MIMS PTO

Hi all – Especially until we have our new platform, I’ll try to put everything I can up here on the PTO website. Please share with your MIMS friends!

What’s in this message

Scroll down to read about the following topics:

• • Mid Autumn Festival
  • Communications

• • Sociables & Auction Items

• • PTO Meetings

• • Drop-off, Pick-up, and You

• • Grandparents Lunch

• • Volunteers

• • Directory

• • Spirit Wear

• • China Trip

Plan for Mid Autumn Festival

Mid Autumn Festival is Friday, 9 September, from 6-8 pm. Pre-order food tickets for a fried rice or lo mein (vegetarian) box with a bottle of water ($5 per ticket).

Events at Mid Autumn Festival

• Hear the Mid Autumn story & watch performances
• Grandparents’ story table
• Pet the rabbit
• Arts & crafts
• Connect with other MIMS families
• Enjoy moon cakes
• Pick up your spirit wear pre-orders
• Meet the MIMS Clubs, including Robotics Club, Garden Club, and more…

Communications

LivingTree is gone, but we’re working to get Bloomz up as soon as we can. In the meantime, look for announcements here on the MIMS PTO website, on the MIMS website, and in emails from Mr. Ying.

What can you do? Make sure your info with HISD and the school is accurate and up to date.

Sociables & Auction Items

It’s time to decide what sociables you can host! Please submit your sociables by 17 September. If you have any auction items or ideas for auction items, you can submit those as well or contact our Community Fundraising Chair.

You’ll be able to BUY those sociables and bid on those auction items at our Fall Fundraising Festival on 30 September at King’s Bierhaus. We’ll gather from 7-11 pm to celebrate Oktoberfest and have some fun. The event is intended for adults, but the location is a restaurant, so kids can come if necessary.

Please pre-order a ticket so we know how many to expect – $10 buys your ticket, including a beer or a couple of soft drinks!

PTO Meeting

Here are the notes from last PTO meeting – official minutes are coming soon.

Next meeting is October 7 at noon, via Zoom.

If you have requests for topics or speakers for our next PTO meetings, let us know.

Drop-off, Pick-up, and You

So many of you have been doing a GREAT job at drop-off and pick-up. Thank you. And thanks for the volunteers who have supported the school and parents by helping with drop-off and pick-up procedures. For those who might need a little reminder, here are some key points.

1. School hours are 8:30 to 4 pm. The doors open at 8:15 in the morning.
2. Do not pull into or park in the teachers’ parking lot. It is reserved until after 5 pm.
3. If you drive through the line, make sure your kids have everything they need and can get in or out of the car seats on their own. If this ISN’T the case, park and walk up to the Dragon Door.
4. If you drive through the line, please don’t be distracted – pay attention, stay close to the car in front of you, stay to the right in first part of the line so those who want to park can drive to the left.
5. Do NOT drop off until you get to the drop off point in the map above. Don’t drop on Alabama or in the first or second part of the lot. It’s not safe.
6. If you need to park, use Yorktown, McCullough, or the spots in the middle of the main lot.  Don’t park in the first section of the lot. Park close to the other cars so more folks can fit.

And most vitally: Be kind, please. One of our parents got screamed and yelled at for reminding someone they were dropping off in the wrong place. That’s not cool and it’s not how you’d want your kids to be treated or to treat others. We’re all running late, feeling stressed, and worried about getting where we need to be – don’t be the one hurting other people.

Grandparents Lunch

Grandparents lunch is this week – September 9 – read on for details!

1. Please RSVP for Grandparents Day (September 9th). The grandparent MUST sign up in Sign Up Genius.
   • We can only accommodate TWO family members (grandparents, mom and dad, uncle, and aunts, etc.) PER student.
   • Each participant must sign up for EACH student. If you have two children in MIMS and would like to have lunch with each child, you must sign up twice.
2. Please keep in mind that lunches are limited to 30 minutes and guests should arrive 20-30 minutes before lunch to sign in.
3. All participants must check-in at the Dragon door.
4. We are recruiting parent volunteers for Grandparents day. Please reach out to Ms. H.Liu (hliu@houstonisd.org) for more information. VIPS approved only; please register to assist if you aren’t already on Ms. Liu’s list.
5. Lunch times:

• Prek – 10:45 to 11:15
• Kinder – 10:35 to 11:05
• 1^st – 10:30 to 11:00
• 2^nd 11:30 to 12:00
• 3^rd – 11:10 to 11:40
• 4^th and 5^th – 11:45 to 12:15
• Middle School – 12:25 to 12:55

Volunteers Needed!

We LOVE our volunteers. Already this year, you’ve made folks very happy by helping direct traffic before and after school, by helping with spirit wear, and supporting Tuesday folders.

Here are some specific needs you can support right now – sign up and we’ll connect you!

• Help plan Spark Park 2 ribbon cutting in November
• Help with community fundraising or Spark Park fundraising or corporate fundraising
• Sign up to help with Mid Autumn Festival
• Diversity & Heritage committee needs a chair
• Help with the boosterthon fun run
• And many more opportunities

MIMS Directory

I still have my MIMS Directory from my first year at MIMS. We haven’t done one in recent years, but lots of folks have requested one. We’re working on it! If you want to be in the MIMS directory, please submit your info ASAP.  We’d like to have this ready for October, but only if you submit your info! We won’t do the work if we don’t have a minimum of 200 families in the directory.

Spirit Wear

The spirit wear items you pre-ordered have been delivered. If you didn’t pick them up on 2 September,  you can get them on 9 September, before or after school or at the Mid Autumn Festival. Contact Middle School VP Emily Shaffer if you have questions about spirit wear.

If you have uniform items (shirts, pants, shorts, skirts) that no longer fit but are in GOOD condition, you can bring those and drop them in the used uniform bin near the front office. These items will be available for trade! You can also trade qi pao (Chinese dress). Contact Caroline Long if you have questions about used uniforms or want to volunteer to help with the swap table at Mid Autumn Festival.

China Trip 2024

Join Ms. Xia in the meeting on 13 September at 6 pm on Zoom. See meeting details and register for the meeting here: https://bit.ly/3QXKx1W. Registration is mandatory, so don’t wait!

Ms. Xia will provide you more information regarding the trip details, itinerary, pricing, and scholarship opportunities! (your child can actually go to China with us for FREE!!!) Please register!