USS/SS PTO

4.02.2014

March 2014 Minutes

Union Sanborn/Southwick School PTO

Meeting Minutes

March 6, 2014

In Attendance: Christie Mingolla, Christina Cann, Heather Durgin, Jessica L., Leigh-Anne Phelps, Cindy Cilley, Mrs. Proulx, Mr. Hines, Mr. Cheney, Mrs. Swain, Mrs. Parker, Miss Wisler

The meeting was called to order at 6:34 by Leigh-Anne Phelps.

Secretary’s Report

Leigh-Anne Phelps motioned to approve the minutes as submitted. Mrs. Parker seconded. All were in favor. Motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report

Monthly Expenses: Applebee’s raffle winner ($40.00), Tiger Program for both schools ($1300.00), Valentine teacher breakfast ($450.92), Box Top postage ($43.20), Holiday Craft Fair expense ($16.65)
Monthly Income: Applebee’s Breakfast fundraiser (reported on it last month, but not deposited until this month, $775.00), Spirit Wear sales ($75.00), Applebee’s raffle ($40.00)
Anticipated Bills: Southwick School snacks ($4.32), Tilton Sport Center Night Out ($350.00), Parent Internet meeting ($150.00), Holiday Shoppe custodial fee ($200.00)
Leigh-Anne Phelps motioned to accept the treasurer’s report as read. Mrs. Parker seconded. All were in favor. Motion passed.

AiR Grant/Funding

Mrs. Swain presented and passed out information about the residency and information on both artists.
It will take place in March 2015, Southwick School to host the African themed residency.
The theme will be on community: peace, love and unity; for grades 3-5
Will have 2 artists working together collaboratively (they have done this before); Olusegun would focus on sand painting and folklore; kids will create their own personal sand paintings to take home and also create a large mural that will be displayed permenantly in the school.
Theo would work with Mr. Winslow and Mrs. Morrill on African dance, drumming patterns and rhythyms; at end of the AiR, students will put on an ensemble and dance as the culminating event.
The artists have given suggestions on things we can do with the kids before they come.
It will take place over 8 consecutive days; on the first day, the school will meet together for an opening assembly; Theo will get the kids pumped up; then split into music and art room; kids will meet with both artists 3 times for about 45 minutes each time; on the 8^th day there will be a culminating event; that night the community is welcomed for an open house – grades will rotate to different activities: in gym to do their drumming and dancing then go to see mural then into classrooms to see individual work; meanwhile the librarian is going to get folktale books about Africa to read to students in library; computer lab will have sites to learn about African life style and every day life; kitchen staff will make African food for kids to sample; in the classrooms kids will do writing and response to their artwork they created and to celebrate community; beginning of next year start with kids creating colorful artwork based on Africa as a welcome for both artists and give kids background knowledge.
Mr. Hines presented on the fees for the 8 days $3572.56 + $3576.28 for artists; have applied for a grant in the amount of $3574.42; the Southwick School budget is contributing $2500.00; looking for PTO to contribute the remaining $1074.42. Sometimes grants come through fully funded, but usually not, therefore asking for a reserve of an additional $1425.61 from PTO for a total of $2500.00.
There was lots of positive feedback from the group – skills across curriculum, enthusiasm across the board with staff; would be great to tie into Union Sanborn, maybe provide a live feed so they could see the culminating event.
Cindy Cilley made a motion to approve the funds requested from PTO. All were in favor. Motion passed.

Tilton Sports Center Event

Heather Durgin presented – 53 kids prepaid already to attend; total of $155.00 already paid.
She has done up a flyer to send home the Monday before the event as a reminder; also will put one at Pines and town library; it’s been in the bulletins from school secretaries as well.
Tickets for those prepaid to date will go home on Friday.
$350.00 actual cost.
Arts & crafts are still being offered; she has all the materials as a donation.
3 parents have expressed interest in volunteering; 3 staff members from the facility will circulate; they supply all the materials for sports games; divide field for soccer and kick ball.
Epic and Dispicable Me 2 for movie choices
Parking for 70 vehicles, no off street parking
Bake sale – is there a policy there about this? She believes they offer snacks there, she will check on us being able to sell water.
Cindy Cilley has samples from fundraiser that can be put on display that night.
Christie Mingolla asked if we could get involved with Sanbornton’s PTO and extend the invite to their school for community. The group decided that yes it’s ok to reach out to them. Heather Durgin will contact the principal to see who to contact on their PT; can also advertise at town library.

Bus Driver Appreciation

Cindy Cilley will pick up the gift cards.
Mrs. Proulx will hand them out.
Mrs. Swain’s art club will make the banner for Southwick School; Mrs. Proulx said they will do one down her way for Union Sanborn School.
March 21^st is when we will have everything ready by.

