hardy pto agenda minuteS

Hardy PTO Meeting Agenda

December 11, 2024

 

INTRODUCTIONS

 

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT Gretchen Saunders

  • Presented the School Improvement Plan to the School Committee last week. Paul Schlichtman complimented us on MCAS scores.
  • Report cards go live on Friday in PowerSchool
  • Conferences are coming up. Families will receive a Google Doc with links to sign up from Mary Bellerose. January 7th and 8th from 12-3pm and January 9th from 6-8pm.
  • Visited Abby Leider’s classroom for a performance task today, which comes at the end of a module. 5th grade students wrote monologues from the character’s perspectives and then performed them. Ms. Leider put up a red curtain to make it special!
  • Staff today during building time participated in ALICE training, which is training on how to respond and how to keep students safe in case of an intruder. Officer Brian White brought the new canine puppy, which helped to lighten things up. 
  • Becky asked about a school concert in January- there was a conflict, so now there will be a chorus concert in February and whole school concert in the Spring.

TEACHER REPRESENTATIVE’S REPORT Emily Vecchione & Susie Smith

  • Kindergarten- in their Weather Around the World EL unit. Talking about how to be prepared for weather in different parts of the world. Teachers like the practical approach, as it is a good tie in to make sure kids know how to put on outerwear themselves.
  • First grade- sun, moon, and stars. Focused on story elements, like character, setting, and simple beginning, middle, and end. They’re reading a book that 3rd graders are also using. Winter celebration next week- open house and caregivers will do a craft with the kids.
  • Second grade- learning about fossils and paleontologists.
  • Third grade- Freaky Frogs module, tie in to “why” origin stories. They’ll be writing their own.
  • Fourth grade- Science talk- connecting what we did in science, prepared notes for a discussion based on what they know. Working on developing discussions and making connections to others, not just sharing from their notes. 
  • Fifth grade- Monologues (shared above). Last year, monologues felt above and beyond what the teachers could do, but this year, they were able to incorporate it and it felt really successful. This made the teachers feel great about the new EL curriculum.
  • PE- finished backyard games
  • Library- K & 1st- talked about perspective and who is telling a story. Older grades talking about mirror and window stories. 

