Minutes from 12/16

Attending:

Frank S
Mary Anne L
Deb S
Mary B
Gail L
Jonathan N
David G
Mary-Jean O

Content:

Fund Raiser

The meeting began with a discussion of the on going fund raiser — the No Bake Cake Sale.  The state of the fundraiser is at just over $1000.  

Deb, an ELL teacher at King, described the challenges of raising money to bring students to cultural / arts events, for example.  

The group discussed the need to develop a process for determining how money from this and future events would be allocated for work in the school.

 

International Potluck Celebration

The event, which was initially scheduled for the 29th of January, is now being considered for February, date uncertain.  It was clarified that the event is not a fund raiser.

Deb S talked about being in touch with the multilingual translators to get out the word about the event, and to encourage the translators to come to planning meetings for the event.  One is tentatively scheduled for January 8.  Jonathan, Deb S and MJ agreed that that could be a good start date.  Deb will be in touch with Jonathan to confirm.

Dave and Deb agreed that King staff and kids would take responsibility for advertising / PR, and that the process of creating PR would be a way to get kids excited about the event.

It sounds like Deb, Joe F, and Marcia S from King are going to be the principle energy building-side for the event.

Winter Rush

The Winter Rush is being planned district wide as a celebration and community fundraiser for PPS.  The event is being scheduled for some time in February. Jonathan was contacted by the district and members of the school board to consider the King PTO’s role in the event.

Jonathan asked the group to think about what group or body associated with King might be able to take on  King’s role at the event.

More to come.

Growing PTO Involvement

The meeting finished with an acknowledgement of the scope of upcoming events and our needs for planning.  It was suggested that each person who attended this meeting be sure to ask another community member to join us for the next meeting.

PTO sends out appeal letter for No Cake Bake Sale

In an effort to meet the school’s on-going financial needs, the PTO has organized a No Cake Bake Sale this holiday season.  Full information about the event, including how to make a contribution is available in the attached letter.

Minutes from 11/18

Attending

Jonathan
Mary
Mary Anne
Dave Grant
Frank
Jane
Mike McCarthy
MJ
Ellen
Pandika
Gail
Beth
Christina

Topics

No Bake Cake Sale

The meeting began with a discussion of the letter Jonathan drafted to ask for contributions, and to explain the PTO’s fundraising goals and strategies for the year.  The letter announces the No Cake Bake Sale.  It was agreed that the school would distribute the letter to all parents through conferences, on the web, at the school concert, and through backpacks at the beginning of December.  Mary Anne agreed to have a donation box available in the front hall for receiving donations during conferences.  It was agreed that the No Bake Cake Sale would end with the end of the calendar year.  Mike and Dave agreed that they would provide language for the letter that would clarify how the money raised would specifically support learning at King.  Jonathan agreed to redraft the letter to include the finish date and get it to the school by Weds morning.  Mike explained that a translation sheet will be included for families that need it.  Pandika might be able to print the letter, and will be in touch in the morning.  Otherwise the school will do it.

Talent Show Fundraising Event

The proposed date for the Talent Show fundraising event is April 30.

Potluck Event

The proposed date for the potluck is January 22, from 5:30 – 7:30.  The intention of the PTO is to make this event a celebration of King’s diverse community.  The PTO discussed strategies for inclusion in bringing people to the event and for helping people feel included at the event.  One area of particular interest of the group was doing something to help people feel included through language.  The group discussed being in touch with Joe Farrell and Deb Simmons (King faculty who have organized the King cultural celebration program) to set up performances by kids for the event.  PTO members who volunteered to help organize this event included Jane, Mj, Ellen, Pandika and Christina.  Jonathan is happy to help the group too.  Mary Anne encouraged the group to look into getting environmentally responsible plates, spoons, etc.

Next Meeting

It was mentioned that the group would like to have an ELL teacher at the next PTO meeting.

Minutes from Oct 21, 2008

Attending:

Jonathan
Mary
Katie
Gail
Beth
MJ
Kathryn
Sue
Frank
Mary Anne
Mary
Pandika
Ilia
Kathy Bouchard
Dave Grant

Content of the Night

Kathy reviewed materials about the King budget. The documents are attached here kingbudget08.

Jonathan reviewed the fundraising ideas from prior meetings:

• A community event in January: Pot luck with a presentation or learning event about King;
• Supporting the King Talent Show / Auction in April;
• Developing business sponsorships for the Celebration of the Learning in May.
• General Appeal.

