VALLEY VIEW ELEMENTARY
PTA MEETING
January 8, 2013 @ 5:30
Welcome Co-Presidents
*Welcoming
Attendance
Mr. Kubas (principle), Mr. Roberts (Vice Principle), Brenda & Stephanie (co-presidents), Amanda (Treasurer), Michelle (Teacher Liaison), Rocio (Family Involvement Coordinator) Tonya & Jason (co-secretaries), Ken Putt 5TH grade teacher, 11 parents
Total of 21 in attendance
*Approval of November’s meeting minutes
Sent via email Stephanie made a motion and Jason 2nd it. You may now log onto Valley View’s website and view the November Minutes.
Topics All
Fundraisers-
Otis Spunk Meyer
The Fall Fundraiser was not the best so we are looking to do a new fundraiser on February 22, 2013. We will be selling Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough to help raise funds. There will be a kick off rally that day and Sheila with Otis Spunkmeyer will be coming to talk with students about the fundraiser. The sale dates are from February 22 to March 8. Everything is sold for $16 and the school receives $6 from each item sold. On February 25 there will be fresh baked Otis Spunkmeyer cookies in the staff lounge.
Wristbands will be placed on students as reminders on pick up day. The delivery date will be April 9 and all sales must be picked up between 3:00 pm to 6 pm that day. Every hour a student’s name will be drawn to go into the “money machine.” Approximately 9 students and 1 teacher will be going into the money machine. The top selling classroom will have a cookies & milk/juice party. In order to be the top class you must have a 50% participation rate. The teacher of the winning class wins a Caribou gift card and will go into “money machine”. The top 5 selling students of the school willgo into the “money machine” and have lunch with Mr. Kubas and Mr. Roberts
Papa Johns
We expect to send fliers home in the Friday folders on January 18, 2013. Any person ordering online gets 25% off their total order when using the code: CHEETA
10% of the sale comes to Valley View. Also, movie night pizza purchases will now be ordered from Papa Johns. Brenda made a motion to have Papa John’s fliers made by Kinko’s and all agreed
Culver’s Night
On November 20, 2012 we got to see our teachers and staff members work at Culvers. Thank you teachers and staff!!!
Valley View Elementary received 10% of sales from 5-8 pm raising a total of $340.00
Brenda will contact Dohn from Culvers to set up another date for this fundraiser. Typically, the day is on a Tuesday. We are looking for more volunteers to work in hour shifts. All volunteers must be 18 years of age.
Recap of Events-
Craft Saturday December 8th
Craft Saturday was a complete success again, as in previous years. There were a lot of people that paid at the door. Over 50 people came and made crafts. We will repeat this event again in December 2013.
Magic Night December 7th
Magic Night was paid for by Clubs Choice as part of our fall fundraiser. Students that made 15 or more sales were admitted for free and there was a $3 charge for all other students.
Classroom Parties
Each classroom was given a $25 gift card for the “holiday parties”
Teacher feedback
5th grade teacher-” It was nice to be flexible this year.”
Michele, 3rd grade teacher - “Can we get cards earlier for parties so we can shop for better deals and so the stores will have more in stock.”
Brenda said we will try and get them earlier. Next year she will be looking into the possibility of giving funds in a lump sum at the beginning of the year for teachers.
Upcoming Events
Valentines Dance
The 3rd annual Valentines Dance will be on February 15 @ 6:30 pm. The DJ is with Kidzdance. Fliers are ready to go and will be coming home in Friday folders. We are in need of chaperones. We have 550 students at Valley View. All concessions will be 50 cents and we will have fresh popcorn. Pizza will not be served at this event.
March Event
We were approached by Kids Safari to partner in hosting a Bingo Night on March 21st. We will also need more volunteers for this event. There will be a flier coming home in Friday folders about Bingo Night
We will do the concession stand for this event. This will be considered our March event night.
Carnival
We will spend our March meeting talking about the funding which is low, so we need to come up with something creative for the end of the year carnival. The March meeting is the second Tuesday of March. This meeting will be mostly dedicated towards ideas for the carnival.
PTSA Meeting (Brenda)
All schools in Bloomington are part of the PTSA and belong to the Minnesota PTA. Every month there is a PTSA meeting. At the December meeting the Connecticut school shooting was brought up. Every school has a plan in case of such events but these plans are NOT open to the public because of the sensitivity of the plans. There has been an agreement between Bloomington Public Schools and the Bloomington Police Department that police will make regular stops at schools to “check in.” If you see a police car at the school do not be alarmed as these are now routine.
Principle Notes (Mr. Kubas)
5th Grade Trip to Valley Fair
The PTA fundraiser helps with 5th grade graduation. Principle Kubas met with 5th graders to discuss the low funds and see what they would prefer to cut out and work on ways to contribute to the 5th grade trip to Valley Fair.
Science Fair
PTA has helped with science fair and there will be a $100 request to help out with Science Fair
Security
We do have security measures and plans at this school. After the Columbine shooting it changed school procedures. We do practice lock downs at Valley View. Rick Hoffman was the number 1 security personal in Colorado during Columbine and is now working here in MN. The day the shooting happened in Connecticut it was very difficult for everyone, but the good news is we are working with Bloomington PD and Rick Hoffman so we have good insight on what to do to keep kids safe. We need to make sure of an equal presence of police officers at all Bloomington schools. There are meeting happening now to discuss security measures.
Avid Training
Avid is a program that we desire to offer our students at Valley View. It gives students college prep skills at an earlier age. Students will be taught skills like Wicker and Cornell note taking to better prepare them for AP classes in high school and skills to be successful in college.
Parent involvement is getting bigger. Mr. Kubas would like to thank everyone for coming and shared his plan to have kids reading by grade 3.
Preschool
we started construction on the preschool that is attached to Valley View Elementary. This will give our kids strength and teach them earlier what they need to grow and to be successful in school. Research shows kids do better with early education. Right now the preschool is located at the Pond Center, but we will be able to have students here next year after construction
Family Academy Night
Our Family Academy goes hand in hand with preschool. Four dates have been selected in which families can come and get ideas about parenting and talk to others.
Tuesday January 15, 2013 and we will discuss the importance of parent involvement, homework, and parent/teacher conferences. February will be Reading Standard Strategies. We will discuss the importance of reading and what the standards are. A family game night will be held in March. In April, we will discuss academic standards and learning the school system.
Question/Answer Period
Parent: compliment and thanked the board on a good meeting and he was glad business was being taken care of. He also wanted to know how to get more involved. He was happy to see we look out for all the students here at VVE. He was very impressed with the VVE PTA J
Parent: “I am so glad that there is a plan in case of emergencies at the school. At my child’s previous school in St Paul, I was able to walk freely in the school without anyone asking a single question. Here at Valley View I was greeted and sent to the office for an effective check-in and check-out process and I feel safe knowing the school uses such procedures. When I heard about what happened in Connecticut my heart sank. It hit close to home and while sad I am thankful that Valley View is prepared and I can feel safe with my child here.”
Parent: “I received an email from the school about an incident involving the Bloomington Police Department. When I first heard of it I thought I had to rush and pick my child up from school, but the school sending the email kept me informed and let me know everything was OK and then I could relax. It is good the school keeps communication with parents during these situations”
All
Adjourn meeting!
Thank you for coming and for the great conversation!
See you in February and
March for our annual school carnival planning!