Meeting was brought to order by Nicole Perry at 8:04am.
In attendance was:
- Nicole Perry- PTO President
- Jamie Blake- PTO Vice President
- Kaela Blum- PTO Treasurer
- Angela Moneski – PTO Secretary
- Mr. Testa- SJPII Principal
- Mrs. Tiefenfal- PTO Teacher Representative
- Father Glover – President
Old business discussed – BooHoo Yahoo Breakfast and Eagle Eye. The Eagle eye brought in around $1,000.00 dollars and SJPII had close to 100% participation.
Principal’s Report – Mr. Testa advised that if anyone is not receiving the text or email alerts to contact Colleen Astey to be put on the list to ensure communication. He also explained that this year for the A.L.I.C.E. training being held on Thursday, September 13, that instead of a lock down drill, the students will be explained about what to do in the situation. Also, he asked for families to limit any visitors on this day to help keep distraction and confusion to a minimum.
Father Glover – Father Glover stated that it is standard procedure during a real lock down situation, to not contact families immediately.
Teacher Representative – Mrs. Tiefenthal stated that the governors grant is not longer being granted. Despite not receiving the grant, the teachers will still be planning a STEAM night in October, free of charge. Exact date is TBD.
Treasurer – Kaela Blum stated that PTO funds started the school year with $11,000.00. Between the Boohoo/Yahoo breakfast, Mr. Testa’s welcome reception, and the teacher supply gift cards, $1,200.00 had been spent. She also informed that the PTO funds sponsor all the field trips and if anyone was curious, the PTO budgets approximately $35.00 per student and that equals roughly $5,000.00. Waldameer profits doubled this year. Kaela is looking into yard signs as an additional fundraiser. There will be a monthly dine in fundraiser to support SJPII. Chipotle will be October, 9th from 4-8pm, 20% of the profits will go to SJPII PTO.
PTO President – Nicole Perry started with New Business : Open house will be October 11, 2018 from 6-8pm. Random Acts of Kindness – Liz Rosa will be doing this for the teachers every other month. Their will be a Pumpkin Decorating contest for the kids in October. Tacky Turkey Teacher will take place around Thanksgiving and proceeds will go to Sister Margaret for her lunchins. The holiday shoppe will change this year, instead of students shopping for gifts, they will all make a family cookie plate to take home as a gift. A Very Blessed Christmas will be brought back this year, the entire school will participate in Christmas themed stations (craft, game, snack) the day before Christmas Break. This will take the place of individual classroom parties. Nicole explained that there was an overwhelming amount of parents volunteering for homeroom parent, and the parents were announced. Box Tops for education will become a friendly competition between classrooms, the class with the most box tops (counted once per month) will receive a small reward such as a donut party in the morning. Student council will be counting and keeping track of the Box Tops.
It was brought up as a suggestion that instead of asking families to donate a themed gift basket item for the Open House and Father Daughter Dance, to instead ask families to donate $5.00-$10.00 dollars at the beginning of the year to go towards these baskets. It was agreed that this was a good idea. It was also stated that the funds collected will go directly into the PTO account until the funds are needed.
Questions arose about uniforms. Discussed were yoga pants in gym class and girls wearing leggings under dresses. Both Mr. Testa and Father Glover stated that they would like to streamline the dress code. Father Glover stated that it is not in the best interest to switch dress code mid year, and that any major changes will be held off until 2019 to keep families from having to go out and buy new things for their children. Mr. Testa stated that it is ok for girls to wear black pants under dresses. He also reminded everyone that he does have a strict dress code policy in place that he is keeping close eye on.