FRAUC

November 2023

Dear RAUC Families, 

The Families of Rindge Avenue Upper Campus (FRAUC) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support and enhance the educational experiences of RAUC students by providing support for enrichment activities which are not covered in the regular school budget.  

This fall FRAUC is again having our Annual Fall Appeal. We hope you will consider making a donation today to FRAUC to enhance the school experience for your child and assure that all RAUC field trips, events, and clubs are accessible and affordable to all.  

Our goal is to raise $15,000.  In past years, FRAUC has given more than $20,000 each year in grants to our school!  Last year, our grants supported activities and programs such as

• Field trips and buses 
• Grants for after school club needs
• School Dance
• End of Year Block Party
• The 8th Grade Graduation Reception 
• Teacher Appreciation Days
• Principal’s discretionary fund to help meet urgent student needs

Donations in any amount are welcome to support our 280 students, with a suggested donation of

• $50 to cover one student, $100 to cover two students
• $500 if you would be willing to cover the cost for 10 students

Ways to donate:

1. Click here to make your donation via our Square Account
2. Click here to make your donation via our PayPal Account. 
3. Send a check (payable to “Families of Rindge Avenue Upper Campus”) with your student and direct it to Ms. Julia Ho in the front office, or mail it to 70 Rindge Ave Cambridge MA 02140 
4. If your company offers matching funds, donate to Families of Rindge Avenue Upper Campus (EIN 90-0897503) through your company portal! 

FRAUC is a 501c3 nonprofit, and donations are tax deductible. Our EIN is 90-0897503. Sending in your donation by Dec. 31, 2023 helps give us an accurate assessment of the funds we will have available this year to plan for the spring.

We also realize that making a donation may not be possible for every family, and we graciously thank you for supporting our work in any way you can.  We invite you to visit our website www.frauc.org, join our next monthly online meeting, and volunteer in other ways to help.  

Thank you for your support.

With much gratitude, 

Sara Flynn, Sean Peirce, Katie Pilat, and Arlene Olivero
FRAUC Board of Directors – familiesrauc@gmail.com

Families of RAUC was able to secure the 2 Charter Buses needed to transport the 8th grade students and staff to Mount Monadnock. They couldn’t have lucked out anymore with the weather, it was absolutely beautiful clear skies and warm for October. I had the pleasure of being at pick up, and seeing the excitement from the students really made bringing this 8th grade tradition a good choice for Families of RAUC to contribute to.

Election Day Bake Sale 2023 was a huge success. We were able to raise about a little over $1,200. The community was so happy to see Families of RAUC with all our baked goods, coffee, soups, and even dog treats for our four legged neighbors.

A couldn’t have had this success with out the help of our student & parent volunteers, and family bakers.

A special Thank You to our student volunteers: Elizabeth S, Nova B, Emma D-W, Ben H, Sebastian F, Lukas F, Eliana B, Phoebe H, Ben S, Oliver, and Tyler F.

A special Thank You to our RAUC family volunteers: Arlene O, Ena V, Katie P, Nina F, Martina B, Audrey D-W, Lisa B, and Beth T

A special Thank You to our RAUC family bakers: Maria C, Celeste Ng, Melanie S, Beth T, Joanne S, Eliza R, Maura M, Ellen H, Martina B, Arlene O, Katie P, Elisa V, Tracy O, Audrey D-W

We look forward to having a 3rd Annual Election Day Bake Sale next November!

Movie Day for all RAUC students happened on November 22nd at Apple Cinemas. This year the movie choice was Disney’s WISH. Families of RAUC thought it was make the movie experience complete with popcorn and a water bottle for all the students. It was a yummy treat that we surprised the students with. What a way to have a school community event before the Thanksgiving holiday break.

Welcome back to a new school year at Rindge Avenue Upper Campus. We welcome new 6th grade students and families, and celebrate the returning 7th and 8th students and families for their continued support. Families of RAUC is a non-profit parent/caregiver volunteer group that supports the RAUC student, teacher, and family community.

Our 7th Grade RAUC Students are going to enjoy a team building exploration trip to George’s Island part of the Boston Harbor Islands City Cruises. Students will be able to see and learn more about the Civil War era – Fort Warren, named after the famous Dr. Joseph Warren. They will be able to explore the nooks and open areas that the 28 acre island has to offer, as well as the Boston Harbor views on their 40 minute ferry rides.

