Staff Appreciation Week


This week is Staff Appreciation Week. Sadly, we are not able to do all the fun and interactive events that we usually do for our beloved teachers and staff at ECS. We are postponing our staff gift card donation fund until the end of the year due to the more pressing and immediate need to help our fellow families due to COVID-19. But stay tuned!

To show appreciation from our families, we set up grade-level Padlets (virtual bulletin boards) where you and your kiddos can show your appreciation through a quick note of thanks, a drawing, a photo – whatever you like! Just click the + circle on the bottom-right corner of the Padlet page to post onto the board.

This should fun and easy—please do not feel obligated if this adds too much to your plate. Maybe this could be a distance learning brain break for kids!

To participate, please follow the link below for your child’s grade level. Each Padlet will reach homebase teachers, specials teachers, paraeducators, counselors, and administrators. You can customize your message any way you want—for someone specific, or for everyone who helps shape your child.

Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade
6th Grade
7th Grade
8th Grade

Send a note to staffappreciation@ecspco.org if you need a hand or have any questions.

THANK YOU to all the parents and caretakers who are a HUGE part of the education process now. Give yourselves loads of gratitude because you’ve earned it, and this stuff isn’t easy!

Blooming Bash 2020 ONLINE AUCTION

UPDATE: Auction winners announced here

The Blooming Bash, ECS’s annual adults-only party, is the most important PCO fundraiser of the year. Proceeds support the PCO general fund, which provides critical funds for community events, school programming and projects, mini-grants, classroom support, and so much more. In light of the Covid-19 related event cancellation, the Blooming Bash auction is moving to an online portal. This format is new to all of us, but we are hopeful participants will be able to bid, have fun, and support our wonderful ECS PCO! Bid on auction items and buy raffle tickets here.

ECS PCO COVID-19 Relief Fund

As COVID-19 mitigation efforts continue in Pittsburgh, more ECS families are need of financial assistance. The PCO has started a Relief Fund to help. We will use funds raised to purchase gift cards.

Our goal is to raise $4,000 by Sunday, May 3.

After May 3, we will have further information about how funds will be distributed to ECS families in need, and how to confidentially request assistance. The fund will remain open for contributions until the end of May.

Any amount contributed is most welcome and appreciated. Thank you for your kind support! We have closed the donation link at this time.

ECS at Home: Photos Requested

We hope everyone is doing well! First off, we miss all the smiling faces of our ECS community. Really, really miss them.

Secondly, the K-5 Yearbook Committee would love to see those smiling faces of “ECS at Home”. We will be filling some of the pages of the K-5 Yearbook with your lovely smiling faces while you are at home.

Please send a photo of your kiddos to yearbook@ecspco.org. For classification and sorting purposes, please put name(s) and home base(s) in the email.

Finally, you are doing a fantastic job. Keep it up ECS!

– K-5 Yearbook Committee

2020 Plant Sale

ECS’s annual Spring Flower & Plant Sale is back in time for Mother’s Day and Spring planting with a bonus this year – contactless curbside pickup! Annual bedding flowers, a variety of beautiful hanging baskets, and patio planters will be available from the same vendor that Phipps Conservatory uses. We are also offering organic vegetable and herb seedlings from Grow Pittsburgh.

Due to overwhelming demand, we are unable to accept any more orders. We apologize for any inconvenience! Another way to help the sale is to volunteer for the distribution on May 8 here: Plant Sale Volunteers

Plants will be available for contactless curbside pick up ONLY: Friday, May 8, 2020 between 1:00pm and 6:00pm at the ECS INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL (829 Milton Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15218). There will only be one day to pick up the plants so please mark this day on your calendar. Your online order confirmation may list your address as the “shipping address,” but plants will not be shipped. All plants must be picked up on May 8. We ask that you pull up to the curb in front of the school, stay in your car, inform the volunteer of your name through your car window, and pop your trunk. The volunteer will load your items into your trunk.

Please note that this year no additional plants will be available for sale the day of pick up.

Lots of volunteers are needed on May 8 to pull this off! We have designed a safety plan to ensure compliance with government orders and to keep our valued volunteers safe. See more details on the sign-up sheet. Sign up here.

Proceeds of sales will go toward purchasing and delivering books for students and families who primarily use classroom libraries at school and cannot access needed materials during the COVID-19 school closure.

If you have any questions, please email plantsale@ecspco.org.

Frick Park Scavenger Hunts

Experiencing some cabin fever? While it’s important to exercise social distancing, it’s also important to exercise our minds and bodies. With that in mind, the PCO would like to offer a unique opportunity to enjoy one of our outdoor classrooms, Frick Park, with a scavenger hunt! We dug these maps and clues out of our archives from past events hosted by the PCO. Now we are offering them so your family can choose your own time to explore the park in a unique way. Just download and print any of these sets of maps and clues to get started — and be sure to keep your distance from others enjoying the park and playground!

