Upcoming Events
SEPTEMBER 18 3:30 p.m.- 4:30 p.m.
Who wants ice cream? All 6th graders are invited to stay after school for The VA Ice Cream Social featuring Ben & Jerry's! This event is free, courtesy of the PTO and will take place outdoors (indoors if it rains). Peanut-free and non-dairy options will be available. Students will have to make arrangements to be picked up if they decide to stay.
Calendars
The PTO has events on Niskayuna’s district-wide calendar as well as the VA calendar:
Volunteer opportunities
We need you! Our events are made possible by our amazing Van Antwerp community. Volunteer for an event today! We have lots of opportunities, from helping to plan great events to showing up on the day.
Email: vanantwerpmspto@gmail.com to sign up to volunteer!
MEETING DATES 2025-2026
All meetings will start at 7 p.m. and run VIRTUALY on Mondays (unless otherwise noted)
- September 14
- October 6
- November 10
- December 7
- January 5
- February 2
- March 2
- April 6
- May 4th
- June 8
VA PTO Events
This calendar provides a general overview of a typical VA year (dates specific to 2026-27).
| September |
14: First PTO meeting of the new school year. 7 p.m. Join the meeting via Zoom at https://us05web.zoom.us/j/
16: Back to School Night 5 p.m. - 7 p.m.
18: Ice Cream Social After school, 3:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.
|
| October |
30: Halloween Dance This is one of the largest and most popular events of the school year. A dance, a haunted house and food will be available for the students. We will need many volunteers for this event to help create, plan, set up and volunteer during, to make it happen. Any and all help is appreciated! Email vanantwerpmspto@gmail.com if you're interested in helping out. |
| December |
11: Read and Relax Social. Students are invited to spend a few hours after school quietly socializing and enjoying hot chocolate and other treats, courtesy of the PTO. Reading and quiet/crafting rooms will be available. We will also be collecting donations for Adopt-A-Family and Street Soldiers. Email vanantwerpmspto@gmail.com if you're interested in helping out. |
| January |
15: Wintertime Unwind Similar to the Read and Relax Social, this is another opportunity for students to come in from the cold and enjoy food and refreshments as well as play board games and read in various quiet rooms. Email vanantwerpmspto@gmail.com if you're interested in helping out. |
Past events
2025-2026
May
April
November
We are so thankful for the teachers and staff at VA! This morning we provided fresh (and warm!) apple cider donuts and cold cider in the staff lounge as a token of our appreciation. Thank you to Lansing's Farm Market & Greenhouses for the discount on the delicious treats and for letting us come early. Thank you also to the VA community- your support and donations allow the PTO to do special things like this!
October Halloween Social
September Stock the Staff Room
Chill Out Back to School Social
with Coach Wimberly!
Past Years:
A recap of the '20-'21 events:
The Niskayuna PTOs teamed up to hold a successful fundraiser on May 27th for NiskyNOW, with over 300 meals sold & served in the drive-thru event. Giffy's BBQ grilled chicken and pulled pork dinners, which were assembled by the PTO volunteers (see below), including VA's own Mrs. Redman - Cheers! Special thanks to Amanda Hickey from Glencliff's PTO for great organization and helping to arrange nice weather! The event will bring in roughly $2,000 for local families.
We were pleased to be able to hold the annual VA Staff Appreciation Lunch on June 4th this year, and had over 50 teachers and staff participate. Dinosaur BBQ catered the meals and they were as always, a bit hit! This year was a little different, with individually wrapped lunches, also making use of the VA cafe, thanks also to the cafe staff for carving out space for us to use.
The VA Apparel Sale recently wrapped up, thank you to the many families and friends who ordered items. We reached over 100 items ordered with Graphic Edge, and the majority of items ordered used VA student art work. It'll be great to see those in class and around the neighborhood! In add to our student artists, our appreciation goes to Mrs. LaPatra and the Art Department for help in getting VA students engaged and enthusiastic about this sale.
The VA apparel items are in and they look great. Please reach out to us if you have any questions along the way.
A big thank you to the VA and Iroquois staff for helping to arrange the special Drive-In @ Jericho on June 21 to recognize the graduating Middle Schoolers! For many that attended, including ahead of the school videos, it was a fantastic evening and opportunity to reconnect with families, friends and the broader Nisky school community. We had some rain roll through while the students' names were playing, but it was a very nice event - the PTO was happy to be able to help support this unique occasion.
Congrats to the graduating 8th graders -- best of luck in the High School in 2021-2022!
A big thanks to Sarah Bilofsky for help in getting items for the 8th grade Moving Up bags in this unusual year. These included kind donations from Dick's Sporting Goods (bags, masks, certificates for discounts), Stewart's Shops (Free Scoop cards), special stickers and other items given in lieu of the regular dance and Moving Up events.
Again, it was a tough year, many new stresses were felt and challenges had to be overcome. The VA staff and students had to work together closely throughout the year to keep everyone safe while enabling the in-person learning option. It's been wonderful to see the year to come to a positive conclusion for so many, especially in light of the challenges.
Please contact the VA PTO at vanantwerpmspto@gmail.com if you'd like to get PTO updates, and, if you'd like to learn more about potentially joining for one of our open roles.
