April 10 2006 – 6:30pm – Media Center

Opening

The meeting was called to order at 6:40pm

Unfinished Business

Daytime PTA Meetings

Dotty placed a call to the State PTA President’s office and confirmed that voting conducted during daytime PTA meetings would be valid.  The office did encourage us to have daytime meetings on the same day as the night time PTA meeting is scheduled.

Evening Performance of Cantamos Con Ritmo

The evening performance held on April 4^th had very poor attendance.  This was due to the event being scheduled the week the children returned from Spring Break.  Perhaps next year we could require prepayment and/or have a maximum cost regardless of the number of members in a family.  

Climbing Wall

Mr. Rose mentioned that ‘hand holds’ will be in place this coming weekend.  Although this has been a long process, the wall should be available for the students to utilize very shortly. 

Committee Reports

• Hospitality Committee:  Birgit mentioned that improvements have been made to the Staff Lounge and more are still expected to be made.  She is beginning to plan the teacher appreciation gifts for the end of the year. 

Increase Parent Involvement

We need to come up with ideas on how to increase parent involvement in the PTA.  It is apparent that attendance is high only at those PTA meetings that coincide with student performance events.

PTA Newsletters

The group expressed their appreciation to Vicki for all the hard work and coordination involved with producing the monthly newsletter.

Treasurer Update

Liz distributed and discussed the monthly Check Detail, the monthly Deposit Detail and the overall Budget.  Some of the highlights are as follows:

• The Tech Run brought in a profit of $7,715!! 
• The Scholastic Book Fair profited $3,366 for the school library!!
• Teacher Supplies - more than half of the money allocated for this has been used
• Cultural Arts – this committee is close to utilizing the majority of their funds for the year

Liz will be closing the budget for the school year on May 31.  A communication will be sent out to ensure reimbursement requests are received on time.

Vance School Garden

Mr. Rose presented Miss Kennedy’s mini grant request for the fifth grade students to plant a garden.  The garden will be planted in the small courtyard behind the school by the playground.  It will be a two-day project celebrating Earth Day (April 22nd).  The funds are available for this project.  Birgit made a motion to approve the request for this project, and Laura seconded the motion.  The PTA allotted $200 in funds.

PTA Nominating Committee

Desiree mentioned that there are quite a few people who have been nominated for the various positions.  The committee will be meeting on April 18^th to continue their efforts.  Nominees who are interested in running must be active members of the PTA.  Mr. Rose voiced a concern regarding student assignments for next year.  He would like the nominating committee to ensure that the PTA members running for office have their children specifically assigned to attend Vance for the 2006/2007 school year.

Spring Festival

Laura gave the group an update on the plans for the Spring Festival. 

• She distributed a list of the Game/Activity Locations. 
• The games are getting set.  The cost of each game will be between one and three tickets.  Room parents are contacting all the class parents to obtain volunteers to man the games. 
• Parents will be asked to donate cakes and bring them to the school the day of the event for the ‘Cake Walk’.  A flyer will be going out in the next Tuesday Folder.

Meeting Minutes Approved

The meeting minutes from the PTA meeting held on April l0, 2006 were approved.  Liz made a motion for approval and Kristi seconded the motion. 

Closing

The meeting was closed at 7:45pm.

Minutes submitted by Rose Raulynaitis  Date: April 26, 2006