Meeting minutes - September, 2021

ACMS PTO September 2021 Minutes
September 8th, 2021, 7:30 am
 
Attendees
Susie Overall, Jenny Suh, Hien Larson, Yvonne Moore, Stacie Krenicki, Nicole Reitter, Amanda Helm, Yvonne Moore, Saira West, Ashley Maloney, Natalie Grindy, Leslie Suen, Jenny Berger

Overview
Mission: Reconnecting our kids. What events can we go to connect the kids? Beach day? Truckee high football games, field day, etc. More ideas welcome!

Treasurer’s Report
$7,164 in the bank right now. We will contribute $800 to SWEP for the year. We owe $624 for Spirit Wear. Leslie Suen offered to take over treasurer duties, Susie will meet with her to train. We are working on creating a budget for the upcoming year based on financial needs.

Principal’s Update
Action: PTO can help with pop-up tents for the field if we need them in the future. 
First day of school went smoothly, kids are on it in terms of safety. We have over 600 students. Kids need a bonding event. Perhaps a ropes course? We may be able to allow parent drivers to the ropes course, instead of buses. Transportation is the biggest part of her budget right now. This won’t happen until after January so it’s better to focus on a Spring event. Teachers are working with kids on extra bonding experiences. We can’t have any non school district companies or coordinators on campus. SWEP will do their program this year (with the financial support of the PTO).

Back to School Night - Moved to September 21st. Asking that only one adult per family to attend, no students. 5:40pm - go through your kid’s schedule. 10 mins each room. The PTO will have a table set up for afterwards to sell spirit wear.

Picture Day - This Friday during student's PE period.

Independent Study - Short term only, must be less than 15 days. We try to accommodate sports. In two weeks Hien will begin meeting with families to sort it out. District policy says you must be motivated to do independent study and parents must help, it is not easy.

Standard Reference Reporting - Grade books are different this year, similar to elementary style. Goal is end of year proficiency. Kids need a mindset of progress and improvement. Kids should self-reflect on their learning. Parents should guide them to encourage growth and progress, not perfectionism. This helps kids love the process of learning. 

Parent Teacher Conferences at the end of October. Student-led. Progress, social emotional, etc. Action: We will prepare lunch for the teachers. Individually wrapped. Stacie Krenicki will coordinate this. 

Maybe we can hold an outside dance in January. 😊

New Assistant Principal - Kristin Fielding from the Bay area. She lives in Tahoma, has two kids. College and grad school in Portland Oregon, moved to Bay, taught elementary and middle before becoming an administrator. Taught our Cohort “C” last year.

PE - Kids won’t dress out until probably January. Bring your gym shoes. Will get a locker next week and can keep gym shoes there, deodorant etc. 

COVID Outbreak - If 5% of the school tests positive, the school will likely close for two weeks and classes will be through Google Classroom. Not live instruction, more like independent study. Nurse will do contract tracing. 

Cougar Days & Spirit Wear
Had a table sold $1018 in Spirit Wear. Will do inventory and order some more gear. We can sell again at back to school night. Saira West is going to help coordinate our spirit wear inventory. Perhaps we can add more items such as pennants, long sleeve shirts? We also have string bags to sell. We will work with our supplier to get more popular items on hand, i.e. youth sweatshirts and beanies.

Back to School Night
We can set up a table for parents to visit after the event with spirit wear and PTO information. High school students can staff. Yvonne is looking in to ideas to offer a take home dinner - pizzas, burritos, tamales.

Snacks for Staff Lounge 
$100/month budget. Will try to connect with our former helper, Celli, to purchase healthy items at a good price. Distribute snacks every Monday morning. Jenny Berger will coordinate this. 

Restaurant Fundraisers
After putting this program on hold during COVID, we would like to have fundraisers at different restaurants each month. Summit Swirl supported us in August. Other ideas - Panda Express, El Toro, Port of Subs, Drink Coffee Do Stuff. Reach out to parents to see if there are restaurant owners who are interested.

Other Fundraising Ideas
Pura Vida bracelets, candy grams, flower delivery

2021/22 Board/Volunteers
Co-Leaders: Susie Overall, Nicole Reitter
Secretary: Jenny and Yvonne
Treasurer: Leslie Suen
Helper at Large: Natalie Grindy
Spirit Wear Coordinator: Saira West
Conference Week Lunches Chair: Stacie Krenicki
Staff Room Snack Coordinator: Jenny Berger
We would like an ASB student rep to attend future meetings.
THANK YOU!!!

Adjourn
8:45 am. Next meeting will be Wednesday, October 13th at 7:40 am. 

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