🌿The BUGS PTA extends a warm welcome to all new families!! We are so happy to have you in our school community!🌿
About the BUGS PTA
The BUGS PTA aims to connect BUGS families, build community, and help BUGS students grow and thrive inside and outside the classroom.
Every caregiver of a BUGS student, as well as every member of BUGS staff, is automatically a member of the PTA!
Contact us at bugspta@gmail.com
Join our PTA Facebook Group, “BUGS PTA Community” BUGS PTA Community Facebook Group and scroll down for how to connect by grade level too.
Join Us!
THE PTA NEEDS YOU! The BUGS PTA runs on family members’ love and commitment to our school community! Please join our meetings, become an officer or committee member, pitch in as a volunteer at our events, and donate if you can - we need everyone’s support to help our community thrive!
What Do We Do?
We help caregivers stay sane and navigate family life with guest-speaker events and resources. We sponsor community picnics, school dances, student field trips and family potlucks. We provide resources to support families through the high school application process. We sponsor activities during teacher appreciation week, and 8th grade graduation events. And on the first day of school we provide a BUGS uniform tee to every 6th grader as a welcome gift!
Monthly Meetings
PTA General Meetings take place on the 2nd Tuesday of every month, 6:30-7:30pm
The next General Meeting meeting is on: December 10
Unless a change is announced, all meetings take place on Zoom, at the link below.
BUGS PTA General Meetings Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81039696110?pwd=TuuBjl71M1subm8RTTrK7yGQEa8Ud7.1
Meeting ID: 810 3969 6110 and Passcode: ca0qjU
Minutes from recent General Meetings:
Draft agenda for upcoming General Meeting:
Get Involved!
There are many ways to participate in the PTA’s efforts! We are all working families, so we do our best to keep things efficient, effective, and fun!
Committee Membership
Want to contribute your ideas or expertise to a particular effort or cause? Please consider joining a committee.
Executive Board and Officer Roles
Want to contribute to governance and planning? Can’t make as many in-person events, but still want to play a part? Please consider becoming a member of our Executive Board.
We also still have space for additional officers as Co-President, Co-VP, Co-Treasurer, and Co-Secretary. Email bugspta@gmail.com if interested in one of these roles!
Event-Based Volunteering
Want to help in a more time-bounded way? Contribute your ideas/expertise to making one of our events particularly successful and fun! Sign up to co-lead a specific event (or two!).
Our efforts also need lots of ad hoc volunteer support! We have a wide range of options, including both at-home, and in-person help. Please pitch in when and where you can! See the Upcoming Events and Activities section below for the latest opportunities and sign-up sheets!
How to Donate
Financial support is one valued way to contribute to the PTA’s work at BUGS. Funds donated to the PTA go into the annual budget to provide support for a wide range of activities.
These donations help the PTA sponsor academic field trips, family game nights, DE&I events, school dances, enrichment activities, and teacher appreciation events. They help us buy t-shirts for incoming students each year, and bring expert speakers to our students, and to our school community.
While the PTA organizes a range of small-scale fundraising activities throughout the year, direct donations are our biggest source of revenue. In order to support our efforts, we suggest a donation of $40 per year for each enrolled student.* Please consider donating if you can - your donation impacts every child!
Tax-deductible donations can be made:
Via paypal, or credit/debit card at BUGS PTA Paypal
Via Zelle to bugspta@gmail.com
By check payable to “BUGS PTA” - mailed to: 500 19th Street, c/o BUGS PTA, Brooklyn, NY 11215
*Note that donations are NOT a requirement for PTA membership and will NOT affect a member’s ability to vote or to run for office.
*Additionally, note that BUGS, as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization also does its own fundraising - raising money for a wide range of additional efforts at the school. For more on those broader efforts, see this page.
upcoming events and activities
November/December: Holiday Fundraising Sales
We are excited to announce the launch of three holiday fundraising sales! We are partnering with Believe Kids (via their online sales platform ShopFund.com), FairTrade Caravans, and Foley Firs to help BUGS families and their loved ones support PTA programs while shopping for the holidays! You can find full info in our November Newsletter. Online sales begin November 15th. Please share these sales with your friends and family, or make a purchase yourself!
November/December Holiday Grocery Card Drive
BUGS and the PTA are collecting Holiday Grocery Gift Card donations to help families in our school community who may need food support this holiday season!
Between now and December 17, we will be collecting $25 gift cards to be used at local supermarkets. To participate, please drop your gift cards at school with BUGS Family Coordinator, Marilyn Perez. You may also make a donation of funds toward this effort here. Cards will be distributed to families on or near December 18.
If you need assistance or have any questions, please contact Marilyn directly at family.coordinator@bugsbrooklyn.org.
November 21, 6-7:30PM: Community Harvest Potluck
BUGS, 500 19th Street, Brooklyn
Join us to celebrate the fall season, and strengthen our bonds as a school!
