Hoosic Valley Parent Teacher Organization

Regular Meeting Minutes:  September 21, 2023

HV Elementary School Library

Attendance:

President: Liz Ruepp

Vice President: Lissa Kalbfliesh

Treasurer: Carolyn Gifford

Secretary: Lisa Meehan

Members (in-person):

Sarah Weber, Adam Myott, Jessia Clark, Amanda Myott, Val Lavigne, Bessie Baldwin, Kimberly Macica, Carly Lorini

Members (online):

Stacey Kyea, Denile Paro, Darcy Beaulac

Called to Order: 6:32pm

Treasurers Report:

Issue with TreeRing – TrustCo bank refused to deposit it but had no explanation why it happened. TreeRing will be issuing a new check with hopes it will not have any issues.

Staying with Money Minder for online transactions. $240 spent for yearly fee. It’s easy to use, and money is linked directly our TrustCo account where most PTO business is transacted. There is also a CapCom account that is linked to the scholarship requirements that we are required to utilize.

Committee Reports:

School Supply kits – Delivery of 86 kits was on 9/1 and was fairly smooth. Minor damage to 2 boxes required replacement of 2 items for 1 student. Upon unpacking, 6^th grade kits were missing several red binders and 12 were missing 3 subject notebooks. Vendor identified warehouse issues and eventually conceded that they were unable to resolve the problem and could not supply the needed items. Recommendation that the committee assess the need for this service and for possible alternate vendors to use going forward.

Unfinished Business:

Plants for Teachers – still in process and expected to be brought in soon!

New Business:

Yearbook – utilizing TreeRing again this year. Need at least 2 committee members ASAP. Please let Liz know if you are interested.

Book Fair – Have books for 2 weeks this year. Delivery typically comes the week before, expected 10/23-27 this year and will be open during Trunk or Treat. Need at least 2 volunteers to chair this committee ASAP. Please contact Liz if you are interested or would like to learn more.

Tenure Gifts – 9 teachers were awarded tenure. Motion passed unanimously to provide gift cards in the amount that matches last year for each teacher at or after the tenure reception.

Trunk or Treat – On October 27, 6:30-8:00 in conjunction with Book Fair. 6^th graders sign up for hosting trunks. If they do not sell out, they are offered to teachers/staff and then to anyone interested. For more information, contact Carolyn Gifford, Stacey Kyea or Carly Lorini. Candy donations will be collected during the 2 weeks leading up to the event. Darcy Beaulac and Carolyn Gifford will work with NJHS to provide help at the event.

Picture Day – will be on 10/25, 10/26 and 12/6 by Adirondack Portraits. Need 2-3 volunteers to assist during the day. Volunteers receive a free package. Contact Liz if you are interested.

Color Run – we are approved to host this. Looking at the possibility of hosting in the spring. No additional volunteers are needed at this time.

Fundraising – Discussion regarding hosting a LipSync contest with students, staff and community participating. Mr. Myott is willing to provide input and encourage participation for this event. Cost is minimal and fundraising will be by donation and perhaps sale of refreshments. Timing was discussed for a winter. More discussion to follow.

Funding Requests:

Nicole Neary – requested $100.54 to reimburse for pizza served at Responsive Classroom training. Motion approved unanimously.

Aimee Hanna – requested reimbursement for $17 for summer school ice cream outing. Motion approved unanimously.

Adam Myott – requested up to $50 to purchase 2 DVD’s that are used as part of his Spanish curriculum. Motion approved unanimously.

Future Discussions:

STEAM Night – hoping again to get this off the ground for winter night. Discussion needed to develop a plan for this event. Perhaps targeted for winter.

Guptills Night – received another flyer publicizing a skating night. Will again pursue this as an option for an activity night/fundraising event.

Odyssey of the Mind – program is growing which sparked discussion regarding funding of t-shirts. PTO is moving away from funding those and discussing other ways PTO can support the program. Liz will reach out to coordinator.

