Chestnutwold Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)
General Meeting Minutes: 11/3/21
October Meeting Minutes approved
ChCK Trait POSITIVE ATTITUDE “Perhaps the world will end at the kitchen table, while we are laughing and crying, eating of the last sweet bite.” Joy Harjo
Thanks
Taddeo’s Greenhouse - $400 gifted to us
Trunk-or-treat committee & volunteers
Club leaders for bringing clubs back!
Bake sale volunteers and contributors - over $800 raised
Beth Clauss for organizing the clothing drive
Rachel Mathias for organizing the online spirit wear sale
Teacher’s Remarks - 3rd Grade teachers Ms. Martin and Ms. Montgomery joined the meeting in person: Thank you for the teacher enhancements provided by the PTO. Thank you for all the helpers and the parents for making the Halloween celebrations come together. Make sure to sign up for a teacher conference for the week of 11/22 - 11/24; look for an email from your teacher with a sign up genius link. Also Ronnie Moss has asked that we add her to Fresh Schools.
Principal’s Remarks - The trimester is coming to an end, and conferences are being scheduled. Report cards will be sent on Dec. 20th. Veterans Day is coming and they will be celebrating veterans with the Hometown Heroes activity. Today (11/3) all buses arrived by 3:45pm for the first time; hoping things will be more and more on track there. Starting to think about options for service project ideas for the holiday season. The school is following a lighter homework plan this year to help the kids adjust to the school pace again. They will get more eventually, but enjoy it now. Thank you for the Trunk or Treat; it was a great school and community event. 5th graders doing the morning announcements has started. The goal will be to record and have the announcements available on the school’s YouTube channel. Flag football will be starting on Nov. 15th. It will be coached by Ms. Kelly-D'Annunzio. Homeroom delegate elections are happening this November. Picture retakes will be Nov 17th. He understands the concern about the few recent 5th grade recess incidents. He sees their response not as punishment, rather as a management situation. The teachers are cohorting the children into smaller groups. They have lost no privileges, they are just not in one large mingling group. There have been no further incidents in the 5 days of this management tactic. He stressed they are not short of staff, but it is a challenging job for the *5 monitors who work 2.5 hours each day. (*2 are slated to resign shortly)
IDC Update - Tori Delmastro
November 4th: the district will be moving to approve a “test to stay” policy. This will help cut down on students quarantining.
November 9th: There will be an open board meeting at the CREC. The President and Vice President will be there informally to answer questions.
Times: 9am - 10am and 7pm -8pm
Treasurers’ Report
Bank balance on 10/30/2021 ended at $22,452.39 up from September’s ending balance of $18,489.28.
Deposits totaled $10,722.50. This was mostly due to:
Dance-a-thon donations of $4,310,
PFD pizza and bake sale $2,218.50,
Holiday Market sign-ups for tables $630
Spirit Wear sales of $3,564 at Dance-a-thon
Expenditures totaled $6,759.39. This was mostly due to:
Dance-a-thon DJ expense of $599
Purchasing Spirit Wear bulk-up, hats/tumblers/etc. which cost $2,235.15
Phoenix Fun Day Sam’s Pizza orders of $2,312.50
We did the Coffee Station and Treats to say thank you to teachers for $245,
We did classroom enhancements for Mrs. Strawley, Ms. Neri, Ms. McEntee, Ms. Labrasca, Ms. Tallon, and Mr. Cox totaling $713.03.
Chairmen Announcements
Book Fair-Natalie Silver - 25% of the book fair proceeds benefit school. Virtual set up a good way to help get the right materials to the teachers directly. Teachers will have wish lists and eWallets that we can donate to for classroom libraries. There will be Free Shipping for $25+; and it will arrive before the holiday break. Look for an email with information and links coming soon.
Holiday Market- Pam Bogdanoff - Dec 4th. 1st Annual market. 30 vendors confirmed, a kids dance troupe will perform, the Haverford Library will be doing a storytime, and there will be kid friendly craft stations. Flyer with schedule coming soon. Rain date is Sunday the 5th.
VP: Out-of-School Activities Updates
Lego Club has 2 sessions: Wed- 1st, 2nd, &3rd; Fri- 4th, 5th
Roots and Shoots starts 11/4
Chatter is underway
Dungeons & Dragons starts next week - 11/9
Art Club for 4th & 5th starts 11/9; 3rd, 2nd, 1st & K will start in March
Will be holding more clubs in the Spring
Upcoming Dates/Events
Virtual Book Fair - 11/22-12/5
Holiday Market - 12/4
Virtual Talent Show
Next PTO Meeting Feb 2nd
Questions/Comments/Concerns
General request to share more specific details about the classroom enhancements that PTO provides.
Addie will make the data available and we will post on the website.
Parent Question: What can monitors do about the behavior of the kids at recess? What are the defined consequences of bad behavior?
The school works with a responsive classroom behavior model; problems are behaviors and not as much punishable as they are teachable.
Denelsbeck does not like the idea of a sit out bench or other shaming style punishments; it is not what Chestnutwold is about. He is, however, open to ideas and other feedback; please email him directly, he welcomes the feedback.
Parent Comment: We’re all trying to do our best to get things back to normal, but the kids have been through things and are not all bouncing back right away. Yes we need behavior repercussions, but can we come up with creative ways to boost the kids’ mental health at the same time. Can we try something new?
General discussion about the concern of communal punishment and the idea of recess as a privilege. The effect that some of the students are feeling about the back and forth is causing undue stress.
Mr. Denelsbeck never wants the kids to lose recess.
3 new 5th grade teachers, it is still the beginning of the school year, and trainings are ongoing. That being said, everyone is trying their best to keep the kids safe.
General comments about the idea of peer mediators, giving kids a chance to have ownership in fixing their issues. Could there be positive consequences? (school clean up, volunteer activities, etc) How can the “alpha” group be given consequences without punishment?
General discussion about screen limits and access in classrooms. Some apps and websites are still making it through. Parents surprised at how much screen time still being used in a post-virtual school setting.