For the following clues, start your hunt at ECS Intermediate School (listed as ECS Upper School on some of the maps) at 829 Milton Ave. or at the clay tennis courts in Regent Square:

(Note: some of the clues reference the ECS Ecostewards site and/or the Knotweed Ninja — or other obsolete structures in Frick Park — consider these spaces FREE spaces on your bingo grid since the site isn’t currently being maintained and there is obviously no one available there to answer your questions.)

2014
Grades K-2 clue set A | Grades K-2 clue set B | Grades K-2 clue set C
Grades 3-5 clue set A | Grades 3-5 clue set B | Grades 3-5 clue set C
Grades 6+ clue set A | Grades 6+ clue set B | Grades 6+ clue set C
view/download 2014 map

Spring 2015
Grades K-3 clue set A | Grades K-3 clue set B
Grades 4-5 clue set A | Grades 4-5 clue set B
Grades 6+ clue set A | Grades 6+ clue set B
view/download Spring 2015 map

Fall 2015
Grades K-3 clue set A | Grades K-3 clue set B
Grades 4-5 clue set A | Grades 4-5 clue set B
Grades 6+ clue set A | Grades 6+ clue set B
view/download Fall 2015 map

2019
Grades K-3 clue set*
Grades 4-8 clue set*
view/download 2019 map
* for best printing results, change your printer layout to “Landscape” (not “Portrait”) when printing the clues

For the following clues, start your hunt at Blue Slide Park/Upper Frick Park along Beechwood Blvd:

2016
Grades K-3 clue set
Grades 4+ clue set
view/download 2016 map

PCO Event Cancellations

We are saddened to announce that both the Blooming Bash (March 21) and ECS Movie Day (March 27) have been postponed. With the Blooming Bash only a week away, and Movie Day in the near future, we made the decision to postpone now, and give attendees time to make alternate plans.

The decision to postpone our events was reached out of an abundance of caution to protect against the potential spread of the COVID-19 virus, and under the advice of ECS administrators. While there is no immediate local threat at the moment, that could change at any time. We will look into re-scheduling our events for later this Spring.

In the meantime, we will soon process full refunds of all advance tickets for Movie Day. Look for an e-mail today from our volunteers.

For Blooming Bash tickets, we will have information out shortly. Expect an e-mail soon.

Thank you for your understanding and patience.

If you have additional questions, please contact our Blooming Bash team (bloomingbash@ecspco.org) or our Movie Day volunteers (movies@ecspco.org).

Volunteer with Edible Schoolyard!

Mrs. Keller would love some help shortly before, shortly after and during ESY cooking classes (10:45 – 11:35). Help would include prepping ingredients, cleaning up, monitoring students who are prepping, cooking or cleaning, or monitoring cooking. Sign up here.

ECS Movie Day at Waterworks Cinemas

3/12/2020 UPDATE: ECS Movie Day has been postponed. The decision to postpone our events was reached out of an abundance of caution to protect against the potential spread of the COVID-19 virus, and under the advice of ECS administrators. While there is no immediate local threat at the moment, that could change at any time. We will look into re-scheduling the event later this Spring.
Please join the ECS PCO for a day at the movies! We’re thrilled to offer a private showing of Mulan at the Waterworks Cinemas in Fox Chapel. The first 100 people registered will have access to our private theater. After that, ECS families will be placed in the general showing around 2:20pm. A parent or guardian must stay with your child/children for the duration of the film. Please register below by Tuesday, March 24th.

Movie: Mulan (opening day!)
Rating: PG-13*** (see below)
Runtime: 1 hour and 55 minutes
PRIVATE SHOWING FOR ECS FAMILIES (first 100 people registered)

Date: Friday, March 27, 2020
Time: 2pm
Where: Waterworks Cinemas (NOT the Waterfront)
930 Fox Chapel Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15238

Cost: Tickets are $8.50/adult, $8/child* and concession specials (small popcorn/drink) will be available at the door for $5.

TICKET SALES HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED.

*Please note that financial assistance is available. Contact movies@ecspco.org.

** Note that the ticket price includes Paypal service fee

*** Mulan is rated PG-13 for “sequences of violence” – namely martial arts and battle sequences with no bloodshed or gratuitous violence. You can watch a trailer here. Synopsis: To save her ailing father from serving in the Imperial Army, a fearless young woman disguises herself as a man to battle northern invaders in China. Waterworks will also be showing a PG or G rated film (like the movie Onward) to the general public around the same time, if parents prefer.

Blooming Bash 2020

3/12/2020 UPDATE: Blooming Bash has been postponed. The decision to postpone our events was reached out of an abundance of caution to protect against the potential spread of the COVID-19 virus, and under the advice of ECS administrators. While there is no immediate local threat at the moment, that could change at any time. We will look into re-scheduling the event later this Spring.