Our students at Dundee Elementary are starting on a new and exciting project next week - one that will hopefully significantly reduce the amount of trash produced at the school.
The school has decided to work with Hillside Solutions to start a composting program during breakfast and lunch. Brent Crampton from Hillside Solutions attended last night's PTO meeting to explain how it will work. It sounds simple for the students and like less work than the current way of doing things.
Students will simply put their non-recyclable items (plastic utensils, straws, milk cartons, plastic bags, etc) in the first trash can. Then, they'll dump all their food into the compost bin. Then, they'll stack their trays (which will also be composted, but in a neat stack instead of taking up so much space in the compost bin).
Another OPS elementary school started the program at the beginning of this school year and they went from 30 bags of trash per day to three. 3!!! You can read the Omaha World Herald story about their success here.
The kids have been practicing all of this past week and will officially begin the program on Monday. Come and check it out yourself when you have lunch with a loved one at the end of the month!
In other PTO news:
- Dundee Direct hit its goal at more than $21,000. We actually hope to raise a total of $27,000 by the end of the year (through corporate matches and other donations that roll in... you can always donate - any time - here.)
- The donations ranged from 50 cents to $1,000, with the most common donation being $5.
- Principal Kaye Kennedy went over some MAP test scores from last year, as well as some basic stats on the school, including the top 5 languages spoken at Dundee other than English (Spanish, Arabic, Karen, Nepali, and Chin).
- Ms. Kennedy also talked about the Strive for 95 initiative, which sets a goal of 95% attendance. Each grade is having a competition to see who can have the highest attendance. She stressed that if kids are really sick, please keep them home, but otherwise it's important to be in school every day ready to learn.
- With a new elementary school opening up next year near the TAC building, some Dundee students will be pulled to the new school and will not be able to attend Dundee next year. Ms. Kennedy notified all of those families this week, so if you did not get notified, you are not affected.
The PTO is also looking for some more volunteers. Some of the current positions have kids who will age out of the school next year, so we'll need a new secretary, school store chair, membership committee chair, and Dundee Dispatch chair.
Send us an email if you're interested!