ACMS PTO meeting 3.14.2023
Raley's O.N.E. Loft, call to order 6:15 pm. Welcome / Intro: Introductions and welcome! Meeting minutes from the February meeting were approved at 6:28 PM. The motion was made by Laurie Kuntz and seconded by Wendy McKechnie. In Attendance: Susie Overall, Nicole Reitter, Saira West, Yvonne Moore, Kate Lord, Hien Larson, Wendy McKechnie, Jenny Berger, Kristin Baird, Laurie Kuntz Treasurer’s Report & Budget Review: Kate Lord gave the treasurer’s report Report for 2022-23 school year We currently have a net worth of $25, 590. We made $115 at the school dance, $65 recently in spirit wear sales, and $263 from Grocery Outlet. We are also about to receive our final payment from Amazon Smile, for $53., Sadly, they are ending their program. Mabel’s Labels was discussed as a possible new fundraiser - they give 20% back from all purchases. Grant or Reimbursement requests - use this Form. Requests: Create scholarship form for Boys & Girls Club. Principal’s Update: Hien Larson gave her update: There have been continuing issues getting kids to school on time - it is creating a problem with missed learning time. It is not an issue with the buses, it is the kids being dropped off. / Volleyball and Nordic season have ended - both were great this year. Track and Field is starting now, and wrestling continues. Girls soccer tryouts is 3/15. There is also a Band concert at North Tahoe High on 3/16. / A representative or two is needed for Middle School Parent Night on Tuesday 3/21 to host a PTO table. / The 8th Grade promotion planning meeting will be 3/30 at 8AM in the staff lounge. From there on out, planning meetings will alternate between mornings and evenings each month. There is no date set yet for 8th grade promotion - it really depends on when our last day of school is. The last day of school will be called at the end of March - we need to see how many snow days the state will waive. / There are no bikes or e-bikes allowed to be ridden home from the dances - parents must pick up their child. It is too dangerous and can’t be allowed moving forward. The next dance date is TBD, but we are expecting one this Spring. / There are no more minimum days for ACMS this academic year - teachers need that time for learning instruction. Spirit Wear: Our first online sale on the new platform will start March 19th in order to have sales open for Middle School Parent Night. Link to items. It is only open for a week at a time, and then closes again. There is a discounted rate for Spirit Wear for staff. Tamale Fundraiser: Originally, this second tamale raffle was supposed to be for Superbowl Weekend, then it was discussed moving it to Cinco de Mayo, but we decided that it will be too close to Open House (May 11th) and so we decided to skip this one. Staff Appreciation: May 1st - 5th. Laurie Kuntz, Susie Overall. Hien requested flannel shirts (Susie contacted NTHS) and lanyards. The loss of the minimum day will slightly affect the staff luncheon. Open House: Open House will be May 11th. Yvonne Moore, Susie Overall & Katie Lord are on the planning committee. Silent Auction baskets put together by each homeroom with a specific theme. Kermes Dinner for all! PTO Sponsorships: No updates for sponsorships this month New Business, Questions, Ideas, Thank Yous: 8th Grade Portraits were set up by Nicole Reitter - Whitby B will be doing them May 7, 10, 12 - $150 for one graduate traditional, or $200 for a bigger package that includes an outfit change ($50 to PTO) Stay tuned for sign ups, 8th grade parents. Although we decided to shelve planning a separate parent social, it was discussed that during the next school dance, we could have a very informal concurrent parent meet up at Alibi Ale Works in downtown Truckee. Discussion of updating bylaws and board positions. Upcoming Calendar Adjourn: The meeting was adjourned at 7:09 PM Next meeting - April 13th, 6:15 pm in Raley’s Loft..
