meeting minutes - january 2023

Minutes
Alder Creek Middle School
PTO Meeting

January 12th, 2023, 7:45 AM ACMS Staff Room

Members present: Susie Overall, Nicole Reitter, Saira West, Yvonne Moore, Kate Lord, Denise Van Beek, Katie Smith, Hien Larson, Becky Barton

Welcome / Intro: 
Introductions were made and new members welcomed. The meeting minutes from December were briefly reviewed.  Saira made a motion to approve the minutes, Katie seconded the motion, and they were approved at 7:57 AM.

Treasurer’s Report & Budget Review:
Our Treasurer, Kate Lord gave the financial update. We received $276 from Grocery Outlet last month.  It was $2337 for buses for the 6th grade field trip.  We renewed our Google domain for a $12 fee.  X-mas lunch for the teachers was $279 and there was a principal fund request for $80 for student prizes. A grant request came through for Natalia Tomasello for $156 in hotel charges, as she was stuck in Chicago for an extra night over holiday break at a music conference.  It was unanimously approved at 8:03 AM.  An additional grant was also requested from Ms. Larson for the Million Word Club sweatshirts in the amount of $1000.  The total cost is $2000, and the school split it with us 50/50.  It was put to a vote and approved at 8:05 AM.  We will be starting snacks for the teachers back up and it is already an ongoing budget item. One of our beloved sponsors passed away just recently, Jeff Hamilton.  A foundation has been created and we are looking at ways we can help. 


Principal’s Update
The Winter break photo contest had 30 entries - very creative!  We will have another one over Ski Skate Week.   We need  help getting students here on time - many tardies, and teachers are having a difficult time.  The snowplow naming competition was a huge success - all of the winning entries came from ACMS.  As a prize, the winning students got their plow name engraved on an ornament.  January 26/27th are minimum days - tied to the high school bussing for their finals schedule.  Dismissal is 11:30, not 11:40. This will happen again in June.  Min day will have students “pause, reflect, plan” on goal setting and where they are in their learning.  The “Olympics” is  happening next week - 6th grade theme is “College”, 7th ? 8th grade  is “Decades”.  There will be lots of competition and team building activities. It will happen next week on  Friday the 20th. Tuesday March 21st evening is parent orientation for new middle school parents.  The idea to have Buddy families for new families was introduced by Nicole Reitter. March 8th the high school counselors are coming to ACMS campus for registration and scheduling for the outgoing 8th graders. Then, they will get an email with freshmen classes in June - don’t worry, they are not set in stone, and allow room for adjustments before school starts. Feb 16th is incoming parent night for new high school parents at the High School.  Stay tuned for more information. We have a new counselor, Erica Gustafsson, who is  covering for Megan Hurley on Thursdays and Fridays until the end of the year.  Open house is May 11th.  State testing is May 15-June 2.  Barring any more snow days, June 26th or  27th is projected to be the last day of school. The last possible day it could be would be 6/30.  Looking at March (or April) and June for the next dances.  The gym is booked until then with other activities. Starting Positively Rolling with girls this year at students request and the first group starts next week. Positively rolling is for 7th graders during ACES - they will be decorating skateboard decks in a community building event. Ms. Larson will reach out to band students who don‘t have ACES to see if they can participate. 

PTO Sponsorships: 
Denise Van Beek updated: Looking to next year - we should have this be our primary volunteer request at the first meeting in September. The committee needs about a month to confirm everything and get logos. Our yearbook deadline played a large role in the dates we needed sponsorships in by. This should be easier next year, now that  templates are in place. Ideally, would like to have the banner up by Back to School Night.

Spirit Wear: 
Kristi was not able to be here today, but she was connected with the spirit wear person from Truckee High.  A plan was made to run a 3x year online sale.  Spring / beginning of the new school year / holiday  the online shop would be  open.  We could pre-order inventory to have for Cougar Days.  BSN is the company & our profit will be  $5 from each item.  We are in charge of marketing only and they will handle all payments and shipping.  New parent orientation would be a great time to sell what we have in the storage closet.

Movie Night: Need to put on hold until March or April due to the gym/cafetorium being booked. 

Upcoming Events: 
The Parent Social planning was scrapped and will be revisited next year.  It was decided to focus on doing something for the kids this winter instead.  Possible ideas: Tubing Nights -Sugarbowl, Boreal or  Ice Skating Night at the TDRPD ice rink, or Northstar Cinema Movie Night. Times discussed were 5:00 on a Friday night or on a minimum day. Jan 26th/27th. There is no need for it to be a fundraiser, we could just have it be a community building event.

Tamale Fundraiser: We sold $900 in Tamales around the holidays, and paid $250 for them, leaving us with a net profit of $650.  We will run another one for Superbowl weekend.

Social Media Posts: Nicole recently set up an Instagram account that will be tied to our Facebook page.  
New Officer Recruitment for 23/24: 
Officer and committee recruitment for next year - we have several key officers graduating on to high school next year and we need to start working on our plans for new recruitment. New Parent Night could be a good time to start this as well as by having printed job descriptions at each meeting.  The revamping of the  bylaws regarding vice president role is also key.  We need to separate the newsletter from the chair position, to be less intimidating.  Need to come up with committees necessary for next year (social committee, sponsorships, etc)
Excellence in Education:
Excellence in Ed is starting a new mini-grant cycle for new teachers who don’t know they will be teaching in the fall yet. Probably starting in August.  April is the big/main grant cycle. 

Adjourn: Meeting was adjourned at 9:08 AM
​Next Meeting: 6:15PM -2/9/23 in the Raley's Loft