PTO Meeting Agenda
Monday, November 24, 2014 6:00
Together Mustang Strong
Stay connected, check our website: www.firesidepto.com
Like us on Facebook – Fireside Elementary PTO
Speaking / SubjectAmber Marks
PTO President
/ · Welcome
· Who is ready for some SNOW! Ms. Allen is!
Kevin Merill
PTO Secretary
t / · October 6th General Meeting notes were approved
· Printed Directories have been delivered to the teachers. I’m sorry for the delay in getting these out- there was considerable technical challenges with exporting the data.
· A position for VP Marketing and Communications has been created and the election was held. Staci Daguanno and Lynsi Freitag were elected co-VPs. Congratulations to you both, and thank you for all of your hard work this year!
· Board Election date changed to February 9, 2015
o President, President-elect, Treasurer, Treasurer-elect, VP Committees, VP Fundraising, VP Marketing & Communications, and Secretary all need to be filled
o Elections will be held in February 9th for all positions
o Need election committee in place at least by December 31st
o Manda to send email to PTO liaisons asking for election committee volunteers
·
Erin Castle
PTO VP Fundraising
/ · Mustang Money Totals. Amazing, Thank you Fireside
o Our goal was to raise $30k, we actually raised $27,697. Two contests were held. Mrs. Mensing,
· Winning classes and teachers.
Snow Day Spectacular
/ · Event overview
o There will also be a Gingerbread contest. Families are encouraged to bring in Gingerbread houses to compete for prizes.
o There has been a great response for families and companies sponsoring the gift baskets that will be raffled at the festival. You do NOT need to be present to win.
o If you are in walking distance, please walk as parking will be VERY limited. Parking is available at Pinnacle.
o Tickets are available for a pre-purchase discount online up until Friday. Tickets can be picked up at the school from 2:45- 3:45 Dec 1-5, or at the admission table.
· Adult Volunteers needed.
· Thank you to all of our sponsors and donors!
· Admission packets can be ordered online or at afternoon pickup the week of Dec. 1st through 5th. Prices will increase if purchased at the gate.
- We need YOU to help make this day successful. If you volunteer the day of the event you get in FREE. Volunteers that work the entire event, 10-3:30, also get $5 in food tickets for lunch.
- If you can't help the day of the event, we also need assistance with after school sales during afternoon pick up the week of Dec. 1 through Dec. 5th.
- We are also looking for individuals, families or companies that might be interested in sponsoring a basket for our basket raffle.
- And finally, if you plan to participate in the Gingerbread contest, entries with forms will be accepted at school on Thursday, Dec. 4th and Friday, Dec. 5th. This is a change to what was previously stated on the flyers sent home with your children.
So if you'd like to order, volunteer, sponsor a basket, or download entry forms go to www.firesidesds.com. All the information you need can be found there.
Erin Castle
Loyalty Rewards Presentation
/ · Loyalty and Rewards Presentation
o There are many ways to help fund PTO without paying. Many companies offer rewards programs (see below for details) where they donate a percentage of your purchase back to the PTO.
o Albertsons is probably the easiest- you just get a key tag to swipe. They are also a very generous and supportive sponsor of in-kind donations to the PTO.
o Please email Erin at to get a copy.
· How you can donate to Fireside by shopping with our donating partners
Manda Stanley
VP Committees
/ · Looking for Nomination committee.
o The bylaws require a committee of 2-7 members to coordinate the election.
o Positions for election are: President, Treasurer, VP Committees, VP Fundraising, VP Marketing & Communications, and Secretary
o Please email Manda at to volunteer for the committee
· Trekkers is BACK, kids loving it
o Volunteers are needed to help support Trekkers
· Picture Composites are coming home in the next month
· Book Fair Thank you Laura, Jane and so many volunteers.
o The book fair did very well this year and ran great with the support of over 30 great volunteers! Thank you very much to all of those that volunteered!
o The fair ran a lot better when extended to 25 minutes from 20 minutes. This might mean extending another day next year.
o We exceeded our goal by 40%, raising $7,052 for the PTO.
o Scholastic also donated $600 in product back to the school, $600 in money came back to the school and $600 will be donated to a school in need
o The next book fair will be the first week in May to encourage summer reading.
o We are also looking into a student author program
Pam Wankel
Treasurer
/ · After School Treats, Book fair
· Treasurer Report
o A copy of the budget was out and included $111 from after school treats, McDonalds McTeacher night raised over $660.
o A recommendation was made to collect Mustang Money at the book fair.
o This year’s corporate sponsors have been very supportive and we greatly appreciate their support!
o We are currently about $25k ahead of where we originally budgeted to be at this point
· It was pointed out that the teacher gift fund is different than the teacher reimbursement fund.
