There will be no meeting in December


Thank you Hedges families for your generous donations to the Flathead food bank!!

PTO Meeting 11/19/13 6:30

Attendance:

Rachel Hanko, Jessie Cady-Kauffman, Kris Reed, Angie Beyl, NatalieMiller, Rebecca Linden, Julie Wood, Nancy Easley, Sarah Parkman, Christie Saugen, Amanda Davey.

Review of the Hedges Mission Statement

In light of how busy we get and how many commitments we get involved with it is nice to know what the purpose of the PTO is.

Our Mission is to provide support and resources for students, parents, staff and administrations. Where there is a need, we aim to fill it.

How we do this?

Scholarships-     College bound Hedges alumni

                                Summer programs for Hedges students

Fundraising         Box tops program

                                Smiths earn to learn

                                Campbells soup labels

                                Toyota truck raffle

                                Hedges spirit gear

                                Large door to door fundraiser

Sponsor school community building events

                                Fall festival

                                Skating party

                                Ice cream social

                                Teacher appreciation luncheon

Principal Report:

Mrs. Miller has some new behavior initiatives to discuss including “I caught you” cards. Kids are putting them on her desk and a small prize is given when their card is drawn as initiative for noticing and supporting positive behavior.

Mrs. Miller has been working on a Response to intervention program; this is a multi-tier program that provides intervention for students that demonstrate a need for additional support. Tier I for behavior, Tier II for Academics and Tier III for both.

We will be purchasing a new PA system with PTO funds. The district will purchase a new phone system that will line up with the new PA system and that should save a lot of money.

Treasure Report:

Deposited $160.00 from the phone book, $230 from t-shirts, and $739 from the fall festival.

Check went out for Oriental Tranding for $215.14, Little Ceasars $48.00, Candy $63.00. Our current checking balance is $1,008.75 in checking.

Old Business.

Fall Festival was fun and had great attendance. Profit was $367.00. Need to decide if we would like to to this every year or every other year.  Discussion about sometimes out account decides if we can do it that year or not. Kids really seem to like it, it seems like a lot of work but it is really fun. Someone suggested it is much better inside than outside.

Popcorn popper. The old popcorn popper died so a new one was purchased with PTO funds $193.62 was the cost. It has already arrived.

Elliots fundraiser(cookie dough sales). Delivery was very easy and organized, the profit was great, $7,173.00 in profit, this money goes into the activities fund, not into the PTO checking but can be accessed by PTO if we need it, it is just a lengthy process. Do we want to participate in this fundraiser again? If so what do we want to do differently? Ideas were to get the teachers more involved perhaps giving them 5% of sales from their class for their classroom. Prize for the top sales, like a bike. Online sales were not very lucrative for us, we only made 3.50 per tub or 10% and they cost buyers considerably more to ship. We didn’t do a very good job of advertising and it was confusing for parents. We should do an assembly and give out cookie samples or something. There needs to be a place on the sheet for cash donations so they do not get lost. Perhaps we should change the time to earlier in the spring when families are not still trying to get in the swing of school and it is not such a busy time. We are having a reward lunch for the top sellers this year they get to have Pizza with Mrs. Miller. $700 was the top selling order.

Thanksgiving baskets.  We have six dinner boxes to give to families in need from our school but we still need six turkeys to add to them.  PTO approved $100 to purchase turkeys at cost, the additional expenses of the turkeys has been donated by Super One grocery store, the turkeys will be purchased in the form of gift cards specifically for approximately 15 lb turkey.

Phone Book Report. We changed the form to accommodate all family make up’s and we changed the wording on the form. We needed 4-6 adds to pay for the book but got 15 adds, so we raised $480.00 it will cost $100-$200 to print. In the future we would like to have the phone book out earlier. Suggestions to put out the family contact information with the orientation packet at the beginning of the year so that we can complete the phone book sooner.

Box Tops. The first deadline for tops was Nov 1^st and we had $289.00 the next deadline is March 1^st. Our school is not competitive at all with the other local schools, even the smaller outlying schools are earning way more money for their schools than we are. You can purchase box tops online by shopping through the box tops websites in addition to clipping box tops. Suggestions were to have a PTO education table at events to get our families aware of boxtops and boost competitions with classrooms.

