Manchester Memorial Elementary PTO Minutes October 9, 2008 PTO Co-chairs, Linda Feuerbach and Suzanne Otterbein, opened the meeting by thanking Tanya Stubbs and the Welcoming Committee for organizing the Newcomer’s Potluck Supper on Friday, October 3. There were around 80 in attendance, and the evening was very successful. Tanya noted that it would be a good event to hold again next year and is currently processing feedback from the committee and families. Beautification Committee Emily McCarthy and Suzanne Finn have volunteered to be co-chairs for the Beautification Committee. Linda and Suzanne met with them to discuss goals for the next year, including creating a plan for a low-maintenance, attractive garden for the area inside the fence at the front of the school. A discussion ensued about goals for the next 3-5 years, with suggestions on how to involve other community groups. Emily is investigating an organization called Project Green Schools, which works on bringing a healthier environment into schools. She hopes to gather information that will help Memorial go in that direction. Directory Update Sara Levensohn had sent the directory to the printer and was expecting proofs. The print run will be 150 copies less than last year, as each family will be provided with one copy only, unless otherwise requested and paid for. This results in a savings of $430 over last year. Crosby’s Receipts Program Just a few weeks into the program, we have already reached $1000 in Crosby’s receipts! Our goal is $20,000 in receipts by March 31, 2009. Mary Coyne will be spearheading the Crosby’s receipts program.
Parent Education Series Linda and Suzanne spoke with Katie Marsh/school counselor and Kate Roberts/school psychologist who are enthusiastic about participating in the Parent Education Series. Their first lecture of the series will be on Positive Discipline and will be appropriate for parents of K-6 graders. This free event will be held on December 11 from 7-8:30 pm in the school auditorium. Other items concerning the lecture series were discussed including the format for the evening, question and answer session, and topics for future lectures. Events for October include the Book Fair, October 20-23 and the Spaghetti Supper on Thursday, October 23. Kelly Zaval spoke about the book fair and that she was looking for a few more volunteers. Jessica Lamothe, heading up the Spaghetti Supper, suggested sending out a flyer promoting the Spaghetti Supper/Book Fair/School Store and that people can come have dinner and shop in the same evening. Box Tops for Education Program Mandy Kokas is heading up the Box Tops for Education program and will be holding a competition between classes to see who can collect the most box tops. The class with the most box tops collected in each session will win an ice-cream social. The first competition runs from October 20th-December 18th. Collect those box tops and send them into school – there are collection boxes in each classroom. More information about the Box Tops program is located on the PTO Website http://sites.google.com/site/memorialpto. The next PTO meeting will be held on Thursday, November 13 at 2 pm. Manchester Memorial Elementary PTO Minutes September 11, 2008 The PTO meeting started at 2PM with about 18 parents in attendance, and 2 Teacher/Administration representatives. Linda Feuerbach, Co-President opened the first Memorial PTO meeting of the year by giving a warm welcome to Katie Marsh, School Counselor, who has agreed to be the “T” (teacher) in the “PTO”. Katie will act as a liaison between the teachers and the parent organization which will help to bridge communication between both groups. Third grade teacher, Pat Fleming, was also in attendance and would like to attend meetings as available. Linda then thanked the Welcoming Committee for doing a great job welcoming new students and families to the school community. The committee initiated contact between current families and new families over the summer, and started up a new “Helping Hands” program whereby the 6th graders helped the Kindergartners off to their classes for the first few days of school. They will also host a Newcomer’s Coffee on September 18 and a Newcomer’s Potluck Supper on October 3. Linda introduced Sarah Graves as the new PTO Web site manager – visit the new PTO Web site for PTO updates, information on committees, PTO minutes, etc. You can enter the site through the school Web site or http://sites.google.com/site/memorialpto/. Suzanne Otterbein, Co-President then introduced Samantha Silag, School Librarian, who put out an appeal for library volunteers. Parent volunteers will help in shelving and checking books out, will work with students, and have a great way to meet other parents and be involved in the school. This is a flexible position and any help is appreciated. A Library Volunteer meeting was held on September 15, 2008. Suzanne then described the PTO Mission/Vision which is built around two themes:
