Open House and Back to School Night... what's the difference?

One of the things most new parents at Manila always ask me is the difference between the Open House and the Back to School Night.

Open House is on August 21st from 2:00-3:00. This is a day mostly geared toward the students. Students are able to come in at any time during this and see their classroom, meet their teacher, see their desk, find which door to line up at, etc. There is no formal meeting and the teachers don't give a presentation. This is simply a time for the kids to come in and get geared up for starting school the next day. There are sign ups in the classroom and also PTA information and sign ups in the hall. Children are also able to bring in their school supplies and donations at this time so they don't have to bring in so much in their backpacks on the first day of school. Dr. Sorensen has a fun art project for the kids to do, and there are Manila T-shirts available for order. You can pay for lunches and sign up for Manila Magic. You can register for the Mini Marathon at the PTA table located in the hall.

Back to School Night is on August 28th at 6:00. This is an evening geared more toward informing parents. A lot of parents leave their children home on this night. At 6:00 there is a general meeting in the cafeteria where Dr. Sorensen and the PTA present information about the upcoming year to the parents. This is considered one of our General PTA Board Meetings where we will vote on the budget and also the PTA Bylaws. Afterwards, there are 15 minute blocks available where parents can go to each child's classroom and the teachers present what they are going to be focusing on during the year. There is a lot of great information given to parents. Sign ups are again available in the classrooms and out in the hall. T-shirts are available for order. You can register for the Mini Marathonat the PTA table in the hall.

If you have any questions that I haven't answered, please feel free to contact me. Heidi Panter at manilpta1213@gmail.com. See you and your children at the Open House!