New Business

Yearbook. Hap Aldrich has changed his prices this year so we have to table this issue for now.

Giving Tree.  Rebecca has suggested we create a giving tree that contains cards with requests from each teacher for things that they need or want for their classroom so that families can grab that ornament and provide that request for the classroom. This lead to a discussion of possibly reintroducing room parents again for teachers who would like a parent to help in the class room with whatever they might need.

No Meeting in December.

Revised Agenda for 11/19 meeting

PTO Meeting 11/19 Agenda

6:30  Call to order &  PTO Mission Statement

Principal Report: Mrs. Miller

Treasurer Report:  Angie Beyl

Old Business

            Fall Festival

                        attendance

profit

                        annual event/biennial

                        popcorn popper

            Elliott’s fundraiser-

                        pros/cons--feedback from the group

                        profit

                        reward luncheon for top sellers from each classroom

Thanksgiving baskets --Christi Saugen

                        Turkey purchases from Super 1--budget?

                        Basket Assembly

            Phonebook report--Rebecca Linden

           

            Box top update from Kris Reed

           

New Business

            Yearbook-  may need to be tabled for a future meeting until more information is available

            changes in Swan Lake Studio’s pricing

does the PTO want to provide yearbooks or are they available for a price?

chairperson needed

           

            Giving Tree--Rebecca Linden

holiday ideas for teachers

Childcare will be available for the children of parents who are attending the meeting. 

            

Fall Festival Planning Meeting

Please make a point to attend the planning meeting for the Fall Festival at 6:30 pm Oct. 1 in the Hedges School Library.  The Fall Festival is scheduled for October 25th and many volunteers make the job much easier for us all.  Thanks!!

Please Divide you Perennials

The garden spot in the front of the school is in need of perennials.  If you have some that you would like to divide and donate to Hedges please bring them by on Monday September 30th after school.  We will give them a new home in our garden

9-10-13 Meeting Minutes

PTO Meeting Minutes September 10, 2013

The meeting was called to order at 6:30 in the Hedges Library, there were 17 parents in attendance.  

The principal report:  Mrs. Miller talked about the installation of new outer doors on the school which took place during the summer.  She also discussed the growing student population at Hedges, the addition of a kindergarten class right before the start of school brings the student population close to 400 students this year.  Several rooms had to be shifted to allow for the new kindergarten classroom but staff and students are adjusting in a positive manner and the school year is off to a great start.  

Old Business:  The cookie dough fundraiser will begin September 20 and run through Oct. 4.  Funds raised will be put toward upgrading safety measures at the school.  The P.A. system is at the top of this safety improvement list.  Currently the PA system operates through the phone line but is not consistent throughout the school.  

A discussion was had on the best incentive to employ for the fundraiser.  The consensus of those present was to avoid the use of plastic toy prizes and instead offer a product incentive.  For every 15 items sold, a free tub of cookie dough will be awarded to the seller.  Several parents commented that they wouldn't be interested in having several free tubs of cookie dough and wondered about the possibility of donating any unwanted cookie dough to a charity.  The idea was presented to have an area set aside on distribution day for parents to leave any tubs that they would like to donate and one person from PTO would take them to a local charity.  This idea will be discussed further at the next meeting.  October 30th is the scheduled date for delivery of the cookie dough.  

Open House for parents will be September 19th from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm.  All parents are encouraged to attend so that they may visit with their student’s teachers and learn a little more about what to expect for the school year.  The school specialists, P.E., Music, and Library will be located in the gym for parents to meet and visit with.  Rebecca Linden talked about the Share Fair that will take place in the gym.  Local businesses and organizations offering activities for students have been invited to set up an information table in the gym for parents to learn more about activities for students.  Several local businesses have expressed interest in attending.  Contact Rebecca Linden for more information at 407-3778.  

The Toyota truck, donated by Kalispell Toyota to the school district, will be on the front lawn on the night of Open house.  Merisa has volunteered to sell raffle tickets.  Raffle tickets are $10 each with 8 of those dollars coming back to Hedges. School apparel will also be displayed for ordering.  

The perennial garden is starting to take shape in the front of the school.  PTO is looking for donations of perennials to plant this fall, this could be new perennials or plants divided from home gardens.  Donations should be dropped off after school on Monday, September 30th.  