Upton Coffee in Stillwater has expressed interest in working with PTO to support the organization as well as the teachers and staff at the schools. 

Discussion regarding the need for a membership drive. Information will be provided through Parent Square and flyers may go home to encourage families to join the group.

2023-2024 meeting times – decided to plan for PTO to meet on 3^rd Wednesdays of each month where possible. Next meeting 10/19. Will publicize meeting on Parent Square, Facebook, on monthly menu, at BOE meetings and on website.

Meeting adjourned at 7:28 pm

Submitted: 10/4/2023 LJM

Meeting Minutes

Date: April 18, 2023

Time: 6:30 pm

Location: Hoosic Valley Elementary School library

In Attendance

President: Liz Ruepp

Vice President: Lissa Kalbfliesh

Secretary: Lisa Meehan

Treasurer: not present

In Person attendees:  Denile Paro, Tiffany Hurley, Stacy Maxon, Jacqui Paglialonga, Kim Macica, Stacey Kyea

Virtual attendees: none

Call to Order:

The meeting was called to order at 6:35pm

Approval of Minutes

The minutes from the March meeting were approved.

Committee Reports

• Yearbook – Deadline to purchase has been set at April 30 in order to receive and distribute in a timely fashion. Currently,the  number ordered is down from previous years – flyers just went home so hopefully orders will increase in the upcoming weeks. Please help spread the word by sharing on social media.

Unfinished (Old) Business:

• Plants for staff room:  delivered soon.
• Senior gifts: 80 pairs of socks were ordered, similar to last year for a cost of approximately $400. These will be distributed at the senior picnic.
• Senior Scholarships: The committee will begin reviewing these in the next week. Deadline is 5/1. See Carolyn Gifford with any questions.
• Teacher Appreciation: Survey sent out, handful of responses are mixed. Will allow more time, but currently the results, with logistics and finances point to a boxed lunch. Liz will look into options and reach out for assistance in the coming weeks.
• Meet the Board Candidates Night: Currently appears to be only 1 petition turned in. In that case, this event will not be held. Deadline is 4/17 so will assess after that date.
• Learning Fair: To be held the day of the BOE elections in the gym (May 16). Flyers went home with kids recently. Open to 4th-6th grade students. Format and subject can be anything the student would like to focus on, worked on outside of school. See Amanda Akin for details or to assist with setup on that day.
• Stewart’s Holiday Match:  received an award of $1000 for classroom libraries. This falls short of the amount needed for giving a meaningful amount to each teacher. Still looking for ideas to raise those additional $2000 to meet this need. First avenue will be just to ask for donations for this and see where that ends up.
• School Supply Kits: Currently being coordinated with same vendor as last year: Bright School Kitz. Awaiting updated lists from 2 grades. Sale will be live in mid-May until mid-June.

New Business

• Book Fair Week Activity: Book fair is first week of May. Discussion regarding activity to be held in conjunction with it. Possibilities were discussed and consensus was Book Fair Bingo night on 5/5 at 6:30. See Liz or Denile if you would like to help out – with Bingo night or with book fair.
• Vendor Refund: Discussed and approved refunding $60 to a vendor who got ill and could not attend the vendor fair. Agreed to put a clause regarding this situation in to the contract for future years: that refunds will be granted on a case-by-case basis.
• Volunteer Recognition: Discussed acknowledging the small number of members who provide extensive volunteer hours for the PTO sponsored activities and programs. This was done in the past with mugs and pens. See Liz or Lissa with any ideas.
• Google phone number: Agreed to activate the google phone number to be associated with PTO to have a single access point that can remain consistent as officers change over time.
• Website Updates:  Liz and Lissa will be moving the website out of WordPress format into Google hosted site to create a more user friendly experience as well as being easier to keep contents up to date, accessible and relevant. Reach out if you would like to assist with this project.
• Calendar Magnets: Agreed to move forward with creating a magnetic school calendar for 2023-2024 to offer to dues paying members as a perk of membership. Liz will work on getting that set up through an online vendor in the coming months.

