Graham Hill PTA
2011-2012 PTA August Retreat
Meeting Held: August 28, 2011 – 4:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Location: Julie Grove’s home
The meeting was called to order by Julie Grove at 4:30 pm.
Item Discussion Action
New Business
1 Introductions
Introductions and ideas for this year made around the table.
Julie Grove-
Greater electronic connectivity for homework, PTA communications, principal newsletter, etc., possibly through school website to reduce paperwork, but not all families are connected (how many are?);
Parent pledge: have each parent commit to give time to something;
GH Alumni Brag Page on Facebook;
Reading exchange/buddies;
Get kids moving;
Parent Leader (separate from a room parent) in leadership events;
Girls on the Run program @ GH.
Colin McCartney-
Make parent help (volunteers and snacks) more equitable among classrooms;
Amazon wish list for the school made by teachers;
Make a clearinghouse for needs.
Lisa Wetzel-
Aid parents in supporting their kids academically, through parent education nights and/or a parent resource library.
Geoff Dillard-
Improve outreach to parents not normally part of the PTA (outreach);
PTA meeting notes distributed electronically;
Pass on our positional and institutional knowledge to next generation of PTA leaders (possibly a notebook or electronic version).
Christine King-passed along ideas from absent board members:
Beth Jacoby-bookfair, country store, fall catalog; Hire a volunteer organizer for in-school hours (with stipend). They could do outreach to certain organizations and be a liaison between teacher needs and volunteers.
Shelly Hurley-Start a mini-grant with PTA funds to implement creative teacher ideas. Make a line item in the budget and a form to apply for it.
Chris Morningstar-Wants to focus on academics. We have Title I funding and did not make AYP, so we need to make improvements. Wants to offer more parent meetings, talking about test results/data and plans for academic improvement. Parent math nights/reading nights. Outreach to parents about academics, improve communication, clear purpose, at a time convenient to parents.
Items discussed
2 Review of PTA Standing rules
A. PTA Mission was reviewed and approved as existing (see attachment).
B. Graham Hill Standing Rules reviewed. There was discussion about the benefits/costs of PTA membership, but the details were uncertain. More research needed into this. Revisions to be made to item #10 and then approved during the September board meeting.
A. Voted on and approved unanimously
B. Tabled until Sept board meeting
3 Calendar Review
A. Board Meeting Dates-6:30pm at GHES Teacher's Lounge
a. 9/13/2011
b. 10/11/2011
c. 11/8/2011
d. 1/10/2012
e. 2/7/2012
f. 3/13/2012
g. 4/10/2012
h. 5/1/2012
i. 6/12/2012
B. General PTA Meeting Dates-Dinner 6:00pm, Meeting 6:30-8pm at GHES Cafeteria
a. 9/27/2011
b. 11/15/2011
c. 1/24/2012
d. 3/27/2012
e. 5/8/2012
C. School Events
a. Curriculum Night 9/22/2011
b. I-Walk 10/5/2011
c. Picture Day 10/7/2011
d. Class Pictures/Retakes 11/15/2011
e. Discover Dance 3/24/2012 10am
f. Spring Sing-4/12/2012
g. Young Authors Day-TBA
h. End of year events (field day, 5th grade promotion possibly June 18 or 19) Dates agreed upon for items A, B and C
4 Events Planning
1. Curriculum Night-9/22/2011. How can the PTA have a presence? Table for volunteer sign-up and to answer parent questions.
2. I-WALK 10/5/2011
3. Fall Fest 10/28/2011 Coordinator: Melissa Small
4. Auction 5/19/2012
5. Heritage Night 2/17/2012
6. Math Night (continue with Explorations in Math?)
7. Socials
a. Grade level socials to get to know each other-need a parent leader to organize these, bring up at General Meeting
b. Wednesday morning coffee hour-Christine volunteered again
c. Cheers & Tears-do it for the first three days of school due to preschool parents-Christine, Chris, Rachel Harris
8. PTA Meetings: Guest speakers, Educational programming, food planning, childcare.
a. Childcare: Christine will be in charge. Last year’s usual childcare workers were: Joe Kito, Alyssa Leonard, Hannah Rossen, Rebecca’s students
b. Guest Speakers: Regional PTA Rep, Southeast Executive Director, Brianna N. Dusseault (gro.sloohcselttaes|tluaessudnb#gro.sloohcselttaes|tluaessudnb)
c. Educational programming: solicit parent input
d. Food planning: determine at the board meeting prior to general Items discussed
Christine volunteered to coordinate:
Weds am coffee
Cheers & Tears
PTA Meeting Childcare
5 Fundraising Plans/Focus
1. Auction Planning-Chairperson and committee needed; roles/responsibilities need to be defined. Discuss in September
2. Fall Catalog-Ana Schoenecker-needs someone to kick off event at Monday Morning Meeting. Distribution date may be Sept 13th-Christine will email Ana. Flier for first day packet.
3. Chinook Books-Scott & Cambria were in charge last year. Check with them.
4. Walk in the Park-Persons in charge are no longer at GH. Talked about joining with other south end schools. We don’t know how much it made-Geoff will give a report.
5. Safeway e-scrip-Beth Jacoby
6. PCC Cards Items Discussed
Geoff will give a report on money earned last year per fundraiser at the next board meeting
6 PTA Packet
1. Flyers/packet plans review and wording. One per child. Use neon yellow for return forms (*)
a. Welcome Letter
b. Parent Volunteer form:*
i. Remove 4 items
ii. Refine: Annual Fund broken out into : need a leader and a letter writer
c. PTA Membership Drive*
d. Support GH while shopping
e. Walking School Bus*
2. Work party to complete forms.
a. Copying 9/1/2011 3pm
b. Envelope Stuffing 9/2/2011
3. Combine packets with school packet from admin. Items discussed
7 Clarify work distribution for the year-how can each board member best be effective?
No discussion
8 Recruiting New Parent Volunteers
We discussed this briefly with Ty and updated the parent volunteer form. Items discussed, form updated
9 Open Discussion, Comments or Suggestions
Chris Morningstar brought up the issue of childcare/entertainment at Curriculum Night and asked if the PTA would be willing to pay for the entertainer. Chris will come up with options in the $300 range. Chris will present a proposal at the next board meeting for approval
Meeting adjourned at 8:30 pm by Julie Grove.
Minutes taken by Lisa Wetzel.
Copies to:
Attendees
File
These meeting minutes represent the writer’s interpretation of the events, discussions, comments, and commitments made by the attendees. Please notify the Graham Hill Elementary School PTA Board in writing of any discrepancies within 3 days of receipt or these shall stand as correct for the record.
