Valley Forge Middle School PTO

Parent-Teacher Organization for VFMS

VFMS PTO Meeting Minutes, September 12, 2022 

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Mr Gibson’s Report

  • Car Line: 
    • Parents, please stay out of the bus circle. Buses serve the high school, middle school and elementary school and need to move through as quickly as possible.
    • Students, please get to a sidewalk as soon as possible, and avoid the grass and field by the bus circle, as the glare makes it hard for drivers to see 
  • New Front Door System: This is coming to all district schools, but VFMS was one of the first to get it. It allows the greeter to buzz people through or take items being dropped off through a window.
  • Student Safety: 
    • Last week’s lockdown drill went well and it was nice to have police on scene for a different perspective on keeping students safe.
    • Relocation and fire drills are coming soon
  • School Communication: School Messanger and Schoology will be the main places where the school communicates with parents. 
  • Back to School nights went well.
  • Picture Day is Friday.
  • ERBs, which are standardized tests, will be given to 6th and 8th graders in Oct. 11 & 12.
  • Parents wanting to chaperone: If you had your clearances for elementary school, they may have expired, so you might want to check and renew them.
  • Field Trips:
    • 5th grade going to Cherry Crest Farm
    • Working on 6th & 7th grade field trips
    • Working on a day trip to Sandy Hill, Maryland, for 8th graders
  • Cell Phones: Mr. Gibson says they are being more vigilant than previously, meaning kids need to keep their phones in their lockers and not check them during the day. He says he has noticed a difference with more kids talking to each other.
    • Mr. Gibson suggested that if you’ve gotten your student a cell phone that you let them know that there is an expectation that you will go through it.
    • Mr. Gibson stressed the importance of talking to your kids about cell phone/social media/digital safety
    • Parents can catch mistake before the become too big
  • Laptops: So far this year, laptops are not being allowed at lunch
  • Time Management: Mr. Gibson stressed the importance of talking to your kids about time management, suggesting Sunday is a good time to go over all the things the family has during the week, as sibling events frequently impact each other, and they might need to budget their time differently accordingly.
    • Mr. Gibson suggested checking Schoology on Thursday and having a conversation with your student about missing assignments, thus giving your student a chance to talk to teachers about those assignments on Friday.

President’s Report (Lucy Bennett)

So Far This Year

Locker Shelves: 42 sold (sold out)

5th Grade Open House

  • Thank you Amy Saylor, Amy Terlecki and Stephanie Crill for helping stuff donation letters, give out locker shelves and sell stickers and magnets
  • Sold 34 magnets and 12 stickers, $194 

New Parent Breakfast

  • Thank you Amy Saylor and Dipti Panda for their help with the breakfast
  • We helped welcome about 45 new students and a parent to the school
  • Looking forward, we may want to purchase a coffee urn and nice water dispenser to save money

Donation Letter

  • The letter was written and stuffed by those who helped at the 5th grade Open House and went out the first week of school
  • Parents at the meeting who had 5th graders said they hadn’t gotten the letter yet. Lucy will follow up with Casey Egan in the main office.
  • Next step, email next week to follow up and give people a chance to donate online

Health Screenings

  • On Wednesday and Thursday, we worked with our new nurse to get volunteers to take height and weight while nurses did vision tests and hearing tests for 7th graders and new students

PTO Structure

  • New orgaization structure
  • Many open positions

Reports from PTO members

Diversity: (Erika Dawson & Jenny Ham-Roberts)

  • This is the second year of the committee.
  • They are hoping to have a mom and psychologist facilitate a discussion on Oct. 13, more details to come
  • Erika has an 8th grader and noted that she will need someone to replace her next year

Cultural Arts: (Amy Terlecki, not in attendance, report given by Lucy Bennett)

  • We are still in need of new people for this position, as Amy is moving on, although happy to train new people
  • Author Nathan Hale is booked for Feb. 16

Treasurer: (Anjali Gupta)

  • The Budget and Income Statement from last year will be included below
  • Last year Golden Apple Grants budget was dropped from $3000 to $1000. The motion was made by Lucy Bennett to restore the $3000 budget. It was seconded by Amy Saylor and passed with a show of hands.
  • Anjali is looking for an assistant treasurer to help and potentially move up to treasurer eventually.
  • The Golden Apple Grant is in need of a coordinator and the audit committee is in need of volunteers

Fundraising: (Emily Carteen and Amy Saylor)

  • Emily has been working with Lindsey Strippoli, a mom who is a graphic designer, to create a new logo. She should have some options later this week.
  • Once the new logo is chosen and approved, we can move forward with a Spiritwear sale, which would be open for two weeks and then items would be shipped directly to people’s homes before the holidays. Emily is working with BSN Sports, as we were not happy with the company we used last year. Turn around is 4-5 weeks.
  • Emily has a message in to Sweet Jazmines to see if they want to do the Thanksgiving fundraiser again this year as a last hoorah, since the business is closing the day before Thanksgiving.
  • The virtual marathons from the pandemic will not be repeated, as they did not attract too much support last year, but were a lot of work.

Volunteers: (Amy Saylor)

  • Lots of committees needing coordinators and volunteers (Wellness Week, 5th Grade Math Night, Teacher Appreciation Luncheons, Teacher Appreciation Week, 8th Grade Graduation, Halloween Costume Contest, Holiday Gift Card, Chaperone Coordinator)
  • Some events that we are trying to bring back will not be able to come back without coordinators and volunteers to make them happen

Socials (Report given by Lucy Bennett)

  • We are in need of a VP for socials
  • We also need coordinators for multiple committees (New Family Breakfast & 8th Grade Parent Breakfast, Parent Socials, Back to School Family Social-for next year)

Communications: Judy Reiter (unable to attend)(Report given by Lucy Bennett)

  • When trying to get information sent to families through the PTO, please be sure to contact Judy Reiter to get it on the website, Stephanie Howard to get it on Facebook and Rachel Kramer to get it in the Blast.
  • Judy posts things on weekends, so please get things to her by end of business Friday.

Blast: (Rachel Kramer)

  • Rachel would like things sent to her by the start of business on Thursday for the Sunday blast
  • Looking to add new things of interest to the Blast. Please let her know of anything you find

New Business

  • Bylaws Update-hope to get through them as quickly as possible in the October or November meeting
  • The nurse would like us to collect used, but still in good condition clothing to be kept in the nurse’s office for students who need a change of clothing.

Future Meetings

  • Schedule-Next meeting is October 4 at 7pm on Zoom

Minutes written up by Lucy Bennett

Budget

Income Statement