First newsletter! New school year and already full speed ahead.
September 2026
Site-President's Top of Mind
Welcome back to a brand-new school year (and to our very first newsletter)! A special welcome to all the new families joining Brisbane Elementary this fall, along with a big welcome back to our returning parents. It's been great meeting all the new faces at drop-off and catching up with veteran parents over these past few weeks.
This being my first year stepping into the PTO Site President role, it has already been an incredible learning experience diving headfirst into school mechanics and listening closely to your ideas and feedback on what makes BES such an awesome place for our kids. Over the summer and into these first few weeks of school, I have focused a lot on setting our community up for success through detailed planning and close collaboration with both the BEST/PTO board and our school administration.
We have a lot of exciting things planned for our students, staff, and families this year, and I am genuinely looking forward to working closely with all of you to make it happen!
Alejandro
BEST/PTO @ BES Site President
PTO Updates
BES PTO Meeting Recap
We held our very first BEST/PTO @ BES site meeting of the year on September 3, and it was awesome to see so many parents join us both in the BES Library and over Zoom!
During the meeting, we walked through our strategic plan for the 2026-2027 school year, which is rooted in three core values: Community, Collaboration, and Sustainability. We also discussed how we are partnering closely with Principal Higgins and the school district leadership to streamline school expenses, support our wonderful teachers, and keep our focus on hands-on student enrichment. If you want to dive into the full roadmap, all of our detailed methods and measures are laid out in our living strategic plan at bpto.link/besplan2627.
Whether you missed the meeting or just want to review what was covered (including our vote to fund 5th-grade graduation sweatshirts and a sneak peek at our superhero-themed Lap-a-Thon!), you can find the complete meeting minutes, slide deck (including budget walkthrough), and full video recording at thebestpto.org/about/meetings.
Join Us Monthly (Plus Evening Office Hours Coming Soon!)
Our site PTO meetings take place on the first Friday of every month at 8:30 AM, with options to attend either in person or via Zoom. We know morning meetings do not fit every schedule, so starting this October, I will be hosting monthly evening "PTO President Office Hours." These will be casual drop-in sessions where you can ask questions, share feedback, or talk through project ideas. Stay tuned for dates and details!
BES PTO Subcommittees: Current Openings & Ways to Plug In
To make parent participation more accessible, collaborative, and sustainable, we are launching additional focused subcommittees this year. Instead of expecting parents to commit to long board meetings, these teams allow you to plug into specific, high-impact areas that match your interests and schedule.
We currently have immediate openings for project leads and team volunteers across the following committees:
Community Movie Nights: Helping coordinate and host our beloved free family movie nights in Fall and Spring.
Campus Beautification: Leading practical, hands-on improvement projects around campus, such as installing our new outdoor community bulletin board and refreshing school grounds.
Spirit Store & Creative: Designing fresh school swag and creating banners/signage for campus events.
After-School Enrichment Working Group: We are seeking a core team of 2 to 3 parents to lead collaborative discussions with school administrators and actively gather ideas and feedback from our parent community. This working group will evaluate sustainable programming models for upcoming school years to ensure our students have exceptional after-school enrichment backed by long-term fiscal discipline.
Whether you can give an hour a month or want to help lead a year long project team, we would love to have you join us! If you are interested in any of these open roles, please email me at bes@thebestpto.org.
To read full details on each committee, visit thebestpto.org/bes/committees.
Start-of-School Appeal Update: $2,150 Raised!
Our Start-of-School Appeal is officially underway! As of this update, our community has raised $2,150 toward our $8,000 goal.
This direct appeal replaces constant product sales and micro-fundraisers, allowing us to sustainably fund field trip cost-matching, teacher appreciation, assemblies, and campus programs right out of the gate. A huge thank you to everyone who has given so far! We have also heard from several families who have submitted donations directly through their employer matching programs (like Benevity). While those corporate match transactions take a little time to process and are not yet reflected in our total, we are tracking them closely and will share updated numbers as soon as they come through.
Our appeal runs through the end of September. If you would like to help us reach our $8,000 goal, please visit thebestpto.org/donate to make your contribution today!
Upcoming Events
BEST/PTO District Board Meeting: Tuesday, September 8, 2026 at 6:00 PM (Panorama Elementary & Zoom)
Back to School Night: Thursday September 10, 2026 at 5:45 PM
BES PTO Site Meeting: Friday, October 2, 2026 at 8:30 AM (BES MPR & Zoom)
BES Family Picnic: Friday, October 2, 2026 at 12:25 PM
Brisbane Day in the Park & Derby: Saturday, October 3, 2026 (8:00 AM - 2:00 PM)
International Walk to School Day: Wednesday, October 7, 2026 (8:00 AM - 8:35 AM)
BES Lap-a-Thon: Wednesday, October 21, 2026 (more details coming soon!)
Links
Donate Online: thebestpto.org/donate
Meeting Recording, Slides & Minutes: thebestpto.org/about/meetings
2026-2027 BES Strategic Plan: bpto.link/besplan2627
PTO Newsletter Signup: thebestpto.org/signup
All-Schools Event Calendar: thebestpto.org/calendar
BES Principal's Newsletter: Archive