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