- Call meeting to order: 07:10 pm Emily L. 2nd by Stacey B
- Introductions: Emily L, Allison H, Caitlin C, Brittany D, Tina S, Jennifer Oliver, Chris C, Angela H, Stacey B. and Jenn Hale
- Secretaries Report- motion to approve meeting minutes from 10/2015 by Allison, second by Stacey B.
- Treasurers report, previous report approved by Brittany and second by Allison
- School PTO taxes sent to accountant, needed to file for PTA and PTO this year, will not need to next year
- Halloween Happenings raised over $2400.00. Cards are still good until 11/31/2015
- Opt out is at $3500.00 already which is our target goal. Approx. 70 families have opted out so far.
- $644.00 in box tops for October – reminder to check expiration dates and trim edges before sending in.
- Please spread the word about Amazon Smile- we raise 1% of any money spent on site when parents sign up our school.
- School PTO taxes sent to accountant, needed to file for PTA and PTO this year, will not need to next year
- Committee reports
- Halloween happenings- successful activity overall and well attended.
- Book fair - Conferences and book fair will be held 11/18, 11/19, 11/20, still need volunteers for this at SES and people can sign up on Facebook or website. MBA did very well this year, awaiting final numbers. Raffle at MBA brought in approx. $495.00 without expenses, still need raffle basket volunteers. Will need to get some cash for cash box from Chris approx. $200.00 to make change, also will provide some funds for raffle. Some proceeds will be going toward children who need financial assistance for books, also two new teachers have asked for some money from book fair to assist with classroom book purchasing. Lastly, all proceeds from this go back into the classrooms to buy new books for classrooms. Per Mrs. Oliver, noted that the classrooms cannot double book time in order to provide more organization for kids during book fair.
- Cultural enrichment report
- Discussed need to make sure to blast reminder when the children have attended a PTO sponsored event during school day to increase PTO visibility.
- Angela H will continue on as chair of this committee until someone is willing to take over and she is happy to help train someone. She will meet with principals regarding dates and needed programs.
- Kate Hanscom came for K to 3rd grade, very well received. She does not charge and this is free to the school. She received a Copperhouse Tavern gift card as a thank you for her time.
- Painting Artist Rob S coming 12/10/15 for K-5th grade – speaks about famous people in his “Be Somebody” program
- 2/15 K-2nd grade with see the Lolipop Orchestra perform “The Three Little Piggies”
- Jacqueline Davis author of the “Lemonade Wars” will be coming to do 4 presentations for K to 5th grade
- Theater Works – “Freedom Train” for 3rd grade to 5th grade
- Looking for a new musical performance if anyone has suggestions – someone mentioned for MBA “The Brain Game” and someone mentioned the acapella group “Ball in the House”, Angela/Stacey B will check into
- Looking for end of year cultural enrichment program for all of MBA and SES like the bike program last year approx. $2000.00 budget for this.
- Angela H will continue on as chair of this committee until someone is willing to take over and she is happy to help train someone. She will meet with principals regarding dates and needed programs.
- Discussed need to make sure to blast reminder when the children have attended a PTO sponsored event during school day to increase PTO visibility.
- Halloween happenings- successful activity overall and well attended.
- Fundraising
b. Tastebook – this was approved as a fundraiser this year. PTO makes a good profit from this book. They cost $25.00 and the PTO gets back $12.50/book if we sell at least 100. Excellent coupons are noted to be in the book, Big Y, etc.
c. Square One art project – parents will purchase items with their child’s original art and 35% of cost goes back to PTO. This is being supported by art teachers. Going well at SES and not started at MBA may have kids bring home and complete if interested at MBA.
d. Box tops- continue to be worth while to do. Lisa F volunteered to count these at MBA and will contact Diane J to set up a video reminder for MBA students to collect them. Pat Clark is counting them at SES and always looking for more volunteers to help.
e. XL center- Uconn tickets done selling today sold 26 for men and 26 for women’s games- $5.00 profit for PTO with each ticket sold, so far 17 tickets for hockey, 14 for Disney and this needs to be purchased by 12/15/15. Will send out monster truck flyer after holidays
f. Gift card fundraiser again this year as this has been popular in the past- deadline is 12/3/2015.
g. Still looking for spring fun run chair person.
- General discussion:
- Many open positions still remain on PTO for board members and committee chairs. Emily L will remain acting president until 1/2016 or sooner if someone is interested. Cultural enrichment needs a chair person still. No interest has been received for these positions as of yet.
- Idea to include a celebration of learning at the PTO meetings and this has been successful in the past elsewhere.
- Concerns raised over the management of the bus routes this year. Specifically in regard to the condition of the buses, safety concerns when buses are running late for pick up, lack of communication when buses are running late as well as lack of communication when routes are being changed. Any bus related concerns should be brought to Bill Beltwell as he is the liaison for the First Student company and the school.
- Many open positions still remain on PTO for board members and committee chairs. Emily L will remain acting president until 1/2016 or sooner if someone is interested. Cultural enrichment needs a chair person still. No interest has been received for these positions as of yet.
NO December Meeting - Next Meeting at SES Media Center on 01/13/2016 2nd Wednesday of the month 7pm.
Respectfully submitted by Jennifer Hale