PTO Meeting Minutes for Monday May 11th, 2009
Attendees: Megan Houston, Kate Cunningham,
Tonia Karnedy, Leslie Capano, Lisa Hebert, Monica Ostby, Rick Ebel, Mark
Trifilio, Steven Schmidt, Joanna Pecor, Nancy Vetters.
Co-President Monica Ostby started the meeting by thanking the new Orchard
principal Mark Trifilio for attending. The PTO is pleased to welcome Mr.
Trifilio and we look forward to future collaboration.
The new school sign was installed at the entrance to the Orchard School drive on
Friday, May 8th. Thank you to the Art teacher, Susie Cicerello for creating a
wonderful rendering of an apple tree, and to Custodial Staff Member Carol
McDonald for coordinating the services of a graphic design firm for the other
elements on the sign. The sign is an important symbol of the Orchard School
community, creating a favorable impression and strong sense of presence. Well
done!
Tonia Karnedy reported that based on expenses received to date, Spring Fling had
raised approximately $1100 for the PTO. Feedback included a suggestion to
assign supervisory volunteers to playground duty shifts in the event that the
weather for next year’s event may accommodate outdoor play like this year. In
addition, the group agreed to attempt to alleviate the conflict with the middle
school play to allow more teachers and families with older children to attend.
Many attendees remarked at what a great job Kara Strempek, committee chair, had
done in organizing the event. Thank you Kara and Spring Fling committee!
The meeting continued with an overview of the PTO events and committee chairs
for the 2009-2010 school year. PTO Co-President Monica Ostby proposes to
schedule many of the events in a similar fashion although taking into account a
one week offset caused by the later-than-usual date for the start of school.
The proposed schedule will be evaluated in reference to a multi-religious
calendar of holidays supplied by Rick Ebel to try to best accommodate the
lifestyles of Orchard families. The group discussed whether an evening Open
House should be scheduled for the fall for parents to become acquainted with
their child’s classroom and school environment, or whether Orchard should revert
to hosting a K-5 curriculum night in the beginning of the year. Attendees
agreed to ask for input from the teachers before making a final determination on
this event. Concert dates and times will be added to the district schedule as
well.
The discussion of next year’s schedule led to an overview of next year’s
committee chairs and recruitment opportunities. Co-Vice-President Leslie Capano
suggested maintaining a single assigned clipboard for volunteer sign-up for each
event due to the fact that some of this year’s volunteers had not been
utilized. Orchard teacher Joanna Pecor shared a tradition from a neighboring
town where the PTO hosts a breakfast for kindergarten parents on the first day
of school to welcome them to the school community and encourage PTO involvement.
The PTO is looking for a committee chair to organize the Open House PTO Fair at
the beginning of the school year where many volunteers signed up this past
year. The chair for the Staff Appreciation luncheon recommends scheduling this
event in April again next year as parental support had noticeably increased this
year due to this change. New Drama Club Co-Chairs Kerry Farrell and Ralphine
O-Rourke will be consulted regarding the scheduling of the drama club
performances.
Co-Vice President Leslie Capano and Co-President Lisa Hebert have agreed to
co-chair the committee for School Pictures. Co-Secretary Kate Cunningham has
agreed to chair International Night, the mid-October event that alternates with
Harvest Fest every other year. Regarding International Night, the possibility
of using local produce from the SLIMY program for the meal offering was
favorably discussed, as well as the possibility of inviting teachers to
participate with a curriculum tie-in. In addition, the group considered asking
families on a voluntary basis to bring an exhibit for a table focused on their
cultural heritage or a culture experienced in travels, etc, to encourage more
participation and locations for the crowd to learn about. The PTO will continue
to search for a parent volunteer to shadow Tim Barritt at next year’s Science
Fair in order to succeed his committee chair position the following year. The
French and Spanish Clubs may also need more volunteers or coordinators. Book
Fair and Pizza Night most likely will be orchestrated by only one committee
going forward, and this committee may be in need of an additional chair person.
The Memory Book committee may need support in the switch to the digital memory
book next year, particularly from technically proficient volunteers.
Co-Secretary Megan Houston will assume responsibility for the Orchard email
communications from the PTO for next year as well as the output of the
directory, with help from PTO members. The PTO will survey parents in the
beginning of the next school year as to whether they would like to provide their
emails for the use of the general Orchard population OR for PTO use only OR not
at all. The survey will also ask parents if they would like a hard copy of the
directory containing names, addresses, phone #‘s and email addresses, or a PDF
copy containing the same information with the exception of the email addresses
to protect against spamming and viruses, or both formats. In this way the PTO
hopes to facilitate communication and the respectful, personal use of contact
information in the formats that families find most convenient. Room parents,
committee chairs, and perhaps also the Orchard teachers, will continue to be
provided with email lists by class or by committee containing the addresses of
parents who have voluntarily supplied them for that specific purpose.
Switching topics, the group agreed to supply the teachers with a business card
containing the school’s tax ID # as well as guidelines on possible use in order
to maximize PTO and budget funds. Co-President Monica Ostby agreed to
facilitate the creation and distribution of the cards for next year.
Lastly, Rick Ebel asked the PTO officers on behalf of Donna MacDonald to
volunteer to sell 50-50 tickets for the PTO benefit at the July 5th Lake
Monster’s Game. Orchard 4th and 5th graders are currently rehearsing the
National Anthem in music class to sing together on a voluntary basis at this
game, where a portion of PTO ticket sales will also support next year’s budget.
Co-President Monica Ostby once again thanked everyone in the group and new
principal Mark Trifilio for attending the meeting, which closed as no further
business was presented.
Page created by PTO Secretary Megan Houston and Orchard Library Media Specialist Donna Macdonald.
This page last updated: 10/01/09.