Sylvan Parent PTO meeting

Minutes

8/16/2016

Margaret Martin called the meeting to order, noting that this is the first year we have combined the PTO meeting and the open house and giving logistical information about the flow of the evening.

PTO Board members introduced themselves and indicated their role within the PTO. Margaret encouraged attendees to consider volunteering for the Board in future years, and said that it would be especially valuable to have men volunteers.

During the President's welcome, Margaret gave a brief summary of the type of business that is usually conducted at a PTO meeting. Meetings are normally held in the library and occur at 6 p.m. on the third Tuesday of every month that school is in session except for December. In the meetings, the group talks about fundraising activities in the school and other issues that arise that impact parents, such as -reports from the cluster-and district-wide Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) meetings. At PTO meetings, the group also considers items that should be communicated using our newsletter, Twitter account, Facebook account, and website. In addition to these meetings, the Board also meets monthly to talk about what issues and recommendations it will present at PTO meetings.

Margaret informed parents about the policy that the PTO Board can approve expenditures less than $500, and gave a summary of recently approved expenditures:

  1. $500 for a rug for the counselor's room
  2. $150 for the school conference room
  3. $75 for the business open house
  4. $100 gift card for each teacher

Margaret noted that the Board works to be transparent about how PTO money is used and added that any parent or teacher can suggest an expenditure. Requests can be submitted via a GoogleForm that can be found on the Sylvan Park PTO website.

Margaret then noted that the Nashville Scene's Best of Nashville voting period has begun and encouraged everyone present to vote for Sylvan Park as Best Elementary School.

Becca Oberlander then gave an update on the all-purpose field that was the target for 2015-2016 Invest in Your Child funds. The field will be an all-sports field located behind the playground. It will be able to be used by teachers and students during the school day and by sports clubs after school. The survey on the property has now been completed; the next step is for the plans to be written, followed by an engineer stamping the plans. At that point, the contractor can submit the stamped plans for approval with Metro codes and can coordinate with MNPS. Becca anticipates that the process will take about two months. After the plan is approved, construction can be scheduled. It should take one to two weeks, and the goal is to provide as little disruption as possible for students and teachers. Ideally, the field will be completed by the end of 2016. Becca encouraged parents to attend the September PTO meeting for further updates.

Molly Smith gave an update on the CitySaver fundraiser. Katie Waymire and Molly are heading up CitySaver, which is our first fundraising effort for the year—and the only thing we have to sell. CitySaver is a coupon book that provides significant savings; it is accompanied by a mobile app. The sales are scheduled to begin August 18 and will continue for three weeks, ending September 8. The books are $25; half of the money goes to Sylvan Park. The fundraiser typically raises $10,000-15,000. The fundraiser will begin with a kickoff assembly for the kids, where prizes are introduced.

Yoli Mara and Shea Tavis gave an update on the Sylvan Park social, a main fundraising event. The event is for adults only and will be held on September 23, 6:30-10:00, at the Welcome to 1979 studio. There will be food, beer, wine, a DJ, and a silent auction. Information will be sent home with children. Yoli said that they have currently gotten commitments for donations from Hattie B’s, Neighbors, Nothing Bundt Cakes, and other local restaurants. She said that if parents have donations for the silent auction, it would be great and that Yoli and Shea can provide a tax form to allow the donation to be a tax deduction. Finally, she requested volunteers to help.

Ms. Elder gave a principal update. She welcomed the group to the first PTO and open house. She introduced the teachers and Ms. Riddle, the newly named assistant principal. She then turned to housekeeping items:

