Family Game Night  has been RESCHEDULED for Fri., Jan. 27 (originally Jan. 20).

Bring your whole family NEXT FRIDAY for pizza, board games, and bingo!  Twenty lucky families will take home a game from our annual game raffle. Don't forget to bring your favorite game to play with your friends and a few extra dollars for raffle tickets and pizza ($1.50/slice).

The cold, wet, dreary days of winter are upon us, and indoor recess is an inevitable part of the season. Excess for Recess will help our ECS teachers replenish their game closets for those days when recess time must be spent indoors.

We will collect donations from ECS families, and then teachers will be given the opportunity to select items for their classrooms. This is a great excuse to clean out your closets and pass on items that your children have outgrown or no longer play with. Students benefit by having new toys, games, and books to use during indoor recess. Please consider donating board games, puzzles, blocks, Legos, flash cards, card games, books, educational materials, craft materials, and other gently used items.

** Donations for Excess for Recess are now being accepted.**
You or your child may drop off donations in the plastic bin right outside of the main office from now until Wednesday, January 25th.

Volunteers will be needed on the day of the event. Please consider volunteering an hour or two of your time to help our children and their teachers have the supplies they need for indoor recess. Excess for Recess will be held after the students go home for their half day on January 27th, 2012. We will need help starting immediately after dismissal until approximately 3 PM.

Any items left unclaimed by the teachers will be donated.

If you have questions or would like to volunteer, please contact parents@ecspco.org.

Join ECS families on Friday, January 27 at 6-8 pm for an evening of board games and bingo!  We will provide games for all ages, but you are also encouraged to bring your own games to play.  Play bingo and win prizes in the cafeteria while munching on pizza ($1.50/slice).  We'll also have some great games to give away in the raffle!

If you shop at Amazon.com, click below to start your purchase and ECS will receive 4-8%. It's an easy way to support your school and costs you nothing!
 

Click here to support ECS with your Amazon.com purchase or use the search box below:

The Holiday Marketplace at ECS aims to provide a selection of fair trade, sustainable, affordable gifts for students, staff, parents and community members who want to do some responsible holiday gift giving.

The Holiday Marketplace will be open for family shopping on these dates:

• Tuesday, December 6, 6-8 pm
• Thursday, December 8, 6-8 pm
• Friday, December 9, 6-8:30 pm
• Saturday, December 10, 10 am-2 pm

We will be selling products from the following vendors:
Building New Hope                                              
Education & More                                              
Equal Exchange                                                      
Handcrafting Justice                                    
Into                                                                     
Mad Gabs                                                                   
Marvelous Melissa
Mr. Ellie Pooh                                                             
Project Have Hope                                                  
SERRV                                                                        
Shop Mira                                                                 
Wanderlust Jewelry                                               
Women of the Cloud Forest                                    
Zambian Soaps                                                          

Children have the opportunity to shop independently on Saturday, December 10 from 10 am to 2 pm. Volunteers will help them select gifts for family members.  All items will be $5 and under in the children's shopping area.

The Holiday Marketplace at ECS aims to provide a selection of fair trade, sustainable, affordable gifts for students, staff, parents and community members who want to do some responsible holiday gift giving.

The Holiday Marketplace will be open for family shopping on these dates:

•  Tuesday, December 6, 6-8 pm (during K-3 Winter Concert)
•  Thursday, December 8, 6-8 pm (during 4-6 Winter Concert)
•  Friday, December 9, 6-8:30 pm (during Gingerbread Night)
•  Saturday, December 10, 10 am-2 pm

On Saturday, we invite you to join us for a winter hike in Frick Park at 10 am.  Afterwards, warm up inside with some hot chocolate and holiday shopping!

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!  Please sign up here.

Download a flyer to print and/or email to friends and family.

Questions?  Email the Holiday Marketplace Committee at marketplace@ecspco.org.

The PCO is selling coffee from a local non-profit organization called Building New Hope. Building New Hope supports a worker-owned and operated farming cooperative in Nicaragua by paying them fair trade prices for their organically grown, shade-grown coffee. Read more about this environmentally sustainable project.

Decaf and regular coffee are both $10 per pound. What a bargain! This is more affordable than the retail price in stores. And it makes a great gift!

Orders are due Dec. 1 and coffee will be delivered to classrooms on Dec. 19.  Download an order form.

Contact fundraising@ecspco.org with any questions.

If you shop at Amazon.com, click below to start your purchase and ECS will receive 4-8%. It's an easy way to support your school and costs you nothing!
 

Click here to support ECS with your Amazon.com purchase

The PCO is sponsoring a hoagie sale with hoagies from Triangle Grill. Orders will be due Thursday, November 10 and hoagies will be delivered Tuesday, November 15.

Download a form to keep track of your sales (optional, but useful if you are selling to family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc.)

Download the order form  and turn it in with payment by Thursday, November 10.
or
ORDER ONLINE by Thursday, November 10.

The Environmental Charter School at Frick Park is a public school like no other in the city of Pittsburgh. Our unique programming embraces the need for flexible thinkers, creative problem solvers, and effective leaders in our increasingly more complex world. We provide students the tools and educational foundation to become tomorrow's global citizen, and we strive to teach students how their choices impact the world around them.

On Tuesday, October 4, 2011, we urge you to support the Environmental Charter School by making a donation during the Day of Giving. Your donation is vital to us as we face cuts in public funds. Your gift will go even further as any funds we receive on October 4th will be matched on a pro-rated basis.

A gift to ECS is an investment in sustainability, the future of a student, and the future of the city of Pittsburgh and our planet. Your donation will support our ability to offer curriculum enrichment and development, enhance technology and science integration, ensure our teachers are well-compensated for the work that they do, fund priority projects to support academic achievement, and cover the cost of general operations.  

Make your gift online any time from 12:00 AM ET until 11:59:59 PM ET on October 4th. It's easy. Go to  www.pittsburghgives.org. Click on the Day of Giving link. Select the "Environmental Charter School at Frick Park" from the drop down menu. Enter your credit card information and checkout.

The minimum contribution is $25. The maximum gift per individual is $10,000 so, if you are able, consider making a significant contribution to ECS on the Day of Giving as a part of your year-end tax planning.