Families of RAUC are working to secure 2 charter buses (as school buses were not available for the timing of the trip) to provide transportation to Mount Monadnock for a longer day trip for our 8th Grade students toward the end of October. This trip brings the teachers and students together to help set goals and accomplish them. This is a great way to start the year off strong as a unit. Going to Mount Monadnock was an 8th Grade tradition at RAUC and we are delighted to help bring it back.

Families of RAUC have contributed the majority of the funding to cover the costs of these 2 trips through our Staff Grants. Staff Grants are submitted by teachers who are requesting additional funding for community building and enriching experiences that might not have been possible without the help from Families of RAUC funds. Your donations and support year after year make this possible. Thank you so much!

We hope everyone’s been enjoying the summer with family and friends. As much as it would be nice to have another month of summer vacation we are headed into the start of your students school year.

This year we are looking for wonderful parent/caregiver volunteers for our upcoming school year! Whether you have time to spare occasionally or regularly we’d love to have your company and help in coordinated the amazing school events that are planned to strengthen our RAUC Community.

We are currently seeking Board Members for monthly zoom calls, and volunteers for various events. The best way for us to stay in touch is to get on our volunteer email list. We’d love to have your help, please fill out this form to provide your email.
FRAUC Volunteer Form

For every person that signs up to be on our volunteer email list you’ll be entered into a raffle to win 2 RAUC magnets for you and your family. Winners will be announced at the end of September!

We’d love to see you at todays Back to School Potluck from 5-6pm. Please bring a dish or drinks to share. There will be pizza provided. School Tour for new families with start at 5:15pm. We look forward to meeting you!

At our Flatbread Fundraiser on Tue 4/4 we are also kicking off a silent auction! Bidding opens April 4 at 4pm and runs through April 14 at 9pm. There are so many great things donated by the community. 100% of all proceeds go to support our school! Take a look!

https://frauc2023.betterworld.org/auctions/FRAUC

SAVE THE DATE!

Come on out to American Flatbread (45 Day St, Somerville, in Davis Square) Tuesday, April 4 from 4-10pm to support our school! American Flatbread will donate $4/large flatbread and $2/small flatbread purchased on that day to Families of RAUC (FRAUC), which provides funds to the school for field trips, school community events, graduation activities, club supplies, and more! You can do eat-in, take-out, or delivery (must use the Delivery Link on American Flatbread’s website). See you there!

Huge thank you to everyone who help dream, decorate, bake, donate money for 30 pizzas and decorations and clean up! By all accounts, the RAUC Winter Dance (the first dance in THREE years!) was a huge success. The theme, created by the student council was Midnight in Paris. We not only had a fabulous Paris themed dance hall with mood lighting and city scapes of Paris, but a Cafe de Paris with a fabulous storefront sketched out by a talented parent and painted by a great group of creative students. In addition to the 30 pizzas from Cambridge House of Pizza, the cafe served fruit, donated baked goods from parents and Revival, french bread from Iggy’s and macarons courtesy of an amazing RAUC parent! The students had a great time dancing – at one point I heard the entire school belting out “Let it Go!” in unison. More photos here!

Thank you to everyone who baked, made signs and contributed to a great RAUC staff celebration today. It is so heart warming to see how small contributions from many can add up to such a wonderful show of appreciation for the great RAUC staff! They were absolutely thrilled!

Sara Flynn spearheaded a great election day bake sale. HUGE Thanks to all the bakers and volunteers who brought back this fun event for the first time in several years. It was great to see and talk to so many members of the community who were happy to support the school where they were voting! The beautiful baked goods that everyone donated brought a lot of smiles and happiness. Best of all we raised almost $1300 for the Families of RAUC activities this year!

June 24, 2022 A HUGE heartfelt thank you to everyone who volunteered to make the RAUC Block Party such a fun end of year party on Friday.  THANK YOU to everyone who pitched in to plan it, to run the dunk tank, to hand out 486 slushies, to take a gazillion photobooth shots, to engage the kids in art projects, to give them tattoos, to play games with them, to inspire them to sing and dance spontaneously,  TO FEED THEM, to pop 486 servings of popcorn in the hot sun, to clean up so fast afterward. To make them laugh and smile.  And a special thank you to whomever organized the rainbow with no rain. It was an amazing day. Thanks for helping achieve our goal of JOY! 

– Lilli