Meeting Agenda MINUTES 1/14/20 6:30-7:30pm Tavern in the Square- Shrewsbury

Introduction & Welcome

•   Kelly Warren new PTO President.

•   Introductions around the table with attendance from Mr. Mabie, Mrs. Luby

  (Teacher representation), PTO leadership, and several parent attendees.

  Approval of November Meeting Minutes

•   Kelly Warren asked for approval of previous meeting minutes from the last PTO meeting in November.

•   Kerrie Topi provided motion to approve.

•   Karen Axline provided second motion. Minutes approved.

  Treasurer’s Update
  See budget report handout

•   Karen Axline provided thorough Budget vs. Actual handout for meeting attendees to review.

•   Karen highlighted the latest figures from the Box Top collection as well as the figures for enrichment.

•   This discussion led to further dialogue regarding the possibility of using PTO funds for the iPad request that had been made by Mr. Mabie previously. There should be funding to be able to provide, at least a portion of the requested iPads for the 2nd grade, however, with the Spring event (formally known as Fun Fair) still in the planning phase, most agree that any commitment to fulfill this request should wait until we have a better understanding of what we can expect to earn with a spring event.

•   Also of note during discussion: They may also need a charging cart to go along with the iPads if they have determined the existing one cannot accommodate the additional iPad units. The potential need for a cart will be evaluated and communicated by Mr. Mabie.

•   The full need is to eventually provide a 2:1 ratio for 2nd grade (Mr. Mabie to confirm the actual number of iPads that would be needed to achieve that)

•   The request that has been made was for 12 iPads (~6K). Upcoming Events

  Fundraisers
  2/3 Read-a-thon (FOR FUN)☐

•   Discussed that we do not want to host another event that would ask parents for additional donations.

•   Without any incentive here for students, this seems like a lot of planning for something that may not yield a lot of interest. Remove from events.

  {? 3/9} Online Silent Auction kick off

 Jen Daley has begun sending out the online donation letters. These will continue to go out. We expect these to be less than in years past since we are getting a later start than we normally would for fundraising.

3/29 Spring event/Basket Raffle

Ongoing Fundraisers

Box Tops

•   Question raised about how much better, if at all, we are doing with the online aspect of Box Top vs. the previous collection efforts. Rebecca Halinan may know the answer to that?

•   There was also some confusion regarding the figures and what the lag time is between collection and total dollars earned.

  Direct donations

  Not discussed.

  Enrichment/Social Events

•   After school enrichment events must coincide with the learning taking place at school. As such, anything we change or modify with after school enrichment needs to be reviewed with Mr. Mabie.

•   Chess Club may not be renewed for next session. Enrollment has dipped on this (currently 39 enrolled)

•   We could look at re-engaging Liz Foxwell Hallee on the Cursive Club that was discussed previously.

o Karen recalls a fair amount of interest from parents for this.

o It is unlikely that we could offer 1 session to as many as 39 students for something like cursive instruction.

o Perhaps we look at offering 2 sections? o Andres will engage Liz on this

 Kelly
what they wanted for enrichment.

Warren mentioned sending out a parent survey to see

o It was mentioned that we should give them suggestions / choices.

o Most were in favor of offering or exploring more arts programs.

o Andrea Finnegan mentioned potentially obtaining a list of enrichment activities that other schools are doing that are successful

1/22 Science Night (Jen Mathney)

•   This is fully underway.

•   Approximately 40 tickets have been sold.

•   The science team will be there at 5pm to set up. Jen Mathney

  will be there with them.

•   Kelly Warren has reached out and requested 8 High School

  volunteers.

•   There will be a ticketing system for the experiment stations

  (2). Prior to the experiment stations there will be a show.

•   Children will be setup to sit on the floor. Chair will be set up

  for parents / caregivers.

•   Kelly Warren or Jen to reach out to Mike Maloney to ensure he

  can be there at 5pm (he has already been made aware of the

  date).

•   Kelly Warren to coordinate with After School lead to request

  students to help with setting up the chairs.

•   Some classrooms reported that they did not receive the flyer

  for Science Night. Kelly Warren to re-distribute to Room Parents to send to their respective classes and put the link on the SSS PTO Facebook page

  2/27 Mom’s Night Out Pasta Making Class at

  Volturno (Andrea Finnegan)

•   So far there are 9 people signed up

•   We should be promoting this through the PTO newsletter to

  ensure parents are seeing and signing up for this event.

•   This is a fun way to meet and spend time with other SSS

  parents.

  3/6 Community Reading Day

•   Jane Siebels is coordinating this event.

•   Typically this event hosts numerous community readers for

  individual classrooms and it should last about 30 minutes for each class.

  5/4-5/8 Teacher appreciation week

 This has been a breakfast in past years. Seeking some teacher feedback on what else they may like in place of a breakfast or whether they are still enjoying the breakfast.

5/7 Talent Show

 Date should be Friday, May 8th

•   Leads for this are Andrea Finnegan, Meredith Boulay, and Leena Phillips.

•   The team will need volunteers for the night of the show

•   This takes place at Oak Middle School and will need to be

  reserved.

  6/5 Field Day

•   We are in need of a new chairperson for this. Michelle Papper is no longer able to run this event.

•   The date should be changed as well since the last day of school has already been pushed out due to snow days.

•   Mr. Mabie proposed 6/12 as the new date for Field Day 6/5 Community Appreciation Night

•   This is really an end of the year event. It should cost very little (DJ?)

•   The date for this may need to change as well. Proposed to be a TBD to coincide with the last day of school.