Funding Requests

• HV Community Partners requested a donation to support After Prom activities. Unanimous agreement to match last year’s donation of $400 for this event.
• Unanimously agreed to reimburse Liz $162 for cost of the banner in support of the Odyssey of the Minds Teams. Banner was purchased at Vital Signs in Cohoes and is undated so can be used for future years.

Future Discussion 

• Kim Macica would like to create a library tour similar to the one being done by UHLS. Discussed creating a similar activity possibly with prizes and/or with linking to PARP.

Next Meeting

Date: May 15, 2023, 6:30 pm Elementary School library

Motion to adjourn was at 7:40pm

submitted: LJM 4/24/23

Date: January 17, 2023

Time: 6:30 pm

Location: Hoosic Valley Elementary School library

In Attendance

President: Liz Ruepp

Vice President: Lissa Kalbfliesh

Secretary: Lisa Meehan

Treasurer: Carolyn Gifford

In Person attendees:  Denile Paro, Kimberley Macica, Tiffany Hurley, Sarah Weber

Virtual attendees: Stacey Kyea, Jacqui Paglialonga

Call to Order:

The meeting was called to order at 6:33pm

Approval of Minutes

The minutes from the December meeting were not available

Committee Reports

• Treasurer Report: Full report was distributed showing outcome for all of the fall fundraisers: current balance $8908.97.

Tax filing is complete with accountant for this fiscal year

• Yearbook – all the school pictures are uploaded, ready to begin layout. Candid shots of school and community events are requested. Still looking to add more staff, including district office staff members. See Tiffany Hurley if you would like to help.

Unfinished (Old) Business:

• Plants for staff room:  Donations have been received, to be delivered soon.

• Writing Olympics: Carolyn has offered to chair this event, Sarah Weber has offered to proofread submissions. If there is an event night formed, NJHS may be willing to be involved but specific dates and times need to be established as soon as possible. See Carolyn if you would like to help.

• Stewart’s Holiday Match:  was applied for – citing classroom library funds as the earmark

• STEAM night: Liz was able to discuss with Mrs. Greco. Still need to finalize a date – evening, weeknight is likely (not 3/31 as discussed previously).  NJHS may be able to assist with logistics, they will let us know when the date/time are chosen. Timing being considered is late March.

Jessia Clark, Lisa Meehan and Jacqui Paglialonga have volunteered to assist with this planning/event. See Liz if you want to help.

• Vendor Fair: Most vendor slots are full, payments are being made through Cheddar up. Date is 3/12 from 11-3. Vendor setup begins at 9. Class of 2026 and Mrs. Neary will be selling food – this is important as vendors have no other access to food during the day. 

After discussion, 9th grade class will be offered the ability to run and share profits of a 50/50 raffle. 

Additional assistance needed will be publicity – Express paper, flyers around town and social media. Also, day of help with floor marking, setup, basket raffle, take down – see Denile Paro if you can help.

New Business

• Spring pictures will be 3/10 – unlike previous years, all kids will get spring pictures taken. Day of help will likely be needed – reach out to Liz if you are interested.

Funding Requests

• No funding requests were received.

Future Discussion 

• Guptills skating night – Liz Ruepp is still looking into details for this.

Next Meeting

Date: February 15, 2023, 6:30 pm Elementary School library

Motion to adjourn was at 7:21pm

submitted: LJM 2/6/23

Hoosic Valley PTO

meeting Minutes

Date:November 15, 2022

Time: 6:30 pm

Location: Hoosic Valley Elementary School library

In Attendance

President: Liz Ruepp

Vice President: Lissa Kalbfliesh

Secretary: Lisa Meehan

Treasurer: Carolyn Gifford

In Person attendees:  Demile Paro, Kimberley Macica, Stacey Kyea, Tiffany Hurley, Sarah Weber

Virtual attendees: None

Call to Order:

The meeting was called to order at 6:31pm

Approval of Minutes

The minutes from the October meeting were approved unanimously 

Committee Reports

• Treasurer Report: Money minder up to date – no outstanding transactions; currently preparing for tax filing with accountant
• Yearbook: Tiffany Hurley reported that the theme has been chosen, work is being done and pictures are being collected for school and classroom activities. Please upload pictures to the link on the hvpto website.