A primary objective of the PTO is to bring the school community together with different events, such as speakers presenting topics of interest to the community (i.e., parenting), and general social activities (bowling, ice skating, etc.) that would be at no/minimal cost to families. Linda asked PTO members to email the officers with any ideas of speakers or topics that would be interesting, as well as activities for fun family events. 2. Going Green will be another focus of the PTO. We would like to join in the school’s effort and expand on it, working in partnership with the school. Recycling has begun in the cafeteria. Katie Marsh mentioned that a bottle/can recycling program will start up next month. Katie Marsh noted that the School Council discussed a Movie Night – one Friday evening would be dedicated to younger children and their families, another Friday evening would be for older kids. Katie noted that the Manchester Community Center has been working on offering older kids opportunities for things to do such as movie nights, dances, etc. and that it has been very successful. She suggested that we try something along those lines, as kids want to be with their friends, and we could provide a supportive environment. A discussion ensued about details of such events, how to handle, etc. Linda noted that it is a great idea to investigate. Suzanne then presented an overview of the PTO financials so that members understand how their money is used. Suzanne noted that the Wrapping Paper fundraiser is the biggest money-maker of the year, and is great in that it is an optional fundraiser and community members can participate or not. The other big annual fundraiser has been the Beautification Bash, an annual silent auction and dance, raising significant funds in the past four years. As many auction items are donated, and the economy is slower this year, we will take a break on the Bash this year. Suzanne went over other annual fundraisers: Book Fair – explained how each teacher receives a $40 stipend from proceeds from both the Fall and Spring Book Fairs. Pat Fleming noted that this is great for the teachers. Linda mentioned that it would be helpful if teachers could purchase their books during the week of the book fairs (and not after) as it is easier to track and simplifies bookkeeping. She asked Katie to bring this up during the staff meeting. Spaghetti Supper – Proceeds of this fundraiser go to Dr. Mara’s Discretionary Fund. The supper will be held on October 23 this year and always sells out! 5K Road Race/1 Mile Fun Run will supplant the Beautification Bash this year. This is a great family event and Linda said that feedback from the community is for some more family events. The idea is to have the Beautification Bash every other year and not exhaust our sponsors. Magnet Art – This fundraiser has been traditionally held every other year- it was very successful last year under Karen Clark’s direction, and could be considered for an annual event. Would need someone to head it up for this year. Pat Fleming brought up the issue of Teacher Stipends and how it is always an unknown among the teachers what the amount is. We discussed providing all full-time teachers with a form to fill out for re-imbursement, and to clarify the amount of the stipend. Enrichment programs receive 40% of the fundraising dollars, and teachers’ grants receive 13%-14%. Another annual expenditure is the Student Directory, which costs $1300 for the PTO – each student has typically received a free copy. A discussion ensued about providing one copy free per family and charging for each additional copy, in an effort to reduce costs to the PTO. The salad/sandwhich bar has not yet arrived – the wrong size was delivered and we are waiting delivery of the correct bar. Amy Tuttle, of the Spaulding Education Trust, announced the Mad Hatter’s Dance will be held at Woodman’s in Essex on September 26 from 8-12 pm. Please come! The meeting adjourned around 2:55. Alexis Rautio Memorial Elementary PTO Secretary Manchester Memorial Elementary PTO Minutes June 5, 2008 The PTO meeting started at 9AM with about 25 parents in attendance. Kate Schwartz, PTO President Kate started off the meeting by thanking everyone for attending, and for noting that the main object of the meeting for committee sign-ups and for putting next year’s PTO in place. The most urgent position to fill is the