Eagleridge PTO General Meeting

October 8, 2013

In attendance: Jamie Albrecht, Ryan Jackson, Colleen Bell, Jenica D’Arienzo, Lynn Bennett, Wendy Sharpe, Belsa Martinez, Katrina Schmitt, Katie Jodoin, Lisa Guerra, Cheryle Figgess, Leticia Peterson, Karen Jensen, Mischa Burnett

President’s Report:

• New board members voted in as follows – Katrina Schmitt, Co-Hospitality; Wendy Sharpe, Co-Hospitality; and Belsa Martinez, Co-Secretary. Approved by all in attendance.
• By laws presented at September 10^th meeting listed old check signing policy. Check signing policy has been resolved, by laws updated and new by laws were present at meeting.
• Conflict of Interest forms reviewed and provided for board member signatures.
• Jog-A-Thon went really well.

o    Money count total for first day was approximately $4,300.

o   Help is needed for the awards assembly on November 7^th.

o    Cheryle Figgess and Ryan Jackson will find a frog for Mr. Burnett to kiss. J

Treasurer’s Report:

• We have scripts cards available for Haggen and Fred Meyer.

o   Cards are available in denominations of $50 and $100.

o   School gets 10% of Haggen card and 5% of Fred Meyer card.

o   Information will be available soon on how to get these cards.

• Book Fair will be in November.  This event will be bigger than the March fair.

o   Student Council is planning a “Breakfast with Books.”

o   Lots of help will be needed.

• Haggen School Bucks is back.

o   Jamie needs to follow up with Haggen to see if we are set up for this.

Upcoming Events:

• Box Top contest will start the week of October 14^th.

o   We will need someone to take over Box Tops in the Spring.

o   You can sign up for Box Tops online to get additional points for our school.

• First movie night is scheduled for October 18^th.

o   Movie shown is The Croods

o   Help is still needed

o   Concessions will be sold (popcorn, candy, water)

o   Mr. Woods will be supervising

o   Bring your own chairs, pillows, etc.

Other:

• Jenica D’Arienzo will take over the Lost and Found.

o   She has created a Facebook page and will update it with pictures of the items that are currently missing owners.

o   Ideas needed for what to do with the excessive amount of items in lost and found.

• Reminder to Hospitality that Feed the Teachers night is around the corner, a theme needs  to be picked.
• Bring water bottles for your children on PTO meeting nights.  The water in the cafeteria is not available.

Principal’s Report/Comments:

• Thank you to the PTO for the welcome and support as well as to the staff and families.
• With the new school year come lots of changes and new faces.  15 new staff along with 180 new kids.
• Challenge presented, how do you make this school go from a mix of all schools to this is Eagleridge, our school?  With welcoming staff, students and families it is all coming together.

Meeting Adjourned at 8:00pm

Minutes prepared by Belsa Martinez, Co-Secretary

Eagleridge PTO General Meeting

November 12, 2013

In attendance: John  Castle, Desiree Castle, Mr. Burnett, Mrs. Cornelson (FEA rep, teacher, student council rep, 5^th grade rep ), Belsa Martinez, Lisa Guerra, Jamie Albrecht, Karen Jensen, Leticia Peterson, Katrina Schmitt

Meeting called to order at 7pm by Jamie Albrecht

Previous month’s meeting minutes read by Belsa Martinez

Motion to approve meeting minutes as read made by Mrs. Cornelson and 2^nd by Jamie Albrecht.  Motion approved by all present.

President’s Report-

• Recap WAJAT – Kids rocked it!!!! The kids surpassed the goal and there is still money coming in.  Awards assembly went over really well.  Mr. B. kissing a frog was awesome!!!!! Kids loved it. There were a few minor problems with some prizes that have been resolved.
• Budget – Mr. Burnett, Karen Jensen, and Jamie Albrecht went over the budget line by line prior to the meeting to ensure that no area was overlooked and that adequate funds were budgeted for all areas listed in the Treasurer’s Report based on funds available, including funds raised during the Walk a Jog a Thon.

