Brandt PTO Meeting Minutes 11/9

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  • Attendees signed in, providing all contact information. There were approximately 10 parents in attendance, as well as Jessica Peters.
  • Follow-up Items:
    • The rooftop playground: It’s up. The tiles around it are being re-cut to create a tighter seal and after that it will be up and ready to use.
    • 1st grade: Assistant Superintendent Rusak has been hesitant to confirm anything, although it is believed that a decision will be made in January. The next steps discussed in our attempts to secure 1st grade at Brandt are:
      • Write a letter to Ms. Vega, explaining Brandt’s achievements, the parents’ passion for the school and a citing of the original letter about the kindergarten program, that assured parents that a grade would be added each year. It was agreed that the PTO would ask Kerry Ruben to take the lead on this letter. Ms. Vega will pass this letter on to Mr. Rusak.
      • Make the securing of 1st grade a primary task for the School Leadership Committee (SLC).
      • Have a parent or parents from the PTO attend the Board of Education (BOE) meetings to stay informed on any conversations about placements for 2010/11.
      • Pursue individual specials teachers and a gifted and talented program, if 1st grade is secured.
    • Bike rack: It is still on order without a firm delivery date.
    • Tools of the Mind (TOTM) Presentation:
      • TOTM will be doing a presentation on December 2 at Wallace for pre-k and k parents. This is an excellent opportunity for parents that still have questions about the curriculum to learn more.
      • The curriculum for 1st grade is called Lit Life and there was interest in having a presentation about it in February or March.
      • Class parents will distribute to their classes an explanation of what the “initials,” called scaffolded writing assessments by TOTM, mean on the children’s center plans.
    • Spanish: Beginning in January the specials schedule will change to include two Spanish periods, one will still be taught by Ms. Vega and one will be taught by a Spanish teacher from Wallace. There will be one less art under the new schedule. The children will still have two gym periods and one music period. When the start dates for this new schedule are official, parents will receive more detailed information.
    • Visiting kids in the classroom: The class parents will discuss with their teachers one day a month that parents can visit the classroom either at pick up or drop off.
    • Dawn Zimmer visit: The children made a thank you banner with their handprints, for Mayor Zimmer.
  • Event Proposal Form: There is a new form that needs to be filled out by committee members if they have an idea for an event, assembly, party, field trip, etc. Contact Sarah, at sarahcavill@gmail.com, if you would like a copy of the form, although all committee chairs should have them as well. This form is to help keep Jill and Sarah organized and aware of what events are coming up and/or awaiting approval.
  • Financial update: Treasurer Kathleen Keilman gave an update on the PTO’s finances. The Lilly’s fundraiser netted $453 after the tickets were purchased. The Election Day bake sale netted $606, leaving the PTO with $1059 in the bank.
  • PTO calendar: Jill has completed the PTO calendar through June 2010. While many dates and approvals are still pending confirmation or approval, the PTO is confident that most initiatives and activities are in place.
  • Committee Updates:
    • Fundraising (Aaron Barere):
      • The bake sale was the primary initiative for the fall and future planning was put on hold while that was completed. The committee anticipates having a fundraising activity or event around the holidays, Valentine’s Day, and one large stand-alone event.
      • At this time there is no specific fundraising goal set, but this will change after the PTO knows how much money the BOE has approved. Ms. Vega will submit some funding requests for Brandt to be considered at the December 15th BOE meeting. Ms. Peters indicated that the budget for the district will close in February; so all requests should be submitted by then.
    • Family Fun (Sarah Cavill):
      • The Halloween party was very successful.
      • The Holiday party will be December 18th, from 1-2:30 and will follow the same model at the Halloween party with games, craft and food centers.
      • Other activities tentatively planned for the year include a pajama day and movie night in February, a game night or dance in March, an Earth Day celebration in April and a block party/end of year celebration on June 4th.
    • Class Parents (Joy Wilson):
      • The class parents looked into caroling at a nursing home, but decided to collaborate with Mr. Scott on a mini holiday concert that the children will put on at the holiday party. Each class will learn one song.
    • Enrichment (Emily Barere and Rosemarie Pullano):
      • The committee arranged for Mad Science to come in Nov. 17th and put on an assembly for the children, with the intention of having the program begin as an after-school enrichment activity in January. Brandt is one of the few schools in the district without science, so we are hoping that the BOE will agree to fund Mad Science, otherwise it is $105 for 8 classes per student. There was discussion of scholarships for families with financial hardships that already receive assistance from the school. Daphne Anshel and Ms. Peters discussed how to do this privately and respectfully.
      • The committee also hopes to bring in professionals that are either parents of students or from outside the school, to enhance the children’s specials. For instance, a guitarist would come to the music class and play for them and explain what she does, how and why. They are looking for volunteers.
      • The committee has arranged to collaborate with HOPES to collect food for Thanksgiving baskets, as well as gently used and new clothing throughout the year. HOPES will pick up these items from the cafeteria. The children decorated boxes with their classmates for the food collection.
      • The committee has many things planned for the year including a visit to Carnegie Hall for a Carnegie Kids performance on Jan. 28th. This will cost $630 and will be one of the items submitted to Ms. Vega for the BOE meeting.
      • The committee will spearhead a service initiative in January. This is a follow-up agenda item for the next PTO meeting.
    • Crayon Recycling: The Mile Square office will be collecting broken crayons on behalf of the Hudson County Improvement Authority, who will turn them into ‘new crazy-colored crayons’ for the school.
    • Halloween Pictures: Pending clearance, the Halloween pictures will be displayed on the PTO board in the cafeteria.
    • The next PTO meeting is December 7th, 7-9pm.