Hello MWE families new and returning,
 

Welcome to Mount Washington Elementary Wolf pack! Everyone here at MWPTA is committed to supporting you and your children during your time here. 

Both the school and the PTA work assiduously throughout the school year to ensure that our children, families, and community have opportunities to thrive.  Please see below for some useful information on how to find out what’s happening and how to get involved.

- Your Friends at MWE PTA  

Useful Links

• Mount Washington Elementary School (LAUSD page)
• MWPTA Google Calendar (coming August 23)
• LAUSD Instructional Calendar 2024/25

Communication

How to get...

• General MWE Community Updates: MWPTA send out a weekly e-Howl newsletter every Friday with info about events, fundraisers, and information for the school community. Don't miss out.  

• School-specific and Educational updates:
  • Families receive a weekly robo-call (and corresponding email transcript) from Principal Ms. Morris every Sunday, mostly pertaining to the upcoming school week.  
  • Ms. Morris also sends a printed monthly school activity calendar home in student folders before the start of each month. 
• Classroom- or Teacher-specific information is handled by your room representative, who serves as a go-between the PTA, room families, and the teacher. Room reps manage the class contact list, distribute PTA information, announcements, and help coordinate teacher appreciation.
  
  If you are interested in being a Room Rep, please reach out to Christina Hochleitner at volunteers@mwpta.org.

Get Social

• Monday Morning Assembly: Families are invited to attend the weekly school assembly held in the big yard (downhill from the main gates). While students must sit with classmates and teachers (and parents are on the sidelines), assemblies are a community tradition at the school—and a great way to stay updated on what's going on. Note: if school is closed on a Monday, there will be no open assembly the next day.  

• Bring Your Own Mug (BYOM): On the first assembly of each month, MWPTA hosts a Bring Your Own Mug coffee stand at drop-off. Bring an empty mug, and we'll refill it for free (though donations of any amount are always appreciated!). It's a great opportunity to chat—and get caffeinated—with other bleary-eyed parents at the start of the week. 

• Coffee with Ms. Morris: These informal monthly gatherings give parents the opportunity to hear directly from Principal Morris. The small group setting is a great place to meet other parents and bring up any general concerns or questions. The schedule will be included on the MWPTA Calendar, the eHowl, and in Ms. Morris’s monthly newsletters. For Fall 2024 these will take place either in the MPR or on Zoom.

Stay Connected w/ MWPTA

• e-Howl: Our weekly e-newsletter. Reading the e-Howl is THE BEST WAY to stay up-to-date on school news and events, so please sign up here.
  
  
• PTA Website: Consider setting up an account with the mwpta.org website. Doing so can facilitate joining the PTA, syncing with our calendar, learning about our sponsored events, signing up for volunteer activities, and purchasing merchandise.
  
  
• On Social Media: Facebook • IG • X/Twitter to get the weekly eHowl feed. 

Get Involved

• Volunteers: MWE would not be the place it is without our dedicated parent volunteers. Some parents help in the classrooms, some work on fundraising and school events, and others pitch in however and whenever they can. We ask for volunteers often, so please jump in when you can. Please know that all contributions of time, talent, and treasure are deeply appreciated and go toward enhancing our children’s experience at school. You can find descriptions of the various volunteer opportunities on our Volunteers page and for more information or to sign up, please contact Christina Hochleitner at volunteers@mwpta.org.
  
  

• Check Out: Friends of Mt. Washington School (FOMWS), our sister organization and MWE's booster club, brings in outside funding from generous neighbors, corporations, and friends to sponsor vital programs for our kids. The Garden Committee is coordinated through parent and community member support throughout the year. The FOMWS Auction is a super-fun event that showcases original art from each classroom and exciting donations from the community to raise money to support important programs for our kids and school as a whole.  If you are interested in joining FOMWS please contact Ben Dickow at www.fomws.org.

Support Us 

Fundraising & Community Events: Donations bridge the gap between the money our school requires to robustly meet the educational, social, and emotional needs of our children and the money our school gets from various governmental sources.  Every year, we appeal to the MWE parent community for their support to provide programs that would, in an ideal world, be funded by LAUSD.

Given the economic privileges of the surrounding school area, classroom aides, drama, dance, vocal music, physical education and art instruction are not funded by LAUSD financial streams. Parent-led and parent-involved fundraising is an important source of economic stability for our school. We recognize that financial giving is not an option for all our families, but we hope that, if you're able to, you will volunteer for and plan on attending any of our fun and exciting events. Please contact Sara Simmonds at fundraising@mwpta.org.

The only thing our MWE community has been missing is you. We welcome you to Mt. Washington Elementary and look forward to seeing you at events, around school, and in the neighborhood!