PTO Meeting, September 1, 2009

Members Present: Father Tom, Father Paul, Olivia Carrillo, Diana Girskis, Ann Marie Smith, Phil Le Franc, Doug Bennett, Tom Olona, William Terrazas, Felix Urena, Mandy Viole, Mark Richardson, and Jim Cahill. Absent: Veronica Ferrer

Opening/Closing: Father Paul opened the meeting with a prayer and Fr. Tom closed the meeting with a prayer.

Note: these minutes are not finalized and are subject to change after review by the PTO Board at the upcoming board meeting.

1. Adjusted School Calendar (CY2009-2010): The school calendar has been adjusted to account for the fact that the Station Fire delayed the start of school to 9-1-09 and the fact that this week will be composed of half days only. This information will be included in the Home messenger.
2. Pre-School News: On Monday (8-31-09), the Fire Dept cleared the pre-school area for business. Tuesday, 9-8-09 is the first day of pre-school. There are currently ten (10) pre-school children enrolled with possibility of 2 more soon.
3. Consultative Board: Olivia Carrillo provided a handout with a descriptor of the newly formed Consultative Board. The first meeting will be tomorrow (9-2-09) at the school from 6-7 PM. Phil Le Franc volunteered to sit in tomorrow and report back to the PTO Board.
4. Robo Call System: The automatic call system worked well during the fire situation. Today (9-1-09) at 5:30 PM, a message went out explaining the half day schedule for the balance of the week.
5. New Parent Social: The New Parent social on the 17th of August went well. There was good feedback and some more parents signed up as volunteers. These people will be added to the general pool of volunteers. The List from the New Parent Social from Ann Marie was provided to Olivia Carrillo.
6. Auction Action: Mark is handling the auction this year. The date of April 24th, 2010 has already been reserved at Castaways for a day time event similar to last year. There is a deposit for this date already. Tom Olona offered potential entertainment for the auction (Tom is part of a Sr. version of Nibley Park). Ann-Marie had 2 parents who also may be able to provide entertainment. Ann-Marie provided a sign up sheet for the Auction.
7. Jog-a-thon: We have a sign up list for the jog-a-thon. We are still looking for a chair for the event. Olivia will talk to last year’s chair to see if she would be willing to help again.
8. General PTO Meeting (9-14-09 at 7 PM): William can help with Powerpoint assembly for the meetings. Olivia said she has started a template for Powerpoint. Ann Marie would like all Board members to compile a slide of their duties and responsibilities. Diana Girskis will provide teacher input as necessary. Tom Olona can do a stack of flyers for that day. Olivia Carrillo can do a robo-call to remind parents of the meeting. Babysitting arrangements have already been made to accommodate parents who will attend. Refreshments will be assigned to parent volunteers. Mandy will do some free dress passes for parents who attend the General PTO meeting.
9. Earthquake Drill: Ms. Carrillo announced that October 15th will be the big shake out – earthquake drill. This date is being used by other schools as well to practice earthquake preparedness. Nestle may be involved. Pictures of what is inside our earthquake container in the parking lot are on the website. Nestle will work with us and show us how gear would be set up. Last year they set up tents and equipment. This will be a full blown drill where the kids will actually be picked up from school.
10. Healthroom: the issue of the health room was brought up as there may be parents willing to volunteer to help there. Healthroom is currently handled by Mrs. Reiner but Mandy Viole also offered to set up volunteers for health visits. Olivia Carrillo said she does not think there is a need right now but will keep it in mind.
11. Other Upcoming Events:
a. Jr. High Classroom Back to School Night: September 17, 2009
b. Book Fair September 18-25, 2009
c. Back to School Hop September 19, 2009
d. Other Calendar Dates were verified as well.
12. Virtus Certification: Olivia asked if everyone on the PTO Board is Virtus Certified. Everyone is current but Tom Olona who just needs to update/renew his previous certification.

Open Discussion:

1. Father Tom asked if there are there any parents who would like to volunteer to be a member of the Liturgical Board which meets every second Tuesday of the month. This person would act as a liaison to school when they are planning for the mass and emphasize that the school is part of the parish so the parish wants to make sure people understand this. Tom Olona will put something in the home messenger next week asking for a volunteer.
2. Book Fair – coming up soon. Mrs. Hihn is the chair September 18-25th. Needs a lot of volunteers – William will coordinate volunteers for this event.
3. Jog-a-thon – Ann-Marie Guinane has been handling the jogathon for years but decided not to this year. Olivia Carrillo said she would inquire of her one last time to see if she can help.
4. Donuts – once per month the school sells the donuts – Father Paul will find out who normally picks up the donuts AND will find out what Sunday it needs to be done – he thinks it is the 4th Sunday of the month. We need to have a school volunteer to help once a month with this activity.
5. Sees Candy Event by Lisa Dumansky – November 3rd was offered as a possible date but Father Paul suggested that we pick another date due to the Open House for the new facility being that same date.
6. Elena Galvez attended the meeting to offer up the idea of having a couple of new events at the school. Elena has 2 grads and a 4th grader. She would like to intro two new events to the school. Other schools do them and they are not fundraisers.
a. Mother-Son Picnic
i. Proposed dates are Sunday October 4th or Saturday October 10th
ii. $25 per couple and $10 per additional sons
iii. Need 35 couples to do it – minimum
iv. Elena is willing to chair this volunteer event
v. Hold it at a local park
b. Father–Daughter Dance
i. Proposed date – Saturday February 13, 2010
ii. $25 per couple and $10 per additional daughter(s)
iii. Need 35 couples to do it – minimum
iv. Elena is willing to chair this volunteer event
v. Hold it at the school auditorium or new building
c. The PTO Board voted to move forward and will create sign up sheets for these new events for the General PTO meeting. Also, Elena will put something in the home messenger next week.
7. Agenda for General PTO Meeting: Ann-Marie will work with Olivia Carrillo to develop an agenda for the general PTO meeting on the 14th of September.
8. Everyone on the PTO Board agreed to work hard to make these monthly meetings productive and stay within a 1 hour timeframe!

