📬 The PTA Post: September is heating up at Carthay
…and we’re just getting started!
This month at Carthay is action-packed, so read on for everything you need TO KNOW → TO DO in the coming weeks, a roundup of updates that are GOOD TO KNOW, events and important dates COMING UP AT CARTHAY, and COMMUNITY CALLOUTS featuring the people and businesses that make up our Carthay community.
PS: We know you’re on the receiving end of a lot of communication (especially at the start of the school year), so hopefully this new format makes The PTA Post one email you don’t hate to see coming. 😉
TO KNOW → TO DO
- All the important FYIs and time-sensitive to dos in one place -
We’re Celebrating Grandparents Day at Carthay 👵
Tuesday, Sept. 15 from 8:30–9:30am | Enter through the Main Office
We’re excited to welcome Carthay grandparents for a special morning with their grandchildren! Light refreshments will be served in the auditorium, followed by an opportunity for grandparents to visit their grandchild’s classroom and share a book with the class. Sorry parents, this one’s for grandparents only! (Read more)
TO DO:
→ RSVP is required
→ Bring a favorite book to read to the class (optional)
→ Donate a grade-appropriate book to your grandchild’s classroom (optional)
School Picture Day is Upon Us 📸
Thursday, Sept. 17
Time to practice those school-picture smiles! Order forms went home in student folders last week, and students may wear non-uniform clothes for Picture Day.
TO DO:
→ Complete + return your order form by Sept. 17 if you’d like to purchase school photos
→ Send your student camera-ready in their Picture Day outfit of choice
Superhero Shirts for Carthay’s 25th Day of School 🦸
Friday, Sept. 18
Students are invited to wear a superhero shirt to celebrate being an “Attendance Superhero,” with special activities happening during recess. (Read more)
TO DO:
→ Send your student in a superhero shirt if they’d like to participate (optional)
Community Night is Coming 🧺
Friday, Sept. 25 from 4:30–6:30pm | Enter through the Foster Gate
Our first big community-building event of the year is almost here! Bring a blanket and picnic dinner and settle in for an easygoing evening with fellow Carthay families, featuring music, crafts, games, inflatable slides, and plenty for the kids to do.
Want to skip packing dinner? Food is available to pre-order through Sept. 23. We’re also looking for families to donate a few event supplies and volunteers to help with everything from event setup and running the craft tables to food sales and inflatable slide chaos management. (Read more)
TO DO:
→ RSVP to let us know you’re coming
→ Pre-order dinner by Sept. 23 if you’d rather not BYO
→ Sign up to volunteer (No LAUSD volunteer approval required!)
→ Donate event supplies if you’re able to
GOOD TO KNOW
- News, updates, and helpful info worth having on your radar -
🌡️ Have You Heard? Carthay’s Annual Giving Campaign Is Underway!
Garden and cooking classes. Reading tutoring. PE and recess support. The MakerSpace. Spooktacular and the Winter Dance.
These are some of the programs, resources, and experiences our students get to enjoy because Carthay families raise the money to make them possible. Our Annual Giving Campaign is the biggest way we do that, and it kicked off this week!
This year, PTA has budgeted $133,000 to support our students, classrooms, and community, and we’re hoping to raise $90,000 of that through individual contributions and employer matching gifts by October 2nd.
There’s no “right” amount to give - Carthay families can contribute what makes sense for their family—and gifts of all sizes add up to make a big difference for our school. And because a little friendly competition makes fundraising more fun, any class that reaches 50% participation or 100% participation by October 2nd will earn class rewards. (Read more)
→ See where your gift goes, check your class progress + contribute to the campaign
🤔 What’s Going on with CDI + STAR Nova?
If you’ve heard that CDI and STAR Nova are no longer providing enrichment at Carthay this year and wondered what happened, we published an update this week with the details. It covers what changed, why the programs ended, and what families can expect from Carthay’s enrichment programming moving forward (good news - it’s not all bad!)