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ACMS PTO meeting 2.9.2023
ACMS Staff Room, call to order 7:49am. In Attendance: Laurie Kuntz, Saira West, Susie Overall, Kristi Prochazka, Becky Barton, Yvonne Moore (minutes), Hien Larson Approve meetings from last month: Yvonne made a motion to approve, Kristi seconded and all agreed. Treasurer’s Report - Susie for Kate: Use Quicken for online platform. PTO Expenses - $100 for ice skating event (17 kids signed up), staff snacks in teacher’s lounge, extra night for band teacher, $120 month for Cougar Pride gift cards, reading challenge incentives, Million Word Club sweatshirts. Paid PTO insurance through Todd Rivera at District Office. Paid 6th grade field trip. $25,445 balance in bank account. Income – Sold some spirit wear. Principal’s Update -Hien L: Site Council Plan is being approved next Thursday at 8am. Looking to get student and parent on a safety committee to give input to update student handbook, e.g. no cell phone at lunch. Homework club has gotten busier, but kids need to come with homework and not just to hang out. Upcoming dance this Friday, students need to sign up online through Google form before the end of the school day for safety reasons. Superintendent Ghysels came to listen for Strategic plan update suggestions. Hien randomly pulled some students to give feedback. Lots of positive feedback on band and request for art and electives. Discussion about offering a scholarship to kids in need for boys and girls club at $100 per year. Yvonne moved to offer 5 annual scholarships to boys and girls clubs for families in need, Laurie seconded and all approved. Susie will create a scholarship form and Hien will review the applicants. 8th grade promotion committee meeting will be on March 30th at 8:00am in the staff lounge. West Orthodontics will annually sponsor the photo booth at the 8th grade promotion party. Celebration will take place at ACMS. The Pause Reflect Plan mid-year evaluation was completed by students. Hien thinks it would be helpful to complete more than once a year to get students to look at Aeries. Laurie had a question about the Strategic Plan and if the curriculum is part of that because she has heard math might be changed. CPM is being discussed since it is very language based. Currently a new science program “Foss” is being piloted. Becky asked about safety in the School Site Plan: where and how an evacuation would be in case of a fire or other emergency and how children would be moved. Hien said it depends on where and what the emergency is. The local fire department and transportation helps district wide with these plans. There has been a problem with too many students being late and it is effecting the start of class time. Parents need to get students to school earlier. Spirit Wear update - Kristi P: Moving to an online platform through BSN sports. This is the same platform that the Truckee High Boosters uses. We get a certain dollar amount per sale. We can set sale periods ahead of time. PTO is responsible for promoting the sales and the website does all the rest. Each sale goes on for one week at a time. PTO could do four or five sales at strategic times. The first opportunity would be March 21st for the 5th grade parents touring ACMS. Other times are Cougar days before school starts, last week of November before winter break, etc. Maybe utilize the display case at school to display items and next date for sale. School Dance - Susie O: February 10, We have blinky rings and glasses, and Pura Vida bracelets to sell. Laurie and Jenny Berger volunteered to sell at the PTO table. Other Business – Susie: Next tamale fundraiser will be chosen on March 24. Ice Skating Event cost was $100 and there were 17 sign ups. Held on a minimum day and a lot of students opted to go skiing. Staff Appreciation held the week of May 8th – 11th. Laurie K and Susie will chair. For a gift, Hien requested soft shell zip down jackets ($40 each) and lanyards for 70 staff members. Laurie suggested reusable tote bags. Open house is May 11th. Host a movie night at Northstar (?) after the snow clears? Next PTO meeting: Tuesday, March 14, 6:15pm Raley’s One upstairs Meeting Adjourned at 9:10am 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 ACMS PTO meeting minutes
