PTA MEETING
December 15, 2017 8:30 AM
ATTENDEES
Amada Reimundez
Christina Grillo
Danny Balestrieri
Daphne uviller
Donna Gates
Jennifer Polman
Karen Kuhn
Lauren McBride
Mitch Sylves-Berry
Natasha Kumar
Phyllis Arduino
Samantha Ford
Next meeting January 19th at 8:30 AM
Then February 12th 7:00 PM
Amada will email Nelly to set up January and February superintendent meetings.
FUNDRAISING
Wrapping paper
Did well, but didn’t make as much money as in the past.
WI – 28 orders made $1,718.40
JP – 27 orders made $1,531.20
Morse – 25 orders made $1,306.00
MS – 16 orders made $1,075.20
Total profit $5,630.80
Made over $10K in the past
Timing of the year an issue?
Are people tired of the fundraiser?
Some people didn’t get catalogs
We need to look to find something else.
Square One art
– Announced January with art collection by February.
– Reps are Lauren – Morse, Amada – WI unless someone wants it, JP also covered.
– Art arrives around Mother’s Day.
Other Ideas
Bulbs, seeds, plants and baskets fundraiser has been suggested in the past. Donna will look into this again to see if a spring fundraiser would help recoup expected income from wrapping paper. Mitch will check with Dobbs Ferry. They used a company that shipped directly to the home and had a successful fundraiser.
WI did Kids Stuff coupon book for the circus last year. Did a walkathon this year and raised more money. Not interested in the coupon book this year. It was a lot of work to put them together and timing was not the best. Had over 300 books not returned and made little money. Perhaps we can sell a number of books at events or online – 50% profit. Amada will contact the company to find out minimums and what we sold. Be careful not to cannibalize other sales.
Smencils are also popular with the younger grades.
Chipotle 50% back day. Can sign up at http://chipotle/fundraisers. Can do by school if we want. Amada will follow up with VPs on interest in running this. There is one in Dobbs and one at the Kmart shopping center.
SUPERINTENDENT MEETING
(Thank you Daphne Uviller for the notes.)
Present:
JP: Sara Scipioni
Morse: Christina Grillo
WI: Dancy Balestreri and Daphne Uviller
MS: Phyllis Arduino
HS and Rivertowns PTA: Mitch Sylves-Berry
I. Update on SNAC
Parent representatives from each building (except for WI) have been selected as representatives on this nutrition committee. SNAC is different from the Wellness committee; SNAC focuses only on food in the cafeterias, whereas Wellness will address social/emotional/overall health. WI still needs to pick someone, ASAP.
Reps are:
JP — Sara Scipioni
Morse – Sheila Murphy (a holistic health coach)
WI – to be determined
MS – Jean McLuren (nutritionist)
HS – Katherine McKinley
There will also be two kids selected, one from the high school, to offer a more reflective perspective, and one from WI.
First meeting will be 2nd week of January
II. Federal Tax Bill
– Hurts states that have higher state/local taxes and will impact our district in the not-to-distant future
– Would like PTA to help produce and circulate an info sheet on any issues at budget time to educate voters. Asked us to check with National PTA on advocacy on this issue.
– With more possible options to afford private school, we want to retain our families.
– District has essential, but unglamorous improvements to make like LED bulb and window replacement and blacktopping and three or four of our government bond funding options are likely to disappear with the new tax bill. He hopes to push these improvements through in this May’s budget while we can still take advantage of those options.
III. Other
• There was an update on FLES (foreign language in the elementary schools) – Spanish instruction has begun for all students in K, 1, 2, and will include 3rd graders next year. Discussed how this will change Middle School curriculum in the future (6th grade World Languages may be eliminated)
• Enrollment in the district is more or less steady, with some grades consistently higher than others, but with the range being 194-229 per grade (largest is current 9th grade)
• Discussion of some wishing Dual Language was bigger led to discussion of Dual Language in general, and how it’s being coordinated better than before. Working to improve transition to 5th grade and middle school. Downside of increasing the program is keeping equity in the room (50/50 native English and Spanish speakers) and the cost of teacher hires (special training).
• The district is working hard to operate as a K-12 school, something that can fall through the cracks with our Princeton system (official name of having each grade together, rather than feeder elementary schools). Namely, transitions, or what is sometimes called “articulation,” need to be refined.
Action Items
– Jen will look into what National PTA is doing for advocacy.
– Amada will email DL parents to get some testimonials of the program.
– Branding – communications, web site design, looking to sell the district. DL is one of the crown jewels of the district and uses what could be perceived as a disadvantage as an advantage.
o INCLUSION direction would be smart. Mitch/Jen will look to contribute something for language and culture with Rivertown consortium
o Challenge/Enrichment program is impressive to other districts and parents as well.
o Drama program is also a big deal.
GIFT GIVING
Purchase gifts for families in need.
School VPs took list of families from Amada and will work out purchases/volunteers to purchase items as there are a couple lists running at the moment.
Bus Drivers
Nitasha talked to Transportation Manager about possibly doing something nice for the 40 bus drivers e.g., “adopting a family”. The union manages all of the support staff so there are many more people – more than 100. Suggested that going forward for next year we can do something inclusive like giving out raffle tickets for everyone to get something (if we get donations for items for them). Bus drivers are the least paid in the community.
SUPPORT FOR PTA VPs/PROGRAMS
We need to recruit more people in the PTA. We need to increase the number of VPs, get more bodies to do all the things that we need to do. People sign up to do work and don’t show up.
Put on agenda ideas on how to bring on more people, increase visibility of the PTA and what we do.
BOOK FAIRS
WI book fair was a success – over $15K (keep 25% of pre-tax amount)
Lot of enthusiasm from parents and kids, successful opening night with support from teens for crafts and ice cream
Major problem with people volunteering and not showing up to help.
Middle School – January 23-26
Needs list of volunteers and times. If we don’t have people, should be limit hours of the event if we do not have people
Dancy cannot be there on her own the whole time
Need to get word out about the event and to get volunteers
Phyllis can input people into Sign Up Genius
Get Jean O’Brien to email blast all middle school parents
Consider options for limiting hours, locking up books, etc if we don’t have enough volunteers.
No spring book fair.
Next year consider one bigger event instead of many of them
Meeting adjourned.