Hosted by the BUGS Office of Student Affairs (OSA), the BUGS Community Harvest Potluck is a welcoming event designed to bring together students, families, and staff to share a meal and celebrate our school community. Guests can enjoy a variety of dishes, participate in live cooking demos, and connect with others in a relaxed, friendly environment.
The PTA will sponsor several main dishes. And we welcome any and all main, side and dessert dishes you’d like to bring! Please share a family favorite! If you don’t have time to cook, please still come!! There will be plenty of food.
Please RSVP to help OSA plan, and let them know if you can bring a dish or supplies!
Sign up to help set up, clean up, or supervise!
December 18, 5:30PM: Student/Staff Basketball Game
Location TBD
The NEW BUGS Hornets basketball team will take on BUGS staff in a Student/Staff game! Details to come!
December 20 (Tentative): Winterfest Dance
BUGS, 500 19th Street, Brooklyn
OSA is also organizing a Winterfest dance for students! They need volunteers to help set up, clean up, and supervise. Sign up here!
January 25: Caregiver Cocktail Night
Location TBD
Join us for a night out - enjoy a beverage, get to know other BUGS families, and raise funds for the PTA! Details coming soon! Please RSVP to help us plan!
Special Initiatives
Caregiver Speaker Series
Each year, the PTA supports a series of guest speakers on topics of interest to BUGS families. We are currently planning our 2024-25 school year series. Tell us what you’d like to hear about, or suggest a speaker here!
Support for Students with Learning Differences
The BUGS Families of Students with Learning Differences (BFSLD) group aims to be a supportive space for caregivers in our community whose children have IEPs/504 plans and for those with questions about obtaining additional academic or social-emotional support for their children, with or without a diagnosis or formal plan.
Our goal is to share experiences and strategies with each other and to raise awareness within our community about learning differences, neurodiversity, ADHD, and mental health. We hope to provide opportunities for families to problem-solve with each other and to collaborate with school leadership to promote inclusion and destigmatize neurodiversity. All are welcome!
The next meeting of the BUGS Families of Students with Learning Differences (BFSLD) group will be Monday, December 2nd at 7pm. At our December meeting, we are planning to talk about the “Science of Reading” and how new developments in reading instruction impact middle school students. Bring your questions! We’ll also discuss plans for a Neurodiversity Empowerment Month contest. All are welcome! Sign up here to get involved with the committee!
Enrichment Action Group
The Enrichment Action Group is a committee of the PTA that is working in partnership with the school to expand equitable and accessible enrichment opportunities led by specialists in sports, art and music at BUGS.
Below are the latest updates on the committee’s work:
Basketball
Tuesday night basketball is in full swing! Our first game of the season was on November 9. BUGS won 50-42 and exhibited amazing sportsmanship throughout!
6th Grade Team
On November 11, we held a Zoom meeting for 6th grade families interested in starting up a team after December break. Sign up for the Enrichment Action Group Committee to get involved in the planning.
7th/8th Grade Team
Current 7th/8th grade families are working on fundraising to extend the season and open additional spots for new players. More info coming soon, including an interest survey. Sign up for the Enrichment Action Group Committee to get involved in the planning.
Theater/Improv
FREE Improv/Theater Skills Workshop with Brooklyn Acting Lab, Saturday November 24 at 4pm
Recent studies have shown a positive correlation between improv/theater activities and improved mental health. Have your student give it a try! Sign up here by Monday, November 18 at 11:59pm!
If there is more interest than capacity, we’ll work on opening up a second session.
We hope this demo session will generate enough interest to kick off a longer PTA-sponsored program with BAL in January. Sign up for the Enrichment Action Group Committee to get involved.
Enrichment Programs Guide
View the EAG’s guide for Local Enrichment Programs Worth Checking Out. If you have programs to suggest, you can submit them to be included via this form.
Stay Connected
In addition to our meetings and events, we support a variety of ways to stay connected with other BUGS families!
Sign Up for Grade Contact Sheets!
Request to share your contact info with other families in your child’s grade!
Join a Grade Caregivers WhatsApp Group!
These are great for connecting, sharing ideas, and sourcing quick info from other families (“What’s tonight’s math homework again?” or “Does anyone have a recommendation for an afterschool dance class?”)
Join our PTA Facebook Group, “BUGS PTA Community”
See pictures from our events, and get and share info with the BUGS PTA community by joining our BUGS PTA Community Facebook Group.
2024/25 Monthly Newsletters
PTA newsletters are sent monthly via TeacherEase - keep an eye out! In case you missed one, they’re archived below:
2024/25 PTA Executive Board Members
including Officer and Committee Chair roles
Kate Hohman, President
John Johnston, Vice President
Elizabeth Epstein, Secretary; BFSLD Committee Co-Chair, Fundraising Committee Chair
Kirsten Kelly, Treasurer; BFSLD Committee Co-Chair; Budget Committee Chair
Megan Demarkis, Enrichment Action Group Committee Chair
Maria D’Agostino, Nominating Committee Chair
Chloe Gorga, Member-at-Large
Ingrid Gomez-Allen, Member-at-Large