Hermosa View & Valley Parent Teacher Organization (HVPTO) is excited to welcome everyone for 2018-2019. We hope you all had a great summer!
My name is Lisa Vargas Gardner and, as the new HVPTO President, I am excited and humbled to be able to serve our district, schools, staff, parents and students. I can assure you that this year’s Executive Board consists of a fantastic group of parents that share the same goal: putting our kids first and doing all we can to make sure they have the best school experience possible.
HVPTO’s core mission is to cultivate a sense of community between all of our stakeholders – we want everyone to be proud to be part of the HVS family. Through our support and organization of school events like the Back-to-School Picnic, Field Days, and the Halloween Carnival, we strive to create an environment where everyone feels connected and invested in our schools, in addition to being able to fund “extras” for our kids like field trips, curriculum enhancements and new playground and PE equipment.
To better serve you, HVPTO is concentrating on our communications this year, starting with our brand new website! HVPTO.com has been transformed with an emphasis on a district wide event calendar. Our goal with the new and improved HVPTO.com is to make things more user friendly, especially for the army of volunteers it takes to orchestrate our many events. While our new site launched at the end of August, we are still working to build it into a true all-encompassing resource for our parent community so please check back often. And, as always, you can look forward to our well-established forms of communication: the weekly HVS Surf Report newsletter, room parent emails, Bulletin Boards and social media updates (make sure you’re following us on Facebook and Instagram).
An important note about HVPTO: we are a PTO, not a PTA, and that means that all parents, caregivers and staff in the Hermosa Beach City School District are members, with no dues or other membership requirements. And because you are all members, we encourage you all to be as involved as you can be in our unique little district. Volunteer – whether it be for HVPTO, in your child’s classroom or as a special program docent; attend or help out at school events and fundraisers; support our Education Foundation in the hard work they do; or come join us at any of the joint HVPTO+HBEF general meetings for a snapshot of the goings on from all corners of our district.
My personal “ah-ha” moment, the moment when I realized that my husband and I had picked a truly special place to raise our children, came to me at the Back-to-School Picnic during my oldest’s kindergarten year. We saw families coming together to celebrate a new school year, all of the school organizations and their volunteers’ smiling faces and we knew we’d found our home. My sincerest hope for this school year is that HVPTO can contribute to special moments like these for your family. Welcome back to school – let’s make it a great year!
Your HVPTO President,
Lisa Vargas Gardner
