Jamestown PTO Meeting Minutes

April 8, 2009 at 6:30pm; Lawn school library

 

In attendance: Lisa Tuttle, Sheryl Atwood, Karen Rafanelli, Robin Tregenza, Wendy Rafferty

 

The minutes from the 3/11/09 meeting were approved.

 

Treasurer’s Report:  Prior to the meeting, Christine Moffet reported by e-mail that there is $5493.51 in checking and $8340.83 in savings, for a total of $13,834.34.  Robin Tregenza stated that deposits totaling approximately $1000 still need to be made, which will bring the total to approximately $14,800.     

 

Cultural Arts & Enrichment:  The PTO-sponsored programs for the remainder of the school year are:

When

Who

Where

What

Friday, April 24

Len Cabral

Lawn

African-American storytelling

Friday, May 1

RI Philharmonic

both schools

jazz quintet

Friday, May 8

Everett Dance Theater

both schools

performance about conflict resolution

 

Fundraising

 

Golf tournament:  The date of the golf tournament will be Saturday, September 26th.  Our first planning meeting will be held in late April/early May.  This is our biggest fundraiser of the year and singlehandedly provides much of the funding we use to pay for cultural arts and enrichment programs, field trips, teacher stipends, etc.  WE NEED YOUR HELP!! Volunteers are needed to help secure sponsorships and auction items, as well as to plan food, centerpieces, and gift bags.  This event can either be a ton of work for 5 people to put together or a little work for 25 people.  PLEASE contact Robin Tregenza (jrjcmt@aol.com) or just reply to this e-mail to volunteer. 

 

Calendar & Yankee candle fundraisers: These are still possible fundraisers being investigated for spring/fall 2009. 

 

New Business

 

PTO cabinet: Items are missing from the PTO cabinet at Melrose.  These items include: tablecovers, vases, and an empty cash box.  If you know where any of these items are, please let us know. 

 

Scholastic book fair:  The next book fair will be a Buy-One-Get-One-Free fair, which will be held at Melrose from Monday, May 11th through Wednesday, May 13th.  Look for more information after the April vacation.

 

Teacher Appreciation Day & luncheon: Teacher appreciation day at Melrose is Tuesday, May 5th.  Room parents will coordinate the assembly of a bouquet of flowers (one from each student) for each teacher.  Volunteer coordinator Lisa Kerr will contact the Melrose room parents.    

 

The teacher appreciation luncheon will be held on Friday, May 15th at both schools.  Ann Deffley will be catering this event.  The PTO will handle set-up/clean-up, provide drinks, and will ask volunteers to bake desserts. 

 

Health and wellness activities:  

RI Rock Gym outing: The April 3rd trip to the RI Rock Gym was attended by about 28 students and was a fabulous time for all participants.  As a result, a rock climbing club may be started next year for students in the older grades.   

 

Walking Club: Wendy Rafferty will be coordinating the walking club, which will begin in early May for grades 1-4.  Prizes will be awarded to the top walkers.  Wendy is looking for volunteers to come on walking club days (M/W/F during recess) and help the children keep track of their laps.  If you are able to help with this, please contact Wendy at 423-8080.

 

Move night:   The Bolt movie night at the end of March had a good turnout and went smoothly.  We will probably hold off on scheduling another movie night until sometime in the Fall, since daylight savings and spring sports practices would probably hamper turnout in May/June.

 

Drug awareness forum: This event went extremely well, with approximately 40 people in attendance.  There was a lot of positive feedback from parents, who requested more of these informational evenings.

 

Funds request: The 6th grade team is requesting funding for their annual Alton Jones trip.  In past years, the PTO has contributed $10 per student.  This year, some of their usual funding has fallen through.  We agreed to continue our donation of $10/student (X 48 students = $480), PLUS an additional $500.  This increased contribution is for this year’s trip only.

 

PTO volunteer fair:  Unfortunately, the PTO volunteer fair held on April 2nd was unsuccessful, with no new volunteers attending.  We still have some open Board positions for the next school year, plus we have a real need for additional general volunteers.  If we can not fill these voids, we will be forced to cut back next year on the programs/assemblies/events that benefit our students and faculty.  Volunteering with the PTO is a fun and rewarding experience that need not take up that much of your time.  Please contact Robin Tregenza (jrjcmt@aol.com) or just reply to this e-mail to learn more about how you can help!

 

Old Business

 

School directory: The directory is available for purchase ($3) in the offices of both schools.

 

PTO web site:  Lisa Tuttle has taken over as PTO webmaster and has revamped and updated the web site.  Please check the web site for information about upcoming events, fundraisers, and assemblies.  The site also has past PTO meeting minutes, a room parent list, forms for the pen pal program and funds requests, plus our new PTO logo and much, much more.  You can access it through the schools’ web page or by going to:

http://www.jamestownri.com/school/classes/pto/ptohome.htm 

 

Jamestown Press Kids’ Page ad: The PTO will continue to run an ad on the Kids’ Page through the end of the year.  Please contact Robin (jrjcmt@aol.com) if there is an upcoming event you would like to include in the ad.

 

 

The next meeting will be on Weds, May 13th at 3:00pm in the library at Melrose.

 

Meeting adjourned at 7:30pm.

 

Lisa Tuttle

PTO Secretary