Potomac Falls High School PTSO Minutes – Tuesday, April 18, 2017
In attendance: Judy Schmid, Helen Chang, Linda Russ, Sanjita Sethi, Tonya Lovelace, Nancy Tessman, Graciela Olivares, Dr. Brandon Wolfe, Jack Taylor, Elizabeth Deker, Mel Barrow Jr.
Call to Order: 7:01PM by Board President, Judy Schmid.
Approval of February’s Minutes: (March’s meeting had been cancelled due to snow day).
· Helen Chang motioned to approve the minutes. Nancy Tessman seconded. Vote: All in favor, none opposed, motion passed
President’s Report: Judy Schmid
· March’s Special Presentation by Rachel Bailey will not be rescheduled this year.
· Nominating committee: No one stepped up so I looked at the by laws. Staff and students should not be on the Board. It’s a great time to start a new board with a new principal.
· Introduced Dr. Wolfe
Principal’s Report: Dr. Wolfe
· Dr. Wolfe is excited and happy to be here.
· He attended a Principal meeting today and is receiving support from other LCPS principals
· He’s starting to get a good feel for Potomac Falls’ culture through open communications and appreciates parents and staff reaching out to him
· Judy asked if Mr. Wolfe would be willing to send an email to Mr. Shaffer to invite rising freshmen parents to Friday Morning’s Coffee Chat. He agreed
Teacher’s Report: Mary Ann Ottenberg (Out Sick)
· Mr. Barrow and Mrs. Deker were in attendance. Nothing to report
Student Liaison Report: SCA Jack Taylor
· February’s Leadership Conference was a success with over 60 students attending to learn from community leaders including LCPS School Board Member Brenda Sheridan and Interim Principal Jim Person.
· Spring Fling had over 200 students attend as well as many staff including Mr. Person, Mr. Sponaugle and Ms. Ashwell
· Screen on the Green will occur on May 6 7:30-9:30 Watch Toy Story on the baseball Field. Free Cluster event
· We will begin serving coffee on Friday mornings again soon. Iced Coffee is $2 and hot coffee, $1.
· We will celebrate Teacher Appreciation week (May 1-5) early from April 24th to April 28th, Monday Muffins, Tuesday Tea, Wednesday Lunch, Thursday Donuts and Friday Cookies
· There will be a mandatory meeting for SCA elections on Tuesday April 24th at 8:15 in MS. Swinimer’s room 114.
· Tonya asked Jack if we participate in the Reality Store. It was offered in the past as recent as last year but not sure if the SCA sponsored it. The PTSO provided volunteers for it last year. Judy will follow up with Samantha Hill, the senior class sponsor, to see if she knows who sponsored it as it is a senior event.
VP Programs Report: Annette Brennan (Not Present – Judy Schmid Reporting)
· SAT Prep Class
o Kaplan’s class raised a little over $1,000. It was a a win-win situation as it didn’t seem to affect our class enrollment.
o Our last SAT prep class started tonight. Fifteen students have registered and two more are expected to register.
· We can earn money by registering for the AOL 5K race. Nancy mentioned it is the same day as another race raising money for melanoma research. We will still advertise the AOL 5K. Dede Gilmore will help us advertise it through track and field and Judy sent a flyer to the new running club
VP Resources – Fundraising Report: Sanjita Sethi Reporting
· Restaurant Fund Raisers
o March 6 - Chick-fil-A raised $50
o March 21 -- Chipotle raised approximately $131. Mr. Barrow asked what percentage we received because he heard another school may have negotiated over 50% profit. No one has heard that but it created a discussion about whether spirit nights are worth holding as they don’t bring in much money. It was mentioned that some money is better than none.
o This Thursday please eat at Burger 21 (5:00 to 9:00pm)
o Harris Teeter sent us a check
Senior Scholarship: Judy Schmid
· 7 applications were received for 7 scholarships so we will not need to increase the scholarship budget
Hospitality Report: Vacant Helen Chang Reporting
· The potato bar staff luncheon on 17 March went well
· We’d like to host a separate teacher appreciation luncheon from the SCA. Looking at May 4th.
· We will also host a separate event for the custodians and cafeteria workers. Date: TBD. Hospitality may need a little more in their budget to host these two events
Treasurer’s Report/Membership: Sanjita Sethi and Linda Russ
· Current 2016/17 budget was distributed and reviewed
· Grants: Grant #7 Mrs. Deker: $500 for building materials for Spring Plan. Discussed. Nancy made a motion to approve $500 for the purchase of building materials for the theater department. Helen seconded. Vote: All approved, none denied. Motion approved. Grant #8 Mr. Barrow: $1,750 for registration fees for DECA students. Discussed. Linda made a motion to approve $1750 for DECA registration fees. Nancy seconded. Vote: All approved, none denied. Motion approved.
· We have earned more money than was budgeted for. Judy proposed we gift up to $2,000 to the school to go toward the purchase of a new digital sign in the front of the school. Discussion ensued. Tonya made a motion to approve up to $2,000 toward the purchase of a new sign. Graciella seconded. Vote: All approved, none opposed. Motion passed.
· Teacher Awards has $1,000 budgeted. This didn’t occur last year. We need someone to chair this endeavor. Nancy and Tonya agreed to co-chair the committee.
VP Communications: Tonya Lovelace
Tonya mentioned the need of increasing our social media presence.
Parent Liaison’s Report: Helen Chang and Judy Schmid
· A Will to Survive went well. Thank you to Dr. Wolfe for encouraging teachers to send their whole class. The daytime showing was well attended. We were fortunate to clear the waitlist and see the show with it’s original cast.
· Prom Attire Giveaway will occur the week of May 8th.
Community Showcase/Silent Auction: Judy Schmid
· We gave the crystal bowl to Mr. Person as a thank you gift
Volunteer Coordinator: (Vacant) Judy Schmid Reporting
· We still need a PTSO Secretary, Volunteer Coordinator and Hospitality Chair as well as a LEAP, MSAAC and SEAC representatives
Project Grad: Shonnie Dorsey
· Graduation signs have been ordered. We are ordering 6 additional signs for out front that will be available for purchase. Though Project Grad did not occur this is traditionally a Project Grad fundraiser and is run through Project Grad
Next Meeting May 9th 7PM in the library.
Meeting adjourned at 8:31