o   Jamie presented the proposed budget, line by line. During discussion it was decided that the budget line for Alpha Smart would be removed as it was no longer used or necessary. There was no money allocated to this fund.

o   A few specific notes regarding the budget: there are line items for Kindergarten BBQ at the end of the year, the 5^th grade trip to the water slides at the end of the year as well as the Community meal that the teachers host. The Math Olympiad fund includes a stipend for two teachers and there is a line as well for OT supplies as requested by Katie Wood.  The line for the Rewards Store is, at this time specifically for a reward system that has been set up for the students who ride bus 35 who have been identified as making positive choices.  Line for sound system maintenance is for two speakers and a plug in that are transportable and not wired. Planners have been included in the budget for the 4^th/5^th graders. As we get further along in the year the discussion will be open to adding the 3^rd graders.

o   Katrina Schmitt made a motion to approve the budget as presented. Motion 2^nd by Karen Jensen. Motion approved by all present.

Mrs. Patti Cornelson (as Student Council Advisor) presented the student council budget proposal. Total budget requested is $600. Proposal approved. Money requested was either already listed as a specific line item in the budget as Student Council or will come from the Library Program fund already listed in the budget.

Mrs. Patti Cornelson (as FEA rep) presented a donation in the amount of $100.  Woohoo!

Upcoming events:

• Book fair will be November 21^st -26^th – volunteers are still needed. Set up will occur on November 20^th.  Tear down will need to occur when the book fair is over, Jamie does not want to force pack up before Thanksgiving but it may need to be done.
• Teacher dinner is Wednesday, November 21^st. Teachers will be provided with soup, salad, bread, etc…
• Class movie parties are the last week of December before winter break Thursday or Friday. Kindergarteners will be on their own, First and Second together, Third and Fourth together and Fifth on their own.

Other

• In January Katrina will shoot out an email asking who is on board to bring snacks to the PTO meetings.
• Michael’s, before Memorial Day, has 70% off coupon that we should use to frame our class pictures.
• Money minder, the program the Treasurer uses has a meeting minute section and agenda section that we can all log onto. We should consider using it.

Principal’s Report

• Thank you to everyone for your help with the jog a thon. Major kudos to Jamie for all of her hard work!!!!!!
• We continue to focus on building community- amongst the staff as well. There have been and will continue to be changes. Movie nights, dinner for the teachers, all this builds community, it will come with time.  Building community is a common theme with all principals, we are in it together.
• Veteran’s day was a hit.  Mr. Moser was a huge success. If you want to buy his book, talk to Mr. Burnett.
• Recently Mr. Burnett read a book about a school that had high parent involvement – he was asked how that happened.  He said they did not ask for volunteers they told the parents it was expected of them to volunteer x number of hours in the school each year.  Is this something that our PTO would look into? Many hands make light work.  He does not want to see a few people consistently doing all work and getting burnt out by the end of the year.

o   Jamie recommended sending out the Power Pledge again, perhaps at the beginning of the year.

o   Lisa suggested sending out the letter Jamie had sent out previously as well about the effects on students whose parents volunteer.

o   Mr. Burnett and Jamie will go over the Power Pledge and update it so that it is signed by both of them. It will be available after Winter break.

Jamie mentioned that even the Eagleridge kids are feeling misplaced because they have had three principals in the last three years and there have been so many teacher changes as well.  We are all working hard at building community including current families.

We love you all!!!!!

Meeting adjourned at 8:08

Meeting notes prepared by Belsa Martinez

Meeting notes amended on 02/11/14 to correctly show that Karen Jensen was involved with the review of the budget and not Cheryl Figgess as originally documented.

Eagleridge PTO Gneral Meeting

February 11, 2014

In attendance: Wendy Sharpe, Colleen Bell, Ryan Jackson, Lisa Guerra, Cheryle Figgess, Karen Jensen, Katie Jodoin, Mr. Burnett, Katrina Schmitt, Jamie Albrecht, Belsa Martinez

Meeting called to order at 7pm by Jamie Albrecht

Previous meeting minutes read by Belsa Martinez

Jamie requested correction made in meeting minutes. Necessary change noted and notes will be amended.

