Friends of Pine Forest Elementary

10/19/2026

One of our favorite things to do is support our young artists! We are so excited that so many of our students made it into the Regional Honors Festival, but it means they need a little bit of help getting there! If you have a few dollars to spare, our goal of $1,000 will get our students where they need to be to participate in this amazing program!

Help eight Pine Forest students take their hard-earned place at the Northern Region Honors Festival! 🎶Our students worked hard on their audition pieces, and…

10/12/2026

💃 Great artists come in all shapes and sizes.

We’re thrilled to welcome Amari Marshall for a master class celebrating the artistry, individuality, and power of dance.

In this featured interview, Amari is celebrated for her curvy body—a reminder that dancers and artists don’t have to fit one mold to be extraordinary. Talent, creativity, and artistry aren’t confined to a particular body type, and the performing arts are richer when we make room for a wider range of bodies and experiences.

We’re excited to learn from Amari, celebrate what makes each artist unique, and keep creating spaces where every body belongs on the stage.

✨ Come celebrate the art, the artist, and the beauty of being unapologetically yourself! Registration is still open!

10/07/2026

Don't forget that we have a Friends of Pine Forest meeting tonight at 7pm! You will find the Zoom link in the comments! It will always be 45 minutes long, so after dinner, but not quite up until bedtime! Come see what we have planned for the next couple of months!

10/05/2026

Have you seen the news? One of Beyoncé's dancers and choreographers is coming back home! On October 20, our Pine Forest students will have the opportunity to learn from an alum-turned-professional! Check out the details in our event!

10/04/2026

🎉 Happy Birthday, Principal Matthews! 🎉

The Spirit Rock was looking especially good yesterday as we celebrated Principal Matthews’ birthday! 💙

We love seeing the Spirit Rock become part of the life of Pine Forest Elementary—from birthdays and celebrations to school events and messages of encouragement. It’s such a fun way for our Pine Forest community to make the school feel a little more like *ours*.

Happy Birthday, Principal Matthews! We hope you had a wonderful day! 🎂🎈

09/30/2026

Did you know you can also grab Pine Forest merch while you shop the book fair?! (You can also buy your kiddo’s favorite fidget!)

Scan the QR code in the media center to pay, pay through the link below, or see Sarah this morning— then pick up your merch right away!

09/29/2026

I painted the Spirit Rock again, and naturally I decided to document the entire process.

So here is two hours of painting condensed into a much more reasonable amount of time. 😂

There was paint. There was sunshine. There were approximately 70 leaves stuck to my paint. There were ants. There was also, inevitably, paint in my car.

And because apparently I have now become the person who has opinions about the correct $1 paintbrushes for painting a giant rock, I wrote down everything I learned.

👉 How to Paint the Spirit Rock (Without Losing Your Mind):
https://friendsofpineforest.org/painting-the-rock

If your're thinking about painting the Spirit Rock, I hope this saves you at least one trip to the store— and possibly your car upholstery.

09/28/2026

If you've been following Friends of Pine Forest, you might be wondering: "Wait. Doesn't Pine Forest already have a PTA? Why do we need another nonprofit?"

It's a really good question.

And the answer isn't that the PTA isn't doing enough. PTA and Friends of Pine Forest serve different purposes and abilities.

The PTA is an important part of our school community. It brings parents and teachers together, supports students and families, advocates for children, and helps make school life better.

But PTA funds and a separate nonprofit's funds aren't the same thing. A PTA operates under its own organizational structure, rules, budget, and tax-exempt requirements. Its fundraising and spending have to follow those rules and the purposes for which the organization exists.

Friends of Pine Forest was created with a different purpose: To raise and direct community resources toward larger, longer-term improvements at Pine Forest School of the Arts.

That can include things like:
🌱 Beautification projects
📚 Projects for specific teachers or classrooms
🎨 Improving shared spaces
🤝 Local business partnerships
💰 Fundraising for specialized projects
🛠️ Volunteer projects
✨ Big ideas that take more money and more time to make happen

Think of it this way:
PTA helps make the school community thrive.
Friends helps bring additional community resources to the school.

And there is a LOT of room for those two things to work together.

In fact, that's exactly what we want.

We don't want Friends to replace the PTA (we couldn't, even if we wanted to). We don't want to duplicate what the PTA is already doing. And we definitely don't want parents choosing between the two.

We want more people working together to make Pine Forest an incredible place for kids.

There are more needs and more good ideas than any one volunteer organization can possibly take on.

So we're building another tool for the Pine Forest community's toolbox.

Because when parents, teachers, the PTA, local businesses, neighbors, and community organizations all bring something to the table we can do a whole lot more together.

🌿 That's why Friends exists.

09/21/2026

Why can't the principal just buy it? You've probably wondered this before. "It's only $50. Why can't the principal just buy it?"

It's a reasonable question. It's actually one that we started asking and when we heard the answer, knew we needed to help.

It's a lot more complicated than it seems.

When a public school spends public money, there are rules about where that money can come from, what it can be spent on, which vendors can be used, and what purchasing process has to be followed.

DCPS has a centralized Purchasing Services department for exactly this reason. And Florida has state requirements governing how school districts purchase goods and services.

Depending on the purchase, that can mean:
• Getting quotes or bids
• Using an approved vendor or contract
• Creating a purchase order
• Getting the appropriate approvals
• Making sure the expense is allowable under the particular source of funds
• Following additional requirements for larger purchases or contracts

And school funds aren't all interchangeable. Money raised for one purpose may have restrictions on how it can be spent.

So when a principal says, "We'd love to have that," it doesn't necessarily mean they can just order it.

Sometimes the answer is yes.
Sometimes the answer is not with that money.
Sometimes the answer is we have to go through the district.
And sometimes the answer is we have to wait.

That's not a failure of the principal, the teachers, or the district employees handling the purchase. It's what happens when you're spending public money— and there are good reasons for having safeguards around public money.

But here's where a community nonprofit can be helpful.

Friends of Pine Forest can raise private donations, find sponsors, recruit volunteers, and help fund projects that aren't easily accomplished through the school's ordinary purchasing process.

We're not trying to bypass the rules. We're trying to find another legitimate way to get good things done for Pine Forest students.

That's one of the reasons Friends exists.

Because sometimes the question isn't: "Why won't the school just buy it?"
It's: "What can we do together to make it happen?" 🌿

09/18/2026

🎨 **RESERVE THE ROCK!**

Need a place to celebrate someone, promote something, or just make Pine Forest a little more fun?

Reserve the Rock for:
✨ A birthday
🎭 A school performance
💛 A teacher or staff appreciation
🎉 A celebration
📣 A school event
🌈 A message that deserves to be seen

And here’s the thing: your rock does NOT have to be Pinterest-worthy.

Maybe you’re an artist and want to go all out. Great. Paint a masterpiece. (The PTA painting was totally .)

Or maybe you have 20 minutes, a can of paint, and a very specific message you need everyone to see. Also great.

Big and elaborate. Simple and sweet. A few words and a smiley face. It all counts.

The rock belongs to our whole school community— and we want to see what you come up with.

🪨 Reserve the Rock and make your mark!

friendsofpineforest.org/rock