12/8/2022 by Yvonne M Location: Truckee Raley’s One, Upstairs Attendees: Susie Overall, Yvonne Moore, Saira West, Kate Lord, Corinne Stenlund, Nicole Reitter, Dyan Johnson, Hien Larson Call to Order and Introductions: 6:30pm Approve 11/10/22 Meeting Minutes: Yvonne moved to approve, Saira seconded, all approved. Treasurer’s Report: Kate – Reviewed income and expenses for the past month. Current balance is $28,287.68. Movie Night: Canceled due to weather and lack of custodial staff hours. We want to make this happen, we’ll look at a Friday in January. Principal’s Update: Hien – 6th grade trip went well, will request $2500 for district buses from PTO. 7th grade organizing a field day, 8 th grade hoping to go to Ace’s game is spring. Movie Night on 12/9 canceled due to limited custodial hours for pending storms. Hoping to reschedule movie night for January 20 from 4-7pm. Coat and food drive going on at ACMS benefitting Truckee Community Christmas. Need to educate kids on winter awareness, e.g., charging phones, stay at school, safe place to go in town. ACMS band is doing a Holiday show in the evening on Tuesday and during school on Friday. Barter Market at school for 6 th grade only. Name the town snowplows contest, all four winners from ACMS. Two of the winning names were Blizzard of OZ and Austin Plowers. School talent show February 10. School trying to give extra emotional support to kids during the holiday season. Looking for temporary counselor to cover Mrs. Hurley while on maternity leave. Digital report cards came out. Volleyball tryouts are next week. Wrestling is back and starts in January. Students were surveyed on how they are feeling at school and how to create a positive culture. Working on the great feedback and suggestions from students. Good feedback on the wellness center, library and tech lab. Cafetorium was open for students to watch world cup. Giving out $5 gift cards to winners of Cougar Pride cards (thank you PTO for funding). Next dance potentially in February. PTO Business Sponsorships: Susie – Denise V. and ACMS students will send thank you notes. Nicole will post thank yous on social media, Hien will post thank yous in Cougar News. Spirit Wear: Susie – Kristi P. is still researching an online vendor and selling leftover spirit wear at Basketball games. Staff Holiday Thank You: Hien asked PTO about a staff thank you. PTO will try to provide lunch or breakfast. Parent Social: Saira – Maybe have it as a community event instead of a fundraiser? Could go somewhere like Alibi? Could have it during a school dance? Winter or Spring? Tamale Fundraiser: Susie – Deadline is December 20th , 5pm. We pay $25 per dozen, and we ordered 10 dozen, so the fundraiser costs us $250. So far, we have $320 donated. Social Media Posts: Nicole – Planning to start an Instagram account. Family Photo Sessions: Nicole – The photographer was unfamiliar with the expectations and only shot for a few minutes for each time slot instead of the full time. Photographer didn’t help pose the families. Spring will be Whitby B for 8 th grade students. Excellence in Education: Susie – Skiing for schools (fundraiser lift tickets) available for sale at Tahoe Dave’s. Northstar sells $25 lift tickets to local students on Wednesdays, Sundays, and School snow days with student I.D. New Business: Newsletter went out a little early this month. ACMS Homework club on Mondays and Thursdays from 2:30 – 4pm. Encourage more students to attend. Meeting adjourned: 7:38pm Alder Creek Middle School
PTO Board Meeting - November Meeting Minutes Date: November 10th, 2022 Time/Location: 7:45 AM ACMS Staff Room Next Meeting: 6:15 pm, December 8th, 2022 Raley’s Loft Members present: Susie Overall, Nicole Reitter, Saira West, Yvonne Moore, Kate Lord, Denise Van Beek, Kristi Prochazka, Jessica Marr, Hien Larson Welcome / Intro Introductions were made and new members welcomed. The meeting minutes from October were briefly reviewed. Saira made a motion to approve the minutes, Kristi seconded the motion, and they were approved at 7:52 AM Treasurer’s Report & Budget Review Our Treasurer, Kate Lord gave the financial update. We received $5600 in Sponsorship donations this year. We also brought in $189 from our Summit Swirl day at the beginning of the year. We received more donations than expected for Conference week - $692, which covered our costs for supplies and the hosted lunch. The first dance made $330, and fees were $339 (the goal was for kids to have fun, not to fundraise). Spirit wear is finally in the positive - we have sold $1700 for the year so far, out of the $1600 we initially invested. The grant request / reimbursement form is available for staff and others. Our total account balance is approximately: $25,000. Annual information update was filed with the secretary of state. Principal’s Update Hien Larson gave her monthly update - we are almost to the end of trimester one, grades are being mailed out this time. She reminded us that these are trimester progress grades, not final grades for the year, thus will likely not be 4’s. Parents should look at work habits and qualifications for sports as they are students first - then an athlete. They have been busy with planning the 6th grade trip to Grizzly Ranch. 