Welcome to Tiger Talk, the communication system for Grady Elementary PTA.  We will use a combination of email, paper and website communication to notify you about school and PTA events.  To sign up to receive Tiger Talk Emails please click here: https://gradytigers.org/tigertalk.  The information we share in the blast emails will also be available on our website.

Grady Elementary had an amazing year last year:  Math Bowl and Battle of the Books Championships, Amazing FCAT and SAT-10 scores, and of course, we had the Hillsborough County PTA Principal of the Year.  Our PTA supports the school in its mission to provide all students the opportunity to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to realize their potential in a positive, academically challenging, and safe environment.  Our PTA also won 5 awards from Hillsborough County PTA this past year.  We won an award the number of volunteer hours logged by volunteers at the school, an award for grandparent involvement, and awards for membership numbers and for participation of our members in Grady Elementary PTA. 

We support the school by funding academic enrichment programs including afterschool tutoring (we have budgeted $8,000.00 toward academic enrichment this year), funding teacher grants of up to $1,000.00 per grade/project and by supporting school safety by raising money to replace the existing perimeter fence with a wrought-iron style spear-topped fence.  The school has obtained quotes and is moving forward with the first phase of this fence, and this year we intend to raise enough money to pay for the remainder of the fence.  On August 28, we will begin the Fall Fundraiser that we expect will raise $10,000.00 toward paying for these commitments.  If you are interested in volunteering to help with the Fall Fundraiser, please click this link:  http://gradytigers.org/2014-fall-fundraiser-volunteers.  The first planning meeting of the Fall Fundraiser Volunteers will take place on August 26, at 8:15 am in the Guidance Suite Boardroom on campus.

To help you plan in advance for the entire school year, below this post in PDF format is a complete calendar of school and PTA events.  This will help you know when you may need to request time off or when to plan a getaway.  Some dates are described as tentative or are described as windows in which testing will take place.  The events will also be posted on the website at http://gradytigers.org/events and often, more information will be added to the calendar link as we get closer to each event. 

One of the first events coming up is the Grandparent’s Breakfast to celebrate Grandparent’s Day, which will occur on Wednesday, September 3, 2014 from 7:15 am to 8:00 am (for students with last name beginning with A – M) and Thursday, September 4, 2014 from 7:15 am to 8:00 am (for students with last name beginning with N – Z).  The Grandparent’s Breakfast will be held in the cafeteria and will feature complimentary pastry, muffins, coffee, and orange juice for grandparents/parents and school breakfast for students.  To see more information about the event and to see a PDF invitation that you can forward to grandparents you wish to invite, please click http://gradytigers.org/_cache/files/29ec04bf-1bdf-4db5-94d8-fbd0af3ebbf9/grandparents-day-2014.pdf.

The PTA is already up to 236 members on the second day of school.  This is a great start to the new school year.  To see some pictures from the first day of school and the Tiger Tears event, please click here: http://gradytigers.org/2015-first-day-of-school.

Earning for Learning is happening at WestShore Plaza from September 1-28.  Just take your receipts to the Guest Services to enter a drawing to win $2,000 for Grady and a prize for yourself, too.  Grady was a grand prize winner during last year’s contest and we hope to win again. For more information please click here: http://www.westshoreplaza.com/earningforlearning.  Also, if you are an Amazon user, you can designate Grady to receive .5% of your purchases.  Please just click here to get started.  http://smile.amazon.com/ch/23-7102322.  Don’t forget that you can also designate Grady to receive a portion of your purchases with your Target Red Card.  To update your Red Card to include Grady, please click here: https://www-secure.target.com/redcard/tcoe/home.  Finally, please collect Box Tops from General Mills Foods.  Last year our school collected over $1,000.00 just from submitting Box Tops.

Thanks for your involvement in the PTA and for your work in helping Grady’s students succeed. 

If you have any questions about Tiger Talk or any other PTA matters, please contact me, Ellen Lyons, VP of Communications at [email protected].  If you feel more comfortable communicating with our PTA in Spanish, please contact Chely Sierra, VP of Volunteer Relations at [email protected].