August 16, 2009

The Covington Back-To-School Packet helps our families get ready for school. As part of Covington's ongoing efforts to improve online tools and communications for the school community, we have consolidated the back-to-school information from district, school, and PTA into one Back-To-School Packet. Furthermore, we have built extensive capabilities into many of these forms which enable families to complete the form, place the order, and make payment all online.

Highlights of some new capabilities:

• Complete form online: No need to download, print, fill out the form, and drop it off at the school office. All that's needed now is to fill in the form online and hit the submit button. Forms with this capability are indicated by the icon .

• Place your order into Shopping Cart: Enabled by the Google Shopping Cart technology, you will be able to place order(s) while reviewing forms for things such as: membership registration, donation, hot lunch payment, etc. The Shopping Cart offers you a consolidated view of all orders you've placed. You can easily adjust quantity, delete, or undo your order in the Shopping Cart. Forms with this capability are indicated by the icon .

• Make secured payment through Google Checkout. You can checkout through the shopping cart by clicking on the "View Cart" box, which is conveniently located on the upper right corner of many pages. Review your orders, make adjustments, and click the "Google Checkout" button. You will come to an order summary page with all of your orders listed along with the order amount. You will have the option either to pay online or print the order and pay by check. Check Payment Instruction for details.

• Student Profile Data Sheet: The school sent a paper copy to your home address before school started. (due on 8/19)
• School Policies: Review the policies here. Look for a bright pink signature sheet in the Thursday Envelope. (due on 8/25)

• Covington PTA Membership (due on 9/11)
• Covington School Directory (due on 9/11)
• Classroom Fund (due on 9/4)
• Birthday Book Club Program - Support the Library (due on 9/11)
• Hot Lunch Program (due on 8/2628)

• Shopping Fundraisers - Escrip, Amazon, Office Depot, BoxTops: Make your shopping count for Covington! It's easy to participate, doesn't cost you anything, and makes a big difference for our school.
• Los Altos Education Foundation (LAEF): Donate online or write a check soon to avoid the call. (due on 10/16)

Please Note: If you want to pay online, you MUST have a Gmail account. You can create one upon checkout.

1. To checkout, go to your shopping cart by clicking on the "View Cart" box, which is conveniently located on the upper right corner of many pages.
2. Review your orders. Once they are correct, click the "Google Checkout" button. You will not be charged in the next screen.
3. You will come to an order summary page with all of your orders listed and the order amount.
4. If you want to pay online, you will be asked to login with your Google account. If you don't have one, you can create one from here.
5. Otherwise, print the order summary page, write your name and contact info on the printout, attach your check, and drop it in the office.

Should you have questions, please contact Jing Wu at jingwu2005 [at] gmail.com.

Disclaimer: The order information you have added to the "Shopping Cart" are not being tracked or recorded by Covington nor Google. If you have chosen Google Checkout for online payment, your order information will be obtain through Google Checkout account. Neither Google nor Covington will distribute your information for any purpose other than processing your Back-to-School orders. If you have chosen to print out your order and pay by check, your order information will be kept on your local computer and neither Google nor Covington will have any record of your order.