COMMITTEE REPORTS

  • President - Becky 
    • Ideas for events - crafternoon in January? Discussed whether there would be a music event (see above in Principal’s Report). Since this will be moved to the Spring, won’t combine with a school event. Could we use the library and the cafeteria? Maybe having games and crafts in both areas, so people can do a craft while they wait for a game? Can there be a signup for games? If people don’t have the bandwidth to plan this, we can put out a facebook post to see if anyone would be interested in planning/organizing a Crafternoon or Community Playdate in January.
    • Idea: replace kindness week treats with a lunch in March (Jennifer Kupiec). This idea was well-received by teachers. Look for communication about that coming up. Sandwiches will be provided by PTO funds, everything else donated by parents.
    • Hardy Auction/100th Birthday - discuss date/timing - March 29th, Donut Villa, true silent auction, spotify list (no DJ to save money), Ashlin will MC (“Welcome, thank you for coming, etc.”). Will push tables more around the perimeter to make room for socializing. Each grade will do a basket, like last year. Susie Smith asked- will teachers be asked to donate experiences, etc. again. Gretchen approved this, as long as it’s optional for teachers to participate. Becky- Raffle during lunch was tough, so may think about a better way to do that. Maybe if kids had a preview of what the choices were, it would go more smoothly. Could it be combined with the lunch count? Emily Vecchione- explained to Gretchen about the raffle. Idea was that each child got a free ticket to make it equitable for all students. Wonderful that every student was able to be included. Idea- could there be a slideshow that teachers could show their classes? 
    • Rummage/Craft Sale Idea - anyone want to lead? “Junk in the Trunk.” Maybe we can wait until the spring when it’s nice out. Combine with a playground meetup? If it’s outside, do we need to file a form to use the parking lot? Or only if we want to use restrooms?
  • Fundraising - Ashlin
    • Raised $33,307 of our $35K Goal (95%)
    • $1693 short (~12 kids short @ $145/child)
    • Maxima Shopping set for Friday December 13th- portion of the proceeds to the PTO.
    • Blue Ribbon will hopefully be in January - anyone have a contact there? Email bounced back and haven’t heard back from anyone when reaching out.
    • Daily Bloom March 25, 2025
    • Flatbread Pizza - April 22, 2025 (during spring break)
    • DDD and other results update
    • Giving Tuesday results: $555 additional raised (or almost 4 more kids!)
    • December 13th: Henry Bears Park Present Wrapping - Volunteers Needed!!
    • How do we feel about a Read-A-Thon during Literary / Book Fair week? Do we need the funding from one more event? We can hear from Julia about the budget and then discuss more (see below for notes on budget). 
    • Setting dates for other fundraisers -
    • Linda raised $110 via the water bottle fundraiser. Thank you Linda! She can do another water bottle fundraiser in the spring before Field Day. Orders are open anytime, but only for a fundraiser twice a year.
    • Red Sox fundraiser - volunteer to investigate for spring 2025?
    • Bake Sale for other events - HS sports, town meeting (April 2025- would have to be staffed by parents, since it’s later at night), school committee meeting - other ideas? 
  • Treasurer’s Report - Julia
    • About $1000 short of the goal we had. We have exceeded last year’s participation count. At least 5 people have informed her that employee matching is on the way (usually delayed and comes around January). Julia will provide an updated budget that doesn’t have employee matching listed twice. In terms of additional events, auction will help, but wouldn’t hurt to have another event. Becky- not sure about Read-a-Thon because it’s another ask for families. But since Town Meeting is a series of meetings, we could do a Bake Sale more than once to raise more money.
    • Spirit Wear- do we want to open the spirit wear store again? If we don’t hit a minimum, then we have to pay the difference. Last year, we got over a hundred orders/items. This fall, we were just short of hitting our next mark, but it was also over a hundred orders/items. We can open it again in the spring for Field Day, graduation, etc. We can have it open for longer this time. Spirit Wear could also be an auction item.
    • Lost and Found question- piece of furniture arrived, Gretchen plans to put it together over winter break. It’s from Gretchen’s budget. There is a community budget for PTO to provide gloves, snow pants, etc. for children to be comfortable at school. We also have things in the PTO closet for this. 
    • Request from Sarah Daggett: received a request for a red carpet and other item. Let her know that she has a budget to purchase things. Teachers can reach out to Julia if they’re wondering what they have left in their budgets. Specialists get $175 normally and $50 extra for first year staff. PTO website has the reimbursement form too. 
    • Julia asked about the budget for STEAM fest and whether or not they’re planning to spend the whole thing. Becky said they likely would because they’re planning lots of bigger activities. Could we have a Bake Sale during STEAM Fest? Do we want it inside the school because of allergies? More comfortable doing a Bake Sale outside the building or at an event (Town Meeting) with just adults. Idea for Literacy Night- could we have pizza for sale?
    • 24/25 Budget Review
    • Per Annie - we can take $200 from DIG Library (has a backlog of books to go into the library) and $200 from EATs to support STEAM Fest
  • Communications - Ashlin, Abi, Desiree
    • Hardy Weekly Round-Up - streamlined and shorter. Had some challenges with formatting, almost have all of the kinks figured out.
    • Monthly Hardy Happenings - also streamlined, no President’s update (new last month).
    • Both distributed by Mary Bellerose and published to the website, cadence and delivery becoming smoother. Working through last formatting kinks with distribution software. Thank you for all the feedback and comments.
  • DIG - Abi 
      • PTO Draft Inclusive Event Checklist - Request for feedback & input to be shared shortly alongside call out for DIG participation and focus areas
      • Connecting with Thompson DIG
      • Question to Gretchen from Becky- were you going to connect with the Thompson principal about Title 1 funding for field trips and enrichment. Gretchen has not yet done this, but will reach out. 
  • Safe Routes to School - Marloes & Ashley
      • Walking bus idea - Will put that off during the winter.
      • Kiss and go signs - looking for a group to help make these. Is this something the Hardy After School program could do if we provide materials? The official Safe Routes to School program has a contest, but we don’t know the theme until January. We may have extra plastic signs. Julia may be able to help make signs on her Cricut too. Is there another saying, other than “Kiss and Go” was a question asked. 
      • Anti-idling signs - Working with School Committee member and making progress. Need input on exact sign location. Not sure about whether the fence is town or school property, so not sure whether or not we can hang them on the fence? Around the circle, there’s a post already around the entrance and exit, so we can put them there. Ashley thinks we should put them more in the circle, but not sure where? Could we use the Little Library posts, or is that too low? Is it a big ask to ask who unlocks the door to put out a sign? Gretchen would rather the permanent solution be something different. She spoke to someone and they felt comfortable putting up one pole in the grass facing the driveway and another next to the little library in the grass. Would be better to have them be permanent. Gretchen said she believes the playgrounds are town property, so fences are probably town property. Gretchen is talking to the Facilities Director about other things as well. Liz Diggins brought it up to him, so Ashley and Gretchen will connect about this. 
      • Parking map of the neighborhood - would the staff be interested? Ashley has been walking the neighborhood and noting parking limits for each street. Would staff be interested in a map of this in the office to help them know where to park? This would be helpful for substitute teachers too. 
      • Linda’s Notes - crosswalk sign repair request has been made (it was hit), no appointment yet to fix the timing of the Brooks Ave light
  • Enrichment - Becky, Mary Beth, Katey, Aparna & many coordinators (thank you!)
    • Mary Beth and Becky working on assembly ideas - BIPOC reader.
    • Teachers have enrichment and assembly teams. Would love ideas from teachers.
    • Need input/direction from teachers - if they want to reach out with ideas/timing/requests, please email Becky (president@hardypto.com) to get connected with the correct volunteer
  • Classroom Coordinator - Kate Allen- gift giving season. Mary is working on a more condensed version of which teachers are working with which teachers (paras or support teachers) to make sure they receive gifts as well. Emily Vecchione has been working on this as well. For the vast majority of teaching assistants and support staff, they work in a variety of classrooms, so not sure if it’s appropriate for it to be one classroom coordinators job to do that. One idea- a fund that has money pooled from each classroom to cover gifts for those teachers. Two SLC classrooms are not represented on the list of classroom coordinators, so those teachers don’t have someone coordinating for them. Becky asked- how many teachers do we have not based in one classroom? Gretchen- maybe around 15? Some work across grade levels. Does one classroom or two adopt a TA and cover gifts for them? More discussion on this to come.
  • EATS - Annie Clarke-Lauer
  • Spirit Wear - Emilie & Julia
      • Spring pop up?
  • SEPAC - Tunde
      • Louisa Popkin - Hardy/Thomspon Sped coordinator - casual coffee chats Dec, 17, Feb 11, April 15, and June 18 - 8AM - location TBD but likely the cafeteria
  • Garden - Alham, Amisha, and Erica
    • Working on winter sowing enrichment/fundraising project - clear/translucent bottles needed in January (milk, juice, water, gallon vinegar, 2 liter soda) Over 20 kinds of native seeds have been collected via donation. Alham has about 10 milk jugs now and could use another ~10. Sowing will happen in January– Emily/Susie - when would be a good time to discuss exact dates with teachers? It would be best to do this with ~two grades at a time.  It will take 15-20 minutes/group. Emily- some teachers will want to plan before break, while others will want to wait until after the break. Maybe send an email next week and then follow up after the break? Kate Allen- would it be possible to do with after school kids on those early release conference days? Becky will check in with Alham. 
  • Buddy Program - Megan Rucupero - we have a host volunteer, but not requests
  • Green Team - Emily Lapolice - would crayon recycling be needed yet by school/families?  

