King Elementary PTO January 6, 2016, General Meeting Minutes

King Elementary PTO • January 6, 2016, General Meeting Minutes

Meeting called to order by President Josh Misiph at 7:00pm at King Elementary School

Attendance: PTO Board: Andrea Shaevitz, Josh Misiph, Kim Taylor, Kate Meyer, Ashley Deschene

15 parents from K & 1

Presenter – Ashley Deshane – Mimeo Bar

What is a Mimeo Bar - turns white boards into an interactive display
All writing can be saved to a computer so it becomes a document the teacher can use
and it is not just a projection
Document that the teacher has on their computer can be projected on the white board and the kids can interact with the worksheet on the white board
Toolbar allows for different experiences - i.e. “highlighter”
Mimeo has a lot of documents online for teachers to download they can use in their classes
Incredible!!!!!!!!!! – (The world has come a long way since chalkboards)

Presidents Update – Josh Misiph

Boks is starting on January 11 – 26 students currently enrolled - 4 more slots available –
Boks starts at 8:20am Monday and Thursday
Fundraising committee established – Iman Tera, Kate Crossman & Stephanie Nugent – will be working to chart out fundraising initiatives for the rest of the year and for the next 3 years
Executive board for the PTO will be up this Spring - March or April participation will be established following month candidates will present themselves at the PTO meeting, June – online voting
Positions on the board include: President, Vice-President (currently have co-Vice Presidents), Secretary, Treasurer, Fundraising Chair – Non-Voting / Principal appointed Kindergarten reps
Same person can only hold same position for 2 terms unless there is an override

Earned just over $4000 in fundraising so far this year

$2150 popcorn, $550 sweatshirts, $1300 Scholastic book credits, $125 Kelly’s fundraiser
People loved the popcorn

Upcoming fundraising events

January - Friday, Jan 22 6: 30 – Movie Night
February - Restaurant Event (TBD)
March - Friday, March 4 – Bed time book reading with Ms. Taylor
March 24 – Family Science Night – 6-8 people to do family interactive workshops – info to come
April – PTO event
May 20 - TBD
June - Field Day and exploring the idea of having a 5k (timed) and fun run in conjunction with
Field Day (possibly June 11)
Possible name – Jungle Run – maybe have people dress up in animal costumes?????

What PTO funds have sponsored so far this year

Ice Cream Social
Welcome back teacher lunch
Pancake breakfast
Buses for upcoming field trip
Creative Arts Day – Fire City Arts
Teacher appreciation week breakfast

Parent Question: Is any of the money geared toward doing “maintenance” for the classrooms?

The town funds most of the classrooms and school
If the school wants to purchase something that is “not standard” ( i.e. Mimeo Bars $800 + $900 to mount items + $300 for projector ) – school might come to the PTO to help. This year the Mimeo Bars were purchased by STEAM money provided by town.

Parent suggestion: Create a book / collage album from each teacher for teacher appreciation week

Lego Club

Volunteers needed!! – January 28th – 3:30-4:30
Two Thursdays a month until the end of school
Registration papers will be going home Monday, January 11

Parent Question: Could there be a link on the website with all the notices that go home?

Currently Lisa Williams is the webmaster for the school. This is a possibility for now, however as the school grows and Lisa’s responsibilities grow, this would have to be passed off to someone else.

Stem Beginnings round 3. Begins on February 1

After Care update

A follow up meeting will happen on February 10th at 5pm.
Parents really just wanted the plan so the parents could communicate with the kids about what activities happen in the clubs.
Still trying to get to where we want to be – Vilma was very responsive to the concerns and actions still are being put in place.
If parents know ahead of time what is going to happen in after school, parents can help promote the activities
Overall sense – that Vilma doesn’t have a whole lot of support from Joseph (Director)
Could local colleges with Early Childhood education help to develop curriculum
Disconnect between what goes on between what happens during the school day and the after school program
Kim will be meeting with Vilma every other Monday
Two of the staff members in Explorers are from King
Vilma has a wish list of things she would like – parents need to know what this list is
Explorers link on school website needed

Principal’s Report – Kim Taylor

PBIS rollout

The kids are saying:
Kids are interacting with the parents talking about the core values
King Crown count is “on” and kids are excited about the “contest” – Crowns will be placed on thermometer in hallway and the first graders will be competing against the Kindergarteners to see who gets the most crowns
King Crowns can only be earned in the hallways from an adult
Individual crowns are “more fancy” than the classroom crowns
Kids are excited to earn King crowns
At the end of the event, all the individual King Crowns will be put in a bucket and one from each grade will be pulled to “win” a prize (TBD)
Exposing the language and core values of PBIS will be great for the kids to continue to pass on in years to come

Steam exhibition is Thursday, January 14 – 6pm-7:30pm – Kids will come with parents and they will be showing their projects off to their families – no limit to who can come to this event

School improvement plan – finished – presenting on January 19 to school committee. Thanks to Kate Meyer and Jen Hawthorne for helping Kim with this endeavor. It would be great to have parent presence at the school committee meeting on January 19. Meeting starts at 7:30 but there are other items on the agenda so no specific time known at this time.

School improvement plan will be shared at the February PTO – This is “BIG” information so we encourage all parents to come to the PTO meeting to stay in the loop of what is going on at King.

Hiring of 4 second grade teachers will begin in March

Meeting ended at 8:35

Minutes prepared by Andrea Shaevitz – Recording Secretary