Archie T. Morrison PTO

March PTO Meeting Minutes

March PTO Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, March 9, 2004

Introductions
Marie-Anne welcomed everyone and the meeting got underway. Lisa Heger announced that Mary Russo resigned from her position as co-president. Mr. Wyatt thanked Mary publicly for all of her help and support over the years.

Spring Fundraiser Update
Marie-Anne informed the PTO that there has been a great response to the Spring Fundraiser. She had to get 40 more forms from the company. Due to the fact that we want the items by Mother's Day, ALL orders are due by Monday, March 15, 2004.

Socials
The Valentine's social for 2nd and 3rd grade was a huge success. The social was enjoyed by everyone who attended. The social for 4th and 5th grade will be a Candy Bar Bingo on Friday, March 19, 2004 from 6:30PM to 8:00PM. There will be enough bingo cards for all 4th and 5th grade students. The cost to get in is a non-perishable food item that will be donated to the Marge Crispin Center. Marge O'Brien (Morrison's Crossing Guard) has donated the candy bars. The Baker family has donated a huge Hershey's candy bar. The Marge Crispin Center was chosen because it is near and dear to Marge O'Brien's heart. Snacks for this event will be provided through the Classroom Communication Network (CCN). All children have to be accompanied by an adult. At the last social there was a little confusion and some parents wanted to drop their children off.

Life Touch Family Portraits
Julie McKinney informed everyone that 35 families have signed up so far to have Life Touch take family portraits of their families. Two days have been set: Friday, March 26th and Saturday, March 27th. Julie passed around the sign-up sheet again. Appointments will be made after March 19th and dates and times will be assigned on a first come first served basis. Life Touch will take 5 proofs and the proofs will be sent directly to your home. The pictures will be done before Mother's Day. Julie will ask Life Touch the following questions and Lisa Heger will post the responses on the website by next week: 1. Will they take re-takes? 2. Are you under any obligation to buy anything if you are not happy with proofs? 3. Different backgrounds? A white one? 4. Will there be any privacy? 5. Can you split the sitting? Mr. Wyatt suggested that we might be able to use portable chalkboards as dividers for privacy and/or use the cafeterioum and media center.

Box Tops
Nicki Shaban informed the PTO that we have collected $900.00 worth already this year in box tops. Only $100.00 more to our goal. Please send all box tops in by March 26th. Nicki expressed concern that people are sending box tops in and not putting their child¡¦s name on it. If you think you have sent in 100 box tops since October, please send a note to let Nicki Shaban know.

Spring Fling
The Spring Fling is all set. The grades will be split again K-2 (first session) and 3-5 (second session). The time has been extended for the second session. The 1st session will run from approximately 6:15 - 8:00PM and the 2nd session will run from approximately 8:00PM - 9:45PM. There will be a kid's raffle table and an adult's raffle table for each session. The DJ is all set. Soda will be on sale for $1.00 and water will be available. It is a beach theme this year. No bathing suits allowed. Diane Lowe will head up the decorations committee for this event. Colleen McDonnell will oversee the raffle items. Please have any raffle items that you would like to donate to Colleen by March 26th so that she can organize them. Morrison Apparel orders will be taken at the Spring Fling. People gave suggestions for new apparel items. Lisa Heger will get prices.

Spirit Wreath
Marie-Anne Baker publicly thanked Colleen McDonnell for the wonderful Spirit Wreath that she donated. This wreath is currently in the main office and is something to see. If you have a chance, please drop by the office to see it.

PTO Nominations/Elections
Lisa Heger informed everyone of the positions that will be available for next year. They are Secretary - 2 yr. term. The secretary takes notes at the meetings, types up the agendas and distributes them, makes the attendance sheets and door prize slips for the meetings. The co-presidents would like to extend that job next year to the Newsletter and website. If anyone is interested, please fill out the nomination sheet that will be coming home shortly.
Cultural Arts - 2 yr. term. Heidi Coughlin will be able to guide anyone that is interested. Also, she will write the grant that is due for next year. Heidi also informed the PTO that she would be booking most of the programs for next year as these programs get booked by August/September.
Co-President - 3 yr. term. Elections are in May. The co-president's position was discussed. A new president comes in every year. Lisa Heger has graciously offered to fulfill Mary Russo's term which is one more year. This will keep the cycle going smoothly.
School Advisory is also open. This position is not set to a limited number of years. Descriptions and nominations forms will go out in late April.

5th Grade Week Update
Lauri Bourikas gave an update on 5th Grade Week. Things are going good. The Yearbook Committee has been meeting regularly. The next Yearbook Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 16th at 7:00 p.m. in the Media Center. Lauri urged all parents involved in this year's yearbook to please try and attend the meeting and bring with them anything they have completed. Lauri needs to meet with Mr. Wyatt and firm up dates for the activities for 5th Grade Week.