School Store chair. This chair will have the authority to bid out and choose a new vendor and can decide on new inventory. This person will also run the in-school store and coordinate volunteers. Kate noted that this could be a co-chair position. Kate also announced that a chair is needed for the Magazine Fundraiser position. Kate said that the serving counter for the cafeteria has been purchased and that this counter will initially be for the 5th and 6th graders and will have cold cuts and salads available to them. This was purchased in hopes that there will be a better quality of food, and more fresh choices available. Kate also told those in attendance that the PTO will be giving 5th grade girls period pieces and that 5th grade boys will receive hygiene packs. Kate announced that Linda Feuerbach and Suzanne Otterbein will be next year’s PTO co-chairs. Megan Meek then presented flowers and thank-you’s to Kate and thanked her for her hard work during her two years as PTO president. Linda Feuerbach and Suzanne Otterbein Linda and Suzanne introduced themselves as the 2008-2009 co-chairs for the Memorial PTO. They thanked Kate Schwartz for her tireless work during the past two years, and noted that she was instrumental in many fundraising endeavors, including the Beautification Bash, which raised money annually to improve the physical appearance of the school and purchased items such as the rock-climbing wall. They then asked the Committee Chairs to introduce themselves to the gathering. Megan Meek as Treasurer, Alexis Rautio as Secretary, Tanya Stubbs as Welcoming Committee, Sara Levensohn as Directory, Janice Holley and Kim Arntsen as the Enrichment Committee co-chairs, Kelly Zaval and Suzanne Finn as Book Fair co-chairs. Kathy Masella has agreed to co-chair the Hit the Street for Little Feet fundraiser again, as well. Suzanne made the comment that there was great feedback on the event, that it was a great kid/family event, but that we will need more volunteers to run the event next year. Linda and Suzanne said that they would also like the focus of the PTO to be as social events as well as fundraising. They envision getting new families involved in PTO events and fundraising activities, especially the K-2 grades and encourage people to participate with friends. Linda noted that there will be a new PTO Information Bulletin Board in the front hall of the school with PTO news, a list of the heads of the committees, what Enrichment Programs are upcoming, and School Store special items. She noted that a volunteer will be needed to help maintain it on a monthly basis. A discussion about the School Directory followed, concerning how to cut costs and go green. The directory has typically run about 10% of the PTO’s annual budget, and we’re looking for ways to reduce this cost. A charge of $2.00 per directory was discussed (has been free in the past), along with consideration of an order form, so that families with multiple children could decide if want 1 or more copies, rather than just receiving multiple copies by default. The PTO group then discussed ways to attract attendance and participation in the PTO. Christine Kelly mentioned that bringing in lecturers to meetings might boost attendance. Kate Schwartz noted that Sarah Graves is taking over the PTO Web site management, and discussed email lists and how to use them effectively. It was also suggested that the PTO would like to have more teacher involvement in the organization. Changing the PTO meeting time to afternoons was also discussed. The group brainstormed some event possibilities that would appeal to the school community, including an ice-skating party, a movie night, etc. Amy Tuttle, Spaulding Education Fund Amy thanked Kate for all her hard work in the past two years, and noted that the two organizations have worked well together. She announced that Spaulding will hold a “Madhatter’s Dance” on September 26, 2008, with Madhouse as the band, as a fundraising event. This is a great venue to get the Manchester and Essex families together, and that the last dance was a financially successful event. The next Lobsters for Learning fundraising event will take place in 2010. The meeting adjourned around 10:30. Alexis Rautio Memorial Elementary PTO Secretary |
PTO Meeting Minutes |
 Co-Chairs Linda Feuerbach lindafeuerbach@gmail.com Suzanne Otterbein sotterbein@yahoo.com Treasurer Megan Meek meganmeek@aol.com Secretary Alexis Rautio rautios@aol.com   We encourage you to read about the wonderful enrichment programs that the PTO is able to provide to our students. Your enthusiastic support of our fundraising efforts has a direct impact on our children's school experience.    |
