October 6, 2009 PTO Minutes:
Welcome:
Craft Fair - Karen Moore - aprox $9800.00 collected already. Just about full. Everything is on schedule. We’re getting a 'to do' list on what we need completed. We need permission to hang banner on the Common & on the corner of Rt 133 & RT 1. Would like to put a sign in these 2 spots, need permission first. Looking for parking attendants - any dad/sons that may want to do it together? Possibly asking older boy scouts do to it for community service. Need to get cones for the parking lot from the fire dept. Everything needs to be peanut free for the fair. Most of the food will be in the AP Room - 1 vendor
Does sell dips in another wing - we wash the area after the fair. Bake table must be nut free!
Approval of Sept Minutes - Jean Atherton approved. Amber Quigley 2nd.
Treasurers Report - Submitted by Jill Watson - thanks for getting us on QuickBooks! Enrichment Fund will be tracked by grade level. Approved by Amy Rotberg. 2nd Darlene Doucot.
Unfinished Business:
Updates:
Parent Info Night - Thanks Amber and Joan! The nights went really well! We had aprox 20 new emails
addresses. Over 200 on the PTO email distribution list.
School Committee Elections - Chris Kneeland went over - parents & teacher may be elected, by law must be, community, parents, teachers, community rep, principal. we have 2 teachers. We need at least 3 parents. We have two from last year that are staying aboard so we are in need of one. We need to send out nomination papers.....to have an election. Liz will type up the nomination letters & send it out via List Serve.
Destination Imagination - Lori Floodman. 5 teams. Sign ups are all completed. Coaches are in place. District decided to take on a portion of the funding. Kids will pay a $50.00 user fee. District will pay for the registration fee - also paying for the coaches training. Still hoping that the PTO money will still be avail for materials for the kid's teams. Aprox 35 kids. Covering kids from K-6th grade. No kids are on waiting lists. Great news. All were okay with funds donated.
Spirit Wear - Pam Gay - Oct. 11-25. Did not cost anything to set it up. www.pinegrovestuff.com.
Flyer will go out via List Serve this week.
Calendar Sales - Possibly we'll do this in the spring.
Movie License - Liz Butler looked into getting a district movie license. District PTO/PTAs were not interested. We'll pay as we go. $75.00 per movie. We usually do at least 2 movie nights per year.
Teacher Website Updates - As of Sept. 24th, teachers are encouraged to use a free teacher website.
3 teachers will be reimbursed. Ink Jet fund will take care of this. The teachers have not needed to request the funds for reimbursement since the tech account was available. They will need to request reimbursement if renewed membership after Sept. 24th.
Gift Wrap Fundraiser - Jean Atherton - Very slow compared to last year. 71 orders so far. Right now out of 53 schools that the Innisbrook Rep has - we are the lowest school. We're hoping to have a last minute push on the last couple of days!! We will extend to Tuesday Oct. 13th. 29 envelopes came back w/ no orders. 12 names are in the system w/ no orders. 16 orders with checks so far. Innisbrook needs 30 days to close out the orders and to ship to us.
Purell Drive - $310.00 has been collected from the Purell Drive. Action Ambulance has offered to donate 1000 refills. Thanks to Joe Amello for helping get this great donation!!
Target Gift Cards/Shaws/Stop & Shop - Joanna White is making a flyer to promote this.
Box Tops - counted 3000 box tops. Thanks to Joanna White & Kate Machado. Last year we made $541.00 all packaged and ready to go. For the month of Sept., we'll pick a name out of the box tops as an individual winner. This year, starting in October, we'll give a prize to the classroom that collects the most box tops @ the end of the year. Parents can collect them and put your child's name & teacher's name on the bag.
Antiquities - Mrs. Gagnon will work on this. These are old fashion photos. She's in contact w/ the rep. She'll let us know when she gets more info.
Giggles Night - Amber Quigley. Thursday Jan. 28th. $550.00 funds request for the deposit. Total cost is $1100.00. Pizza and soda. Cash bar. Giggles holds aprox 160 people. We're thinking aprox $15.00 per tix. Darlene Doucot approved. Amy Rotberg 2nd. Passed unanimously.
New Business:
Upcoming Events:
Fall Fest - Friday Oct. 30th 6-8. Pamela Gay in charge of volunteers. Sent email out to folks Tuesday asking for volunteers. We want to really push the food pantry. We'll ask for canned goods as an admission fee. Liz and Pam will make a big pumpkin to fill w/ canned goods. Hay Wagon, obstacle course, hot dogs, cookies, cider, popcorn. Fun for the community!