 UPCOMING EVENTS/PLANNING 

  • Caregiver coffee (3rd grade) and treat train (2nd grade) Friday Jan 3 
  • STEAM Festival - winter - Alham & Jason Fligg - Feb 8 - contributors needed and welcome!
    • Planning going well, with lots of activities and folks to lead them. Need to get a final number on budget and get the poster finalized as next steps. 
  • Need to plan:
    • Conference night pizza - Jan 9th Jennifer Kupiec
    • Hour of Code - Matt Clarke-Lauer - Feb 3-7 - will be looking for many volunteers to teach (no coding knowledge needed) & will email teachers
    • Literacy Night - Wed March 13th  - need organizers to work with Becky
    • Auction - need organizers to work with Becky, Ashlin, Karen P
    • March luncheon Jennifer Kupiec
    • TA Week (May) - Jennifer Kupiec - need other organizers for 4 days of activities
    • Field Day - new PE teachers - start planning in January.  Need an apprentice to the lead planner Lisa Cleary

THANK YOU & RECOGNITION

  • Spirit Wear - smooth distribution - Emilie Codega
  • Teacher and Staff Thankful Lunch - Jennifer Kupiec and many volunteers and donations 
  • Caregiver coffee (2nd grade) Diane and treat train (3rd grade) Friday Dec 6 - Alham & Tunde

 

Please find archived minutes here:

 

PTO Agenda Minutes 2024-2025 School Year

 

Archived PTO Agenda Minutes 2023-2024 School Year

 

Archived PTO Agenda Minutes 2022-2023 School Year

 

Archived PTO Agenda Minutes 2021-2022 School Year

 

Archived PTO Agenda Minutes 2020-2021 School Year

 

Archived PTO Agenda Minutes 2013-2019