99% of students are attending with 20 counselors. They could not get enough parent drivers, so she called transportation and they made an exception for us - two buses each day. Parents need to send in Covid test results ASAP. Sadly, the Fall Band Concert was canceled due to rescheduling. Online tutoring is free 24 hours a day and paid for by the district. It is a live person tutoring, the link with more info is in the Cougar News which goes to students as well. Homework club is starting up this week - it goes from 2:30-3:55 PM. There are 2 teachers per grade level to help and answer questions - Monday and Thursday, and students can drop in as needed. There is one “in town” bus available for pick up afterwards, as well. Thank you for the student led conference help! AVID strategies in school are being utilized to access more positive things. Some examples included college and career Thursday, incentives such as Cougar Pride cards one per grade level for prizes from stores to encourage positive culture. Right now, they are requesting bus $$$ for Grizzly Ranch and possibly scholarships for 20 kids from the PTO - and she is asking ASB as well. We have $2000 in our budget set aside for this. 30 kids each are allowed in the new wellness center / library / tech center at a time during lunch, for 90 total. No tea or food allowed, it started to be too much. Eating is allowed in the Cafetorium only. The current student body is at 580 students this year. 8th grade is always the biggest. Upcoming event of movie night: 12/2, 4:30 - 7:00, movie starts at 5, Hien has a popcorn machine. We need volunteers - it will be manned by PTO members. Leadership will decide on the movie. NO BLANKETS ALLOWED, but wear a onesie and get entered into a drawing for a prize. We need to reserve the cafetorium from the Boys and Girls Club - email Elvia. $5 for the movie ticket, and the PTO can sell bracelets. Skip pizza: just oranges, popcorn, gummies, rice krispie treats & water. PTO Sponsorships Denise VanBeek gave an update that the Sponsorship banner is up, website page updated, and yearbook pages submitted. We still need to send thank you notes and post recognition to Facebook. $5600 raised this year from a total of 9 sponsors! Denise did research regarding the parent party at the community center: $35/hour for the space, old rec center, no reservations until 1/1, costumed event, alcohol sold, dance with DJ, bingo / trivia, etc? We are open to ideas. Spring is preferable to winter. Spirit Wear Currently we are just selling through Sign Up Genius We recently reduced prices. Working to set up outside vendors to take orders and fulfill. In contact with Carl, trying to emulate Truckee High’s sales website for next year. This year we will just try to get rid of our inventory. Kristi will be going to the basketball game, concerts - other events where parents will be present. Would be awesome to post on social media each week / FB posts of all of the upcoming games and events. Hien says that the games are pretty packed already. She would like kids to sell spirit wear at the events, although we believe a chaperone should be in charge of money. Family Photo Sessions Nicole Reitter has been working on this great idea! The date is Saturday, November 12th and we have spots available. 70/30 split of $100 with the photographer. In April there will be an 8th grade photoshoot with Whitby - they will receive 3-4 outdoor photos for $125-$150, 80/20 split with photographer. Movie night Movie night will be Friday December 2nd form 4:30-7:00. Leadership will decide on a movie and the kids will be encouraged to dress in comfy onesies for the event. No pizza served - just popcorn and gummy candies. Susie Overall and Nicole Reitter will be the planners for this fun event. Tamale Fundraiser December will be our first one of the year. Elvia has a contact who makes tamales - we pay $200 and earn around $1000 for the PTO each time we have this fundraiser. The link for Paypal is sent out in an email and Susie usually helps pack tamales up with Rosa the chef. We buy 10 dozen for our raffle. She keeps a spreadsheet of all purchases - $100 equals 10 chances to win, $20 equals two chances. Conference Week Everything was so appreciated - Thank you to our volunteers, Erin Videgan & Katie Smith! Dance Yvonne Moore and Jenny Berger were our coordinating volunteers for this event. The PTO broke even - made $330, and spent $339. It was requested that for the next dance, no glow sticks will be allowed, as some kids were throwing them. The blinky glasses were popular and can be brought back for the next event. Excellence in Education Upcoming event is the Celebration of Education at Moody’s Nov. 15th - the ACMS Jazz ensemble is playing. Friends of Education is a program where you can set up a recurring donation and /or pull money out of staff paychecks. Skiing For Schools - discount lift tickets sold at Tahoe Dave’s again this year. Dining with Schools cards are also still available. New Business, Questions, Ideas, Thank Yous Ideas are welcome! Dances, Movie Nights, Mother’s Day Bouquets, Tamale Fundraisers, Spanish class. Mock Rock lip synching - when is our next dance??? Need to ask Hien at our next meeting. Before the next meeting / committee for the parent party should meet. Maybe at Alibi. Adjourn Meeting was adjourned at 9:05 AM ACMS PTO meeting minutes 10/13/22
At Raley’s ONE upstairs. Call to order 6:23pm Adjourn 7:45pm Next meeting: 11/10/22, 7:45am ACMS staff lounge Members present: Susie Overall, Yvonne Moore, Wendy McKechnie, Kristi Prochazka, Nicole Reitter, Denise Van Beek, Hien Larson, Jenny Berger Welcome/Intro. -Minutes approved from last meeting. PTO Board & Committee Heads: -Co-leaders: Susie O & OPEN, Co-secretaries: Saira West & Yvonne M, Treasurer: Kate Lord, Sponsorships: Denise V, Social Media: Nicole R, Spirit Wear: Kristi P, Conference Week Planning: Erin Videgain & Katie Smith, Staff Appreciation Week: Nicole R & Laurie Kuntz, Silent Auction Committee: Kate L & Yvonne M, Cougar Day Volunteers 2023: Laurie K, Katie S, Yvonne M. Treasurer’s report from Susie: -Purchased Quicken On-line. -Our budgeted income has increased from $10,000 to $20,000 for the first time in many years. -There is a Google form to submit for expense reimbursement. Principal’s report from Hien: -Dance tomorrow, new system for attendance check in during the dance: students’ will scan a QR code from their cell phone. Students with no phone will use sign in sheet. Same DJ from 8th grade dance last year. Raised funds go to Associated Student Body (ASB). ASB will use money for charter buses for sports since there are not enough parent drivers due to the volunteer driver process just rolling out. -Parent volunteer process through TTUSD. Process faster if needed info on hand, e.g. DMV driving report and liability insurance amounts. -6th grade field trip still looking for male high school junior and senior counselors for 11/14, 15 & 16. Contact Mrs. Larson and Mrs. Hurley. Need some scholarship money for kids who can’t afford fee. Truckee Optimist group gave $500 for scholarships. -Mrs. Hurley going out on maternity leave, hiring for a temporary sub. Looking to hire more instructional aides. -ACMS site visit from Board of Education and Superintendent. Both gave accolades. Usually come twice a year. Been awhile due to COVID. -ACMS site visit from Placer County Office of Education (PCOE). Liked what they saw. Great start on a positive year with student behavior. Sense of calm at school and students happy to be there. -Focus on getting students to grade level standard using Accelerated Workshop. -Aeries will report two different grades for each subject, one grade is academic and the other behavior/work habits. -Reinforcing positive behavior with incentives e.g., $5 gift cards to local restaurants. -Excited about student led conferences for parents. -New Assistant Principal is Andrew Losk from South Lake Tahoe High School. He has been a middle school 8th grade teacher. -New wellness center, library and tech center open during lunch and break. PTO Sponsorships report from Denise: -Have 4 new sponsors for 9 total: Truckee Pediatric Dentistry, People 415 (HR support to small businesses), Sugarpine Engineering, Tinsel House Studio. Last year carrying over: CATT, Walton’s Grizzly Lodge, Overall Hamilton Real Estate, West Orthodontics, Grocery Outlet. Grocery Outlet sponsorship in the form of regular donations as a percentage of customer spending. -Deadline for banner is 10/14. Banner will be bigger than last year. Conference Week 10/24-28 report from Susie: -Need more volunteer signups for food and help. -Mi Pueblito would charge $850 to cater a lunch, LY was $500. Hien will follow up on price break. -Received $350 in cash donations so far. Spirit Wear report from Kristi: -Gathering data on current inventory and past program. -Researching Squad Locker and Bonfire as possible on demand suppliers. -Perhaps survey students through leadership on what items they want for Spirit Wear. 10/14 ACMS Dance PTO plan report from Susie: -PTO will have a table selling flashing glasses $2 and blinky rings $1. Giving away glow stick bracelets. Not to make money, just for fun! -Yvonne M and Jenny B will be volunteering at the PTO table. One more volunteer needed. -Hien said there are plenty of parent volunteers for dance. 