Brandt Kindergarten PTO

1. Set date & time for next 2 meetings.

• a. Monday, September 21, 7-9pm, Brandt Cafeteria
• b. Monday, October 5, 7-? (9pm latest), Brandt Cafeteria
• c. Propose 1st Monday of each month thereafter (Nov. 2 & Dec 7 for remainder of 2009 schedule)

2. Proposed Committees for PTO

• a. Room Mothers Committee: act as liaison between the classroom mothers. Includes such things as coordinating holiday plans (i.e. Halloween parade, Thanksgiving “meal”, etc.), implementing phone chains, birthday celebration coordination/standard (once a month for all kids born in the month).
• b. Assembly Committee: coordinate and recruit school assemblies for all K classrooms (ex. fire safety, others)
• c. Parent/Teacher Committee ????: coordinate activities for teacher appreciation week (I need to clarify this)
• d. Fundraising Committee: organize all fundraising efforts for PTO, seek out donations for school (from parents, businesses in Hoboken), and report on funds raised and distribution of funds.
• e. Facilities Committee: decide on things that need to be done in the school building (bike racks, roof top playground, garden)
• f. Health & Safety Committee: monitor procedures that ensure safety of our children, like pick-up drop-off process. Address health concerns regarding food choices available to students, cleanliness in regard to spreading of germs, and providing classrooms with necessary tools to keep our kids healthy (hand washing, kid friendly hand sanitizer, tissues, Lysol wipes, etc,)
• g. Enrichment Committee: Communicate to parents on curriculum updates, extracurricular activities and programs, partner with other schools on programs (like science club), gifted & talented tracking for next year.

3. Immediate Concerns that need to be addressed

• a. Spanish Classes: Spanish is not being offered at Brandt but is offered at all other K classrooms in district. This is unacceptable.
• i. Action Plan:
• 1. Speak at BOE Meeting on Tuesday, 9/15 at the Public Portion of the meeting regarding the hiring of Michael Scott who will be hired as the Brandt specials teacher but is not qualified to teach Spanish. (Vanessa will represent us at the meeting) Perhaps she can give an update at meeting?
• 2. Letters to the BOE after the meeting (do we need to make general talking points for those who want to write a letter?)
• 3. Petition (if necessary)
• b. Playground on the roof: should be installed within 5 weeks of this meeting (by 10/16).
• i. We would like the safety of the fence double checked
• ii. How do we address other equipment that should be available up there (i.e. hula hoops, jump ropes, playground balls, etc.)?
• iii. Where to store other equipment so that it is exclusive to the kindergarten students (can we get a shed for storage)
• iv. Can we look into a tarp to extend the “life” on the roof, as it gets colder to block the wind? Something that is removable.
• c. Bike rack at kindergarten entrance:
• i. Should be addressed by the fundraising & facilities committee as a priority
• d. Quality of food offering: Breakfast is too sugary & lunch offering needs to be looked at with Chartwells.
• i. Is there a way to control the menu?
• ii. Can we control what our kids are allowed to eat (only what we pack for them, offering breakfast)
• iii. How is snack addressed in classroom
• iv. Should be addressed by the Health & Safety Committee
• e. Drop Off & Pick Up Procedures: suggested new sign in & sign out procedures to make hand off more official.
• i. Drop off: Parent will sign in student with teacher on a class list clipboard. When teacher leaves the cafeteria she will be at the head of the line & the assistant will be at the end of the line. They will then count their students to make sure that it matches who was signed in on their clipboard before going up the stairs.
• ii. Pick up: Teacher will have class list clipboard so that the students can be signed out. The teacher should also be carrying a list of approved people that are allowed to pick up their students in case the usual pick up person is not there. Parents should make an effort to communicate to the teacher if the usual person will not be picking up their student.

4. Speak with leaders of PTO at other schools

• a. Jill Sullivan to call PTO reps from Wallace, Calabro and Conners to get feedback & suggestions.

5. Board Meetings: we will be asking PTO members to volunteer to take turns attending board meetings. Occasionally, that will involve speaking during the public portion of the meeting to directly address our needs & concerns.

6. Brandt Parent Handbook: Edith Vega & Jessica Peters need parent volunteers to help pull together a parent handbook. This will involve adapting a handbook from another school & making it specific to Brandt. The final handbook will be translated into Spanish using resources provided by the district.