Compiled and edited by Kusuma Muglurmath
Meeting commenced at 7:00 PM
In attendance were:
- Mr. Gibson
- Lucy Bennet
- Erika Dawson
- Amy Terlecki
- Un Kyong Ho
- Amy Saylor
- Shilpa Gupta
- Anjali Gupta
- Megan Edwards
Principal’s Updates – Mr. Gibson
- Concert Season is coming up
- At school concerts students can see their peers play
- Concerts for parents, families need to have space between.
- Mr. Gonci, Mr. Mitchell have done a great job with concert preparation with students.
- Mr. Mitchell has done a wonderful job filling in as the Choral director.
- Mrs. Brisler has been a big help in the process.
Audion
Contractor seems to be out.
High school transition for eighth graders
- In January, 8th graders will have various events that begin transition to high school.
- Conestoga comes in and tells what is happening and what to expect.
- Counselors will brief parents on parent meetings which might happen in Feb.
- Counselor Kelly Neary is looking to set up parent teacher student meetings just like last year, later in the winter when things are more concrete.
- Winter sports have begun.
- Parent teacher conferences went very well. Parents could attend virtually if coming in person was not possible.
- Teacher Luncheon is on the 21st. We are going to the PTO luncheon.
- Facilitators will work with teachers regarding the set up.
Un Kyong:
- We will do the boxed lunch.
- We have additional signups for parents to send in veggie trays, drinks, dessert, etc.
Shilpa Gupta: We look forward to serving the teachers.
School bus delays
- There is a nationwide bus driver shortage.
- There are no substitute drivers like pre-pandemic.
- We do tiered buses among schools.
- Some schools suffer more than VFMS due to traffic.
- Afternoon buses were running very late before.
- Dr. Guisik helped out a lot to ease this problem.
- Previously, if there was an issue from the bus driver, we recommended that the driver be released from the district.
- Lately we have not had any such issues.
- When I meet with administrators in the county, I see the problem is across the board.
- We have 5th and 6th graders stay in the auditorium to ease too many kids waiting outside.
- Kids need to be more careful around moving cars and parking lot.
- Note to parents: Please make sure your kids know to be safe around the traffic.
Amy Terlecki:
- We won’t need the author visit money this year. He is in high demand.
- Many grades need this author.
- We might at least do a virtual visit with him for sure next year.
President’s Report – Un Kyong Ho
- Have a lovely comment for a teacher or staff to share.
- You can email it and it will be sent to teachers by Dr. Rothera.
- Lucy has been putting this info in the blast.
- Green theme recycling project (recycling things that are hard to recycle) is in motion.
- The bin is outside the school — The next project that is coming up is Christmas light recycling.
Fundraising Report via Un Kyong
- $400 dollars were raised through Sweet Jazmines fund raising.
- We hope to repeat this event for spring.
- Emily had an idea for giving Tuesday which brought in $1000.
- Lucy and I pushed the idea for the experiential fund drive.
- If it needs to happen, it should be done before the holidays.
Socials Report – Shilpa Gupta & Amy Saylor
- We are contemplating Signup Genius for parent donations so that parents can sign up.
- We need to organize a drop off from parents for their food donations.
- I spoke with Kym and I would just need access to it.
- Once it is ready, it should be sent to Lucy for the blast.
Un Kyong:
- EMJ’s could be considered for Teacher’s luncheon facilitation.
- We need to work with Mr. Gibson and Dr. Rothera regarding the norm in the current situation.
- We need to make sure that arrangements and announcements are made so that the luncheon reaches everyone who is a staff member in the building.
- New Eagle Elementary does Diwali drive.
- Some parents at VFMS are interested in doing the same.
- We could look into Holi which is in March/April.
- Someone can run it for fundraising.
- We will present this idea in Spring and see how it goes.
Cultural Arts Report – Amy Terlecki
- The librarian said that author Jayson Reynolds was her no.1 choice. I have contacted him and have not heard back.
- He has many great books including a lot of middle grade books.
- As per 5th and 8th grades, we have not heard back from the teachers.
Treasury Report – Anjali Gupta
- Budget for Teacher Luncheon: $3000 towards hospitality budget.
- Breakdown of usage:
- Holiday luncheon.
- Teacher appreciation.
- Graduation.
- Our direct donations income so far is $3669.
- We are short of our $8000 budget.
- I will update all department heads regarding the numbers.
- Golden Apple grant currently is at $1000.
- The science project request has been approved, however has not been fulfilled yet due to lack of funds.
- So far, we have paid $580 paid towards the Golden Apple grant.
Un Kyong:
- Anjali, please lead the way for sending out the direct donation letters in January.
- Cultural Arts will have an input in the letter.
- I will work in conjunction with you to compile it.
- The school sends the direct donation mail out.
- Megan can shed more light on the process.
Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) & PTO Blasts Report- Lucy Bennet
- We need to promote stickers and magnets more.
- I am planning on putting on the list of local charities in the blast this week.
- Please send in your add-ins for local charity.
Meeting concluded at 8:20 PM
Next Meeting : Jan 4, 2022