteer@gmail.com or hollymeadPTOpresident@gmail.com with any questions. We’d love to have you!
SILENT AUCTION STARTS MAY 21ST
Hollymead’s PTO will be hosting a silent auction running May 21st through May 29th! Look to Hollymead’s PTO Facebook page for more information. Any questions please email Ann Lawrencewith your ideas.
JUNE DINING DAY OUT
Dining DAY Out! Support a local business and our school by visiting Daily Grind
anytime on Friday, June 4th, from 7 am – 7 pm. Treat yourself and your family to coffee,
smoothies or ice cream! Just remember to drop your receipt in the bin before you
leave. A portion of all receipts will be donated to the Hollymead PTO. Thank you for
supporting our community!
CUB SCOUT PACK 206 CLEAN-UP
Cub Scout Pack 206 is a chartered organization of the Hollymead PTO. On May 8th, 17 scouts and their families came to Hollymead to clean up the outdoor classroom. They removed all of the brush and fallen limbs from around the stage, weeded all of the gardening beds, washed off the benches, and repaired one of the beds that had started to come apart. The kids had a lot of fun, and look forward to doing another project for Hollymead in the fall.
POP-UP CLASS FLAVORS OF BELGIUM!
This week, Tuesday, May 18th at 6:30 pm is the first class
Alliance Française de Charlottesville is offering a new pop-up class (3 lessons of 1 hour each)! Come and explore Belgium with its rich architecture and art. This Pop-Up is the perfect class for beginners in French to start exploring new topics.
Hollymead’s PTO will be hosting a silent auction running May 21-29 and we are looking for donations. We know this has been a challenging year for businesses so we are also thinking out of the box. Donations of a skill, talent, time, or a unique experience could be accepted. Feeling short on time or talent? We welcome cash donations that we may build experiences and gift baskets using local businesses. We are accepting donations with a minimum value of 20 dollars and the deadline for donations is May 14th. Thank you so much for your consideration and support, please email Ann Lawrence with your ideas.
SIT-UPONS HAVE ARRIVED
Check out these awesome cushions the PTO bought for our Hybrid students outside. Thanks to everyone for your ongoing support.
It’s that time of year when we remind our Hollymead Teachers and Staff how much we appreciate them. The 2020/21 school year has been another challenging year for everyone. Our teachers have modified their classrooms and syllabus multiple times this year to accommodate our families preferred options for our children. Our cafeteria staff and bus drivers have been working hard to ensure that our kids are fed and janitorial staff has been making sure that our building and classrooms are clean and safe. In light of this, we have a fun gift planned for the teachers and staff. This year, as in previous years, we would like to be able to provide everyone with a gift card. At minimum, we would like to be able to provide each person with $10 to a local or online store or restaurant. Since this year was exceptionally challenging, we would like to be able to provide a $20 gift card to go along with the PTO provided gifts. This year we have 80 teachers and staff members to provide for.
If you would like to contribute to this effort, you may select any of the options listed:
Drop your gift cards at 2776 Peppervine Court
Venmo @CoreyHawker with a note that your contribution is for Hollymead Staff Appreciation and I will be happy to pickup gift cards on your behalf.
Email or text me to arrange an option that works best for you chawker1@verizon.net or 540-710-3799
The plan is to deliver gifts to the teachers and staff on Friday, May 7th, so please have your gift cards delivered by Sunday, May 2nd.
There will be an opportunity to chalk the sidewalks on Thursday, May 6th if you are looking for a creative way to participate.
GOLDEN APPLE AWARDS: NOMINATE YOUR FAVORITE TEACHER TODAY!
In a year unlike any other, it’s more important than ever to recognize the hard work and dedication of our teachers.
Please help us honor your favorite teacher by nominating them for a Golden Apple Award. This year’s sponsor is Better Living Building Supply and Cabinetry. They will provide each award winner with a $500 grant to use in the classroom. Nominate your favorite teacher today!
Do you know a teacher who …
Creates a love of learning in students of all abilities and backgrounds?
Stimulates thought and provokes student dialogue?
Challenges students to reach high standards and expectations?
Understands the needs of students individually and collectively, and meets those needs with determination, enthusiasm and imagination?
Involves families in the education process?
If so, please take a moment to nominate this excellent educator for a Golden Apple Award! Any teacher, preschool through grade 12, who has not received a Golden Apple Award in the past three years is eligible. Nominations must be submitted by April 30.
Let’s be Hunger Heroes and fill up these Barrels, Hollymead Hornets! The Blue Ridge Food Bank Drive will run through April 30.
In person students, drop your items in these barrels by the front door at school. Virtual students, please bring your donations to your supply pick up on Fridays.
Hollymead’s PTO will be hosting a silent auction running May 21-29 and we are looking for donations. We know this has been a challenging year for businesses so we are also thinking out of the box. Donations of a skill, talent, time, or a unique experience could be accepted. Feeling short on time or talent? We welcome cash donations that we may build experiences and gift baskets using local businesses. We are accepting donations with a minimum value of 20 dollars and the deadline for donations is May 14th. Thank you so much for your consideration and support, please email Ann Lawrence with your ideas.
GOLDEN APPLE AWARDS: NOMINATE YOUR FAVORITE TEACHER TODAY!
In a year unlike any other, it’s more important than ever to recognize the hard work and dedication of our teachers.
Please help us honor your favorite teacher by nominating them for a Golden Apple Award. This year’s sponsor is Better Living Building Supply and Cabinetry. They will provide each award winner with a $500 grant to use in the classroom. Nominate your favorite teacher today!
Do you know a teacher who …
Creates a love of learning in students of all abilities and backgrounds?
Stimulates thought and provokes student dialogue?
Challenges students to reach high standards and expectations?
Understands the needs of students individually and collectively, and meets those needs with determination, enthusiasm and imagination?
Involves families in the education process?
If so, please take a moment to nominate this excellent educator for a Golden Apple Award! Any teacher, preschool through grade 12, who has not received a Golden Apple Award in the past three years is eligible. Nominations must be submitted by April 30.
Our local Blue Ridge Food Bank Food Drive is running this wonderful yearly food drive event from April 12 – April 30, 2021. Let’s help them reach their goal in collecting non perishable food and items. (Details on the flyer) Food Barrels will be out in the lobby for in person students to drop donations. Virtual students, please bring your donations to one of your supply bag pick ups in April.
In time for a warm weather refresh to your wardrobe the Spring Spirit Store will be opening April 13th thru April 27th.
YEARBOOK ORDERING AVAILABLE NOW
We’ve been hard at work documenting this unique school year and it’s now time to purchase your 2020/2021 Hollymead Yearbook! Yearbooks are $20 each and can either be purchased online using a credit card or by cash/check via paper flyers that will go home shortly after Stage 4 begins. Orders will be accepted through April 2.
All yearbooks will be delivered to the school and distributed to students before the end of the school year.
To order online with a credit card and use Code: 56403T
To order via the paper: Fill out the flyer’s required information and return it to school with cash or check made out to Hollymead Elementary PTO.
Hollymead Elementary Parent-Teacher Organization 
