MCCS PTO Board Meeting MINUTES

MCCS PTO Board Meeting MINUTES

Panera Bread Landsowne

Date | time 12/09/2014 6:30 PM | Meeting called to order by Richa Badami

In Attendance

Richa Badami, Yvette Millard, Kami Cleary

Approval of Minutes

The November 2014 meeting minutes were approved on 12/09/2014 with no objections.

Board

Meeting was called to order at 6:30pm by PTO President Richa Badami.
Overview of upcoming events, including PTO General Meeting in January 2015. Proposed to move date to second week of January to allow more time back at school from break.

Discussed Breakfast With Santa and Silent Auction event and what worked, and what didn’t to make note for December 2015 event. Will have formal meeting to discuss after holiday season.

Looking into using an easel with times of each event scheduled during the upcoming Leo Day and Night to avoid confusion.

New Business

·  Starting January 2015, the PTO will be managing the After School Enrichment activities with Susan McGroddy.

·  Sylvia Silver is no longer able to chair the Spirit Wear Committee. Need to find a replacement for her.

·  Taste of the World has been postponed from December 18, 2014 to another date (if a chair can be found for the committee).

·  Leonardo DaVinci’s birthday is on April 15th and Richa proposed that the school hold an assembly from an outside vendor in his honor.

·  Another health and fitness themed assembly (“Jump For Heart”) is being tentatively planned for May 5, 2015 and a chiropractor from PalmerCare may come in to discuss healthy living tips.

·  Looking into organizing the PTO closet at school with the Breakfast With Santa bins in January 2015 to prepare for next year’s event.

Old Business

·  A Breakfast With Santa post-event meeting will be held for all volunteers in January 2015 as both a thank you and an opportunity to discuss pros and cons of the event with those involved.

·  Continuing to work on a school-wide PTO calendar with all events posted.

Treasurers Report

·  None

School Management Team Report

Overview of Management Team Meeting was discussed. Most of the conversation was based upon current issues. Vision Quest was discussed as a Management Team event on December 13 from 9am – noon at MCCS.

Committee Reports

PTO Committee reports

·  Spirit Wear

·  Proposed that the PTO Board take over this committee since most of the design work and vendor solicitations have been completed.

·  Jeff and Amy Swartz said they would take on Spirit Nights for MCCS.

·  Family Science Night (Angie Tomaszewski, Chair)

·  No updates

·  Classroom Contact (Angie Tomaszewski, Chair)

·  Please welcome Jessica Sanders to the committee as Ms. Morgan’s Classroom Contact.

·  Q2 Leo DAY Classroom parties have been approved for Dec. 19th from 1:30-2:25. Most likely healthy and some not-so-healthy nut-free, non-religious snacks will be allowed. The kids will also participate in games and activities that I think the teachers will come up with. Teacher gifts may be presented at this time. Parents are being asked to contribute to the art supplies, snacks and teacher gifts. Angie can help with the Sign Up Genius events by creating one and then replicating it (and modifying where necessary) if anyone wants like this one:http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C054AA8AA29A2FE3-msmorgans

·  The first "Teacher Tuesday" staff luncheon will be hosted by Ms. Morgan's class in January 2015, and Jennifer has already started planning.

·  Working on the Q3 Arts Hour volunteer signup.

·  Updated the Classroom Contact's "position description" on the MCCS website. If anyone would like to add to it, please see Angie.

·  Breakfast with Santa (Nicol Pomeroy, Mark Pomeroy, Co-Chairs)

·  Successfully completed. A volunteer appreciation event is being planned for all volunteers who participated in Breakfast With Santa event set-up, parade, pancake breakfast, serving, decorating, and clean-up efforts.

·  An estimated $18,000 was made during the event through the breakfast, auction items, and donations.

·  A formal report on the event will be presented as soon as all of the data is gathered.

·  Yvette proposed that MCCS should make the muffins and scones to save on costs.

·  Richa suggested that MCCS should supply the plates (POC Meg Thaler) next year to gain a larger profit margin.

·  Putting together an organization plan to clean up bins of decorations and label by room with checklist of contents and photos of what the rooms are supposed to look like.

·  Think Tank Team (Larissa Erwin, Chair)

·  No updates.

·  Seasonal Décor Team (Larissa Erwin, Chair)

·  No updates.

·  Box Tops & Grocery Store (Ellyn Miller, Chair)

·  Harris Teeter needs to change from “Middleburg Elementary School” to MCCS.

