Archie T. Morrison PTO

April PTO Meeting Minutes

April PTO Meeting Minutes

Minutes of PTO Meeting
Wednesday, April 14, 2004

 Introductions
Lisa welcomed everyone and the meeting got underway.

 Family Fun Night – 4th and 5th Grade Bingo
Approximately half of the 5th grade class and twenty percent of the 4th grade class were in attendance at this social. It was a huge success. Everyone had a lot of fun. With trying new ideas this year, this social seemed to be the most popular. Emily Coraine won the huge Hershey bar. Mrs. Mahoney and Mrs. Troup joined in the fun. The prizes (candy bars) were donated by Marge O’Brien, our crossing guard.
 LifeTouch Family Portraits
33 families (10% of Morrison families) participated in this program. Life Touch did a good job. It was well organized. This was not a prepay program. You were able to have your picture taken and proofs sent to your home before you spent any money. It takes seven weeks from March 26th to receive the proofs. Once you receive your proofs you can decide if you want to purchase any packages.
 Box Tops
We collected 13,000 box tops this year. Our school will receive $1,343.42. Nikki budgeted only $1,000.00 this year – we exceeded our goal! Winners of the baskets were Ellen Tenenbaum (teacher) and Justin Weitbrecht (student). Keep saving your box tops – there will be another collection time in October.
 Spring Fling
The Spring Fling was held at Emerald Hall in Braintree. Things went very smoothly. It was a great time for all that attended. The split of the grades worked out well. We made approximately $500.00 from the raffle items.

