|
Parkside
Elementary School
PTO Board Meeting Minutes
December 1, 2008
MEMBERS PRESENT: Elizabeth Tomera, Shelly Erickson,
Melissa Traum, Jenny Demosthenes, Jennifer Barlow, Chris
Nichols, Jeff Naden, DiAnn Naden, Julie Workman, Tony Marsaglia,
Shelley Marsaglia, Cindy Gilliam, Melissa Beaver, LaNell
Greenberg, Chris Rhodes, Angela Rachel, Kara Klockenga,
The meeting was called to order at 6:36 pm.
The Co-Presidents reported that the playground/smart board
survey results were overwhelmingly in favor of the playground.
The PTO will go ahead with making the playground its main
fundraising goal. A Playground Committee will be assembled to
help with the plans needed to make this happen.
Melissa Traum reported that the PTO has sold 41 car magnets to
date and that PTO would attempt to have them available at the
Kindergarten-First Grade concert. The budget update was that
$830 was made through Butter Braids sales and that the fall
fundraiser and some old bills had been paid.
Mrs. Erickson reported that Mrs. Horvath was ill so she was
unable to attend. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving break we had
institute day and there were two different workshops that
teachers signed up for, as did Parkside Jr. High and Normal West
for the grade levels. The reading improvement program we
currently are using is on the fore-front and they listened to a
lot of people talking about its success. We need to reassess and
the kids are moving in the right direction and teachers are
working hard and it is going really well. She said that she
appreciates the PTO support to fund things that wouldn’t have
been funded otherwise. Parkside is no longer using lunch tickets
and the transition has gone well and was smooth. First, third
and fifth come to lunch and find their cards. Recess was inside
and helped with the transition. Heidi is really in favor of
this. Kindergarten, second and fourth grade get theirs ahead of
time because they come to lunch first. If they only need to buy
milk there is still the cart, he just doesn’t collect the money.
The school shop didn’t have a lot of pocket charts so we’ll have
one per grade level. They are alphabetically sorted and their
photos are on them. When parents send money to reload the
student’s lunch card they need to be sure it goes into an
envelope and has the students name on it. Also, mark it lunch
money. It will then be deposited into the account for that
amount the next day. If you still have lunch tickets then turn
them in for credit on the lunch card. All lunch tickets at
school have been turned in. You can view the amount on the card
through Skyward . To get your code just call the office for your
access information. You can then view it and see balances. The
cost per smart board would be $3200 per smart board with all the
equipment that goes with it. The upper elementary rooms were the
only ones looked at but they all have the computer outlet and
plug where it needs to be. The smart board would fit into the
middle of the chalkboard and then have white boards on either
side. There is no other wiring that would need to be done. It
would be $19,710 for 6 classrooms. She reviewed with him about
when he thought they might be happening and he said that the
secondary has a lot of need for technology. So, he really
couldn’t say. There is no plan set yet. After all is said and
done with all of the renovations and buildings we will get the
money allotted according to Dr. Neihaus. In response to Mrs.
Erickson’s guided reading report, Julie Workman mentioned that
guided reading is working out great for her and Conner wasn’t
catching on but now he is miles ahead of where he was when
school started. It is the reading A-Z that makes it different.
Books are levels and there are many websites available to buy
books according to your child’s reading level. Mr. Lerblance
came in and leveled the books so they can make the most growth
possible. Mrs. Erickson was very grateful. On Scholastic you can
do book wizard and you can choose the appropriate books. The
website will be in the next newsletter in the reading section
for school improvement. It lists the books that are of the same
level and the type of books. Everyone should know what level
their child is at. The books don’t have to be at that letter,
exactly just close to it. There are a few websites you can look
at for that.
Committee Chair Reports
Butter Braids – There is one order still back there. The
fundraiser did well.
Scrips - Karl reported that we there was $434.75 last
month.
Playground – Chris isn’t here but we will be working on a
committee for that. The parents of Parkside voiced their opinion
and that’s the fair thing to do.
Room Parties – Parties will be Thurs. Dec 18th at 2:15
pm, NOT Friday. All the reminder notes went home 4-5 weeks ago
and everyone should have their dates and information.
Restaurant Fundraising – Noodles check was for $196; Meatheads
will be coming home and it is December 9th and 10th and it goes
ALL day long. But you HAVE to have the coupon.
Family Fun Night – Melanie has the binder with the games,
etc so we’ll get that and get it to people. When she plans out
the games and activities then the Nadens will figure out how
many volunteers are needed. There is a tentative plan to have
all of the chairs have a meeting maybe prior to PTO so that they
can begin that coordination.
Spirit Wear – Julie had nothing to report but will sell
things in advance for FFN.
CAC – Melissa Beaver is the representative, which is a
citizen’s advisory committee between the community and the board
of education (unit 5) reps from all schools in unit 5, and you
do not have to have a child in the system to be a part of it.
There was a meeting a couple weeks ago for the whole committee.
Dr. Neihaus talked about the busing system and redistricting.
The topics were:
1. Security
2. Charter Magnet schools
3. New family
4. Internet information sharing (Melissa is on)
5. Customer service evaluations
6. Best Practices
Survey Monkey is online to take a quick survey to give input.
The January meeting is a big meeting but otherwise committee
meetings get together for each topic.
New Business
3-tier busing about elementary being first or last was mentioned
and everyone has inputs and reasons for the times they think are
best. They have got to be spaced so that one route can be done
completely before school can start. Unit 5 covers 234 square
miles so staggered start times would offer higher quality bus
drivers because we can have full-time drivers. Elementary may go
last but also heard of us going at 7:15; 8; 8:45 start times.
The 8:45 start time would end at 4. We have no idea what it will
be because there are different arguments for each start time. It
will be for NEXT year. He wants that under our belts for a year
before all of the redistricting. August 2009 you should know
where you kids will go to so you can prepare mentally.
Transportation is running scenarios to run this. Transportation
said they wanted elementary to go last. It was asked if they are
they discussing that with the principals. The high school people
had some concerns. He was envisioning a zero-hour for them.
Athletics would be interfered with possibly and needs to be
considered. Middle school can be home alone and with no
after-school program what do you do with the kids who can walk
home at that age? High School could be last and there were
concerns about that. It was asked how closely does Parks and Rec
work with Unit 5 for the after school programs and they would be
working something out. It is only 3 weeks until winter break!
The Meeting Adjourned at 7:11pm.
|