Unfinished (Old) Business:

• Halloween Night: Trunk or treat went amazingly well, huge attendance and lots of positive feedback. Lessons learned will lead to a few logistic changes for next year regarding candy donation and candy hand out. Also need to emphasize that this is not a drop off event! Next year will be October 27 and Mrs Macica reported that NJHS would like to be involved this year for games in the gym.
• School pictures took place Oct 21 and 22 – all went well for the most part. Thanks to the volunteers who assisted with that.
• Numerous plants were obtained through donation by a community member, for staff rooms – expect to see those soon.
• Book fair: Most successful book fair ever: total sales $8588.64 leading to profit of $1913.11, which will largely cover the need for the Zillah Herrington program in spring. Also had $900 in scholastic dollars to spend which were used partly to obtain library books and the remaining went to obtain ZH books. Big thanks to the volunteers on this, but note that it’s crucial that we find a volunteer to head this up for future book fairs.
• Conference Night Teacher Potluck: successful event, appreciated by teachers and staff. Especially popular were grab and go items like pizza and garbage bread. Leaving takeout containers was also a big hit and made cleanup easier. Thanks to those who donated, set up and cleaned up!

New Business

• Festival of Wreaths: Communication for this went out and publicized on website and facebook- currently have 10 wreath commitments and expecting more. Call for volunteers to sell tickets during band and chorus concerts (12/8 and 12/15) as well as during ornament night on Dec 2nd will go out on Parent Square and Facebook, or see Liz. Wreaths we’ll be hung on 12/1 after school.
• Ornament Painting night: This will be on 12/2 6-7:30pm, coordinates with Festival of Wreaths. Order forms went out and online ordering has been set up thru cheddar up. Ornaments are expected to be returned and distributed the week ofDecember  19th.

Funding Requests

• The funding request by Erin McCaullife for $220 to fund a field trip for art students to Mass MoCA was rescinded as the cost was covered by MAC.
• No funding requests were received.

Future Discussion 

• Guptills skating night discussed as a winter activity. Liz Ruepp will call for details and scheduling options to be discussed next month.
• Discussion of hosting a STEAM night with area businesses doing presentations and activities for students. NJHS may be able to assist with logistics. Proposed date for consideration is 3/31 in evening. Suggestion was made to consider setting the activity up to include the junior high students as well. Committee will be forming shortly – reach out to Liz or Lisa if you are interested.

Next Meeting

Date: December20, 2022, 6:30 pm Elementary School library

Motion to adjourn was at 7:20pm

submitted: LJM 12/11/22

Date: September 22, 2022

Time: 6:30 pm

Location: Hoosic Valley Elementary School library

In Attendance

President: Liz Ruepp

Vice President: Lissa Kalbfliesh

Secretary: vacant

Treasurer: Carolyn Gifford (virtual)

In Person attendees:  Lisa Meehan, Tiffany Hurley, Denile Paro

Virtual attendees: Alyla Goldman, Brandee Silloway

Call to Order:

The meeting was called to order at 6:37pm

Approval of Minutes

The minutes from the June meeting were not presented due to the transition of roles, that resulted from the resignation of the past Treasurer. Carolyn Gifford is now the Treasurer. 

The board moved to appoint Lisa Meehan to the secretary position for the remainder of the term.

Committee Reports

• School Supply Kits:  Lisa reported that 103 kits were sold in May thru August. Delivery was on September 1^st and went smoothly (with assistance from the office staff and Meghan Luskin). A check for the fundraising portion in the amount of $282.75 is being mailed to the Elementary School office by the vendor.

