Holy Cross PTA Meeting
October 4, 2017
Attendees
Catherine Boule, Mary Radford, Jillian Stach, Catherine Giamartino, Martha O’Leary, Derrick Herron, Maria Reed, Debbie Juliano, Maggie Juliano, Samantha Herron, Joe Hens, Heather Cleary, Michelle Engle, Amy Renna, Jolie Johnston, Marie Adornato, Jenn McIntyre, Constance Duggan, Maria Mannara, Mary Rodman, Rose Cruceta, Marianne Fricke
Opening Prayer (M. O’Leary)
Review and approval of September 2017 minutes- Motion to approve the minutes (M. Adornato) Seconded by- J. McIntyre
Principal’s report (M. O’Leary)- The year has gotten off to a great start. The Welcome Back picnic was a success, thank you to Catherine Giamartino and everyone who helped with that event. I would also like to thank Mary Radford and Catherine Boule for Coffee Day. It’s great for parents to see that they are appreciated. We are looking forward to Grandparents Day on Friday. We will have a slide show for grandparents to look at in the gym they are waiting. Two teachers will be out that day- 4th grade will go right to art and Mr. Rys is set for a sub.
Treasurer’s report- (C. Boule) The 2017-2018 budget was approved last meeting and it was brought to my attention that the Howl was not on the balance sheet, though we had budgeted for it. It has been re-added and the amount budgeted for the Howl is $1000.
(M. O’Leary)Father Kurgan has signed the contract for the air conditioner in the gymnasium. We will get it installed over Christmas vacation. The bathroom renovations will come in under budget. Ed King invited the company who installed the stalls to come and look at them because they have not been satisfactorily installed and they will hopefully fix the issues we’ve had.
Update on Chrome book purchases- 3rd grade’s were purchased using the Heritage fund and the 4th grade chromebooks were purchased via Friends of Holy Cross; therefore, the PTA did not need to cover any of the expenses.
M. O’Leary reviewed the balances
OLD BUSINESS
Updates: M. O’Leary- Playground- Mulch is still on back order and we hope to hire the same person who did it last year. The new piece of playground equipment has not come in yet.
Volunteer Opportunities: C. Boule- Sign up geniuses available on website for lunch duty and for class pizza days- link right on the holy cross website, please sign up if you are able to.
Spring programs: Submit by November 15th to PTA. C. Boule- Mr. Rys will be doing Roots and Shoots, we have spring Running club and spring Yoga so far.
A Note on Programs: It is important for parents to get sign ups in early. There will be a hard deadline for signups in the spring as Joanne had a difficult time organizing the paperwork and keeping track of the children, which became a safety issue. H. Cleary- Teachers also need an updated roster of kids attending after school activities, especially in the younger grades.
Directory Update (J. Stach): I’m hoping to take it to Staples next week, the goal is still to have it out by the end of the month. M. O’Leary- there is a new system on Plusportals that we can have each parent enter in directory information going forward.
Auction Update (M.Reed): Sept 20th meeting. The theme for the auction is Supper Club, with a swing orchestra playing, think 1940’s style. The next auction meeting is October 18that 7 pm. The date for the auction in May 19, 2018.
Back to School Picnic (C. Giamartino)The picnic was well attended, we had about 370 people, nice weather, the volunteer table was prominently placed which was well received.
Coffee Day (M. Radford)–The event went well, people were happy and it was great for community building.
Mom’s night out (A. Renna)–We had 40-50 moms come, the event went well, everyone enjoyed themselves. C. Boule- we could increase the budget because it was such a nice community building event. After discussion, it was decided that we didn’t need an increase because most people came to mingle and not eat.
NEW BUSINESS:
Yearbook-(M. O’Leary)- Judy DeLorenzo will not be doing the yearbook, Lifetouch did it two years ago, I’m willing to work with anyone who would be willing to volunteer to help. The issue with Lifetouch is that the deadline is in March. Options will be researched as to what company we could use and what direction we would like to go and will be followed up with at the November PTA meeting.
Upcoming Events:
Special Person Day on Oct. 6th: (M. Radford)- We are all set for Friday. Mrs. DeLorenzo will be setting up the Chromebooks and the new technology for the grandparents coming in as many of them buy 50/50 tickets to support the auction which funds tech updates.
October 19th: Story Night: (M. O’Leary)- Mr. Rys’s wife, Mary, will be coming in and reading stories in the gym. She will be performing from 7-7:45 pm. Light refreshments will be served. This will be coinciding with the book fair, which will be our only book fair of the year.
Halloween Howl on Oct. 27th: (S. Herron)-I need a co-chair, something has come up and I can’t be there the night of the Howl. I’m going to get a group of parents together to go through what we have under the stage. I’m getting quotes on new games and a DJ.
We need parent volunteers and student volunteers the night of the Howl. The time of the event is 5:30-7:30.There will treat bags at the end of the night.
Open Floor/ Q&A
J. Johnston- Is the Holy Cross email google site kid friendly? Discussion: There is no internet access, its just an email address that can only be sent to another syrdiocese.org email.
Next Meeting Weds, November 1st at 7 pm.
Meeting adjourned –7:31 pm
Minutes Respectfully Submitted, C. Giamartino