Thanks for a GREAT turnout at our first formal PTO meeting of the year. Our intrepid secretary Nadia Moysey has compiled minutes from that meeting.
If you couldn't make it on Monday, please take a moment to peruse the dates, times, events, and notes below. You will see we have a lot to look forward to this year, and we've gone ahead and listed a bunch of dates so you can place them on your calendars now. Remember: you don't have to attend PTO meetings to be a member of the PTO. (Although we'd love to see you there! We enjoyed a little free time to visit and meet new families, after this week's meeting.) Just by virtue of being a parent at CMS, you are a part of our organization, and we value your ideas and insights.
If you attended, and you see any corrections or addendums that need to be made to these minutes, please email Heidi at heidicwilliams@gmail.com, so she can make any necessary corrections. Or if you see anything you'd like more information about, feel free to email either Heidi or Drake (dmacmtb@gmail.com).
Thanks for your continued interest and participation. Your involvement benefits every child at CMS, which is why we appreciate you so much!
-- Heidi & Drake
CMS PTO Minutes 9/10/12
Time: 7:00 pm
Attendance: 25 parents, PTO members and teachers/staff
1. What
is PTO and what does PTO do?
- Heidi
and Drake are co-presidents of the PTO
- PTO
is a non-profit organization affiliated with CMS school
- Function
is to raise money and volunteer to support the school and special programs for
the school
- Goal
for this year is to raise money to build a greenhouse
- Also
raises money to fund field trips and visitors to the school
- Create
community between parents and teachers
2. Treasurer
Report
- Beth
Carraway is current PTO treasurer but she was unavailable to come to the
meeting due to illness
- PTO
has two bank accounts – restricted and unrestricted
- Current
account balances unavailable due to Beth’s absence from the meeting
3. Upcoming
PTO Fundraisers
- Primary
Fundraiser: Pumpkin Sale
o
Drake is the primary organizer for the pumpkin sale
o
Pumpkin delivery scheduled for Saturday, October 13 at
8 am
§
Volunteers needed to unload the truck – fun activity
for the whole family and people are encouraged to bring their children
o
Pumpkin sale will begin on Monday, October 15
§
Volunteers needed to sell pumpkins daily from 3-6 pm.
Asking for 2 families per 3 hour block on weekday afternoons.
§
On Saturdays, sales will happen from 8 am – 6 pm.
Saturday shifts would be 1-2 hours each.
- Fall
Festival: Friday October 26 from 3-7 pm
o
Heidi is the primary organizer for the Fall Festival
o
Scheduled activities will include: Touch a Truck,
Bouncers, Craft Table, Paint-a-Pumpkin, Face Painting, Science Table, Bake
Sale, Old time games, Cake walk
o
Possible activities mentioned during the meeting
include: miniature horse rides (possibly provided by the Duffy family), pumpkin
toss/cornhole games (Ryan – Naya’s dad).
If you have additional ideas for activities at the fall festival, email
Heidi and Drake.
o
One flat fee is charged for most of the
activities. Some activities may
have an additional ticket required. Fall Festival pays for itself and then
makes additional income on top.
o
Volunteers needed to run the events, work on advertising,
organize and bake goodies for bake sale, assist with set up of tents and tables,
clean up, etc.
o
Student volunteers are also being organized to free up
parents to have fun with their kids!
- Other
Possible Fundraisers
o
Usborne Book Fair
§
CMS will receive 50% of the proceeds of the sale in
either cash or books for the school.
§
Examples of books are set up in the front office and
order forms are available there as well.
§
You can also order books online at www.booksaremoore.com. Place your orders under the CMS eshow
link.
o
For Small Hands – Montessori product catalog
§
Order deadline is October 13 and catalogs will be sent
out soon
§
Go through the link to FSH website posted on the CMS
web site and our school earns even more.
§
Make great holiday gifts. School gets free shipping as well.
§
Can also buy gifts for the classrooms. Teachers will be providing wish lists
for items they would like.
o
Arts Center – decorating Christmas ornaments (or
possibly doing something in-house)
o
Open to suggestions for other activities (parents night
out?)
4. Ongoing
CMS Fundraisers
- Beth
will discuss our ongoing fundraising opportunities at a future meeting.
- They
include: SCRIPTS, Box Tops, Campbell’s Labels for Education, Bi-Lo and Ingles Savings
programs, Printer/ink cartridges, 3 Spoons night, Columbo’s night, etc.
- Note:
Need to update your information for the Bi-Lo and Ingles programs every
year. CMS school codes are
available in the store or online.
- Upstate
Locally Grown – online farmer’s market which delivers natural/organic/locally
grown food. Orders are placed online and deliveries are made to CMS campus
every other Wednesday between 4:15 and 5:00 pm. 3% of the proceeds are donated
to CMS PTO. Heidi will be writing
about this on the CMS PTO blog if you would like more information.
5. Classroom
Reps
- Another
point of communication between parents and the school
Pre-Primary -
Saara DeWalt (Sasha’s mom)
Susan and
Patrick’s class – Joey Sarkees (Martin’s mom)
Marjorie and
Judy’s Class – Marie (Oliver’s mom)
Junior Elementary –
possibly Sandra
Senior Elementary –
possibly Beth
6. Communication
with PTO
- Using
Mail Chimp for email so that the PTO can verify that you have received their
emails.
- Email
messages will ask you to click through to the CMS PTO blog which will act as a
repository of all PTO information.
- Suggest
bookmarking the blog so that you will have access to all PTO information in one
place.
- Access
to the school calendar is also available on the blog.
- CMS
PTO also has a Facebook page.
7. PTO
and CMS Meeting Programs
- During
PTO meetings, teachers from CMS can offer programs on Montessori approaches to
math, reading, and science. Need
to gauge interest from parents to determine what topics should be covered this
year.
- CMS
will also be offering the following workshops this year:
o
Parent Talk: The Language of Responsible Parenting
§
Thursday, October 4 at 7:00 pm
§
Examples of the types of language that you can use with
your child to effectively parent.
§
Offers various parenting strategies.
§
Presentation followed by interactive dialogue with
parents.
§
If there is enough interest, a complete 6 week program
could be offered.
o
Silent Journey and Discovery
§
Held over 2 days – Friday, November 9 (evening) and
Saturday, November 10 (morning).
Attendance on both days is required.
§
No child care is available as this is meant to be a
silent experience.
§
Provides insight into the classroom through your
child’s eyes.
§
Guiding questions are provided as you go through the
classrooms silently.
8. PTO
meeting schedules
- Next
PTO Meeting will be held on October 8 at 7:00 pm.
- Every
third meeting will be more informal.
It will be held at Columbo’s or 3 Spoons and PTO will be there to
distribute information and field questions.
9. Other
Important Dates
October 9: 7:00 pm - PTO Meeting
October 13: For Small Hands- Montessori product catalog order
deadline.
October 13: 8:00 am – Pumpkin delivery
October 15 - 31: Pumpkin sale
October 26: 3:00-7:00 pm – Fall Festival
November 13: 5:30 pm - PTO meeting, followed by Soup &
Songs at 6:00 pm
NO DECEMBER PTO MEETING (a holiday fundraiser instead)
December 13: 6:00 pm Winter Program, Pendleton Playhouse
(Clemson Little Theatre)
10. Questions/Concerns
- None
11. Closing
Comments
- Important
to keep the lines of communication open between parents and the
school/teachers. Make sure you are
communicating both the good things you see happening and the concerns that you
may have. That will truly help to
keep the school functioning well.
Minutes complied by Nadia Moysey, PTO Secretary
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