·  Leo Talks (Britt Cooper, Chair)

·  It was decided that Leo Talks would be held once a quarter, and not once a month for logistical reasons.

·  Gratitude Team (Teresa Weis, Chair)

·  Q2 Holiday Teacher Appreciation Luncheon is next week. Beth Barts is heading the effort.

·  The first "Teacher Tuesday" staff luncheon will be hosted by Ms. Morgan's class in January 2015, and Jennifer Sanders has already started planning it.

·  Taste of the World

·  Event will be postponed until further notice.

·  Marketing Team (Susana Calley, Sylvia Silver Co-Chairs)

·  Working on the Space Camp designs.

·  Western Dance (Blythe Shippie)

·  Suggested that the planning for this event begin in January 2015. Look into the same band as last year. Include a cake walk too.

·  Swim Social (Amy Lutter, Chair)

·  School Directory (Blake Aubertin, Sylvia Silver, Kelly Dillon, CO-Chairs)

·  Variety Show (Staci Miller, Chair)

·  Diane Wood said she would like to join the committee.

·  LEAP (Kami Cleary, Representative)

·  November 12, 2014: “Full-day Kindergarten: Should we have it? How would we get there?”

Dr. Martin said of the 132 schools in Virginia, 129 have full day Kindergarten (FDK). HEAD Start, STEP/Special Education, ELL children have access to FDK at Catoctin, Countryside, Newton Lee, Round Hill, Tolbert, Cedar Lane, Sugarland, Rolling Ridge, Sully, Guilford and Sterling elementary schools. 495 LCPS students have hybrid FDK/ELL. LCPS is giving FDK to kids with “highest special needs” – 75.7%. Dr. Eric Williams is interested in having a conversation with the School Board members about getting FDK in LCPS. In FY2015, no universal FDK in all schools due to space and finances. Financial challenges in upcoming budge up to $56M deficit as it is. One FDK classroom in each school would service the disadvantaged.

Loudoun for Full Day Kindergarten, half day kindergarteners get 540 less hours of instruction than FDK. Any academic benefits include creative learning, hands-on benefits, improvement on reading score, less likely to repeat grades, higher scores in younger learners, social interactions with conflict resolution, easier transition to 1st grade. In half day, recess is only 12 minutes long, minimal hands-on learning opportunities, teachers have to teach twice as many kids to teach (AM/PM). Loudoun County is the only county in VA that does not have FDK or a plan to implement it. 25% of students attend private FDK. Over 50% of economically disadvantaged kids don’t have access to FDK.

Kevin Kuesters stated that there were budged constraints, rapid growth rates, lack of physical space and lack of priority and planning to implement FDK at this point. Stated that people keep moving to LCPS knowing that there is not FDK so it must not bother parents. Focus on when, not why we should have FDK. FDK is one of many priorities to include foreign language instruction, reducing class sizes, teacher pay, SPED, replacing aging school busses, the arts, ect. Have to prioritize with limited resources. “People don’t want to subsidize daycare.” Stated there is not a long-term benefit of FDK except for disadvantaged kids. The school choice policy was created o try and get into a FDK program. Looking at building space in new schools. “Eventually LCPS will have FDK.” If majority of constituents want it, it would be passed. Competing priorities.

·  Technology Team (Kathy Rush, Chair)

Announcements

Yvette Jacobs Millard is officially the new PTO Vice President. Welcome to the Board!

Action Items

·  Richa Badami

o  Send out thank you notes to all MCCS PTO Breakfast With Santa sponsors

o  Provide Kami with PTO sponsor logos to add to MCCS PTO webpage

o  Find Committee Chairs for Spirit Wear and Taste of the World

·  Kami Cleary

o  Meet with Angie to discuss PTO-related calendar events

o  Update Committee Chair sheet to include “After School Activities” with Susan McGroddy as the Chair

o  Work on adding photos to the MCCS website to make it more visually appeal.

·  Yvette Millard:

o  Find out how many Box Tops for Education we have to date. Coordinate with Ellyn Miller.

·  Mark Pomeroy:

o  Reimburse Angie Tomaszewski for Gratitude Committee funding

o  Provide a Breakfast With Santa financial report

Next Meeting

1/13/2015 6:30 PM, PTO General Meeting, Middleburg Community Charter School

Motion to adjourn was made at 8:11pm and was passed unanimously.

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