Treasurer's Report
Carol Mahoney gave an update on monthly expenses. $126.00 was spent on Valentine's Day ice cream for everyone. She paid for the Kindergarten's puppet show. $150.00 was paid out for the 2nd and 3rd Grade's social. Monies were paid out for CCN supplies.

Cultural Arts Report
Heidi Coughlin gave a report on the cultural arts programs that have recently come to the school. Brian Gillies came on the wrong day, but things worked out well. The students and teachers loved his show. Ben Tousley is coming in for the kindergartners. Bay Colony is coming in for 5th graders. Heidi may set something up with BELD for the 4th and 5th grades. Sparkey Puppets was a great show for the kindergartners.

School Advisory Report
Debbie Faye advised that there was no meeting last month. She informed everyone of an upcoming Financial Aid seminar for elementary school parents. This seminar gives insight as to how you should be thinking about paying for college. The seminar will be held on Wednesday, March 24th at East Middle School. Notices were sent home in the backpacks. If you would like to attend you need to RSVP by Friday, March 12, 2004 to Anthony King, Director of Guidance.

DARE Program Update
Nicki Shaban and Debbie Faye updated everyone on the DARE issue. Nicki was in contact with the Massachusetts Organization of DARE. She was informed that the head of our union in Braintree (Bill Flynn) was formerly a National Director of DARE. They had issues with him and Mr. Flynn was asked to step down. There is a feeling that there is not a "union" problem with bringing in the Norfolk Sheriff's office to perform the DARE classes, but a "personal" problem. A letter has been sent to the Board of Selectmen (Tim Egan) to make him aware of this problem. Mr. Egan will look into it. The Norfolk County Sheriff's office is already involved in the Braintree schools - East and South. They are looking for things to do! Debbie Faye got the name of a drug counseling program - "Quincy High Point". She will look into it. Mr. Wyatt informed us that Dr. Kurzberg is working along the lines of the same thing as Debbie. He is trying to get an 8 week program for all 5th graders in all elementary schools. Lisa Heger has contacted the SADD Chapter at BHS. They are willing to come to Morrison to teach some classes. She has also been in contact with Mrs. Kane. The PTO is determined to find a way to get some type of a "drug" program into our school before this year is out.

Principal Comments
Mr. Wyatt thanked everyone again for all the wonderful things they have done this year. He loved the spirit wreath and St. Patrick's Day decorations. He informed us that Penny Power was a great success. It raised over $2,000.00 and had an anonymous donator who donated 50,000 pennies. They will be purchasing a big screen TV and stand for the media center.
School Council sponsors a "Clean-up Day". This year's clean-up day is Saturday, May 1, 2004 starting at 9:00 a.m. The School Council contacts a local business for the mulch. Refreshments are served.
Mr. Wyatt also indicated that MCAS is right around the corner. He stressed that the children should not be nervous, but prepared. Following is the schedule: 3rd Grade: Reading, March 22nd through April 2nd; 4th Grade: Long Composition, March 30th, English/Math, May 17th through May 28th; 5th Grade: Science and Technology, May 17th through May 28th. Please be aware of the dates. Unless your child is ill, please make every attempt to have your child at school. It is difficult to have to make-up the tests.
The search for the new principal is in its final stages. Mr. Wyatt indicated that a new principal should be chosen probably within a month.

PTO Wrap-up
Marie-Anne Baker thanked Lori Kephart for all her decorating around the building. Snacks for MCAS will be provided through the CCN. A parent brought up concerns about voting day and security on that day. Mr. Wyatt told the PTO that there is a police officer at Morrison all day, but the police officer is assigned to the voting area. The police officer does not roam the halls. The people in the office can see who comes in, but for the most part the building is not completely secure. Only the front doors are open. Marie-Anne Baker suggested that we have a parent "meet and greet" the voters. Mr. Wyatt thought that was a good idea. Mrs. Zopatti suggested that that would be a good day to have a bake sale. A parent asked why they don't they have teacher "Professional Day" on the day of voting. Mr. Wyatt informed us that there are no longer professional days for teachers due to cuts. The school department has considered that in the past and maybe if they get professional days back, they will consider it again.
Lisa Heger informed the PTO that they have ordered 360 white boards and that they will be here next week. This was a request of the teachers and the PTO was more than happy to help out. With the exception of 3 classrooms, every child will have a white board. Two 5th grade and one K classrooms did not want them.

Teacher Comments
The teacher representatives, Mrs. Zopatti and Ms. Lauria, thanked the PTO for the white boards and also for the Brian Gillies performance. They said that he was awesome and that they would love to have him back next year.

Door Prize
Lida McHugh won the door prize. Lida will be sharing her goodies with Mrs. Foley and her classmates in Room 208.

PTO Banner
Mrs. Guilfoyle won the PTO flag once again for the most parents in attendance at the meeting.