PTO Meeting Minutes

hardy pto agenda minuteS

March 11, 2026

For your information

March and April Treat Trains: Kindergarten hosting 13 March; 4th & 5th grade to host on 10 April
Book Fair: March 16-20th
Literacy Night: Wednesday, 18 March 6-8pm. Crafts in the cafeteria, mystery readers on the same floor as the library
Crossing Guard Appreciation Day: 25 March - caregivers are welcome to nominate Katherine Kriketos.
Hardy Art Night: Thursday, 16 April 5:30-7pm. Volunteers can sign up here
5th Grade Caregiver Information: Slides can be found here and caregivers can sign up to help with year-end activities here.
Vote Yes to Keep Arlington Strong: On March 28, Arlington will vote on a Proposition 2 ½ override to collect more tax revenue, keep our budget balanced, and fund public resources for every Arlington resident. Learn more here: https://yesforarlington.org/ and volunteer here
Arlington Education Foundation (AEF) Grants: Due 15 April. Learn more here.
Arlington Town Meetings: Start Monday 27 April. If any groups (4th grade, 5th grade, clubs, etc) would like to do bake sales, it is a great way to raise money. Submit a request here.
PTO Elections: Will be held during10 June PTO Meeting. Needed: President/Co-Presidents
NEW Friday’s are Hardy Spirit Day! Wear your favorite Hardy gear or blue to show your Hardy Husky pride!

MEETING MINUTES

Welcome & Updates
- PTO Elections - current president to step down and wants to begin training upcoming President
- Hardy Helpers - need help assembling small pieces of furniture & removing auction flyers
Principal’s Report - Gretchen Saunders
- Huge thank you to volunteers for helping with auction
- Report cards will be live on 2 April
- Book fair and Literacy Night week of 16-20 March
- 13 March - EL Coaching Day: 4th graders to spend entire day with literacy coach to help students focus on writing essays in one session
Teacher Representative Reports - Emily Vecchione & Laura Ribiero
- Kindergarten
  - Learning about trees and animals; upcoming visit from Stone Zoo
  - Counting
  - Community and community helpers
- 1st Grade
  - Learning and researching about birds
  - Reading non-fiction books
  - Creating observational drawings
- 2nd Grade
  - Starting plant unit by learning different parts of plants and how they grow
- 3rd Grade
  - Reading “Peter Pan” and learning new characters
  - Focusing on character traits and points of views
- 4th Grade
  - Studying the American Revolution by reading “Divided Loyalties”
  - Exploring fractions and decimals
  - Soils rocks and land forms
  - Observing stream tables to learn about erosion and flooding
- 5th Grade
  - Moving on Ceremony - 24 June at 8:30am
  - Growing Up Lessons
  - Autism Zoom on 31 March - chosen 5th grade topic across the school district
  - Author Celebration - celebrate narrative e-books on rainforest
  - Multiplying and dividing fractions
  - Chemical reactions and changes
- Library
  - Hosted successful Hour of Code event
  - Learning about what it means to be a creator and crediting people for their works
  - Reading and listening articles
  - Creating algorithms
  - Preparing for book fair

Committee Updates
- Treasurer - Brian Gibree
- Fundraising - Lisa Morella
  - Successful auction with great participation from Arlington businesses, volunteers, and attendees
  - Several local businesses have showed interest in participating in auction next year and collaborating with PTO for other fundraising opportunities (Heights Pub, Society Salon, Thrive, Sacco Flatbread Pizza)
  - Water bottle fundraiser still ongoing
- Enrichment
  - Evaluating budget to see if another assembly can be put together before the end of the year
  - 3rd grade to visit Jason Russell House as field trip
  - Still looking for recommendations for other enrichment activities
- Safe Routes to School
  - Arlington Transportation Advisory Committee to assist with removing snow banks on corner and will review Safe Routes to School plan
  - Crossing Guard of the Year nomination open now through 25 March
    - Small gifts planned and community encouraged to give cards
    - Crossing Guard Appreciation Day is 25 March
- DIG/Green Team
  - Grant for $500 submitted to Arlington Garden Club for extension of the pollinator garden with additional New England plants
- AEF
  - 15 April - next cycle grant deadline
  - Continuing scholar grants - due 25th of each month
- Spirit Wear
  - Closed as of 9 March
  - Ordering kindergarten shirts for incoming kindergarteners
  - Separately, Rainbow Alliance is designing their own shirt - if people are interested in a bulk order, sign up genius will go out to gauge interest
- Events to Plan
  - March Treats
    - Working on collaboration with Dunkin Donuts for donations
  - Literacy Night - Wednesday, 18 March 26
    - Theme will be "Pets"
    - volunteer sign up to be released soon
  - Book Fair - March 16-20
    - Committee looking for volunteers
    - shopping will only be allowed before and after school
  - 5th Grade Skate Night - TBD
  - Steven Cates Camp
  - Teacher Appreciation Week - 4-8 May
    - Sign up genius will go out for those interested in volunteering
  - Field Day - Friday, 5 June
    - 5th Grade Social scheduled for same day
  - End of Year Picnic