· As a reminder, our goal is to raise enough money to build a shade structure for the back of the school. The current quote is $50k, and the contractor is coming back to provide another quote for a slightly modified design and location. $20k was carried over from last year, and we are well within reach of the goal.
UPC Report
Monica Guinta, UPC Rep
Courtney Sullivan, UPC Rep
/ · Dr. Lee commented at the beginning of the meeting
o There are a lot of legislative changes this year
o The State Board of Education announced that there is a new standardized test. This is still being developed. The AIMS science test will still be given. This new test may be administered online, depending on bandwidth.
o The state has a $300m deficit, our district has a $9.1M deficit. Possible mitigations measure that are being suggested to the legislature include eliminating some business tax cut, changing the charter school funding model, as well as eliminating the private school tax credit. These are just suggestions by the distict.
· UPC would like for you to connect with them at www.pvupc.org
· Link is being held at 6:30 on Feb 11 at Explorer Middle School
· Arizona SciTech will be presenting at the Jan 21t meeting to promote bringing science fair and STEM to all school
· Discount Cadinals tickets can also be purchased at www.pvupc.org A portion of proceeds come back to the distict
· The District is looking at replacing Infinite Campus with Synergy, the system adopted by the state. A parent committee is currently reviewing.
· The district is kicking off a new program to teach students how to be safe online
· Please complete the Speak up for Schools survey that Ms. Allen sent out in her last update
Teachers’ Report
Mrs. Wolkis (Kinder)
Mrs. Labella (Kinder)
Fireside Teacher Reps / · The teachers wanted to thank Laura and Jane and all of the Book Fair volunteers and all of the great support that came back to the classes.
· The staff wants to wish all of the families a happy and safe Thanksgiving
Principal’s Report
Ms. Allen
Principal / · Using PTO funds, a party was hosted for SPARK winners. Ms. Allen and Mrs. Vranesh hosted a pizza and dance party with the winnerse
· Oct and November had several events.
· Over 1300 lbs of candy was donated for our troops in Afghanistan. One student even wrote a personal note on every piece of candy that he donated.
· The Student Council helped to raise food for a panty and contributed in raising close to $5000 in food for the pantry
· Baylee’s toy drive- We have currently collected over 500 gifts to be donated to Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
· On the PVUSD website (www.pvschools.net) there are PDF Parent Guides under the Academic section (http://pvschools.net/domain/71) with pointers on helping your students at each grade level. The site also has links to a number of other great resources.
· The State is developing AZMerit as the new standardized test to replace AIMS for all non-science portions of the test. There are some good materials online further explaining this new test. Fireside will likely be taking this test online.
· Fireside has a big need for duty aides to help with lunch time and recess. Three aides have left this year for positions that gave them more hours, and we started the year with the need for six more aides than we started with.
· Mrs. Vranish and Ms. Allen have a basket that is being offered at the Snow Day Spectaluar, “Chilling out on a Friday night with Ms. Allen and Mrs. Vranesh” where your child and three of their friends can hang out at the school with Ms. Allen and Mrs. Vranesh and play fun games and have fun.
Amber Marks / · Next Meeting, Monday, December 15th at 6:00.
2015 Planning
· Thank you for coming. Happy Thanksgiving.
Fireside Elementary PTO Together Mustang Strong
Fireside Elementary Dates:
November 24 6pm PTO meeting-Loyalty Program Presentation
November 25 PJ Day Reward
(Fireside students donated almost $600 at the Book fair. Scholastic matched that donation with a book and money)
November 26,27,28 No School
December 4-5 Gingerbread house drop off
December 5, After school Treats – Neighborhood Treatery
December 6th Snow Day Spectacular 11-3
www.Firesidesds.com
December 10 Chorus Concert 7pm
December 15 PTO Meeting – Planning for 2015
December 19 Box Top Collection
2nd Semester Ends
January 5, 2015 School resumes
January 9 After School Treats Jamba Juice
Yearbooks now on Sale at
www.ybpay.lifetouch.com
Yearbook ID Code: 11463515
Fireside Elementary PTO Together Mustang Strong