Motion to approve meeting minutes with one change made by Karen Jensen, 2^nd by Cheryle Figgess.  Minutes approved by all present.

President’s Report:

Movie party:

• Movie reward from Walk-a-jog-athon has been moved to Feb 14^th. Movie will be Monsters U. There will be two showings, one in the morning for 1^st and 2^nd graders and one in the afternoon for 3^rd – 5^th graders.
• Kindergarteners will do their own thing.
• No popcorn will be served as no food can be provided to the students on Valentine’s day.
• To avoid any potential future issues regarding allergies or providing food to students at PTO events the PTO will have parents sign a waiver before the next event and will also look into putting a general waiver in the new family packets that go out at the start of each year.

Parking issues:

• Currently people are not using the drop off lane correctly. Concern is that a car/guardian/child will be hit.
• Can we get signs put up directing people? Who would pay for it? The district? Jamie will follow up with Dee Schulz and Mr. Burnett.
• Katrina is volunteering to stand in the parking lot and direct traffic.
• Additional ideas: more blubs in the newsletter, all call system, instructional video on Eagleridge Facebook page, include pictures in the newsletter, make announcement at school dance

Treasurers report:

Karen Jensen presented report current as of 1/31/14.

• Money is starting to get spent for dance.
• Jog-a-thon matching checks have been coming in.
• Question raised regarding $2159.79 expense listed under PTO/Miscellaneous
• Jamie investigated and discovered error before meeting ended. Expense should have been listed under Start Up Funds/Agendas

Old business:

• Jamie will be cleaning out the PTO closet. Yay!!!!!

Upcoming events:

• Box top collection is currently going on until Feb 27^th
• Eagleridge will host Math Olympiad – it ends on Feb 20^th
• Talent show will have a day and night performance. Jamie O’Breen needs volunteers for both performances and will contact Cheryle for assistance arranging volunteers.
• Dance: March 7^t Do we want a face painter.  Jamie has been in contact with someone who has offered to work the night of the dance…. $100 for night plus $3 per kid. She will come in with table and team. Ryan knows someone as well and will talk to him about prices.  People are needed to head up committees. Two shifts will be available so that no one person will work the entire event and will have a chance to enjoy the dance. DJ will be Whatcom Sound. Paperwork handed out for parents in attendance to sign up for committees.
• Classified week is in March – this is for anyone who is not a certified teacher – we will need to do something for them … possibly lunch or dessert bar… hospitality will work on this. Need to find a date. Breakfast has been provided in the past but it gets set up early and many classified staff do not arrive until later in the morning. By the time they get there most of the food is gone and they are not able to enjoy it.
• Book fair will be…. April 14^th-18^th…. This is a date change. This event will be a BOGO event.

New business –

5^th grade waterslides:

• Would like to schedule waterslides fieldtrip on May 30^th because this is a half day. There was a movie night originally scheduled for this night. Consider moving movie night to June 6^th to accommodate water slides.
• Motion made by Jamie Albrecht, 2^nd by Lisa Guerra and approved by all to accept these dates.
• Suggestion made to open it up to other schools. Concern that this can open up a bag of worms because of district policy stating that we are not allowed to do this during school hours.

Power pledge:

• Power pledge went out and responses are coming back.

Principal Comments:

Eagleridge family has connections to Common Threads in Bellingham. They have contacted him regarding our interest in creating a school garden. Is this a project we would like to look into? Level of commitment from teachers and kids would have to be out there. Maintenance and grounds would need to be involved to the extent that they need to know what we are doing. PTO involvement as far as getting volunteers to prepare the ground. Common Threads prefers to have parent volunteers to come in during off time to pull weeds and occasionally vegetables. Feedback from parents present is that this is something that we would consider.  Mr. Burnett will contact Common Threads and let them know that we would like to go ahead and get more information.

Meeting adjourned at 8:15.