 Election Day Bake Sale
This bake sale went really well. There were great volunteers. The parents greeted everyone that walked in the door to vote. They raised over $400.00. Our next bake sale will be in November. At that time soup will be served, there will be more baked goods, and more raffle items. Geraldine Gardner made this a wonderful event.
 SSMH Seminar
There were 5 people in attendance at the seminar which was held on April 13th. Kris Clasby talked to parents about “General Parenting Skills”, including discipline techniques. She did a great job. These seminars will continue next year.
 Spring Fundraiser
The items from this fundraiser will be in on Thursday, April 15, 2004. Everyone is welcome to come to the school to pick the items up. There will be someone there from 3:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. This fundraiser made $6,500.00. This amount well exceeded the anticipated $4,000.00 that was budgeted.
 Morrison Apparel
Orders were taken for more Morrison apparel. Morrison Mustang visors and navigator jackets were the hot items. There will be another opportunity to purchase Morrison apparel.
 Teacher Appreciation Week
Teacher Appreciation week is May 3 – 7. A list will be coming home with “wish list” items for the classrooms. If you are planning on making a donation, please have everything to the school by April 29th. Classroom Communicators will be organizing and distributing the items to all teachers. A luncheon is being planned as well as a breakfast.
 5th Grade Project Alert
“Project Alert”/Quincy Faxon Highpoint will be conducting a 2 session program for the 5th grade students. Each session will be 50 minutes in length and will be held in the cafetorium for all three 5th grade classrooms. The first session is April 26th at 1:30 p.m. and the second one is May 3rd at 1:30 p.m. The cost for this program is $250.00 and the PTO will be funding it. A third session will be conducted by the Braintree High School chapter of SADD (Students Against Drunk Driving). SADD will come into each classroom separately for approximately 50 minutes. Since the DARE program was taken away this year for all 5th graders, Debbie Faye and Nicki Shaban have fought long and hard to get some type of an educational program in for the students. They have done a great job. Instead of letting it just go, they stepped up to the plate and made something happen.
 PTO Nominations & Election Planning
There are a lot of opportunities to get involved next year. There are openings for Co-President, Secretary, Cultural Arts Committee, Hospitality Committee and School Advisory. The co-presidents are currently working on job descriptions, and nomination papers will be going home. The nomination period will be May 10 – 12. Please consider a position. Amy Carnicelli is interested in running for co-president.
 5th Grade Week
Lauri Bourikas gave an update on 5th Grade Week. Things are going good. There will be a meeting on Monday, April 26th at 7:00 p.m. in the Media Center. This meeting is for all 5th grade activities, not just the yearbook. At that time each committee will give an update as to where they stand.
 Treasurer’s Report
Carol Mahoney gave an update of last month’s activities: The Spring Fundraiser brought in $6,459.00 and the Spring Fling made $1,344.00 less the cost of $750.00 = $594 profit. Carol paid out $1,200.00 for classroom whiteboards. The Voting Day Bake Sale made $410.00. She paid for buses for 2nd and 4th grade field trips. Also, she paid $25.00 to Red Cross for bereavement (Mrs. Petrelli’s father-in-law). Carol told the PTO that Cultural Arts is all done for the year. Lisa Heger indicated that the PTO will be paying for “Project Alert” - $250.00 and that the PTO will make a donation to SADD.
 Cultural Arts
Bay Colony came in May for the 5th graders. They enjoyed this program. All cultural arts are done for the year. Heidi is still trying to get BELD to come in. Lisa Heger did not know the status of her attempts. Heidi was also trying to get a weatherman to come to our school. It does not look like the weatherman will be coming to Morrison this year. Karen Standley is interested in running for one of the Cultural Arts positions for next year.
 School Advisory
Debbie Faye indicated that she was missing her meeting, as she was attending the Morrison PTO meeting. She stated that she did bring up our concerns to Dr. Kurzberg about Election Day and people coming in and out of the school freely. Dr. Kurzberg indicated that the school buildings are owned by the town and the town has been using them to vote in for years, and also that the town will continue to use school buildings on Election Day. Things will not change. Also, she informed us that the RADD program will not take effect this year. This is a program geared toward bullying, abduction, molesting, etc., and not drugs. This is a program that will be taught to 4th grade students and should be in the elementary schools next year.
 Principal Comments
Mr. Wyatt indicated that is has been a great year. He stressed that it is hard to keep kids focused this time of year and he asked that we emphasize to our children that homework is still important. May 1st is “Clean-Up Day”. School Council sponsors this event each year. This is a time for whole families to come together as a community and help clean up the area around the school, i.e. tear out weeds, plant flowers, lay down mulch. This year will be special in that a tree will be planted at the school in honor of Mrs. Ryan. MCAS testing will run from May 17th – 28th. Testing will not be everyday, and they try to schedule the grades on different days. The School Report Cards were sent home – “No Child Left Behind”. Morrison is doing well, as are all the other schools in town. My Wyatt indicated that people move to certain towns based on test scores. The budget for next year was published in the Patriot Ledger – there is no increase in aid from the state for next year. Mr. Wyatt stressed that we keep supporting the schools as best we can. He was disappointed that the debt exclusion did not pass. Marie-Anne asked if Mr. Wyatt could get us specific dates for MCAS so that the PTO can supply snacks. There will be positions opening up for School Council next year. Available positions are: 2 parents, 1 community-at-large, and 1 teacher. In the fall Mr. Riordan will send home a notice and nomination form. Once the nominations are submitted names will go on ballots, then a vote occurs. School Council is usually a three year commitment. Kindergarten move-up day is tentatively set for May 21st. Spring Potpourri is scheduled for June 4th.
 Teacher Comments
Mrs. Zopatti told the PTO that Mrs. Ryan was deeply touched by her invitation to the ceremony on May 1st in honor of her. Mrs. Zopatti presented a request from the visiting therapist. Mrs. Zopatti asked if we could supply her with a privacy screen. She works with children outside of the gym and there is no privacy there. Mrs. Zopatti gave the PTO the request.
 Door Prize
Haley Bennett won the door prize. Haley will be sharing her goodies with Mr. McCarthy and her classmates in Room 203.
 PTO Banner
Mrs. Guilfoyle and Mr. McCarthy’s classes will be sharing the PTO Banner this month.