Ideas for Parent Involvement

Co-President and Treasurer terms are up this year. In April, we will get candidates; hold elections in May/June; this will be posted in a Backpack Express and a flyer home.
The group has tried to get more parent involvement by offering babysitting, providing food, and trying earlier times and different days of the week.
Suggestions were made by group members: Facebook page (Miss Wisler will look into this with Maria Pearson tomorrow); having different events to spice things up; offer a give-away if they come to a meeting (i.e. tickets to event); Mr. Cheney will look into Pinterest for ideas; 6:30pm time is not convenient for all families (childcare with us is an issue if we change the time); what about a morning meeting (won’t get child care then); present at step-up days (wear an “ask me about PTO” badge, we can also wear them at events so that we are identifiable
Concerns were raised with miscommunication with preschool families. Mrs. Proulx will look into this.

Open Floor

Tanger Grant – Cindy Cilley sent in the summary from last year’s grant and is all set; this year’s grant would like to speak to Mr. Hines and Mrs. Proulx about it before submitting.
Nature’s Vision Fundraiser – goes home tomorrow; will run from March 7-21^st; needs help counting money last week of March (Tuesday the 25^th); Heather Durgin will help; if orders are in by April 8^th we will have everything in before April vacation.
Last night at the 6^th grade introduction meeting Sue Collins said she does not want to do Box Tops any more; Christina Mingolla said she would do it for Union Sanborn School; Mr. Cheney offered to do it for Southwick School if there are no parent volunteers; will advertise in next Backpack Express.
Tiger Program is scheduled for March 21^st at Southwick School; we were also able to get the workshop component for the third graders and Union Sanborn School for 2^nd graders; will get a curriculum and a CD.

Mrs. Parker motioned to adjourn. Mrs. Proulx seconded. All were in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 7:47 pm.

*** The next meeting will be Thursday, May 8, 2014 at 6:30 in the Southwick School Media Center ***

February 2014 Minutes

Union Sanborn/Southwick School PTO

Meeting Minutes

February 6, 2014

In Attendance: Christie Mingolla, Christina, Leigh-Anne Phelps, Cindy Cilley, Mr. Hines, Mrs. Parker, Miss Wisler

The meeting was called to order at 6:35 by Leigh-Anne Phelps.

Secretary’s Report

Leigh-Anne Phelps motioned to approve the minutes as submitted. Mrs. Parker seconded. All were in favor. Motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report

January expenses include Southwick School snacks ($7.00), Drama Club ($452.95), homework snacks for after school club ($69.78), holiday craft fair ($13.32).
Monthly income: $799.00 from the pancake breakfast.
Outstanding bills: parent internet meeting ($150.00) and Holiday Shoppe custodial fee ($200.00).
Have $12380.71 in bank; this does not include income from pancake breakfast.
Leigh-Anne Phelps motioned to accept the Treasurer’s Report as read. Mr. Hines seconded. All were in favor. Motion passed.
Cindy Cilley questioned if Drama Club would be submitting additional receipts, as the proposed budget was for ($500.00).

Dr. Miller

Mr. Hines presented on Dr. Miller’s behalf as she was unable to attend

Working on Go Math this year for elementary level, along with Mahesh strategies
No definitive answer from state if this will be the last year of NECAP testing, or if we do it again next year.
We will be going to Smarter Balance (state wide); it is done on the computer. Questions are set up differently, with higher level thinking; tries to get students to use factual information they have gained to solve problems.
Performance Assessments – teaching component then a couple of tasks students have to do. Mr. Hines distributed an example of a 5^th Grade Performance Assessment in narrative writing. As a staff, Southwick School has looked at a math example. A rubric is provided to the students so they know what is expected of them; these are then graded by teachers. The purpose of the assessment is to prepare students for Smarter Balance (those are graded by the scoring company). This will be coming to Union Sanborn School as well, but scaffolded.
Star Assessment replaces NWEA. Smarter Balance replaces NECAP. Positives of Star Assessment: takes less time (approx. 20 minutes per subject); lessons based on student performance.
It was asked if this would be for kindergarten and up. Mr. Hines indicated it would probably be for first grade and up.

Tiger Program

Mrs. Parker presented that the Tiger Program is a group of people from PSU that put on a dramatic presentation teaching children about bullying and anti-bullying. This year, Southwick School tried a different program. However, it turned out not as expected. She wanted to know if there was any way PTO could help fund the Tiger Program for Southwick School as it has been successful and enjoyed by students in the past.
Cindy Cilley said she has seen it in the past, but feels it is not followed up with in the classroom. Mrs. Parker indicated that she does it in her room and that Mr. Cheney also follows up and reinforces through-out the year in his lessons. It was also mentioned that Ms. Kitto has a DVD to follow up as well. Lesson plans were provided last year as well, that Mr. Cheney does for his guidance lessons.
Cindy Cilley questioned how much the new program cost. Mr. Hines thought around $500.00 and believes that the Tiger Program is $650.00 per school. He thinks he has $300.00 in the school assembly account that he can put towards it for Southwick School.
Leigh-Anne Phelps inquired if Mrs. Parker was looking for PTO to cover funds or to set it up. Mrs. Parker responded that she can set it up if PTO can help fund it.
Leigh-Anne Phelps thinks it’s an important program to have.
Cindy Cilley checked the financials to see what PTO could fund. We have a $500.00 slot for school special requests and the Internet meeting that we were never charged for.
Cindy Cilley motioned to grant both schools $650.00 for use for the Tiger Program. Leigh-Anne Phelps seconded. All were in favor. Motion passed.