Jonathan suggested a general appeal as seed money for the PTO. The group discussed how a letter might be sent out to all or some of the school community. Katie mentioned that at Lyman Moore the letters mentioned that money would be used to support teacher grants.

Katie requested having a leadership role in the auction event.

MJ volunteered to put together a carry-home flyer for meetings.

The group was interested in having an ELL teacher for our next meeting.

Meeting Minutes from 9-18-08

Attending

David Grant
Jim Kessler
Kitty Purington
Gail Landry
Mary McQuillan
Jonathan Nolan

Jonathan began the meeting with a discussion of the nature of trying to build a sustainable organization in the context of a middle school.

Jonathan gave people an overview of the history of the PTO from the prior year.  He discussed the good will of the King parent community toward the PTO, but also acknowledged the limited participation that the PTO has had so far developed.

We reviewed some of the goals that were established for the group last year (fund raising, community development, etc.), and discussed the strategies and incentives that parents might feel that would help the group grow in participation and meets its goals.

The group discussed the efficacy of the list serve.  It was noted that conversations via the list serve undermine people’s interest in reading emails from the list.

Jonathan proposed that the group will gain energy from defining it’s specific actions / projects.

Dave and Jonathan spoke about the ideas that came out of the group the previous year:  hosting a fall community event that combines food and info about the school as a way to generate interest and participation in the PTO; and fundraising events for the school tied into existing school events like the Celebration of Learning and the King Faculty Talent Show.

The group had a lively discussion about different ideas and projects the PTO could undertake.

The group focused around three major ideas for the PTO to work on:

•    A community event in January:  Pot luck with a presentation or learning event about King;
•    Supporting the King Talent Show / Auction in April;
•    Developing business sponsorships for the Celebration of the Learning in May.

In general, people discussed how they might be able to approach organizations where we have ins.

Group leadership issues were raised.  The group decided that Jonathan is in charge through the community event in January.

The group decided to explore using the third Tues instead of Thurs.  So Dave agreed to get back to the group about Oct 21st for the next meeting.

Minutes from May 13 Meeting

Attending

Jonathan Nolan
Ellen Monaghan
Mary Jean ORegan
Kathryn Moxhay
Dawn Fischer
Ellen Popenoe
David Grant
Beth Quinlan
Cath O’Connor

The group started with a discussion of tonight’s vote for the school budget. It was noted that with the low turnout, the active school parents could have lobbied neighbors, friends, etc. to get out the vote.

Regarding the King Talent Show / Auction: Parents felt like the show was great, tons of kids, a lot of enthusiasm, very positive feeling seeing the spirit of the community at the event — kids, teachers, adults interacting beautifully.

Suggestions for next time: More stuff to bid on; more time to look at the tables; an earlier show in the fall, sponsored by the PTO, to get people interested in being involved in King; moving the show back a week; breaking the talent show up into more separate acts; starting earlier to create more time for bidding; opportunities to make contributions beyond the auction items; discussed straight out donations; no show ball. It was noted that the other school auctions that have grown have done so over a few years with a large number of committed parents; an all parent event?

Celebration of Learning: Noting the tremendous amount of work that was out, the competence of the kids at explaining their work. The group noted that there could be an opportunity to get sponsors for the event that could help King meet its financial needs. Wouldn’t it be great if the show had longer hours?

How about combining the COL with an auction night / evening event. People seemed really excited about that.

Bringing in More Parents: The group suggested that it would be great for parents to get the King story — test scores, change, etc.

General Communication: The King calendar is blank and there is a general lack of effective communication. It was noted the there is a letter coming from places like Longfellow weekly from the Principal. The parents at the meeting were in agreement that a school-wide, well-maintained calendar is needed. Parents said that the houses could do more to communicate with the families about expedition needs. Concerts, Thanks a Latte.

Next Meeting: Planning for the PTO to get stuff done in the summer and prepare for fall PTO events, etc.

Minutes from PTO Meeting 4/08/08

April 8 PTO Meeting Minutes

Attending:
Kathryn Moxhay
Dawn Fischer
Mary Jean O’Regan
Beth Quinlan
Jerrold C. Edelberg
David Grant

May 1 Auction and Talent Show

All contributions for the auction/talent show should be given to / reported to Sue Carlson, King’s partnership coordinator, by April 28th.  Sue’s email is carlss@portlandschools.org.

