PTO Meeting Minutes - March

Want to find out what happened at the PTO's March meeting? Read on.

Lincoln-Eliot PTO Meeting Agenda
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009, 6:30 PM in the Library
   
 
1) Introductions

PTO Co-president Michele Kfouri
PTO Secretary Vicki Ritterband
L-E Principal Katie Charner-Laird
Faculty Rep. Barbara Phelan, 2nd grade teacher

16 other parents attended:
Emile Kfouri
Melissa Fang
Andrew Hargens
Maria Greenberg
Russ Vanderpool
Elinor Beatrice
Elaine Smith Purcell
Nancy Caira
Jim Caira
Mairead Devlin
Sherri Meek
Mimoza Mali
Stacey Horsik
Sherly Jean-Baptiste
Alison Leary Mooradian
Maria Gentile Vachon   

2) NSTAR Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb Fundraiser –Andrew Hargens
                        
• We need volunteers to help publicize the sale and distribute these light bulbs, which are quite energy efficient and cheaper over the long run compared to regular (incandescent) bulbs. Please contact Andrew if you can help.
• NSTAR provides the light bulbs free.
• Kick-off assembly for the fundraiser will be March 23    . Newton Green Decade will do a presentation for 3rd-5th graders about energy generation and conservation.
• Fundraiser goes from 3/30-4/17.

3) NewtonServes, April 26 – Andrew Hargens
• Citywide day of service. Last year there were 2,000 participants at 50 sites
• Andrew will be the project leader. He is looking for a project coordinator who recruits and organizes the volunteers.
• Andrew is also seeking parents who have special skills – like painting or carpentry experience- as well as tools.
• The project sites must provide their own materials, so we will provide room parents with lists of needed items for each classroom.  Any items not donated will be purchased with up to $500 from the PTO.

4) Teacher Rep Updates – Barbara Phelan.
Barbara said that the teachers were very appreciative of the stipends the PTO gave them to pay for materials they typically spend their own money on.  They also are appreciative of the complimentary silent auction tickets.

5) Principal Updates – Katie Charner-Laird   

Katie asked the group if we had any specific questions for her. Vicki Ritterband asked why there have been no all-school musical concerts that parents are traditionally invited to attend. She said that one issue has been that the gym cannot safely accommodate the entire school body, according to the fire regulations.  She also said that the music teacher is getting acclimated to her new job at L-E and that her teaching duties take precedence over putting on performances at this point.

Katie said that in the spring the teachers will begin involving students more in parent-teacher conferences, which will be age-appropriate.  For the youngest students this would involve showing your parents something you’ve done at school during the last five minutes of the conference. Older students will play a larger role.

Maria Vachon and Michele Kfouri asked about the proposed school budget and classroom size/teacher-to-classroom distribution.  Katie said she will make the budget the topic of her March parent coffee. Katie also said 40 kindergartners are projected to attend Lincoln-Eliot next year, which is a very large number compared to previous years.  It’s likely that the school will continue to get more registrations and the number will be significantly higher than 40.

6) Internet Fundraiser - Michele
• To date, the L-E community has completed 71 surveys for a total of $ 1,775. The site stays open thru 3/31.
• Go to this link & get $25 for LE -- http://www.citytowninfo.com/survey/lincoln.shtml.

• Congrats to Mary Francis Drake, the survey respondent who won the $200 raffle.
   
7) Tech-A-La-Mode Recap -- Michele   
THANK YOU to all of the volunteers who made the night such a success and to the
Vachon Family & Hart Landscaping who donated all of the ice cream & toppings! Between Spiritwear sales and the ice cream social, we made $642. 

8) Book Fair (Week of April 13th) – Katie Charner-Laird   
• Librarian Ann Ritchie and parent Kate Mooney (who is helping Ann with the book fair) need volunteers to help with the book sale.  If you can help, please contact Kate at (617) 332-4356.
• Here’s how it will work: On Monday and Tuesday the books on sale will displayed at the library. Students will go to the library and peruse the books. Kids fill out a book wish list with titles and costs. They bring the list home to parents, who decide which books they will buy. On Wed. and Thurs., students return to school with their money and purchase the books.
• On Wed. evening, April 15, there will be a low-key literacy celebration (with pizza!) from 6-7:30 p.m. for families to come and browse through the books. There will be literacy games and a video about reading aloud to your kids.
• The proceeds (at least 15% of sales, depending on total sold) of the book fair will go to the PTO.
• The books are from Book Ends, a Winchester bookstore.

9) Walk for Hunger – Sunday, May 3rd   
    Would anyone like to be a team leader and organize a L-E team?  Please see our principal, Ms. Katie!

10) Future planning:  Fundraising Agenda – Michele   
NOW is the time to join the L-E PTO team to start shaping next year!!!
• Are you sick of Sally Foster?  Do you love Sally Foster?
• Help determine next year’s fundraising agenda!
• Should we do a Family Portrait Fundraiser this spring? http://www.haywardphotography.com

Maria Vachon said she is an advocate of doing one big fundraiser (like the silent auction) as opposed to a bunch of smaller ones, which can burn out both the organizers and the parents who are being asked over and over to help and buy things. Alison Mooradian brought up the idea of teaming up with another school to do a fundraiser as a way to take advantage of economies of scale.

 11) Silent Auction – Sat, Mar 14th, 7-10 PM @ Elks Lodge in Newton Corner –    
Maria Gentile Vachon   

The last part of the meeting was dedicated to nailing down the final details of the silent auction and getting more volunteers to help that night. Maria also announced that the Devlin family, who own Devlin’s Bistro and Bar, are donating all of the food. Maria read the menu and all of our mouths were watering.  Thank you Devlins!!!

12) A Question was raised about the current status of the PTO general operating budget in terms of where we stand on filling our expenditure/income gap.

    Currently, the PTO general operating budget still has a $2,500 gap between projected income and expenses.  We will discuss the budget fully at the next meeting to determine whether we want to fill that remaining gap with funds raised at the Silent Auction or whether we wish to re-evaluate some of our projected expense items.
   
Next PTO Meeting:  Monday, April 13th, at 6:30 PM in the Library
    (Remaining Meetings:   Tuesday May 12; Monday June 8)