8th grade photos report from Nicole: -Whitby B. has offered $125 for 15 minutes ($100 for her, $25 for us). -Aldana Fernandez, past student $100 ($70 for her, $30 PTO). -A suggestion was made to have Whitby photograph 8th grade students and Aldana photograph families. New Business and Ideas: -Movie Night in gym for students. Friday night 12/2 before holiday break? District paid for movie licensing rights. -Parent Fun Night: Bingo? Winter themed dance party for adults at Parks and Rec art center? -Ice skating or Roller skating? -Social time for adults at Open House? -Hien might be willing to host a Vietnamese dinner for the silent auction prize. -Pay for PTO liability insurance through TTUSD Todd Rivera (Susie will check). Alder Creek Middle School - PTO Board Meeting
Date: September 22nd, 2022 Time/Location: 7:30-9am/ACMS Staff Room Members present: Susie Overall, Saira West, Yvonne Moore, Erin Videgan, Kristi Prochazka, Kate Lord, Kate Smith, Reini Jensen, Nicole Reitter, Laurie Kuntz, Kendra McGargill, Hien Larson Welcome / Intro: Greetings were made and incoming as well as new families to the school were introduced. PTO Board & Committee Heads: All of the open volunteer positions were read and the following positions were filled: Co-Leaders - Susie Overall & OPEN Co-Secretaries - Saira West & Yvonne Moore Treasurer - Kate Lord Silent Auction Committee: Susie Overall, Kate Lord & Yvonne Moore Staff Appreciation Week: Nicole Reitter & Laurie Kuntz Conference Week Planning: Erin Videgan & Kate Smith Cougar Days Volunteers for 2023: Laurie Kuntz, Katie Smith, Yvonne Moore Sponsorships Committee: Erin Videgan & Denise Van Beek Spirit Wear: Kristi Prochazka The position of Co-Leader was turned into a two year revolving position, so Susie can help to train the oncoming co-chair, who would then be more of a leader the following year to the next co-chair and share the duties. This eliminates the Vice-President position and will be updated in the by-laws. Review Calendar for Upcoming Year It was decided that due to conflicts on Tuesdays, the PTO will meet on the 2nd Thursday of the month, alternating between 7:45 AM in the ACMS Faculty Lounge and 6:00 PM at the Raley’s Mezzanine. Treasurer’s Report & Budget Review Treasurer Kate Lord presented the treasurer’s report. There was $1600 left over from the 8th grade graduation committee last year. Options were discussed to roll it over to the following year so that they have a cushion to start with vs. putting the unspent money into scholarships or various other options. Ultimately, Ms. Larsen believes that it should be rolled over to the following year, as there were various goods and services donated to graduation, so the funds leftover are not truly “extra”. A motion was made at 8:10AM by Reini Jensen to approve the balanced budget, and it was seconded by Erin Videgan and passed unanimously. The budget was approved at 8:11 AM. Susie Overall and Kate Lord will meet at US Bank to add her to the ACMS PTO Checking Account. Principal’s Update Hien Larson gave her update for September. This year has started out tough with staffing challenges. We finally have three new teachers (one in each grade) and are currently interviewing for a Vice Principal. Unfortunately, Jason Estabrook is going back to the High School. We have also had difficulties with transportation and thus have no busing for field trips, we will be relying on parent volunteer drivers for many things this year. The biggest field trip will be an overnight for 6th graders to Grizzly Ranch/Sierra Nevada Journeys Camp in Portola. It will be November 14-15, and 15-16th (two groups coming one day apart). The students will be in cabins and the field trip will be integrated with our science curriculum. 