COMING UP AT CARTHAY
- Your cheat sheet to the next month at Carthay -
View full calendar of events here
TUES, SEPT. 15
👵 Grandparents’ Day | 8:30–9:30am
🗳️ Monthly PTA Meeting | 6:30–7:30pm | Zoom
THURS, SEPT. 17
📸 School Picture Day
FRI, SEPT. 18
☕ Coffee with the Principal | 8:30–9am | Parent Center
MON, SEPT. 21
🚫 No school — Unassigned Day
FRI, SEPT. 25
🎉 Carthay Community Night | 4:30–6:30pm
SAT, SEPT. 26
🌱 Carthay x UCLA Community Garden Day | 9am–12pm
WED, SEPT. 30
🌯 Dine Out Carthay at Chipotle | 4–8pm
COMMUNITY CALLOUTS
- The people, places, and happenings that make Carthay feel like a community -
🫶 Shoutout to Our Community Sponsors!
It takes a village to make all the fun happen around here, and we’re grateful for the local businesses showing up for Carthay.
🤸 My Gym Beverly Hills
Thank you for supporting Carthay and our students!
🦷 McComb Orthodontics
Our Community Night sponsor, helping us bring Carthay families together on Sept. 25.
🌯 Chipotle
Our September Dine Out Carthay partner! Grab dinner on Sept. 30 and 25% of qualifying event sales will be donated back to Carthay.
☕ Stella Coffee
Our bi-monthly Carthay Cafe sponsor, helping fuel those coffee-and-connection mornings.
Show some support to the businesses that support Carthay!
👂 Overheard in the Carthay PTA WhatsApp Community
Our WhatsApp Community has been busy! Here’s a little taste of what Carthay families have been chatting about lately:
🏈 Fantasy Football: Kindergarten parent Derick launched Carthay’s first-ever Fantasy Football League.
🕺 CDI/SWAT + STAR Nova: Lots of questions and conversation about the enrichment changes—which helped prompt us to get answers and publish an official update.
🚸 School safety + advocacy: Parents shared info about crossing guards, traffic around campus, the now-sealed pedestrian tunnel on Olympic, and opportunities to give LAUSD feedback.
👵 Grandparents’ Day: Parents helped each other navigate the date change and figure out some of the event logistics.
🔔 School schedule questions: Parents helped each other confirm regular vs. minimum-day dismissal times and where to find the weekly school schedule (here!)
🦆 Duck drama: Tips were exchanged for successfully getting our particularly opinionated ducks back into their enclosure. (Apparently mealworms help.)
📸 Carthay spotted: Some Carthay kids and parents made an appearance in the Garden School Foundation’s 2026 Impact Report.
🙋 LAUSD APPROVED VOLUNTEERS GROUP
📝 Volunteer Slots Opened: Available volunteer shifts for Garden classes, Fun Fridays, and in the school library are being shared here first.
📑 Become an LAUSD-Approved Volunteer: Head here to learn how.
→ Join the Carthay WhatsApp Community to ask questions, share resources, connect with other Carthay families, and opt into topic-specific groups.
“Who's that girl? La, la, la, la, la, la…”
No but really, who is she? This little cutie and two of her hen friends are still nameless, but not for long!
On September 27, the three classes with the highest participation rates in the Annual Giving class competition will each get to name one of Carthay’s new chickens!
Will this be another “Boaty McBoatface” situation? Only time will tell!
So run, don’t bawk → DONATE TODAY!
THE END
Congratulations — you did it! 🏆
So, what’d you think about the first official PTA Post?
My goal as the PTA Communications lead this year is to help Carthay families easily get the information they need without overwhelming (or boring) them. Hopefully today’s PTA Post did just that, but I’m open to feedback if it didn’t (and compliments if it did 😉).
Ok I take it back, I have two goals, but I’ll share the second one in the next PTA Post (Look—a reason to read the next Post!)
As always, feel free to email us with any questions, ideas, or feedback, otherwise we hope to see you at our next PTA meeting on Tuesday, September 15th at 6:30pm!
- Baily Hancock Glick
VP of Communications / Mom to Archie (1st grade) & Penny (Kinder)