Applebee’s Review

Leigh-Anne Phelps reported that about 88 people came, with 67 pre-sold tickets.
Buffet style went very well.
We got $3.40 per ticket
Person who won 50/50 raffle isn’t answering Leigh-Anne Phelps’ call.
Made $781.00 last year (charging $10.00 a ticket then, instead of $8.00)
The group discussed having it at the school next year instead of outsourcing so that we could make more of a profit. However, there is a charge for custodian and kitchen staff; there would also be a need for more volunteers.
Christie Mingolla mentioned that there’s a grandparent that would like to volunteer. She will have her email Miss Wisler to be added to the PTO email list.
Leigh-Anne Phelps suggested that next year we keep to a date in January.
Sold 3 sweatshirts
Christie Mingolla asked what was done for advertisement. Leigh-Anne Phelps said that it was on the Autoserve jumbo-tron, Market Basket had a flyer, 94.1 wouldn’t advertise on the radio, flyer at the farmer’s market, and flyers were sent home with students.

Tilton Sports Update (Heather Durgin was unable to attend; Christie Mingolla spoke on her behalf)

They are super excited for us to come for the family night.
We have full access to the field, screening room, and batting cages.
Heather Durgin made a flyer that she sent electronically and printed a hard copy for both schools.
$5.00 per kid, with a cap of $10.00 per family
The group discussed not offering the arts and crafts in order to promote the other active choices being offered.
The group also discussed if we would have a bake sale there. We will have to check with them if we can do that.
10-12 volunteers needed to cover all the areas
It was questioned if we have to prepay? Will have to check on this.
Mrs. Parker motioned that $350.00 go towards covering the rental costs. Cindy Cilley seconded. All were in favor. Motioned passed.

Bus Driver Appreciation

Next month
In the past we have done Dunkin Donut gift cards.
Cindy Cilley asked how many bus drivers we have. Mr. Hines has 10 for Southwick, not sure if Union Sanborn has any additional. Cindy Cilley will email Mrs. Proulx for her buses.
Cindy Cilley will pick up the gift cards and something for the cross walk guard at USS and Miss Holden and Mrs. D’Abbracio at Southwick.
Mrs. Parker will ask Student Council to make a “thank you” sign again this year.
Cindy Cilley will bring the gift cards to our next meeting so that Mr. Hines and Mrs. Proulx can distribute them.

Valentine Gift Card

Cindy Cilley asked for a discussion on if PTO is still doing the gift card for teachers this year, as a budget was not voted on for it. Leigh-Anne Phelps said she thought it was a good idea and asked how much we usually do. Cindy Cilley reported that in the past it has been $200.00 per school.
The group discussed getting pastries to drop off, having the kitchen prepare a breakfast, or maybe having a sweets platter.
Cindy Cilley motioned for $200.00 for a gift card for each school and $50.00 per school for baked goods/sweets, for a maximum of $500.00. Leigh-Anne Phelps seconded. All were in favor. Motion passed.
Leigh-Anne Phelps will pick up the baked goods.

Tanger Grant

Cindy Cilley reported on this. She mentioned that Bridget never made copy of the grant from last year.
Submission due by March 15^th.
Cindy Cilley posed to the group what we should request the money for. Mrs. Proulx wants chairs. RiF books and Artists in Residence were mentioned as well. The application asks questions, such as: What is the current situation? How many children will benefit? How will you measure success?
It was mentioned that it may be better to ask for a product rather than a program.
AiR at Southwick discussion – working on developing a grant for next year. Looking at art and music, hoping to tie into writing as well. There is no cost figure yet. Mrs. Swain is doing it. Grant will not cover entire cost; they have to show that the district is paying for some. Mr. Hines had put some into his budget for it; hopefully PTO can also contribute, so that it’s a community involvement. It would be difficult to answer the Tanger grant questions with a program like this.
Reading is Fundamental book discussion – children get to pick out a book for them to keep; brand new book. This may be a better way to go, because we can talk about the measurements Mrs. Proulx has implemented at USS (reading incentive program).
Cindy Cilley will write the grant, requesting $2000.00 (last year we got $1000.00) and have Miss Wisler review it.

Leigh-Anne Phelps motioned to adjourn. Christie Mingolla seconded. All were in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 7:47pm.

*** The next meeting will be Thursday, March 6, 2014 at 6:30 in the Southwick School Media Center ***

PTO Meeting Tomorrow Night 6:30

Got Spring Fever? Then come on out and join us!

When: Thursday, April 4th at 6:30pm

Where: Southwick School Media Center

On the Agenda: Muffins for Mom, Teacher Appreciation week, Spring Fundraiser update, Tilton Sports Center update, fulfilling Co-President and Treasurer positions for next year

We hope to see you there!