January 14th Proposed Minutes

These are the proposed minutes for the January PTO meeting. If you see anything that needs to be changed, make a motion at the beginning of the PTO meeting on February 11th.

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Highland View PTO

January 14, 2013

Minutes

Fifteen individuals were in attendance (including Mrs. Olszewski and Mrs. Dietrich).

The minutes of the November 12, 2012 meeting were approved.

The treasurer’s report was presented and accepted. The PTO thanks Colleen Thiel for her leadership of the Run/Walk for Education, which raised nearly $1000.

Report on Past Events

All the World Festival: Amanda Kachikis reported that many families attended the event and they had more performers than last year. The children’s prizes for completed passports worked well. Amanda expressed thanks to the staff for their involvement.

Conference Dinner: Kristin Settle stated that there was an abundance of volunteers and that the dinner was well received.

RIF Book Distribution: Alison Julien noted that the first book distribution was held in December, with all the students receiving a book. The next distribution will be in March.

Current Projects/Upcoming Events

Sock Hop: Lori Hanlon reported that all is ready for the Sock Hop scheduled for this Friday, January 18^th. Forty-two families purchased tickets in advance and eight individuals signed up to participate in the chili cook-off.

Read Me a Story Night: Alison Julien noted that this event will immediately follow the family dinner on Friday, February 8^th. She will be recruiting volunteer readers and donations of cookies.

Family Dinner: Natalie Thiel is chairing the dinner scheduled for Friday, February 8^th, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Dinner will consist of spaghetti and garlic bread from Klasiana’s. Advance ticket sales will be requested through a flyer to go out soon. She is asking for help from 5^th grade students to clean up.

Book Fair: The next book fair is tentatively scheduled for the week of February 25^th.

Conference Dinner: The second conference dinner will be held on February 25^th and is chaired by Amy Schwark.

Spirit Wear: Chairperson, Jessica Anaya will be sending order forms home with the students in the next couple of weeks.

High Interest Day: Denise Sanders gave an overview of this event which is for 3^rd-5^th grade students and gives them the opportunity to participate in various workshops on careers, hobbies, etc. High Interest Day is the afternoon of Thursday, April 25^th. Anyone who is interested in leading a workshop should contact Denise.

Budget Planning Process

Aleks Skibicki discussed the need for advanced planning in putting together the organization budget for the coming year. He noted that input from the PTO membership is preferred and if anyone is interested in serving on the budget committee (meeting three times in the coming months), they should contact Aleks.

Principal’s Report

Mrs. Dietrich discussed tentative plans to incorporate a science theme into this year’s open house event. She mentioned the idea of bringing in Mad Science to do an assembly for some of the students while other students demonstrate their science projects for family members in their classrooms. This would help ease congestion throughout the building. A PTO member suggested creating an art gallery in the gym instead, turning the night into an evening of Arts and Sciences. Mrs. Dietrich liked this idea and will explore it further with the school staff.

A review of the school’s safety plan has been completed and changes made as appropriate. A flyer went home regarding a recent secure drill.

The 5^th grade students will lead Friday’s CARE assembly on attitude.

Lunch hour math tutoring will begin soon. Fifth grade students will tutor 3^rd graders, 4^th graders will tutor 2^nd graders, and 3^rd graders will tutor 1^st graders. A fourth day will be used for math games.

Mrs. Dietrich and Mrs. Olszewski sought input on changes to the talent show. The number of students interested in participating has increased over the years to the point of having to cut 3^rd grade out of the show last year and still the event is too long. They are considering moving it to an evening event, which was generally endorsed by PTO members.

Meeting Conclusion

The gift card for most parents at the meeting was given to Mrs. Bushman.

The meeting was adjourned.