SKCEE PTA MeetingMinutes
January 17, 2018 6:00pm-7:00pm
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 6:05 by Stephanie and Kathryn. Introductions around the room were made.
In Attendance: Brittany Frye, Rachel Dickerson, Naurin Gilger, Stephanie Campbell, Kristin Harris, Bev Kretz (Teacher Rep.), Sarah Cole, Jessica Sebold, Luke Hartley, Kathryn Valdez, Sheila Deacon
Meeting Minutes: PTA Secretary absent; will defer approval of previous meeting's minutes until next meeting. Plan to post meeting minutes on website with a notice to members in meeting reminder emails to review minutes so they may be voted on to approve at the beginning of each meeting.
Finance Update- Provided by Naurin, PTA Treasurer. We did finally receive the Smash burger earnings, although they seem low considering the volume - will follow up. Have also received checks from Kitchen Next Door Mom's Night - over $250 and a check from Wish Boutique from an event. Chinook Books continues, although we are below expectations. Will still work to sell at future events and have contacted King Soopers to have a booth out front to sell. Waiting for response.
Valentine’s Dance - New event consideration. Brainstorm best approach - Father/Daughter, Family Dance, DJ?IPod, Winter/Frozen/Snowball Theme? Several dates and times in February were considered. Plan for February 22nd in the Gym from 6-7:30. Kathryn will begin an email chain to finalize logistics of snacks (juice/cookies), decorations, teacher treasures. A sign up committee form for planning circulated (Kristin Harris, Naurin Gilger, Rachel Dickerson, Brittany Frye, Sheila Deacon)
Spring Fling- A big, outdoor Spring event. Not historically a fundraising event, but an event, free of charge, for families to come and browse. The last event was a bit "hybrid" as there was a silent auction and some sponsors. Discussion that it should be held after May 6th so that we may invite new families after the School Choice process closes. We need time to be able to promote to them as Barbara in the front office sends emails to all new, incoming families. Plan for May 12th from 10-2 (it is difficult to staff any longer than that). Kathryn to send a Signup Genius for this to solicit a Chair for the event and other members to pitch in. Major areas are Sponsors, Auction, Food (trucks), Activity, Entertainment, Music (DJ). Discussion regarding the challenge of hosting a second silent auction this year while elementary schools are also soliciting items at the same time. Will see what items come in; plan to use same platform as before if we do garner enough items. Other ideas: have a fire engine out front, playground fundraising (?), Brittany to contact Del Frisco's and Chick-Fil-A.
Coin Drive - Change of Seasons: Last done 2 years ago with earnings over $1000. Have Tupperware’s in each class. Instead of having class competitions, which proves difficult with varying class size and ability, we will have a whole school goal that we advertise to make. Perhaps have extra recess or something. Plan for March 12-21 with celebration on Friday, March 23.
Shop for SKCEE: Discussion regarding hosting another Vendor Day at the school and how it could look - different from one in fall? Teachers were unable to shop during that time. Join it with Spring Fling? Back parking lot? Host in afternoon to get different group? At a home? A mom's night out at the school? Stephanie will contact Lacy and Lindsay to see what their thoughts are.
Box Tops- Sarah Cole Chair: Collections are underway. Still working on getting each class on track with collection containers and good communication. There is no plan for a contest. Plan for Feb 15th deadline for submission, as she needs to get them packaged and postmarked by March 1. Jessica to post on FB. Content is in eblasts weekly.
Playground Update - Luke Hartley: The plans are finalized and ready to have order placed. DPS is assigning us a Facilities Project Manager for oversight of the project going forward; to be assigned on Friday. At this point, the project is at $83,000, which is $13,000 over budget with some extra requests that have been added (rubber surfacing, desirable musical drum feature). A family has donated $5,000; an $8,000 gap remains. If we are unable to close gap, some of the items will be removed from the project to be done at a later time.
There is already discussion underway about a second phase. This must be some grounds work - there is an area of "goatheads" in the area around the new play space which need to be removed and new sod and irrigation placed. We have some time on this, as new sod will not be laid until the weather turns a bit.
There are options to get the work done. 1) We can pay the Facilities staff $30/hour to get the work done. 2) We can do the work ourselves and the Facilities staff would oversee our work and donate their time doing so.
Beyond this, we can look to further our "learning landscape" a term where defined elements have presence in our outdoor play spaces. Currently, SKCEE has all of the elements of a learning landscape throughout its property save for a "garden" as this is difficult to plan, staff, maintain, etc as our children are not old enough to assist in sustaining a full garden. Other items to continue to consider that generate interest are: Outdoor STEM learning, outdoor theatre, more shade space, trees. There are likely to be grants available for some of these items that can be looked into going forward in lieu of further fundraising by our families.
An idea floated previously by Melissa to fundraise by selling bricks. Need to further vet this idea. Take place at Spring Fling? At Dance?
At this phase in the project, there is a natural shift from fundraising and planning to project management and implementation. The Playground Committee's objectives are different having completed the first set of objectives. Suggestion that going forward the Committee turns to a long term Grounds Committee. We have a large property that needs maintenance. It is desired the current landscape we have be maintained; it is noted much of the grass is not healthy. Our teacher representative (?) mentioned some of the features in one of the older playgrounds (old mushrooms) are deteriorating. It is desirable to have a group attend to these matters of ongoing maintenance and keep on top of them. A sign-up sheet was passed around to begin committing to sit on this Committee, currently headed up by Lucas.
Dr. Deacon's Update - Plan for Coffee with the Principal next week sometime. Welcome those who are touring and going through Choice process to answer any questions about school, programming, etc.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:23 pm.
Respectfully submitted by,Stephanie Campbell - SKCEE PTA Co-President