  1. If parents are interested in receiving a newsletter from Ms. Elder each week, they should sign up in the office. She’ll send out each week until MNPS gets Infinite Campus up and running.
  2. Ms. Elder reminded parents that if they are checking out students for early dismissal, they should notify the teachers so they can prepare homework and such before students leave.
  3. Ms. Elder noted that that spiritwear was on sale and that after-school clubs were presenting information in the cafeteria during the open house.
  4. Ms. Elder asked that parents not leave their cars during school drop-off or dismissal at the back of the school.
  5. Ms. Elder said that the school's 10-day count was due on August 16 and that MNPS would use those numbers to determine whether Sylvan Park will get an additional teacher in K and 3rd, where they are needed. She said the decision would be made by August 19, and that if new teachers are added, parents would receive letters telling them about the change and if it would necessitate that their child move to the new teacher's classroom. She emphasized that the choice of which children move will be determined randomly and encouraged parents to be understanding about the change if it is necessary.
  6. Ms. Elder shared information about Engage with Elder, which will kick off with the first meeting on August 26 at 8 a.m.
  7. Ms. Elder also shared information about the Grandparents and Grits fundraiser that will be held on Saturday, September 10, 9-11. She said that save the date flyers would go home on August 17. Tickets will be $5/person and kids will have the chance to take tickets in a photo booth with gradnparents.
  8. Ms. Elder said the school will begin TLA assessments with students on Monday. She said that MNPS has a big focus on using meaningful data and that there is a call for action to analyze data on critical thinking, curriculum implementation, etc. These data will be used in a state of the school address that derives from analysis of data based on the school plan. This address will be accompanied by goals for the school. Ms. Elder said that her goal is to close the achievement gap and make our students able to compete with children anywhere in the world.
  9. Ms. Elder said that there will be a focus on technology this year. She and the school leadership team want smartboards in each classroom to enable teachers to craft interactive lessons that keep students engaged and help them to achieve learning goals.

Mrs. Riddle gave a report on efforts to improve the cafeteria experience. She said that a group of parents had met to improve cafeteria experience, and that they agreed that the traffic light was unsuccessful last year but that the Friday Jams was successful. The group supports a focus on mindful eating this year. Practically, this means that the first 10-12 minutes of a child's time in the cafeteria are focused on eating, followed by a change to "meaningful conversation." If the noise level gets too high, then the focus can shift back to silent, mindful eating. Mrs. Riddle is offering positive incentives in the form of a raffle on Fridays with small gifts (pencils, office helper for 15 minutes, no SSA on Friday). She said that they are also starting up cafeteria crew for parents to help with cafeteria duty, as simply having more adults in the cafeteria may help with the noise level.

Board members then gave reports.

  1. Amanda Sheaffer gave update on community relations. She said her goal is to formalize relationships with community businesses. She is gathering information about who has helped before. She and Ms. Elder will have a fall business open house to encourage partnerships, both old and new. Amanda is also rewriting the tour script and would find it helpful to have volunteers to give tours.
  2. Bridgette Butler gave an update on the Invest campaign. She noted that the reason we do this is because MNPS can’t support all needs of the school. Invest is our biggest fundraising. She said that people can invest at any point, either using the flyer or the PTO website. She said it is possible to make a monthly donation rather than a single big donation. The goal is 100% participation from parents. The money will be used for the smartboards requested by Ms. Elder.
  3. Bridgette also introduced the spirit wear fundraiser. She said this year we have an order form rather than trying to keep inventory of all sizes and colors. Parents and students can see the sizes and colors in the sample store and can place an order at the sample store or can place the form in the PTO mailbox. The items will be delivered to the classroom to the students.
  4. Shelley Kuhlmeyer gave information about our communication efforts, saying that the PTO has Facebook and Twitter accounts that parents can follow to keep updated. Parents can also sign up for the e-newsletter on the PTO website.
  5. Molly Smith and Katharine Mosher will head up teacher appreciation and will be asking for help with that. Some of the ideas are lunches each month, teacher wish day in February, take home a baked good….other ideas are forthcoming, and other ideas are welcome. Katharine has something planned for each month.
  6. Molly, who is serving as Head Homeroom Parent, said she has a few more spots for 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade homeroom parents and encouraged anyone who is interested to check with their teacher. A parent asked about the time commitment. Molly said that for her, in K and 1st, it didn’t’ take a ton of time. The HRP puts on parties by creating a sign-up genius and sending it out. She said she also tie-dyed t-shirts for field day. She said that being organized and being on the computer sending emails to teachers were the key attributes needed.
  7. Erin Morrison gave an update on PTO funds. We have $68K in bank account, including the money raised last year for the field and $15K for a rainy day fund. She encourages parents to come to other PTO meetings for detailed accountings. A parent asked how much we hope to raise. The answer is $70K, including the fundraisers talked about tonight plus some smaller things including grocery cards. This is all the money we need for the operating budget, buy things like Smart Boards, etc. Erin also encouraged people who need to spend money on behalf of the PTO to let her know, in part so she could share the tax-exempt form that allows purchases for the school to be made without including sales tax.
  8. Erin also spoke for Theo Morrison who is the top dog for Watch Dog Dads. She explained the program, saying that father-like figures can spend the day helping around the school. Theo needs some help with leadership, which involves getting people signed up and running an introductory pizza party. She said the call for help will also be in the newsletter.

The meeting was adjourned for parents to attend open house.