7th graders will no longer be allowed to do the ropes course field trip due to insurance reasons, so they will stay at school to have a field day with SWEP. 8th graders are no longer allowed to go to Wild Island, also for insurance reasons. They are currently in a lottery to get an approved date to attend a Reno Aces game in May - more information TBD. There will once again be a beach day at the end of school at the West End Beach at Donner Lake. October 21st is picture retake day, if you were absent for the first one. 9/29 is Back to school night, parents only please. May 11th will be Open House. October 14th will be the first school dance, we hope to have four of them this year - no outside students. ASB is the recipient of the funds raised at school dances, not the PTO. The PTO presence at the dance is to sell spirit wear and support our ASB. Starting October 3rd on Tuesdays after school there will be a GATE coding club - it is called “Girls Who Code”, but is open to anyone who is interested. The Spanish program will also be continuing - the ACMS PTO supports continuing the Sign Up Genius for this program as well as student messaging. PTO Sponsorships Denise VanBeek and Erin Videgan will be handling sponsorships this year. They will be reaching out to last year’s sponsors who only signed up for one year, as well as new companies. We have two parent businesses that have independently reached out to us already that we will be following up on. Conference Week Mini days for conferences are scheduled the week of Oct. 24-28th, Katie Smith and Erin Videgan will be helping plan meals for this week. We traditionally provide breakfast and lunch options for the staff. Looking at simple, easy options, possibly a baked potato bar instead of Mexican? Spirit Wear Kristi Prochazka volunteered to take on Spirit wear management this year. Thinking that we will do online sales of sweatshirts and t-shirts and only do bracelets, hats, and stickers (& other small things) in person at events. This will minimize storage issues and make things easier for us. We are currently selling via Sign Up Genius, but need to find a better method, which Kristi will look into. We are looking into ways to get rid of the small and medium sized spirit wear that we have - possibly selling it at an Elementary School event for $5 or even donating. Back to School Night Back to school night is Thursday, September 29th at 5:30 PM. The evening is for parent’s only, so that they may follow their child’s schedule and meet all of their instructors. Excellence in Education Excellence in Education is a non-profit organization that supports our school district. Their mission to enhance the educational experience of our students is accomplished by giving grants and educator awards to the teachers in our school district. Each school year, they provide approximately $250,000 to the schools and programs of TTUSD. In the most recent grant cycle, Alder Creek Middle School received funding for three grants totaling $12,674. This covered the cost of additional instruments for our music program, math manipulatives and social studies resources. We are so grateful for their generosity! Dining for Schools cards have been brought back as well. They will be available for purchase soon. Cougar Days Our PTO volunteers sold $1,383 of Spirit Wear at Cougar Days this year! Cougar Days is traditionally our biggest event that we sell the most spiritwear at - we need to make sure we are fully stocked each summer and can provide tangible items to incoming students and parents during this evening. It would be the only time we would have sweatshirts and tees on hand. In 2023 it will either be Monday August 21st or Tuesday August 22nd. Laurie Kuntz, Katie Smith, and Yvonne Moore will attend and help out. New Business, Questions, Suggestions, Thank Yous Nicole Reitter is heading up the 8th grade graduates photography project. Currently has a quote from Whitby B, and is also checking into two others. In the future (too late for this Fall, unfortunately) we would love to have a Fall Family Photoshoot as a fundraiser. A mom’s night out was also discussed - possibly a Ladies Bingo Night! Will be discussed at future meetings. Adjourn Remaining members were able to take a tour of the brand new wellness center located on the second floor of the ACMS administration building, where we took a group photo for the PTO page in the ACMS yearbook. Next Meeting: 6:15 pm, October 13th, 2022/ Raley’s ONE Principal’s Update
Upcoming field trips: 6th grade field trip to Science Center on Tahoe - June 1st and 3rd (2 groups); West End Beach Day 14th 7th grade - SWEP field trip to the rec center; West End Beach Day June 10th 8th grade TBD - June 21 First week of testing went well. More in the coming weeks. Counselors heading to Glenshire and Truckee El next week to give information to incoming 5th graders. 5th graders will visit ACMS the week after Wellness Center: Building the wellness center starting on the first day of summer. Big room, new furniture, hang out and feel groovy. All kids will turn in their chromebooks. 