Archie T. Morrison PTO

February PTO Meeting Minutes

February Minutes

Minutes of PTO Meeting
Tuesday, February 11, 2004

Introductions
Marie-Anne Baker welcomed everyone

Sweet-Art Social
Marie-Anne Baker explained what the Sweet-Art Social was. 2nd and 3rd Grade students are invited to attend this social which will be held on Friday, February 13, 2004 from 6:30 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. in the cafetorium.

Classroom Communication Network Update
Marie-Anne Baker gave an update on the status of the Classroom Communication Network. Everyone has been contacted and CORI forms have been passed out. All volunteers have to fill out a CORI form. There has been positive feedback from everyone involved. Everyone is excited. Teachers will start utilizing their own network of parents to help with whatever they deem necessary. Ms. Lauria asked if parents could be trained on the copy machine, laminating machine, binding machine, etc.

Search for New Principal
Mr. Wyatt spoke about the procedure that is followed in hiring a principal in Braintree.

Following is the procedure:

1. An ad gets placed in the paper and a cut-off date is given for prospective applicants to get their resumes in.
2. Prospective applicants send their resumes to Administration.
3. Administration goes through resumes and weed out all unqualified applicants. Those applications are immediately eliminated.
4. Rest of resumes are put in a pile for a Search Committee.
5. A search committee is formed. This committee is made up of 3 parents from the school, 3 teachers from the school, an Administrator from another school, the Assistant Superintendent as the moderator (who sets down all the rules for interviewing applicants), and a Director is chosen. Notices are sent to parents and teachers asking if they want to be part of the committee. If you submit your name, you will be considered for a position on the committee.
6. The search committee goes through all resumes.
7. Then the elimination process begins based on the job qualifications and the applicant's resumes.
8. A pool of questions is drawn up.
9. Each committee person submits at least one question. There is a well-rounded field of questions.
10. Each member of the committee is assigned a particular question to ask each applicant.
11. All the same questions are asked to each applicant.
12. The search committee agrees upon 7 or 8 applicants to interview.
13. Each applicant is interviewed for approximately 1 hour.
14. After all applicants are interviewed they are put in order by rank.
15. The search committee then chooses 2 names.
16. Those 2 names are submitted to the Superintendent.
17. The Superintendent then interviews those 2 applicants. If he thinks they are suitable, he may choose one and offer them the job. If he doesn't think either applicant is suitable the process starts all over again.
18. If the Superintendent offers the job to an applicant and the applicant accepts the job, that applicant¡¦s name is then brought in front of the School Committee. The School Committee then has to approve that applicant for the job.
19. Once the School Committee has approved the applicant for the job, the public is informed.

Timeline for this process: Mr. Wyatt indicated that the process is underway. He believes interviews are currently taking place. From his experience, usually by the 1st of April the job is offered to the applicant. One to two weeks later the School Committee votes. In or about mid-April the public will know who the new principal is.

Mr. Wyatt hopes to spend time with the new principal and show him/her the ropes. He would like the new principal to shadow him to get to know how things work at Morrison. Mr. Wyatt stressed that change is never easy, but he hopes that he can make this transition seemless. Parents then asked a couple questions. The PTO told Mr. Wyatt that they would like to extend and invitation to the new principal. They would like to have a "Welcome Social".

MCAS Tutoring
Julie McKinney spoke about the MCAS tutoring for 4th grade students. PIP will be sponsoring the tutoring this year. The MCAS tutoring program is a great way to get parents/grandparents involved after school tutoring 4th grade students in math. With budget cuts, this program was cut, but PIP, which is privately funded by corporations, has stepped up to the plate to make this happen this year. This program helps 4th grade students with the MCAS test that they will be taken in the spring. It is a great tool to help the students feel more comfortable taking the test. The program will start the 1st or 2nd week in March and will run for 9 weeks for 1 hour after school (3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.). Julie is currently working with all elementary school principals in Braintree to get this program up and running. The 4th grade students have to sign up, parents/grandparents have to volunteer, and people that are volunteering have to fill out a CORI form. Approximately 85% of the 4th grade students town wide participate in this program, approximately 45 parents get involved, and 1 teacher from each school coordinates the program. A notice will go home on February 12, 2004 to sign up for this program. Someone asked that if a child had a prior commitment on the day the MCAS tutoring took place at their school could they go to another school. It was explained that it really depended on enrollment. It would be hard to go to another school Packets that are given out to students that enroll in the program can be made available to students that do not attend.

PIP
Julie McKinney informed the PTO of the upcoming events for PIP. Supermarket Math, March 30th. This is a program where you go to Super Stop and Shop and do math in the supermarket. It is held from 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. They need parent volunteers. Different tables are set up with different activities. There is a 10 questions treasure hunt throughout the store. In April the annual trip to the Children's Museum will take place. May 23rd there will be a fundraiser for PIP called Taste of Braintree from 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. It will be held at F1 Boston on Wood Road in Braintree. PIP is working on bringing in a robotics program to the middle schools as well as 4th and 5th grade.

Life Touch Family Portraits
Julie McKinney contacted Life Touch (who is the company we use for school pictures). They will be setting up a Friday and Saturday sometime in the future for Morrison families to come to the Morrison School to take family portraits. A standard package including 2 - 8 x 10s, 2 - 5 x 7s, 2 - 3 x 5s and 4 - 2 x 3s is approximately $42.00. We don't need a minimum number of families to participate. Julie sent around a form for people to fill to see who was interested. This will take place some time the end of March to the beginning of April. Julie was going to check with the company to see if we were able to see proofs of the pictures before choosing them.