People expressed an interest in contacting some businesses and it was agreed that they should be in touch with Sue to get procedural information.

Kathryn Moxhay agreed to capture the event for reproduction next year.

We talked about the best pricing / plan for food; and the need to be sure that all families who attend will feel comfortable getting food and will be able to understand the nature of the auction.

Celebration of Learning

The group discussed the event.  We noted that Eric A has made some connections and seems to have some businesses that are going to be contributing.  The group discussed that the event is on the heals of the talent show / auction and that it would be something to focus on next year.

Other Ideas for Giving to King

Dawn Fischer volunteered to coordinate the development of a teachers’ wish list.  Another way of looking at this that we discussed is the development of a fund for a Staples Card– or something like that.

The group discussed finding a way to gage community interest in and preferences for giving to King.  Some ideas that were discussed included donorchoice.org, doing a survey / appeal letter, maybe included in the “back to school” mailing.  Could also be included in Sue’s volunteer form.

The State of the PTO

The group concluded with a discussion of the efficacy of the PTO as an organization.  We talked about developing major group goals, and the need for a core group of parents who will be the holders and keepers of the PTO energy.  We decided that the next best move will be to go visibly into the Auction and Celebration of Learning, and keep the meetings on the second Tuesday through the rest of the year.

Next Meeting

Tues May 13 at 7

Notes from March 11 PTO Meeting

Attending:

Deb Rothenberg

Jill Roland

Pandika Pleqi

Susan Thompson Brown

Sue Carlson

Jennifer Southard

Susanni Douville

Eric Altholz

Eva McVicar

Jonathan Nolan

Mary-Jean O’Reagan

Ellen Pompenoe

Ed Suslovic

Dave Grant

Item 1 :  Advertising for the PTO at the parent-teacher conferences. 

We reviewed Pandika’s handout and discussed other ways to get the message out.  Decision:

The handout will include the kingpto.wordpress.com link, mention of the 2nd Tues of each month regular meeting time; an invitation to contact David Grant at King for more information, and a sign up sheet available in the front hall for parents to sign up directly.  Mary-Jean volunteered to coordinate having PTO reps at the table.  David Grant agreed to have the docs ready for teachers at conferences. 
Item 2:  Silent Auction

May 1, at 6 pm
Last year’s talent show made about $2k;

Things that sold well:  restaurant certificates, museum memberships;

Eva McVicar volunteered to be the main communicator with Sue C;

Ellen P volunteered to coordinate the food for the event;

Pandika volunteered to coordinate publicity;

Jonathan talked about Longfellow’s database, and business contributions.

How about a “What was it worth?” bucket.

Raffle idea was discussed for baskets. 

Classroom projects were auctioned at other schools, such an auction was discussed for King’s Silent Auction.  Good idea for King?

Sue expressed her intention to pretty much run the event this year, and readiness to hand it over to the PTO for next year.

The group also discussed the possibility of a letter-based campaign asking King families to make contributions to the school irrespective of events like auctions, talent shows, etc.
Item 3:  King’s Celebration of Learning

May 8 during school hours at the Portland Expo

Group discussed having businesses support the Celebration through the publication of a document, handed out at the COL, with advertising from supporting businesses.
Item 4:  Our King Community — Our PTO Community

The group acknowledged the aspiration that the PTO could better represent the diversity of the King student body.

Ideas to attract a more inclusive population to PTO meetings included having the PTO sponsor educational or community events at the school.

One suggestion was a “How we have built an inclusive and supportive community at King” event hosted by students for the community, where the kids do the talking and the parents get to learn.

Another suggestion was to have kids present something at PTO meetings.

Our next meeting will be on April 8 from 7 – 8:30.

school board straw poll on ocean avenue elementary school

Ocean Avenue Elementary School

 

The Facts!

 

In these challenging economic times, Portland has the unique opportunity to build a new school on the former Baxter School site – and this project Will be funded entirely by the State. However, the State Board of Education requires Portlanders to demonstrate broad community support for the building of this new school as a final step to secure state funding – Don’t let this opportunity pass us by – We Need Your Participation!!!

 

Why?

ocean avenue school – message from superintendent

Public Invited to Meeting about Portland’s New Elementary School

A public meeting about plans for the new Ocean Avenue elementary school in Portland will be held on March 3 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the East End Community School.