8th graders get new ones in high school. New Assistant Principal, Mr. Estabrook, kids love him. Hien gave her personal story and received a grateful and positive reaction from the 8th graders. They shared with her the messages they took away. Will use the Latinas Unidas money they earned selling desserts for kids who can’t afford a graduation dress. Parent survey - we need more responses, we will post it to our Facebook page. Treasurer’s Report $180 at band fundraiser $54 profit at the dance plus $90 in spirit wear sales $382 from Grocery Outlet last month $1875 Kermes dinner profit $500 Bob Buchanan Law $6000 Silent Auction profits $6175 in sponsorships for the year Hit budget spot on for the Staff Appreciation week ($1200) $16,000 in revenue YTD Hien will submit invoices for field trips, Million Word Readers sweatshirts and more. Silent Auction Need to write thank you cards to donors, Hien will get leadership to do it. Bidding Owl was a success. It was great to have the auction open for the next week. They will charge a 5% fee. Sponsorships Need thank you cards for sponsors. Will begin asking for next year soon Staff Appreciation Teachers loved it! Thanks to Nicole for sweets; thanks to Laurie for breakfast; thanks to Palisades for all the yummy desserts. Amazon list was a good idea Spirit Wear Sara will begin ordering again for next year, we need to supply for Cougar Days. We still have items and invoices from Twin Forks, he will let us know about this. Cougar Days Date is TBD. We will not be doing a school supply kit, however, PTO will fund school supplies to be in the office for kids who need items. Will need a supply list. Feedback/Recap We like having meetings at Raley’s in the evening. We have outgoing 8th grade parents, we need to recruit. A huge thank you to all the graduating PTO parents, your involvement has been invaluable! We will put together a list of duties needed throughout the year and assign chairpersons. This will give people a sense of ownership of tasks. Adjourn 7:30 pm. No June meeting, we will be in touch about Cougar Days and sponsorships. Attendance: Susie Overall, Kate Byus, Nicole Reitter, Jenny Suh, Wendy McKechnie, Yvonne Moore, Laurie Kuntz, Dyan Johnson, Stacey Jacobs
Treasurer Report: Revenue - Amazon: $90; Grocery Outlet: $485 for March; Band fundraiser: $200; Summit Swirl: $100; Spirit Wear: $100; Sponsorship money: $6250; Bob Buchanan Law: $500; Bank balance $14,100 Expenses: Banners $176 Band: they would love support, maybe t-shirts, we could support after they get their grant request from Excellence in Ed PTO Sponsorships: Looking for sponsors for next year, same ask as this year. Current Sponsors: Cougar - Overall and Hamilton Group, West Orthodontics. Cub - Walton's Grizzly Lodge, CATT Dance: Friday, April 22, selling glow-sticks (have not arrived), bracelets, stickers, hats. Susie, Yvonne, Karsten, Barbara, Jenny B. volunteering. Staff Appreciation Week: May 2-6, Susie created Sign Up Genius; Monday (Laurie Kuntz & Caroline): Buffet in staff lounge (egg dishes, pastries (thanks to Courtney Hadley and Palisades Tahoe), yogurt, smoothies, coffee/tea. Tuesday: T-shirts, sunglasses for staff. Wednesday: ACMS will pay for catered lunch from Mi Pueblito. PTO will supplement with chips, guac, lettuce, drinks, drinks, flatware, dessert. Thursday (Nicole R.): Sweets bar - cookies, candy, cake. Friday (Susie): Wellness bags: lip balm, lotion, emergen-C, pen, motivational note pad. Silent Auction: May 12, teacher requests went out; Susie will send everyone with spreadsheet for sponsorship ideas - we can sign up for the ones we want; Yvonne has rec center and mountain hardware; Kate - arcade belts, blue zone; Ideas: Woodward, etc. separate meeting. Will use Bidding Owl to manage auction - must pay online, deadline perhaps a week after the event. Kermes Dinner happening the same night - order ahead TBD Principals Update: Dance: more than enough volunteers for the dance; $20 donation, $10 for kids whose parents are participating, ACMS students only; volunteers arrive 4:45; ASB photographer. Field Trips: in the works; will be asking PTO for funds TBD Spirit Wear: Selling online via Sign Up Genius; will buy for for Cougar Days in August; new purveyor Other ideas: roses at the dance, beach day or skating rink; school supplies for Cougar Day Next Meeting: Thursday May 19, 6:15pm at Raley’s Attendees: Susie Overall, Nicole Reitter, Jenny Suh, Yvonne Moore, Stacey Jacobs, Lori Kuntz, Hien Larson
Fundraising Ideas:
Spirit Wear
Staff Appreciation Week (May 2-6)
Silent Auction (May 12)
Sponsors
Treasurer's Report
8th Grade Promotion
Dorothy Gadsby Memorial Book Drive
Adjourned at 7:30 |
MeetingsThe next PTO meeting is Tuesday, April 16, 2024 at 6 pm in the ACMS Library. Archives
March 2024
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