PTO Board Meeting
Tuesday, November 6, 2024
8:40am
Spring Avenue School Conference Room
Administration & PTO Board Members in Attendance
Principal Amy Read, Pam Byerly, Rachel Melyon, Cathy Gannon, Jill Tweedie, Andrea Carlson, Rocco Casamassimo, Nicole Musillami, Sara Currie
Updates from Administration and Board Members
Ms. Read kicked off the meeting by thanking Kristin Anderson, the PTO and contributors of the meals for the staff during student teacher conferences. The change to have more food on Wednesday really helped and it would be great to continue that moving forward. She also updated the group that the invoice for the furniture for the library was received and the school is hoping to have that finalized before the Thanksgiving holiday. A few new future PTO fundraising ideas were brought forth - possible holiday candy gram and a Gurrie/Spring Ave Flying High gymnastics open gym.
Currently, the PTO is gearing up to send “ThankMas” notes to the support staff at Spring Ave to share how much they are appreciated.
Ms Read will be setting the Hearing and Vision dates soon.
The school is looking forward to celebrating Veterans Day on November 11th. Everything is going smoothly with the planning and the PTO will be covering breakfast, decorations and flowers.
All families should have received the school directory booklet. The electronic version of the directory is in progress with more details coming out soon.
The classroom Halloween parties were a success and Run Club will be wrapping up their fall season with the Hot Chocolate Run on November 15th. In preparation for the Holiday Season, teachers will receive their “Favorite Things” survey and this will be shared with the parents.
Literacy Night is coming up on Thursday, November 9 and a total of nine families are currently signed up. The attendance seems light, so the timing and or day of week might need to be looked at for future planning.
The PTO is currently working with the chairs regarding the Holiday After 3s, which are parent run vs run through Right at School. There has been some parent feedback regarding the Right at School fall classes offered. The PTO will work with Right at School to see if a smoother and more transparent registration process can be offered.
Mangia Mangia is the next scheduled fun lunch on Friday, December 13th. Thank you to all parents who were able to donate money to cover the cost of fun lunches for their children this year. The deficit has been cut in half. The chairs for fun lunch will be looking into offering juice vs Gatorade to students during the fun lunches moving forward.
There is a district run 5th/6th grade picnic to be scheduled at the end of April/early May. The PTO will work with the district to see how they can assist in the planning or day of activities. More details to follow.
Math and Science Night is scheduled for January 16. The board discussed w/staff present at the meeting to work with teachers on encouraging younger graded students to participate in this event by potentially incorporating items into their curriculum so students feel more confident in signing up.
The Anderson’s Book Fair was a great success, raising about $12,000, which was similar to last year's numbers.
In the upcoming weeks, Spirit Wear items will be available for purchase. The information and ordering link will be shared via ParentSquare.
The committee chairs for Trivia Night are in the midst of planning and organizing - the date is January 31st. In addition, the Fun Fair is scheduled for Friday, April 25, 2025 and the Adult Social is booked for March 14th at the LaGrange Country Club. The initial planning meeting for the adult social will take place in mid-January. The Fun Fair is in need of committee chairs.
The retail fundraisers have been going well. $115 was made from the Portillos fundraiser. Little Joe’s is scheduled for November 18-20 and Chipotle on December 4th.
The next PTO meeting will be Wednesday, January 15, 2025 via Zoom (7pm).