Chestnutwold Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)
General Meeting Agenda: September 14th, 2022
ChCK Trait: INTEGRITY
“Integrity is what we do, what we say, and what we say we do.”-Don Galer
Thanks to - Amy Solwecki and Sandy McManus for putting together a great New Student/ New Family Event and Thanks to all we came out to the Welcome Back Picnic!
Approval of Minutes - May 2022 Minutes Approved
Teacher’s Remarks - Mrs. McCusker, 2nd grade teacher, came to represent the teachers.
Teachers are excited to be Back to School. There is good energy and happiness in seeing everyone's faces again.
THANK YOU for the swing set!
Teachers have been using ChK Traits lessons on the playground: modeling good behavior on the playground. The playground games are great for the kids too.
The teachers doors are open - if we need them, please reach out.
Principal’s Remarks - Be You by Peter Reynolds is the school book this year. It links nicely with Chestnutwold’s ChK Traits. During the welcome back, staff drew pictures of themselves, like the book, and they are hung up along the entrance hallway. Buses have been very slow since the beginning of the year, but they are working out the kinks. Bus 22 is way off time. In the afternoon Bus 39/21/26 - arrives at CW @3:30; Bus 7 - 3:50; and Bus 22 - 4pm. Tracker on Edulog (in the parent portal) is very accurate. Morning Meetings have been extended by 5 minutes to help compensate. There are no longer free lunches this year. Please apply for free or reduced lunch on schoolcafe.com. Safe arrival is no longer the program they are using for attendance. They are installing a new system, but until then, use email for reporting absences. You may receive a call or alert about your child being marked absent before they have had time to clear your excuses; please be patient and disregard the message if you know it to be incorrect. Mr. Denelsbeck loved seeing Ms. McCusker and other teachers using the playground for the MTSS lessons. Those lessons are being extended this year. The teachers are using behavioral expectation modeling in places like the playground, cafeteria, and the bus. Students will also be using Mindful Student Cards: teaching mindfulness lessons to apply to various situations. Kids will earn positive tickets when caught making the right choices. They can also earn a school reward, like extra recess time or a simple snack reward. The District is giving all the elementary schools some extra money for clubs. (Apparently our PTO clubs are models for the district.) They will be adding in, and in no competition with the PTO clubs. Kids will be polled for their top choices of clubs and they will narrow the choices down to a couple options. Back to School Night is Sept 22 in 2 time slots: 6:30/7:30, each session is 45 mins. Stick to your schedule as much as possible. October is Anti-Bullying month. On the 19th, Step in Step Up will be doing a 40 minute assembly. There is also a Million Misfit March in which everyone should wear weird socks to celebrate diversity and the kids will march in a small parade around the school. The Halloween Parade will be on Monday Oct.31. Nov 1st will be a Pajama Day.
Treasurers’ Report - July/August 2022
Bank balance on 8/31/2022 ended at $15,149.37 down from June’s ending balance of $16,920.71
Deposits totaled $25. This was due to:
Yearbook Payment
Expenditures totaled $1,796.34. This was mostly due to:
$158.89 Zoom
$199.29 Squarespace
$312.65 Keurig Coffee Maker for Teachers
$950.34 5th Grade Fun Day Bounce House
Vote on 2022-2023 PTO Budget
Addie presented the Budget, line by line, to the attendees.
Most major change is the addition of a fundraising committee to handle generating income that can be spread across multiple events. This committee would primarily help the Chase with business donors, but also would promote donors on a tier leveled scale for the whole year.
28 (eligible) people were in attendance to vote, in addition to the PTO Exec Board.
Vote passes - 27 Yay - 1 Nay
Nay vote was discussed openly with group - voter was unsure about the fundraising committee. After further discussion, they found comfort with the new idea.
Chairmen Announcements
Volunteer Fair TONIGHT - walk around, scan the QR codes to go to the sign ups. You can sign up tonight or anytime afterwards. We need you to make our year work - Thank YOU!
Phoenix Fun Day & Dance Party - happening 9/30. RSVP and make pizza reservations! Volunteers are needed, bring friends and help out for an hour.
In case you are wondering - the name has been updated this year. We are moving away from the word THON, which stems from an event, a Walk-a-Thon,that used to be done in connection with Phoenix Fun Day. To simplify and clarify - the event will be referred to as a “Dance Party” moving forward.
Upcoming Dates/Events
Sept 22nd: Back to School Night and Parent’s Night Out at Town Tap
Sept 30th: PHOENIX FUN DAY
Oct 29th: Trunk or Treat
Next Meeting- October 12th
Questions/Comments/Concerns -
What is the situation with Intruder Drills and the classroom doors now being locked?
3 lock down drills (aka shelter in place drills) a year. Language is gentle and reassuring for the kids
After a recent review of safety practices in the school by the police department, it was decided that the magnet system was inefficient. All doors are locked, same as in previous years; but now the magnets are not being used. That procedure relied on the office making an announcement before magnet door locks were set.