•   Note was made to ensure we do not have too many competing food trucks as this was a pain point for the trucks last year. Suggestion was made to simply have ice cream trucks and call it a day.

  {6/10} Fourth Grade Celebration (Amy Slicer)

•   The date for this will change. June 17th is the new date due to snow days.

•   Amy Slicer will engage the DJ (if it hasn’t already been done).

•   This date / event does not have to coincide with the End of the

  Year Community Event.

  Completed Events/Programs

  Back to School luncheon 8/26

  Fun Run 9/13

  Family Dinner Dance 10/25

  Scholastic Book Fair 11/5

  Family Bingo Night 11/15

  Make My Day for teachers & staff 1/14

•   This was a new event that teachers really enjoyed. The PTO was able to secure donations through Stop & Shop for donuts and snacks for teachers. PTO representatives went around with a cart and surprised teachers with the treats.

•   Mrs. Luby noted that this was very well received and that the teachers loved it.

•   There was discussion about continuing to do this and with what frequency (perhaps every other month as 1x / month feels like too much)

•   Perhaps this should be looped in with the Hospitality Committee moving forward?

  Committee Chairs & Volunteers

  Fundraiser Coordinator: Jen Daley (seeking

  volunteer to shadow this year and chair next).

 Jen will not be handling this next year. This is a key role that will need to be filled.

Hospitality: Kari LaRosa, Kate Gentile

 This team is doing a wonderful job and the events that have been planned and executed were very well received by the faculty and staff.

Newsletter: Rebecca Halinan

Publicity: Rebecca Halinan

•   Rebecca doing a great job at posting and keeping the community in the know.

  Coordinators Needed

•   Kelly Warren to get the volunteer needs posted on Facebook and the Bulletin board at school.

•   We can also communicate to the parents / guardians by email in our newsletters.

  Decorating Committee ☐

  Volunteer Coordinator: ☐

  Teacher Representative: ☐ Mrs.Luby

•   Teacher representation may also come from Mrs. McInerney or Ms. Hannah

•   Whomever is the teacher representative will bring forward any questions / concerns / comments from the teacher community for review from the PTO and parent community. They will also relay relevant details of the meeting to the teacher community to ensure cohesion between all.

  Spring Event ☐(Formerly known as Fun Fair)

•   A planning meeting will take place this Friday, January 17th to determine what the fundraiser / event will look like this year.

•   All agreed that the Fun Fair is stale and the community may want to see a different take this year.

•   We will continue with the online silent auction this year.

 Concern was raised about whether the silent auction is exclusionary to those families in the community that do not have the means to bid high dollar amounts on prizes.

o As a way of addressing this concern, perhaps we can coordinate raffle ticket items (every student would get a raffle ticket) that yields no additional cost to the faculty, such as lunch with your teacher (in the classroom) for any teacher that would be willing.

o We would ask teachers to indicate whether they are able and willing to donate this additional item at no cost to them (other than their time) for this cause.

o We do not want to disrupt the major monetary success we get from the community for items like, convertible car rides or ice cream and a Jeep ride with teachers.

Scripzone.com☐

Square One Art☐

Spirit Wear ☐

•   People are looking for SSS gear but there is no one to coordinate this and as such, we cannot offer it.

•   There was talk about removing the year from the SSS Field Day shirt so they can be reused for younger siblings.

  School Supply Boxes ☐

•   Supplying only core items. We need someone to coordinate

  this.

  Talent Show ☐

•   We have this. Andrea Finnegan, Leena Phillips, and Meredith

  Boulay.

  Field day Chair☐

  Community Appreciation Night☐ End of Year Goal

  iPads for use in grade two 2:1 ratio

 Discussed earlier in the meeting. This will be reevaluated when we know the plan for the spring event. Supplying only core items. We need someone to coordinate this.

Next PTO meeting 3/10(? reschedule)  Meetings will remain at 6:30 p.m.

3/10

•   Next meeting will move to March 3rd to accommodate schedules

•   Next meeting will take place at SSS and will provide childcare. Most attendees at the off-site meeting were indifferent about the location and would have attended either way. Some felt it was inconvenient to get to since it is on the other side of town from where we live. With that in mind, we will relocate back to the school and see if it drives more attendance.

  5/12

•   This will be changed to 4/28

•   Location TBD

  Items for vote

•   Nothing for tonight’s meeting

•   Discussion around how to best offer parents the ability to vote on how PTO funds are used, such as the iPad request.

o Suggested ideas were to be clearer when things are going to be voted on at a PTO meeting so they can come prepared with questions / comments.

o Perhaps we offer the opportunity for parents to email the general PTO email address if they feel uncomfortable asking a question or taking a position on a voting item. (Challenges to keep in mind here is that things may get held up with a lot of tape when people cannot agree. You may also face some scrutiny and backlash when people are forced to accept a majority vote ruling.)

 Movie license was also discussed, although not to vote on at this meeting. Idea here is to create a no cost event for parents as a way of giving back. We would secure the movie license and have pop- up movie nights to coincide with busier times for parents (like Christmas, Valentine’s, etc.)

o Some opinions on this included that the license is expensive and would not yield any funds for the school, while the cost of the license itself may not be the best use of funds.

o Additionally, there was concern about competing with the High School events that take place around the same time.

o Other opinions on this agreed that this would be a nice way of thanking the parents for all that they have given. If not this, there should be something else to do this for them.

 An additional suggestion was made to investigate things like roller skating events that other towns are doing successfully as a community and fun event.

Spring Event planning meeting 1/17, please join us

Adjournment