Archie T. Morrison PTO

September Newsletter

Sep 30, 2003

PTO Membership Drive ?– Thank you to all of the families and staff members that have paid their annual PTO membership fee in September. However less than 1/2 of our families and staff have paid their dues to date. It?’s not too late! Please send in the form attached below with your $5.00 dues as soon as possible.

Remember all of the money raised in the membership drive goes right back to the students and the school!

50/50 Raffle ?– Congratulations to the Radziwon Family on winning the 50/50 raffle sponsored by the PTO on ?“Back to School Night?”. Thank you for donating back to the PTO. Your generosity is greatly appreciated!

Hospitality ?– Special thanks goes out to Amy Carnicelli, our new Hospitality Committee Chair, Colleen McDonnell and her company ?“Recipes?” and their crew on ?“Back to School Night?”. The refreshments and decorations were outstanding!

Website Update ?– The website is under construction. Please check it out!
The URL is www.neighborhoodlink.com/org/morrisonpto
The purpose of the website is to improve communication between school and home. We welcome and encourage your ideas and comments. Please let us know what features and information you would like to see on the site. Please e-mail Lisa Heger @ lmh36@beld.net

Fall Fundraiser ?– The Fall Fundraiser is underway. Please remember that this fundraiser is critical to support the PTO budget for the 2003 ?– 2004 school year. The net proceeds have been approximately $7,500 in past years. The net proceeds projected for this school year are $9,000. This is a conservative 20% increase based on the fact that our student body has increased by 42% this year. Please participate! The deadline is Friday, October 10th. Payment is due with your order. Thank you for playing your part!

Upcoming Events:

PACE ?– PACE is an automated web based phone system that is capable of creating and sending a personalized message from the school to parents in minutes. Marie-Anne Baker, Lisa Heger and Mr. Wyatt attended a demonstration at the Highlands School in September. The Highlands School is a new user of the system and Principal Bruno Zoltowski highly recommends it.
PACE would replace phone chains and enhance communication from the school to our homes. Mr. Wyatt could record an early snow dismissal message, for example, and send it out to the entire student body in just a few minutes. The system will contact up to 6 phone numbers per family (home, work, cell etc.). A report is generated from PACE that indicates how many messages were received, how many were answered by a machine, how many phone lines were busy and what telephone numbers were unreachable. PACE attempts to connect with the busy numbers several times.
The cost is charged on a per student basis of $7.95 per child per year. Our cost would be approximately $3,600 this year. The costs would decrease if other schools in town participate. There are also grants available and discounts for referrals. Our overall cost may decrease in coming years.

Mr. Wyatt and the PTO Presidents would like to see the Morrison School become a PACE customer. Morrison has received a demo version of the system and is the process of building a contact list made up of all of the families that have paid their PTO membership dues. Look forward to receiving a message from Mr. Wyatt soon via PACE! A vote on the expenditure will be requested at the October 14th PTO Meeting. Please plan on attending to get more information and to vote!

Halloween Ball ?– The mission continues to accommodate the size of our student body for the Halloween Costume Ball. Due to fire regulations the ball will not be held at the school. The tentative date is Friday, October 24th. The destination is yet to be determined. We?’ll keep you posted!

Classroom Communicators ?– Please consider becoming a classroom communicator. Act as a liaison between the classroom parents and the teacher/school/PTO via telephone and/or e-mail. All parents are welcome to join the network. As the classroom communicator you would be responsible for contacting the parents of your child?’s classmates that have joined the network. Sign up forms will be forth coming. You decide how and when you would like to reach the parents. Whatever works best for your schedule. This is a great way to get involved!

Fun Nights ?– The PTO would like to sponsor some new social activities by grade for both students and their parents. Perhaps an ice cream sundae party for kindergarten and 1st graders, or a movie night for 2nd and 3rd graders or BINGO night for 4th and 5th graders.
Do you have any suggestions? Would you like to help? Please let us know!

PTO Meeting ?– The first PTO meeting of the 2003 ?– 2004 school year will be held in the Media Center at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, October 14th. With any luck the turnout will be so large that we?’ll need to move to the cafetorium. Wouldn?’t that be great!
Please plan on attending!
Agenda Items:
2003 ?– 2004 PTO Budget Approval and Vote
PACE Discussion and Vote
Fall Fundraiser Update
Halloween Ball Update
New PTO Social Event Ideas
Student Holiday Shopping Fair
PTO Committee Reports
Teacher Comments/Principal Comments
PTO Wrap-up


PTO Membership Form:

Name:________________________________________________________________
Child?’s/Children?’s Name and Homeroom: __________________________________ __ ____________________________________________________________________
Phone: _______________________________________________________________