Unfinished (Old) Business:

• Town Hall concert: Liz reported that HVPTO was invited to participate in the Schaghticoke town hall concert selling of 50/50 tickets in return for half the proceeds of the drawing. This is a lucrative fundraiser with very little input of effort. It was noted that the unavailability of the original volunteers lead to a last minute call for help and ideally needs 2 or 3 volunteers to fulfill our obligations to participate in this event. $470 was collected.

New Business

• 2022-23 Meeting Dates: Those present agreed to hold regular meetings on 3^rd Tuesday of each month while school is in session. Any changes to that schedule will be publicized through the website, email and Parent Square.
• Folders for K & 1^st grade: Cori Kinnicut recommended purchasing Hoosic Valley folders to be given to students in several grades at the beginning of the school year. It was decided to look into the cost and consider this for next school year. Anyone with specific comments or concerns should contact Lissa.
• Tenure Gifts: 12 Hoosic Valley teachers & staff are up for tenure. Voted to purchase congratulatory cards containing $20 Vanilla gift cards for each, to be presented at the upcoming district tenure reception.
• Indoor Recess Carts: The grant money from the Stewart’s match program form 2021 ($2000) is earmarked for Indoor Recess carts and activities. Liz is currently in discussions with Mrs. Greco to coordinate and decide the current needs and logistics of these purchases.
• Passive Fundraisers: Amazon Smiles fundraiser will continue. A link for participating is on the HVPTO website. Some previously used passive fundraisers (BoxTops for Education, Hannaford Tools for Schools) are no longer available. Any ideas for similar types of fundraisers should be brought forward for consideration.
• Halloween Night: 
  • Tiffany Hurley and Carolyn Gifford volunteered to chair the event this year’s Trunk or Treat which will be held Friday October 28. Anyone interested in helping should contact them.
  • Lisa Meehan was approached by Valley Falls library to gauge interest in joining with them in bringing a singer/storyteller event as part of the Halloween festivities. There is interest by those present but more details are needed. Lisa is gathering that information and gauging community interest and will call for a virtual vote if the funds of approximately $250-275 is going to be requested.
• Pictures Days:  Elementary picture days thru Adirondack Studios will be October 20 and 21. Two volunteers are needed for each day; volunteers get a free photo package for their child. Contact Liz if you are interested.
• Scholastic Book Fair: 
  • Currently scheduled for October 17-28
  • Discussion regarding the timing of this event – if the singer/storyteller event could overlap, there would be ideal opportunities to bring families in to buy from the book fair as well. 
  • Need volunteers during the preview days, whatever time can be given is appreciated 
  • Suggestion was made to check if high school reading buddy helpers and parents of the youngest grades could assist.
  • Book Fair is in great need of a person to take over this event and chair it in the future. Ideally, the person could shadow this year to learn the process. Please see Liz or Bessie Baldwin if you are interested.
• Plants for Staff Rooms: Discussed the need to liven up staff rooms at both building with green plants. Liz will look for reasonable priced items or donations and bring it forth for future vote.
• School Banking: A volunteer is needed to chair. It has been on hiatus during COVID and a new chairperson could establish the schedule and frequency of doing school banking. If interested, contact Liz.
• Membership Drive: Discussion about recruiting new members. Flyers will be going home with elementary parents, recruiting was done at both open houses and new members can sign up on website at any time. 
  • Going forward, the focus will be on rapid, meaningful communication in order to get members and non-members interested in sharing ideas, input and their time. PTO has been added as a Group in the Parent Square App so hopefully that new outlet for communication will be helpful for keeping connected and increase engagement. 
• Vendor Fair- Denile will chair. Scheduled for March 12. 

Next Meeting

Date: October 18, 2022, 6:30 pm Elementary School library

Motion to adjourn was at 7:48pm

submitted: LJM 9/26/22