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Valley Forge Middle School PTO Minutes, December 7, 2021

Posted on: January 5, 2022

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

Previous Post:Valley Forge Middle School PTO Minutes, November 16, 2021
Next Post:Valley Forge Middle School PTO Minutes, February 1, 2022

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VFMS Main Office: (610) 240-1300
Attendance Line: (610) 240-1330