Spring Fundraiser
This year the spring fundraiser will run from March 1 - March 12. We will be trying something new selling spring bulbs and Yankee candles. The PTO would like to be able to make $4,000.00. We make 40% profit from the sales.

Spring Fling
The Spring Fling (Beach Theme) will be held on April 2nd at Emerald Hall, Braintree. The grades will be split (K-2 and 3-5). Siblings are welcome to both and will not be secluded. There will be raffle items and a 50/50 raffle. There will be no Radio Disney this year as the cost for that is too expensive. The time is tentatively set for 6:15 p.m. - 8:45 p.m. A parent requested that the time be extended, especially for the later one (Grades 3-5). Marie-Anne was going to look into extending the hours 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. with the hall.

5th Grade Week
5th Grade Week is going well. Lauri Bourikas reported that all committees have been formed and that each committee is working on their respective activities. The yearbook is well underway. Parents are taking pictures for the candids portion of the yearbook.

Treasurer's Report
Carl Mahoney reported that we made over $1,450.00 at the Holiday Fair. Box Tops brought in $512.00, the T-shirt fundraiser brought in $450.00, and school pictures from Life Touch brought in $1,600.00. We had to pay out $2,546.00 for Hi Touch Hi Tech and $53.00 for the teacher¡¦s holiday luncheon (this amount was so low because of all the volunteers and parent donations). Carol told the PTO that they should look at the PTO Board there were lots of thank you notes from the teachers.

Valentine's Day/Penny Power/PTO Board/Hi Touch-Hi Tech
Lisa Heger informed the PTO that on Friday, February 13, 2004 all children would be receiving and ice cream for Valentine's Day from the PTO. Penny Power has gone well. Rita Mahoney has collected ~600 pounds in pennies, which is equal to approximately $1,000.00. She will use this money for the Media Center. Lisa also encouraged the PTO to look at the PTO Board. She told everyone that there were lots of pictures and lots of thank you notes from the students. She also informed us that Hi Touch-Hi Tech was popular again this year and that it will be scheduled for next year.

Cultural Arts
Heidi Coughlin went over Cultural Arts. On January 15th Starlabs came to the school for 2nd grade. Kindergarten has booked their cultural arts programs Sparky Puppets and Ben Tousley. These programs will be coming in March. Heidi stressed that she will be leaving this year and that someone needs to fill in this position. She explained that all schools take turns writing a grant for cultural arts for all of Braintree. She indicated that next year is Morrison's turn, but that she has volunteered to write the grant.

School Advisory
Debbie Fay gave an update on School Advisory. At that meeting they went over the middle school redistricting and the split of Hollis to South. This was necessary because next year East would have been overcrowded. They discussed the budget for fiscal year 2005. She indicated that if there is extra money, the School Committee wants it to be able to hire teachers back. Next year class assignments for the elementary schools will be posted the day before school starts at 3:00 p.m. on the front of the school.

DARE Update
Although Debbie Fay has tried for a long time and has found a solution, the DARE program will not be coming to Morrison or any other elementary schools this year. The Chief of Police, Chief Frazier will no support anyone coming into the town to teach this program. The person has to be a certified police officer with 80 hours in training. The only officer in Braintree was officer Bill Cleggett, who has retired. Officer Bill was approached to teach the class, but for personal reasons he could not. The Norfolk County Sheriff's office was approached, as they have a certified officer, but they cannot come into the town unless Chief Frazier invites them.

Teacher Comments/Principal Comments
Mrs. Zopatti asked that the PTO purchase small white boards for each student in each classroom. She told the PTO that this is an extremely helpful tool to have. The PTO will be purchasing these boards in the very near future.
Mr. Wyatt indicated that the PTO has been sponsoring mini seminars by South Shore Mental Health. Two have been conducted already - Self-Esteem and Behavior Management. If anyone comes up with a topic, he would be more than happy to have SSMH speak on that topic. Mr. Wyatt told everyone that this has been a wonderful year with parents and staff being very enthusiastic. A lot has been accomplished this year. There have been minimal problems and things have gone smoothly. He informed us that the Board of Selectmen has voted to not put a debt exclusion on next year's ballot. This means that there will be no monies for capital improvement to any schools next year.

Box Tops/Campbell Soup Labels
Nikki Shaban went over the very successful box tops program. We have colleted $512.00 already and with what box tops she has at home we are at $700.00. Her goal this year is to collect $1,000.00. She indicated that not only can you clip the box tops from items that you buy, you can also accumulate points by shopping online. Nikki had a handout. Campbell Soup labels are also being collected this year. Janice Weitbrecht is in charge of this program. Please send in all your box tops and labels.

Morrison School Council
Nikki Shaban indicated that the Morrison School Council is looking for money for the purchase of PACE for next year. They are looking for approximately $1,500.00. If you know of a business that may want to help out please let her know at (781) 848-0446. The business can get a little advertising out of the deal!

PTO Wrap-up
Lisa Heger thanked everyone for coming.

Door Prize
The door prize was won by Savannah Baker. Savannah will be sharing her goodies with Mrs. Connell and her classmates in Room 205.