Meeting minutes prepared by Belsa Martinez

Eagleridge PTO Gneral Meeting

March 11, 2014

In attendance: Lisa Guerra, Wendy Sharpe, Cheryle Figgess, Mr. Burnett, Patti Cornelson (representing yearbook and Student Council), Karen Jenson, Katrina Schmitt, Desiree Castle, Belsa Martinez, Colleen Bell, Jamie Albrecht

Meeting called to order at 7pm by Jamie Albrecht.

Previous meeting minutes read by Belsa Martinez.

Colleen Bell motioned to approve meeting notes as written, 2^nd by Patti Cornelson. Approved by all in attendance. Meeting minutes approved as written.

President’s Report:

• Jamie’s theme of the day is go the extra mile, you will be rewarded ten fold. Settle for nothing short of excellence. Go above and beyond. People are taking too many short cuts and not striving for excellence.
• District PTO meeting is March 24^th at Cascadia. Jamie is looking for people to join her.
• Dance is done, thank God! It was very successful. Comments heard during basket walk through was that our baskets were amazing. This was from parents at our school as well as other schools.
• We still have the Disney park hopper tickets – 4 count. Considering possible online auction. Need to be used by 1-13-16. Cannot be used 12/5/-12/31. This information should be put in the newsletter next week.

Treasurer’s Report:

• Karen presented budget, current up to 2/28/14
• Dance income: $3429.54, expenses: $795.93
• Interest earned to date: $16.10
• Script money to date: $1,700

Old business:

None

New Business:

• Jamie is looking for someone to takeover Mariner’s night, ie. Contacting Mariner’s, flyers out, money in and follow up to get tickets here on time so that they are not left at will call.
• Classfied week desert bar- Colleen has people bringing stuff in around 10:30. Colleen will go to Starbucks to get coffee as well. Colleen has already taken care of plates, napkins, etc.
• Book fair – Cheryle will chair up book fair. Jamie has put Amy Lathrop on as co-chair and she will help with everything except ringing sales. Hours will be 8:30-9:15 and 11 -1:30 and 3:15-4:00 and then till 5 on the last Friday. Book fair dates on district website need to be updated. Neil needs to change info on district website. Mr. Burnett will ask him to do this.
• Jamie would like to do something special at the end of the year for Jane Shaw for all of her help this year.
• Jamie wants to give out thumb drives to a few people to start collecting pictures of the 5^th graders from different schools.
• Graduation will be moved to June 18^th in the morning.
• Water slides.  Jamie has invited all the other schools and they are not interested.

Miscellaneous:

• Jamie went to a holiday task force meeting. Team will meet 2^nd Thursday of each month. The plan to be done by May. They will take all things into consideration, state legislation as well as needs and wants of community.

Mrs. Cornelson:

• $1647.00 was brought in with Pennies for Pasta.
• Food drive is scheduled for March.
• No activities will be scheduled in April.
• In May (after May 10^th) they will do a school beautification project.  They would like large PTO involvement. This will be on a weekend. Wendy Sharpe mentioned that her church does community service and may be interested in helping with this project. Student council wants to be part of the planning process for the beautification project.
• They also need to schedule car wash to pay for 5^th grade field trip. PO is done for Alexander.

Mr. Burnett:

• Signs for parking lot have been ordered.
• Fencing guy came out based on Mike Murphy’s recommendation to see if fence could be extended on playground. Original concern was brought up by duties at the beginning of the year. The fence would have a gate so that older classes will have access to the area.
• Staff decided that they wanted to give out monthly Orca awards during the Monday morning announcements. 3-5 students per class will be selected. Each teacher will decide who to recognize and what the recognition will be based on. First awards will be given out at the last Monday morning announcement in March.

Wendy moved to adjourn meeting at 8:06. Colleen 2^nd , approved by all in attendance.

Meeting adjourned at 8:06.

Meeting notes prepared by Belsa Martinez on March 26, 2014.

Eagleridge PTO General Meeting

April 8, 2014

In attendance: Katrina Schmitt, Karen Jensen, Cheryle Figgess, Polly Rae, Katie Jodoin, Leah Rochon, Jamie Albrecht, Misha Burnett, Wendy Sharpe, Lisa Guerra.

Meeting called to order at 7 pm by Jamie Albrecht.

