The PFA in Action

Your PFA has been very busy this year. We started with the commitment to bring informative meetings to our parents. I would like to thank Superintendent Erik Gunderson, our Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Barry Bachenheimer, and our Business Administrator, Yas Usami for speaking during our meetings.

The PFA also made sure that the student population was taken care of by matching all fundraising done by the Student Government. We also sponsored some grade-specific events: lunch was provided for the freshmen and the Peer Leaders during the Spring Team Building Day and all freshmen received their Class of 2016 t-shirt on the first day of school. We also brought an SAT/ACT Boot Camp to Hills for the juniors this spring. This Boot Camp was so popular that it will be returning in the fall. This will allow the sophomores to get ready for the PSAT and the juniors for the fall SAT tests. Our seniors will enjoy Safe Graduation, a chaperoned, all-night party immediately following the graduation ceremony. Our seniors will also experience Senior Seminar Day which offers tutorials to help navigate their first year of college.

None of these exciting events could take place without PFA fundraising. Thanks to Rose Freeman for chairing the Non-Event Event and all who kindly sent in their support. The money ball continued with Barbara Willock and her committee running Military Bridge, a perfect card game for a fun night out. Our Scholarship committee led by Suzanne Nathin and Kelly Petrillo has worked tirelessly and our community has shown great support towards our graduating seniors. The TD Bank Affinity program was extremely successful and thanks to all who “tagged” their TD account towards Pascack Hills PFA! A huge amount gratitude goes to both Judi Quinn and Dona Eichner for chairing the Fashion Show. Their team of Karen Meyer, Arlene Levine, Liz Steiger, Melinda Burns, Kriss Seco, Eve Tucker, Diane Rosenblatt, Emily Weinfeld, Jane Levy and many other helping hands made this year's Fashion Show a great success! Our success in fundraising was so helped by all our local businesses. The PFA relies on their support, so please support them with your business!

Our main treasure is our volunteers. The PFA board is a driving force which keeps the wheels rolling for the PFA. Next year the PFA has Career Day planned in which the entire student population has the opportunity to explore career ideas. The PFA Directory is the link to all families to keep in touch with each other. The PFA website with the PFA Updates is so needed to keep patents informed of all the activities that take place within the school. All these programs are run by PFA volunteers. The diversity of the PFA gives volunteers such a wide choice that all find their special niche. All are appreciated and all are welcome!

Our esteemed principal, Sarah Van Gunten, will be retiring this July. I owe her a debt of gratitude for all of her help with the PFA. Knowing that she was always available to lend guidance, advice and support to our PFA has made my Presidency quite enjoyable. We will miss her and wish her all the best in her well-earned retirement. We look forward to working with our new principal, Glenn deMarrais, next September.