January 2023 Meeting Minutes
Robeson Elementary Center PTO
PTO Meeting
January 10, 2023
Board Members In Attendance:
Jenna Kemp- President
Whitney Kemp- Vice President
Heidi Beitler- Treasurer
Danielle Klishevich- Corresponding Secretary
Amanda Ford- Recording Secretary
Attendees:
Laura Mohn, Renee Hiltibeitel, Sarah McCahon, Mrs. Smith, Nicole Care, Meredith Kaszmetskie, Allison Bolt, Mark Steiner, Carrie Mountz, Jessica Kabbeko, Doug Metcalf and Kyle Moyer
Minutes:
Start: 7:05
End: 8:10
Reports:
Treasury Report:
-We got a check from boxtops for $43.60, thank you everyone for scanning your box tops. After some shopping happening for next year and some other holiday shop expenses we are looking at a positive of $4,980.43. The 4th grade party had some income come in with the Betsy;s fundraiser so their balance is now $798.00. We have had some adjustments to field trips so we are at $1,576.85. The school improvement expenses were asked about on the budget sheet and that was for the picnic tables purchased at the start of the school year.
Special Guest Report: Allison Bolt, Doug Metcalf and Kyle Moyer from the school board came and introduced themselves. They brought refreshments to the meeting and talked about the ways they/the school board wants to help and be more involved in the community. The biggest thing they talked about was the importance of staying involved and coming to school board meetings. School Board meetings are 2 different Mondays. The 2nd Monday of the month is committee meetings and this is the time to bring input to meetings. The agendas for these meetings will be available by the Friday prior to the meeting. The 3rd Monday of the month is when the whole board gets together and votes on items discussed at the committee meetings. If the public wants something added to an agenda the best way would be to reach out to members of the committees. Allison recommended having a person from the PTO of all the schools attend meetings and take notes to report back to the PTOs. This is the best way to stay informed. The next committee meeting is 2/13 at 6:30.
Principal’s Report: Dr. Van B was unable to attend in person but she did attend via zoom. Amanda prepared a document that covered a few of the items that she wanted to discuss. Mid year assessments are getting ready to be completed, this includes AMIS web, DRAs and MTSS interventions. We have a lot coming up in February, it will be Kids Heart Challenge and Kindness week all rolled together. The students will have a virtual assembly during kindness week, NED Talks. The students' Valentine's Day parties will take place on 2/10 the same day as KHC. These parties will be at different times following the format for the winter holiday parties.
Agenda Items:
Mini Grant request/Review
-1st grade and Kindergarten are asking for Boom Cards which helps review math skills. These are an interactive skill review (Mrs. Smith explained a little more). 1st grade needed $100 and Kindergarten needed $75. This was approved by the group. (Note: Please have Kindergarten and 1st submit their own forms for record purposes.)
4th grade party update
-Meeting coming soon for 4th grade party and $184.00 was raised from Betsy’s fundraiser.
Fun Fest
-April 1st 11-3pm
-We will be setting up Friday 3/31 for this event. The board is meeting next week to start to finalize details and will be reaching out soon with sign-ups for volunteers. Last year NJHS was super helpful and we are hoping to have their help again. We will also be emailing other groups for help within the district and community. The biggest area we need help in from last year is clean up at the end.
Jump Rope for Heart & Kindness week
-These are going to be lumped together and run the week of 2/10-2/17 with KHC on 2/10. The PTO did decorations in the lobby with a dragon breathing hearts with words of kindness on them.
Valentine’s Day activities
-Dani will be emailing homeroom parents soon with the details surrounding the times of these parties. The parties will be on 2/10.
Yearbook Photos
-Please make sure any photos you are sending to Stef are school related. We will be getting the document out for 4th grade baby pictures soon.
Dr. Winters Meet and Greet (March 14th)
Staff Dinners/Conferences
-The PTO will be covering dinner for both nights of conferences. We will be doing Pizza and Nuse’s Deli.
Important Dates:
-2/20 is now a snow make up day.
-This Friday 1/13 is now PJ day, it is also a ½ day.
Open Discussion:
There was more discussion about what we are going to do for the school to spend some of the funds we have as a PTO. There was a discussion about purchasing a Kiln for the art room. We are looking into getting quotes and working with Mrs. Giles on this. We also talked about outside equipment. The idea of swings or new basketball nets was brought up. Swing is something that we are looking at with the ga-ga court. There is a hold up with approval at the district level with this. Doug stated that the amount of time on this is a problem. We will be submitting a new proposal with the swings. The PTO board and Dr. Van B will be working on this. Capital Funds are being used to update the sound system within the school. These funds come from a district level.
Another topic was brought up for discussion and this was the lack of 2nd grade field trips. Many of these students have never gone on a field trip. It was asked what the plan is going forward for this year. The second grade will be going to Dutch Apple Theatre in the Spring. Dr. Van B said that they are looking at an in-house field trip. Dr. Van B informed the group that there needs to be cohesiveness amongst the 3 elementary schools and that may be part of the field trip situation.
Upcoming Meeting Information:
4th grade party meeting coming in January, look for details coming.
Next PTO Meeting 2/14 @7pm
The PTO is here for you, please let any Board Member know if you have any questions.
