Efi Inan is a woman on a mission.

As president of the PTSA at Aventura Waterways K-8 School, she's got a long list of goals for the new school year. She wants to build on the "baby steps" the first-year parents group made last year by increasing parent participation, holding more "fun" events, raising more money, easing the school's traffic flow headaches and generally making the school experience even better.

Efi Inan is making playground shade a top priority for the Aventura Waterways PTSA.

She's already identified one major capital project -- putting a cover over the play area used by kindergarten and first grade pupils. Standing amid the brightly-colored plastic slides and ladders, she looks skyward and shakes her head. "With school starting in August, they're melting out here," she says, adding that the skin-cancer risk is also a major concern for both pupils and teachers. Her vision is a hurricane-resistant cover that will provide ample shade. The cost: $20,000. 

That's going to mean selling a lot of RuMe bags -- the stylish eco-friendly carry bags that are one of the PTSA's major fundraising ventures.  

Whatever it takes, Inan is up for the challenge.  

Her two children -- a daughter in third grade and a son in sixth -- moved over from Highland Oaks last August when Aventura Waterways opened. Her son, a budding technologist, is in his element with the school's array of the latest computer labs and electronics. Both feel right at home in this new "family," she says. And the school's A grade from the state Department of Education was confirmation she'd made the right choice for her children.

Inan, who lives in Aventura, had been involved in the PTSA at Highland Oaks and stepped right in as vice president of the Aventura Waterways PTSA. The first year was one of learning the new terrain, she says, as parents from three public and several private schools got to know each other. At the beginning, there was a surge of interest and lots of volunteers, she recalls. But by the end of the year, the PTSA board had dwindled from eight to four members.

This year, as president, Inan is determined to get more parents involved. She's making a newsletter a priority and she's got a major sponsor in hand in Equinox. The new fitness center at the mall is donating memberships for teachers and as prizes for various PTSA raffles and contests. 

She also says she isn't going to be shy about asking for help from the City of Aventura and the Aventura Marketing Council. Even though the building is west of the railroad tracks and beyond the city boundary, about half the school's more than 1,300 pupils come from Aventura.

Among her priorities is getting police help to resolve traffic flow issues in the morning and afternoon rushes. So far, an officer is only on duty Wednesdays when a 2 p.m. dismissal for all grades maxes out the narrow streets.  She'd like to see NE 211th Terrace become one-way eastbound, thereby ending a problem of parents making U-turns to pick up their children, and clearing room for the school buses.

Inan has high praise for Principal Luis Bello and says the school's faculty and staff are first-rate.  She acknowledges that school budget cuts will make everything a little harder this year, but she says the PTSA will be up to the challenges.