🌿The BUGS PTA extends a warm welcome to all incoming 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?
The PTA supports a wide range of activities for BUGS students, families, and staff. We fund school field trips and support supplementary enrichment programs. We sponsor school celebrations and family community-building events. We help caregivers stay sane and navigate family life with guest-speaker events, and offer supportive resources for families of students with learning differences. We sponsor activities to show appreciation for BUGS teachers. 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 once per month.
The next General Meeting meeting will be on October 14, 2025 at 7:30pm on Zoom
Draft agenda for the next General Meeting:
Unless a change is announced, all meetings take place on Zoom, at the link below.
BUGS PTA General Meetings Zoom:
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81039696110?pwd=TuuBjl71M1subm8RTTrK7yGQEa8Ud7.1)
Meeting ID: 810 3969 6110 and Passcode: ca0qjU
Minutes from recent General Meetings:
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 have voted for 2025/26 PTA officers but there is always room for co-leadership. If you missed the election, and would still like to play an officer role next school year, please fill out the officer nominations for the 2025/26 school year!
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, Venmo, ApplePay, GooglePay, or credit/debit card, or bank transfer on our Givebutter page!
By check payable to “BUGS PTA”
mail to: 500 19th Street
c/o BUGS PTA
Brooklyn, NY 11215Please note that the PTA transitioned to the Givebutter platform in January. This new platform will allow us to seamlessly accept more forms of payment, launch individual campaign pages, and more.
We will be transitioning away from Paypal and Zelle as donation channels. We will be reaching out to those who have recurring donations set up via Paypal to invite them to transition to Givebutter. Rest assured, though, our Paypal account will remain active until all have been moved.
Does your employer offer a corporate matching gift program? We are a registered 501(c)(3) - look us up! Our EIN is 47-3077480.
Find BUGS PTA’s Benevity Cause Profile here. Our Benevity Charity # is 840-473077480.
*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
October 16, 5:30-6:30pm - Families of Students with Learning Differences Affinity Group Meeting
Via Zoom:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81707726915?pwd=PR9qsYxSXqAkIfJvcqQY6Eo418eUo1.1
Join us for the Affinity Group’s first meeting of the year! More info on this group below!
October 25 - PTA Fun Run
9am - Bib pickup and pre-race activities
10am - Race begins
Prospect Park - The LeFrak Center at Lakeside, 171 East Drive
BUGS is taking part in the October 25 Brooklyn PTA Fun Run for Schools! Council Member Shahana Hanif and the PTAs of Brooklyn’s public schools are coming together for the 17th annual PTA 5K+ run/walk/stroll/toddle/scoot! For more info, and to sign up to participate as part of the BUGS Team click here! If you need financial assistance to participate, please email hhenderson-charnow@council.nyc.gov
MAKE SURE TO JOIN THE BUGS TEAM when you register. Select “Yes” at the bottom of the page to “join a school or group team,” then select the BUGS Team!
On race day, wear green to support BUGS if you can, and look for Elizabeth Epstein with a handheld green BUGS sign when you pick up your bib!
October 31, 3-5pm - Monster Mash
@ BUGS - 500 19th Street
The BUGS Office of Student Affairs (OSA) is organizing a Halloween dance for BUGS students! More info to come, but they need family support to chaperone day-of. Please sign up here to help!
NOVEMBER 4, 1-6pm - ELECTION DAY BAKE SALE
Outside of BUGS - 500 19th Street
The PTA is holding a bake sale at BUGS on Election Day! This is our biggest-reach sale of the year, and a great fundraising opportunity for the school!
Please sign up to contribute baked goods, or join us to help sell them and raise money for the BUGS PTA! Or just come by for a treat day-of!
November 6, 7pm - Family-Hosted Caregiver Cocktail Open House
420 12th St. Brooklyn, NY, 11215
Join BUGS caregivers for a night out and raise funds for the BUGS PTA!
Get to know other BUGS families, enjoy a beverage and snack, and make a donation to provide funding for BUGS students both in and out of the classroom.
This event is being generously hosted by BUGS parents, Gwendolyn Radsch and David Mendelsohn. Please RSVP, as this event has a 50 person capacity due to space limitations! And please sign up to bring a beverage or snack!
November 16, 5-7pm - Harvest Potluck
@ BUGS - 500 19th Street
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 us plan, and SIGN UP to bring a dish!
And SIGN UP here to help OSA set up or clean up!
Special Initiatives
Caregiver Speaker Series
Each year, the PTA aims to support a series of guest speakers on topics of interest to BUGS families. Tell us what you’d like to hear about, or suggest a speaker here!
We need volunteers to make these events happen! Can you help organize a speaker event next year? Sign up 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!
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.
Last year, the committee launched a new BUGS Basketball program, and explored interest and options for a Theater/Improv program. We need volunteer support to keep this effort going! New program ideas are always welcome! Sign up for the Enrichment Action Group Committee to get involved!
Family Input Working Group
In April, the PTA launched the Family Input Working Group as a place where interested families can collaborate to develop new ideas for family engagement at BUGS - whether in terms of broad measures like new Q&A sessions with admin, communications updates, or specific steps on issues where families are seeking more of a voice. Please join us! Sign up for the group here!
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.
Monthly Newsletters
PTA newsletters are sent monthly via TeacherEase - keep an eye out! In case you missed one, they’re archived below:
2025/26
2024/25
2025/26 PTA Executive Board Members - including elected Officers and Committee Chair roles
Kathleen Mulready, Co-President
Kate Hohman, Co-President
Justin Krebs, Vice President
Jessica Olich, Secretary
Michael Griffith, Treasurer
TBD, Enrichments Action Group Committee Chair
Elizabeth Epstein, Families of Students with Learning Differences Committee Chair
TBD, Family Input Working Group Committee Chair
TBD, Fundraising Committee Chair