VFMS PTO Meeting Minutes 4/11/2023
Attendance: President Lucy Bennett, Alora Chirchick, Amy Saylor, Amy Terlecki, Anjali Gupta, Emily Carteen, Jenny Ham-Roberts, Rachel Kramer, Brittany Ortiz, Lesley Farrell
Introductions
- Approve Minutes from last month’s meeting – Approved!
- Mr. Gibson unable to attend tonight
- Report cards to be available this week
- Parents to complete Intent to Return for next year
- Lucy inquired as to interest in a Movie Tavern Fundraiser
- Overall positive feedback
- Fundraiser would be buying gift cards – school would get percentage back
- Emily suggested trying it in 2023 before the Holiday Season
- Pavilion DEI Mural
- In light of recent racist and anti-semitic graffiti defacing of school grounds, Lucy asked about interest of doing school contest for mural with message of inclusivity and diversity
- Way to turn a negative event into something positive
- Amy T. (who painted the mutual in the library) can assist with the practicalities of determining amount/type of paint, how to paint, how long it will take, help to put image on wall, etc.
- SOAR/DEI presentation to Inter-school counsel (ISC) – Thursday
- Lucy will present on SOAR and Erika will present on DEI
- May/June Meetings – aim to wrap things up; considering in person meeting
- Goal is to start the next school year with as many PTO positions filled with volunteers up to speed, a budget in place, and a fundraising letter in the mail.
- Please consider next year and whether your budget needs adjustment – communicate to Anjali, Jayeeta and Lucy.
- Direct donations – should we add magnet/swag next year as incentive for high donors?
- Direct donations going well but not at pre-pandemic levels
- Next year’s tentative PTO meeting 2023-24 schedule –
- Sept. 5 or 12 – checking curriculum nights (VFMS, VFES, NEES, HES)
- Oct. 3
- Nov. 14 (Nov. 7 is inservice day)
- Dec. 5
- Jan. 9
- Feb. 6
- March 5
- April 2
- May 7
- June 4
- Although we don’t do anything over the summer, some work should be done before the start of school or right when it starts, such as
- Directory
- Fundraising-(Locker Shelves/Any replacement, Car Magnets, Spiritwear)
- Socials (New Family Breakfast, potential Welcome Back to School school-wide social)
- President (Donation request letter)
- Any available PTO Member-Volunteer at 5th grade Open House, New Family Breakfast)
- Blast (starts weekly as soon as the directory is up and running)
- Website (make sure it’s up to date for new school year before school starts)
- Facebook (class pages change over, 4th grade pages merged into 5th grade)
- Green (the sooner we can get recycle bins out, the better)
Reports from PTO members
Volunteers: Amy Saylor
- Major open positions for next year – Vice president, Socials, Green Team, Golden Apple Grant Coordinator. Also many smaller positions.
- Will include this info in MS and elementary school email blasts
Fundraising: Emily Carteen & Amy Saylor
- Ceiling tiles – huge success – Sold 80 tiles! $2,220 profit!
- May 1st – Handel’s fundraising night. All day on May 1st – just show flyer. Handel’s will donate 20% of sales back to PTO
- Spirit Wear Sales doing well – so far 30 orders; PTO gets 10% back. Hope that kids will see the items and other kids will want to order. Keep store open through May, will send final announcement in email blast. Then re-open in August. PTO gets paid quarterly from Spirit Wear Sales
- Union Fundraiser – made at least $1,180
- Next year –
- No luck on Locker sales
- But have found 2 styles of locker mirrors
- Looking into other sports events, and theme parks
Treasurer: Anjali Gupta
- Direct donations have surpassed the projected donations
- Wanted to fundraise 4,800 – have raised $3,000
- Will collect for Staffulty fund for teacher appreciation week until April 21
Golden Apple Grants:
- No new applications this month
Cultural Arts: Amy Terlecki & Alora Chirchick
- 8th Grade event is April 12, 2023
- 7th Grade interactive event next week
- Library – potential author visit – Soman Chainani, Author of School of Good and Evil
Green Team:
- Working on new signage
- Will be change of battery collection location to under table indoors
Facebook: Stephanie Howard – no report
T&E Care:
- VFMS to collect boxes of a dozen #2 pencils for the school drive
School Board: Brittany Ortiz –
- Discussions as to school safety
- Discussions as to hate speech on VFMS grounds – if anyone has information about this, contact Detective Slavin
Children’s Dental Clinic:
- The dental clinic is still searching for a permanent dental space. Some spaces have fallen through due to times we need vs times they need.
Next Meeting
- Next Meeting is May 2, 2023 via Zoom
Notes Compiled by Lesley Farrell