PTC Meetings Minutes

Country Montessori Parent-Teacher Committee
Monthly meeting, Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

Meeting Minutes

I. Welcome: 2:50 p.m. 12 attendees.

II. General Business

A. The Halloween Carnival

1. Officers voted via e-mail to approve the purchase of a $25 Starbucks gift card as a much deserved “thank you” for Constance.
2. PTC received great feedback about the Baron’s frankfurter sale. For every $3 combo sold, CMS received $1 (the profit will be determined soon). Jennifer will write a thank you note to Baron’s, and a school-wide thank you will be included in the next newsletter.
3. CMS is building a relationship with Baron’s; Baron’s has already offered to provide fresh fruit and water to all CMS students after the Walk-a-Thon.
4. The budget for the Halloween Carnival was set at $1300. The PTC spent $1238.75 on the Carnival (under budget). The cakewalk earned $77, the Snickerdoodle Sales yielded $168 at the event (84 sold) and $116 after the event, and the Scripps Performing Arts Academy raffle garnered $20. Our total income from the Carnival was $402, not counting the additional funds from Baron’s.
5. The Snickerdoodles did not sell as well as anticipated. We ordered 200 cookies, but only sold 84. CMS bought the remaining 116 cookies at cost, and distributed them to Childcare and Elementary students on Monday. Next year, the PTC will only order 100 Snickerdoodles to sell.
6. Next year, the Halloween Carnival will expand booths into the Boat Playground, but the swing sets (which constitute a legal liability) will be off limits.

B. Shen Yun Fundraiser

1. CMS families will be able to purchased discounted tickets, with 10% of the ticket price coming back to CMS. The discounts will be $10 off $100-$200 tickets and $5 off $60-$80 tickets. Shen Yun will perform January 19th-22nd at the Escondido Performing Arts Center.
2. Shen Yun will provide a flier outlining the ticket information.
3. Shen Yun will also be coming to CMS to provide an in-house presentation to the Lower and Upper Elementary Students about ancient Chinese culture.

II. Approval of October’s Meeting Minutes

A. Proposed by Jennifer Martinez.
B. Seconded by Jennifer Bennington.
C. Lisa will provide Adela with a hard and soft copy of the October Meeting Minutes for CMS records.

III. Officer Updates

A. Treasurer: $450 in October t-shirt sales. T-shirt sales will continue on a monthly basis, with sales from the existing stock only. T-shirt sales will be processed at the beginning of each month.
B. Classroom Ambassadors: Nothing significant to report.
C. Yearbook: Diane posted 300 pictures from the Halloween Carnival. Diane asked Classroom Ambassadors to send out a reminder to their parents to post their pictures. There are a lot of pictures from the Bumblebees Classroom...Ladybugs and Dragonflies need parent-posted pictures.
D. Social Chair: The Holiday Staff Gifts flier will be going home next week.
E. Parent/Staff Services Chair: Nothing significant to report.
F. Auction
1. The Donations Sub-Committee has already met and is going to start soliciting items.
2. The Donations Sub-Committee has decided to solicit gift baskets this year, vice individual items.
3.The Donations Sub-Committee is also dividing responsibilities between its members to prevent multiple donation requests made to the same business.
4. LaKisha has updated the Donation Request Letter for this year’s event.
5. The Donations Sub-Committee would like to ask CMS families (individually or in small groups) to provide baskets too. The baskets can be creative and/or themed, and will allow our auction items to hit different price points. The Donations Sub-Committee will generate a letter outlining the basket donations in the near future.
i. CMS (not the PTC) will determine if parents can earn volunteer hours form putting together these baskets.
2. We need to ask business, i.e. Baron’s, for sponsorship of our Auction.
3. The Auction Committee (as many people as possible) will meet on Monday, November 7th at 6:30 p.m. at Claim Jumper to discuss the entire event.
4. Amy is working on the Public Relations letter. Once the Auction Committee determines the name for this year’s event, she will coordinate with Duana on the development of this year’s graphics.
i. Ideally, we will determine a name that can be varied year to year, but retain a brand that reinforces the event and builds a positive reputation.

II. The Garden Project

A. Melanie is asking the San Diego Master Gardener’s Association for a Volunteer Compost Advisor to get the school composting started.
B. We would like to have a Harvest Table at next year’s Halloween Carnival to showcase the improved CMS gardens.

II. Board of Directors’ Update

A. The Board of Directors is exploring different options for the expansion and remodeling of the school.
B. CMS currently has 155 enrolled students, with a 165 cap on total enrollment.

III. School and Staff Report

A. Directresses are preparing for the Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences.

IV. PTC Goals

A. We proposed several different PTC goals in the September meeting. Ideas included:
1. Landscaping the front of the school, including the planter between the curb and driveway and the area in front of the fence.
2. Providing new shade structures over the lunch tables.
3. Installing new wooden play structures.
4. Planting more trees.
B. Providing new share structures may be problematic; the concrete under the lunch tables was just laid last year and has preset holes for the current umbrellas. The existing umbrellas are in good shape, but just not big enough. Perhaps the PTC could investigate purchasing different umbrellas, such as rectangular umbrellas or larger circular umbrellas? Tracy will investigate options and prices.
C. PTC Officers need to think about the different goals ideas...we do not have to decide on the goal today.
D. However, we would like to have at least one goal (even if it is a smaller item) identified before the Walk-A-Thon so we can include that goal on the Walk-a-Thon ask letter. Last year, the kids were really excited about fundraising for the new swing set....knowing the goal of their efforts was a huge motivator!

V. Adjourn: 4:02 p.m.