Volunteer forms are trickling into the office and Julie Wood is creating a spreadsheet with the names and phone numbers of volunteers.The development of the phone book was mentioned and that will take place as soon as all information forms are returned to the office.

New Business:

Jamie Lynn presented the idea of having an after school fitness club at Hedges.  The club would meet Wednesdays from 3:30-4:30.  Activities would be fitness related and fun taking place outdoors or in the gym.  Students in grades 3-5 could attend without a parent but it is asked that students K-2 have a parent present at the club meetings.  Ms. Lynn is looking for PTO support with coordinating parent volunteers to help with the program.  

The continuation of the Fall Festival was discussed with the majority of attendees desiring to return to the traditional carnival format taking place inside the school.  The fall festival will take place on Friday October 25th from 6 to 8 pm.  Carnival style games, a cake walk, photo booth and a costume contest will be offered.  Food will be offered for sale.  Rebecca volunteered to contact local food vendors to find out if any might be interested in setting up that evening. If not  the PTO will provide pizza or another type of food for purchase.  A desire to have a different prize at each game was expressed.  

The next PTO meeting will be Tuesday October 15th at 6:30 pm in the Hedges library.  Thank you to all in attendance.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 pm.

PTO Meeting 

Tuesday Sept. 10

Hedges Library

6:30 pm

Meet and Greet Mrs. Miller before the meeting

6:00 pm

The first PTO meeting of the new school year was held on August 20, 2014 at 6:30 pm in the Hedges School Library.  There were eight parents in attendance.

The consensus of those present agreed that a PTO team to oversee meetings instead of a PTO president was preferable for this year.

Rachel will take meeting minutes and post the minutes on the PTO FaceBook page as well as the PTO blog.  Merisa has volunteered to write the agenda for future meetings.  Julie has agreed to coordinate volunteer information and Angie has agreed to continue in the treasurer position.  

Treasurer Report:  Scholarships, tree planting, teacher appreciation and gift card for the Eggman were paid leaving a balance of $258.74.  

Rebecca created a new volunteer form.  Everyone was pleased with the draft and asked that Rebecca add a spot for library volunteers.  Mrs. Miller will include the volunteer form with the first day of school materials.  Information regarding Smiths and Target's programs to raise money for the school will also be included.  

Information regarding social media outlets being used at Hedges to reach parents regarding school information will be included in the school newsletter. Social media being utilized at Hedges include Facebook (both a school page and a PTO sponsored page), Twitter and a Hedges Blog.  
The school wide open house is scheduled for September 19th from 6:00-7:30 p.m.  Merisa will get the Toyota truck and raffle tickets to Hedges for the evening.  Rebecca discussed the share fair on the evening of Open house.  She has a list and will begin contacting vendors who might be interested in setting up a table about the after school programs that they offer.  Pto will ask for a donation to be put towards a scholarship for a Hedges student to participate in one of the after school activities.  

The fundraiser this year is Elliott's Cookie Dough.  Sales begin on September 20th.  Mrs. Miller will send the fundraising materials home with students after Labor Day.  Mrs. Miller will research the availability of online purchasing.  PTO will provide a pizza party to the top seller (# of items sold) from each classroom.  Merisa has volunteered to help Mrs. Miller coordinate the pizza party. 

Monies raised from cookie dough sales will go toward the purchase of safety and technology items.  Hedges is in need of an updated PA system, exterior cameras and professional development to utilize the technology we currently have.  

Principal Report:  Mrs. Miller spoke about the addition of another kindergarten classroom at Hedges this fall.  To accommodate for the new classroom, several other departments had to be moved to different rooms.  

The front garden was recently dug up and weeded.  The PTO would like to add some new perennials to the garden for seasonal color.  Student participation in the maintenance of the gardens was discussed.  

The next PTO meeting will be held September 10th at 6:30 p.m. in the Hedges Library.  A meet and greet with Mrs. Miller will be held at 6:00 pm.  Refreshments will be provided.  This will be a great time for parents to meet the new principal and ask questions.  Mrs. Miller will send out a notice of the meeting after the first week of school.  Kindergarten teachers will announce the meet and greet at their open house activities on the 30th.  

The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m.