Closing Prayer

Next meeting October 6th, 2009 at 6:30 pm

PTO Meeting, August 4, 2009

Members Present: Father Tom Schweitzer, Olivia Carrillo, Ann Marie Smith, Veronica Ferrer, Felix Urena, Phil Le Franc, Mark Richardson, Doug Bennett, William Terrazas, Thom Olona. Absent: Mandy Viole, Jim Cahill, Diana Girskis. Guest: Father John. The meeting began at 6:05 pm and adjourned at 7:05 pm.
Opening/Closing: Father Tom opened and closed the meeting with a prayer.
Note: These minutes are not finalized and are subject to change after review by the PTO Executive Board at the upcoming meeting on Sept. 1, 2009.

I. Father Tom:
Father Paul is doing better and is expected to return to Incarnation Church by the end of August. Father John is here temporarily.

II. Principal – Olivia Carrillo:
a. Electrical drawings for school were submitted to the City of Glendale for plan check
b. Summer mailing- Laminated signs are needed for Kinder and First grade carpoolers. Veronica offered to have them made in two different colors. Car pool map is needed for New Parents meeting on Aug. 17.
c. Pre-school update – While the preschool is set up and ready to open, we are awaiting fire alarm clearance for Central building in order to move forward. Pre-school targeted to open August 31, 2009. We have four students enrolled.
d. School population is 289-290 students. Spaces are still available in 1st, 2nd and 7th grades.
e. Swim Team is practicing at the YWCA once a week and is seeking ways to raise funds ($600) for an additional practice day. Doug suggested that the swim parents pitch in about $20 each to cover the extra practice or cost of coach.
f. So. California Shake Out – Thursday, Oct. 15. Discussion on whether to arrange full-scale earthquake drill on this day (because of potential heat) and on whether to have parents pick up children early. Discussion will be brought up at General PTO Meeting on Sept. 14. Phil is working on getting help for setting up shade tents for students awaiting pick up from the play courts.
g. Suggestion for PTO Board meetings to run one hour; 6:30 pm until 7:30 pm unless more time is needed. Board is in agreement. Agenda items to be submitted to Ann Marie prior to meeting to keep tight agenda.
h. Correction on November PTO Board meeting date: 11/3 NOT 11/10.

III. Ann Marie Smith, PTO President:
a. Distributed Parent Directory Form for board approval with date changes.
b. Disseminated Committee Sign-in Sheets to board members and restated some of the responsibilities. Board members can help and share the work in other committees where needed.
c. Introduced Father John who stepped in briefly to observe the meeting.
d. New Parent Social – Suggested that all board members attend to speak on agenda topics, for PR and to solicit committee sign-ups. Thom and William announced that they are unable to come. Veronica will set up refreshments for hospitality. Agenda for Social will go out to board this week. Phil will speak on the carpool issues, Doug will speak on the uniform requirements. Virginia Williams will speak on SCRIP. Last year we had 12 parents sign in. We have approximately 30 new families who will receive an invitation to the social.
e. Kinder Picnic – Aug. 23 at Nibley Park 1-3 pm. Olivia stated that the kinder room parent, Janine Ghantous will coordinate the kinder picnic based on committee sign-in sheets. Doug to contact her to confirm. Also the kindergarteners will start school on Sept. 8. Up until then each kindergartener will come in for an hour of assessments.
f. Suggestion for each new board member to provide background expertise for areas of school interests. New Members: William, Mark and Felix spoke on their respective areas of work and expertise.
g. Open discussion offered. Meeting adjourned with prayer by Father Tom.

Important Upcoming Events:
Aug. 17 New Parent Social 6-8 Parish Patio Area
Aug. 23 Kinder Picnic Nibley Park 1-3
Aug. 31 First Day of School grades 1-8 Noon dismissal

Next PTO Board Meeting Sept. 1 at 6:30 pm

Note: These minutes are not finalized and are subject to change after review by the PTO Executive Board at the upcoming meeting on Sept. 1, 2009.