Fall Book Fair - Scheduled Nov. 2-10 - need volunteers. Met w/ Scholastic Rep. First letter will go out this week.
FUTURE Events/Fundraisers/Ideas -
Language Advantage - Chris Kneeland - Are we interested in putting together an after school foreign language program? Newbury Elementary is doing it now. Asking PTO to run the program. Program runs for 24 weeks on Wednesday's. Aprox $12.00 per class. Some folks are asking for this. Needs at least 7 children to work the program. Spanish program will be avail. Flyer will go out this week. Would like to start the week of Oct. 21st if we can get enough children.
Children's ID - It was done years ago. Finding the space to do it. Free program. Kids get finger printed photos and given ID cards. Helps kids know how to stay safe. Possibly look into doing it at another PTO event...like the ice cream social.
Selectman's Letter - Town Anniversary Event - 375th anniv is coming up in 5 years! Letter is asking the community organizations to represent in planning the anniv 1st meeting is in January. Some ideas are a parade and historical presentation. We will put this info up on the PTO website to look for a volunteer.
Girl Scout proposal for playground touch ups - Margo Lacey - girl scouts would like to re-paint the map on the playground. Other things may need fixing up on the playground. Possibly asking other scouts - turning it into a community day - fence needs fixing, maybe plant a tree, flowers. maybe get a grant to get new equipment. Will take place some time after April vacation or the beginning of May. Looking for a committee to get organized. A great event to bring families together and celebrate the Pine Grove community. Student Counsel does have future plans to put in perennials out back by the playground. We'll put a note on the SOURCE about this.
Greetings by the Dozen - Fundraising Opp. A night at Greetings by the Dozen in NBPT. PTO would get 20% of the sales on a certain night. Night includes personalized invites, Wine & Cheese. Special gift if a person books a party during the event. Nothing booked...still thinking about this.
Business Fair - Possibly have a business fair in the spring. Promote local home businesses
Fashion Show - We don't have coordinators this year. This is a nice opportunity for local businesses to promote their businesses. If any one is interested in organizing one, let us know.
5k - Amber Quigley was thinking of having a Rowley run/walk 5k. (3.2 miles) Tie it in closer to the jog along and Fitness Theme. Jen Dubis could hold a tee shirt design contest to draw kids into doing the run/walk. Aprox expenses would be tee shirts. Looking to get lots of donations from businesses. Prizes can be gift certificates to local businesses. There is a website that we can promote The 5k. We can have people use this site to sign up. $275.00 to have the website involved.
Calendar of Events - Field Day - Kyle Campbell has typically organized this. It will be hard for him to organize this year. We'll need parents to organize it and the day's events. Celebration of Learning will be before Field Day this year. Field Day is Tues. June 1 5th; Celebration of Learning will be Thurs. June 10th. (dates subject to change)
Assistant Principal's Report - Margot Lacey - everyone is settled in to the school routine. First couple of weeks was an adventure w/ the younger kids.
Principal's Report - School improvement plan is approved by the district. First 2 community gatherings were held. Feedback from teachers – it was great. 6th grade peer mediators did skits for both meetings. MCAS scores were good. Destiny Automation is a program for the library that the other district libraries are using and we would like to have it for Pine Grove. More info to come on that topic.
Head Lice - letters have been going home. It's not strictly Pine Grove issue. We're not the only
school that has these issues. We're doing all we can to help with this issue. Things need to be implemented with in reason! Parents need to check children on a daily basis. Chris is working on getting a community forum together to address this issue. Rowley board of health will be invited as well as the District Nurse. Weekly head lice reports will go out. Info on the Superintendent Search on the Triton District website. We're hosting a focus night on Thursday Oct. 22nd at 7pm. School Committee will be going to every school. Pine Grove's night to host is Dec. 9th.
Volunteers needed - email PTO at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it -
6th Grade corner on The SOURCE needs a communicator to share information about the happenings in the middle school. December “conference snacks for staff” organizer.
REMINDERS:
PTO Meeting Dates: 11/3, 12/1, 1/5, 2/2, 3/2, 4/6, 5/4, 6/1
Raffle prize donate by Aleta Budd - won by: Jean Atherton
