PTO Meeting Minutes

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Date: Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Time: 6:30-7:45 PM

Past 4 Month Review (Jenn O’Brien)

  • Kindergarten Class T-shirts
  • New Art Cart for the art teacher 
  • 200 headphones purchased for students
  • Fun Run prizes purchased for all students
  • PBIS prizes purchased for the PBIS cart
  • Winter Break Holiday Gift bags given to all staff members
  • Turkey Trot breakfast provided for all staff
  • Book Scholarships for former students
  • Trunk or Treat Event
  • Scrub-a-Dub cash fundraiser
  • Opened virtual school store
  • Subscription renewals purchased for: Bookflix & Brainpop 

New Business (Jenn O’Brien)

  • New PTO website being created by Amy Bacchari – coming soon!
  • Exploring purchasing a Book Vending Machine for the school – more information coming soon!
  • Online School store to stay open with new items for Spring/Summer
  • Scholastic is not holding any virtual book fairs  so we will not be having a book fair this year.  Thank you to parent Cara Norris-Ramirez for working on this 
  • Planning a Wellness Day and Bike Safety Day – Spring 2022
  • Field Day (TBD) – Spring 2022
  • Next Fun Run planned for Spring 2023

Financials (Kerri Shaw)

  • Merrymount PTO currently has $39,240 in the bank with $2, 625 allocated for the outdoor classroom, and  $34 in pending checks, leaving us with $36,581 in available funds.
  • Fun Run made $21,420 net profit
  • Upcoming Expenses (known or Potential)
    • Enrichment
      • Reflex $2500
      • K-2 science curriculum $1000
      • Flocabulary $120
    • For the Kids
      • Field trips ($20/student) $6500
      • Book Vending Machine $3000
      • 5th grade graduation/YE student gifts $300
      • Surprises (Vday/Pizza parties) $1000
      • Field Day $1000
    • For the Staff
      • Teacher Appreciation Week $1600
      • Spring Report Card Lunch $300
    • Misc.
      • FR Dep. Scholarships, Babysitting, Fees $3050

Total: $23, 070

  • 2022-2023 Expenses
    • Enrichment
      • Subscriptions/Curriculum $8000
    • For the Kids
      • Field trips, K shirts, Grad gifts, Free events $13,200
    • For the Staff 
      • Appreciation $2800
    • Misc $3050

Total: $27, 050

Principal’s Report (Courtney Mitchell)

  • Winter clothing drive was very successful
  • Supplemental science curriculum for grades K – 2 purchased
  • Winter Extended Day programs (currently in effect)
  • Chromebooks are available for students in quarantine at home
  • Meeting with science team in future to plan budget for outdoor classroom
  • Lexia is currently paid for out of the school budget; Reflex math cost is split between the school and the PTO
  • Parent Concerns 
    • Field trips: Parents brought up that students in grade 3 and below have not gone on any out of building field trips due to the COVID 19 pandemic.  PTO currently budgeting $20/student for field trips.  Discussion of plans for using those funds for potential in-school field trips/author visit vs. traditional field trips. 
    • Retirement gifts: recommendation from parent to set funds aside for retirement gifts for departing teachers
    • Gift for school nurse for Nurse’s Day in May 
  • Citywide PTO update
    • February 7, 2022 guest speaker Megan Selchan MA, LMHC, CEIS, Clinical Director & Partner at Puzzle Pieces, LLC  in Quincy. She will discuss with parents about adolescent and teen stressors and mental health issues. She went over what is normal behavior and what may be considered red flags. She touched on childhood anxiety, ADHD, anger, depression and the warning signs.  The meeting will be offered in 4 different languages – Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and Vietnamese 

Next Meeting

Tuesday, Feb 15 | 6:30 PM via Google Meet