Roll Call

Previous meeting notes read by Jamie Albrecht.

Katrina Schmitt motioned to approve meeting notes as written, 2^nd by Cheryle Figgess, and approved by all in attendance.  Meeting minutes approved as written.

President’s Report:

• Custer is joining us at Waterslides
• Board Nominations in May
• Vote in Board in June
• Jane Shaw needs a show of appreciation for all of her hard work this year
• Polly Rae will be retiring this year

Treasurer’s Report:

• Cheryl presented budget, current up to 03/31/14
• Dance expense up to $853.06
• Scrip increased to $1,900.00
• Still on budget

Old Business: None

New Business:

• Family Show-Jamie brought up possibly purchasing new Microphone for sound system.
• Book Fair-Lisa said we still need more volunteers, talked about ways to get more volunteers. This book fair is a BOGO, our first, remind students it is the highest priced item and the equal or lesser valued 2^nd item is what is free. Computer will do all the calculations so volunteer running cash register won’t need to worry about that end.  Receipt with every purchase. No bags, this will allow more visibility, put receipt inside book, door check at exit, students must show they have money to get in to the book fair, and no backpacks.  School gets few if any $ from this book fair.  Please make the Teacher Wish List more visible. Idea presented of students being able to earn a book if they work the fair? Possible phone reminder about the book fair Mr. Burnett will work on that.
• Teacher appreciation lunch in May – Soup and Salads were decided on. PTO will host on Wednesday May 7^th.
• Lunch card issue brought up by Wendy Sharpe, can we be more secure she is having issues.  Mr. Burnett said district will be rolling out alternative system with PIN #’s to eliminate this issue.
• Teacher Gifting ideas-Katrina will submit 3 top gift ideas for teachers next meeting
• Mariners Day- we reserved 100 seats, 33 have been sold. It is fine that we haven’t sold all 100. Due date to submit is check is April 12^th and Katrina is taking care of it.
• Scholarship change – Jamie suggested moving Eagleridge Scholarship to Dollars for Scholars organization, the money will go only to and Eagleridge Student, this is a must, and we will no longer be involved in the selection process. After much discussion about the organization and the assurances that our funds will only go to our former students. It was agreed that this was a good idea.  It will enable the PTO to support our students and add an extra layer of comfort for the students and families that the selection was done in complete anonymity. Vote will be at the end of the year.

Mrs. Rae:

• Geography Bee is low on SWAG and she needs $75.00 to buy some T-shirts and other items, she believes that this will last the next several years.  As she is retiring, and the Bee wont be meeting again until January she thought she should take care of it now.  Jamie motioned to approve the funds, Katrina 2^nd, and approved by all in attendance.

Katrina Schmit:

• Drop Off and parking lot still an issue, it was suggested a person would be needed to help direct traffic.

Mr. Burnett:

• May 17^th is the date for the School Beautification Project.  He has begun to coordinate with Cornwall Church to zero in on projects and also coordinating with maintenance and grounds.
• On his project list is the portables skirting, bark dust and weeding, and the fencing in the back that leads to the woods.  There have been some issues at the beginning of the year with kids on recess going into the woods, and he has been in contact with a contractor to fence and gate the area. Quote is for $3200, and can reduce by $500 if he clears the briars.  Wendy suggested use of her husband and tractor. There is an issue of the briars being cleared and then the fence isn’t approved.  He doesn’t want the area to be a clear open path, at this time the briars do help keep the kids out. Discussed how big of an issue with the kids in the woods, and again it is under control for now, but it is something that he would like to do for added security and protection.  Shelved it for now.
• Parking arrows painted might be a good summer project.
• Garden Boxes he is waiting for a call back from Leaning Garden on the cost of their program, would like them involved, but we can do this project alone as well.  He has been given the green light by Buildings and Grounds. Asked if the cafeteria will be able to use any of the produce, and unfortunately not.  This project could be woven into Beautification Day.

Wendy moved to adjourn meeting at 8:32. Jamie 2^nd, approved by all in attendance.

Meeting adjourned at 8:32.

Meeting notes prepared by Katie Jodoin on April 12, 2014.