Attendees

MaryPat Burke Kim Lavery

Cathie Sweeney Amy Cremo

Marilyn Fuller Maureen Ciotoli

Michele Calderon Lori Temple

Clara Bisaillon Michelle Budka

Barb Wurz Linda Plemenik

John Tobiassen Cathy Conroy

Melissa Peterson Karen Normington

Christine Polsinelli

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 7:03 pm.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the September 13, 2005 meeting were accepted as posted.

President’s Report – MaryPat Burke

Several more thank you notes have been received from staff for the fans.
A reminder letter was read from the Scotia-Glenville Teachers’ Association concerning the Annual Lasagna Dinner on Friday, November 4^th. Profits from the dinner provide scholarships for graduating seniors.
The Back to School Barbeque was a success – all of the meals were sold.
The February PTA meeting date is incorrect – it is currently listed as the same date as Founders Day. The meeting will probably be moved to February 14^th – watch for the new date.
Michelle Budka is putting the next PTA newsletter together – see her if you have any submissions.
3 events need a chairperson:

1. Dinner With Santa – 12/9 – need someone to mentor with Lorraine this year for next year’s event. There are lots of past records on this event so it should be easy to take over.

2. Mr. Mom Ziti Dinner – changed to January 20^th this year. Hopefully a dad can chair it. It is easy to organize since it is all catered. There may be a program held at the same time like Radio Disney or Bubblemania.

3. 5^th Grade Luncheon- needs a commitment for a chairperson within the next couple of months. There needs to be a theme established and donations solicited. Last year the food at the event was completely covered by donations.

P.E. Fundraising – Mrs. Wurz

The P.E. teachers would like to run a fundraiser for t-shirts. Last year’s company that did the Human-I-Tees shirts is out of business. She would like to know if the fundraiser can go through the PTA as the State says that all fundraisers must be done within a recognized fund.
Heart Health and Wellness Day – Mrs. Wurz requests that the PTA provide lunch for the volunteers since they often have to leave halfway through to feed a younger sibling. Also, last year the Girl Scouts delivered merchant letters to solicit donations for this event and also delivered Thank You certificates to the participating merchants – is that possible this year?
Cathy Conroy made a motion to approve the above items, which was seconded by Linda Plemenik. The motion passed.

Treasurer’s Report – Christine Polsinelli

A copy of the report was passed out for all in attendance to review.
The current balance in the checking account is $2,395.18. The savings account balance is 4,900.34 leaving the General Fund with a balance of $7,295.52. The Kay Sturdy Scholarship Fund now has a balance of $1,527.63
School T-shirt sales have totaled $387 so far. $1,431.45 has been spent on the merchandise.
Mallory Liberty and Adam Laura have each received a $500 Kay Sturdy Scholarship.

Principal’s Report – John Tobiassen

The Halloween parade will be on October 31^st at 2 pm, with the morning kindergarten parade at 9 am.
There will be a District School Lunch Advisory Committee meeting here on November 2^nd at 3:45 pm in the faculty room. They are trying to hold meetings a couple of times per year to talk about ways to improve the school

lunch program.

Parent conferences are coming up in November.
The school’s testing results are being presented to the Board next Monday. The results were very good this year:

In ELA, 78% of students scored at level 3 and 4
18% scored at level 2
3% at level 1

In Math, 93% scored at level 3 and 4 (up from 78% last year)
5 % scored at level 2 (down from 22% last year)
1% scored at level 1 (up from 0 last year)

In Social Studies, 100% scored at levels 3 and 4 this year.

There was an 11% turnover this year at the school.
Meet the Teacher nights went well. The grade level expectations were new this year.

Teacher’s Report – Kim Lavery

The Ellison machine is in but still boxed. It would be helpful to get a couple of dads to come set it up one day after school. They will probably use some of the extra money to purchase materials such as card stock.

Standing Committee Reports

Ways and Means (Karen Normington) Picture Day was successful but very hectic – the information sent in on which kids were with which teachers was all wrong. This will be corrected soon. Retake day is November 9^th. More flyers will be coming in and left in the office or given to teachers. The Fall Fundraiser is complete. There was $9,911 in total sales and the school will receive about 40% of that figure.
Programs (Cathy Conroy) Circus Week has been rescheduled to May 8^th – 12^th. May 12^th is the same night as the Prom. The time will have to be changed a little due to the Walk-In. They’ll try to get the same people to run it again, but we still need a theme. March is now empty of programs. Upcoming program possibilities include a stranger danger program, and a bike rodeo. The Masons may be interested in doing a program. The Bully program may be held in January or February. There was some discussion of the merits of Junior Great Books program versus a program run by Target which is less academic – books are read and paired with related activities, crafts, etc. The Target program is more of a fun program to get kids into books. Volunteers would be needed to run it. There is some question as to the possibility of this replacing PARP due to dwindling participation.
Fabulous Fridays (Linda Plemenik) There is still a huge need for people to teach a class. There are a lot of people who signed up to be helpers but not nearly as many classes as we would like. Hopefully more staff will volunteer.
Box Tops (Lori Temple) There is a Halloween contest going on now.
Soup Labels (Clara Bisaillon) There are 19,112 points “in the bank” so far. Another 568 labels will be added to that. If we write into Campbells with information about any community programs we are doing, we get up to 2000 extra points. Clara would prefer that the labels come untrimmed so that parents do not accidentally trim too much off, requiring the label to be discarded. Also, the label must be clean or it will not be accepted. Clara suggested taking the label off before opening the can.
Membership (Melissa Peterson) There are 185 members to date. All instructional staff have joined. A message will be put on the school sign encouraging anyone who has not yet joined to do so.
Back to School BBQ (Michelle Budka) The Barbeque brought in a revenue of $11. It had been budgeted to cost $500. Michelle will not be running this program next year but gave information to Christine detailing how she has run it, to help out whoever may be taking this over next year.
PTA Council (Michelle Budka and Maureen Ciotoli) The first meeting was September 28^th at Glendaal. Dues were $150. PTA Council will no longer be doing fundraising and has eliminated Ways and Means. They added an Arts in Education program, and 2 VPs – one for Programs and one for Founders Day. Founders Day is 2/7 – it will be confirmed for Glan Sanders Mansion. Also, Board members are volunteering to attend regional PTA meetings – we would have to contact Pam to set it up. The next Board meeting is 10/24. Teacher Appreciation Week is May 1 – 5. Regarding the Reflections program, it was suggested that a chairperson be named and that the PTAs should look for ways to encourage participation. Last year about 50% of the participants were from Sacandaga. The rules are in the office for kids to pick up. Also, Friends of Music is requesting that each PTA give support to their program. The next Council meeting is November 16^th.
Yearbook (presented by Cathy Conroy for Tamara Zwicklbauer) The first deadline is 12/1 to pick a cover choice. She plans on sending out a questionnaire to parents to see what kind of interest there is in the yearbook. Michele Calderon will be taking photos for the yearbook at various events and in classrooms and will be sending a flyer to teachers about this. Tamara is hoping parents and teachers send photos to her as well.

New Business - Open Floor

There was no new business.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 8:57 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Michele Calderon

PTA Secretary

Attachments (for file copy only)

Meeting Agenda

Treasurer’s Report – October 16^th, 2005