PTO Board Meeting Minutes - 11/7

11/11/2024 12:05 pm

DCES PTO 

BOARD MEETING MINUTES  

November 7, 2024

 

Board Members

Present  
April Beauboeuf,  President Melissa Caramucci, Teacher Representative
Blair Geczi, VP of Hospitality Nicole Carey, VP Fundraising
Casey Magargle, VP Communications

Paige Miller, Secretary
Jamie McCrensky, Teacher Representative

Samantha Oliver, VP Campus Improvements
Kimberly Lyons, VP of Hospitality Stephanie Sedlak, VP Communications
Kim Mills, Principal Whitney Graving, VP of Events
Kristen Easton, Treasurer Craig Doss, VP of IT
   
Absent  
Erin Scagnelli, Vice Principal Amie Hegeman, Mandarin Representative

 

 

Principal Update 

 

  1. Celebrating attendance at the school. 
    1. We are TOP in the district for this month, across all of the schools! 
    2. Our goal was 96%, we are at 96.14%. 
    3. Cumulatively YTD 1.6 points behind Cheyenne.
  2. Enrollment: Objective is 500; we’re at 471 including pre-K. 
    1. The district will base staffing on enrollment; starting reviews already of projected enrollment. 
    2. Open enrollment started 11/1; we have 16 kindergarteners signed up already and 2 first graders. 
    3. Will take flyers and post on message boards and elsewhere to get the word out. 
    4. Encourage families to sign up for tours (Weds and Fridays, plus custom times if needed). 
    5. Add positive reviews on Niche or GreatSchools. 
  3. Thanksgiving Lunch (11/21) 
    1. No outside food. 
    2. Adding pie to the menu 
    3. Extending eating time to 30 minutes. 
    4. Recess will be extended by grade levels earlier in the day. 
    5. Looking to make improvements on last year’s event with better lunch flow and updated payment options.
    6. Information will go out on 11/8; looking for volunteers to help serve and even possibly do pre-sales. 
    7. Limited to 2 adults; can stay for more than one lunch session if more than one child ($4.50 for guests).

President Update (April Beauboeuf) 

 

 

  1. Ongoing Activity Promotion: Carnival, Butter Braids, etc. 
    1. Photography needs. 
  2. SUSD Expo Opportunity. 11/21. Mandarin will be represented. 
  3. December board meeting date - will be shared with DCES families.
  4. Teacher/Staff Meeting on December 4. PTO board to introduce themselves. 
  5. PTO Open Meeting. 
  6. Parada del Sol. Possible volunteer! Need admin to confirm Ms Tipton’s needs.
  7. Phoenix Suns Family Fun Night. Will issue communication in early December to start purchase sales. 

 

 

Site Council Update (N/A)

 

 

 

Mandarin Rep update (Amie Hegeman)

 

  1. T-shirt winner announcement next week
  2. Working on pin for CNY to give to teachers & sell to the community
  3. CNY 
    1. Mrs. Chen requested facilities
    2. All vendors reserved, and some of the decor ordered from China
    3. 1st grade costumes and crafts being ordered by the Mandarin Team
  4. Mandarin teachers doing craft for the SUSD Expo
  5. Mandarin students invited by Dr. Chan DMHS Mandarin teacher to perform at Phoenix Chinese Week on Feb 2.
  6. Inviting Global Minds to Fall Fest & KRoundup

Treasurer (Kristen Easton)

 

**Expense Reimbursement policy update clarification - Please do not use PTO funds to purchase gift cards for PTO volunteers or school staff. This is viewed to be consistent with cash gifts, which are also disallowed for transparency and tax purposes. 

  1. Current bank balance: $88,800
  2. YTD Actual update: Income ($38,864) - Spending ($33,108) = Net Income ($5,756). 
  3. Nothing concerning in the budget vs. actuals at this point. Revised full year projections based on actuals to be prepared and will provide in Dec or Jan.
  4. Additional breakout of significant spending and income since last month, and expected next month, to be verbally provided during the meeting if time permits. 
  5. Room Parent financials - any loose ends we need to tie off with Gretchen?

 

Secretary / Fall Festival Chair (Paige Miller) 

 

  1. Dropped off flyers at New Covenant and CASY.
  2. 15 games, two bouncy houses, obstacle course. 
  3. 40 volunteers coming to help (NJHS). 
  4. Dress code is cowboy. 
  5. Raffle prizes = puttshack, top golf, bearizona, KTR, Vegas, Grimaldi’s, Kendra Scott, Giordana, Octane Raceway, Pilates, Cooper’s Hawk, Gorjana, etc etc. 

 

Teacher Reps (Melissa Caramucci/Jamie McCrensky)

 

  1. How do we share the weekly PTO email with teachers?
    1. There is a Faculty Communication list included on each weekly newsletter that has 15 subscribers. Stephanie to forward to Mrs Caramucci and she can share out. 
  2. Picture Day! Please remind all teachers to get their pictures on the 12th if not already taken.

 

VP of Events (Whitney Graving)

 

  1. Amazing Race - Website not updated with student and teacher names. Craig committed to update by when?
  2. Butter Braids Fundraiser
    1. Need to find another time slot b/c that is an early release day 
    1. Great posts from Comms to spread the word. Let’s keep it going! 
    2. 41 Butter Braids sold thus far. If we sell 471, we hit our fundraising goal. 
    3. Orders close Nov 18th; delivery on December 4th at 145pm
    4. 3 frozen pastries to hand out samples on Tuesday the 12th. 

 

VP of Technology (Craig Doss)

 

  1. ETA to get student/parent lists updated in membership toolkit. 
  2. Weird glitch asking to update information. 
  3. Can we move the carnival SKUs to the top instead of under Robotics section?

 

VP of Special Projects/ Campus Improvements (Samantha Oliver)

 

  1. Looking for the key to the old sign in back. Mrs Mills to check with Shelley for the key.
  2. Follow up with Emily Niesz for Scholastic funds to use to purchase book vending machine refill. 
    1. Motion to vote: vote passed unanimously to support book vending refill w/Scholastic dollars, not to exceed 2500 dollars in cost. 

 

VP of Hospitality (Blair Geczi, Kimberly Lyons)

 

  1. Update: Thanksgiving pies
  2. Veterans Day performance on Friday, Nov 8th. Hospitality has arranged for a refreshment table. 
  3. May order a cake for Officer Pera. National SRO day is Feb. 15th. 

 

VP of Communications (Stephanie, Casey)

 

  1. Reminder: Share info you’d like included in the newsletter by EOD Monday to appear in Wednesday’s newsletter. Send to info@dcespto.org 
  2. Social (Instagram + Facebook) can be shared any day for posting. 
  3. Upcoming Newsletters:
  • 11/11: Dedicated Carnival email
  • 11/13: Promoting Carnival + Butter Braids
  • 11/20: Carnival recap, Turkey Trot, Pies for Teachers, Happy Thanksgiving, Holiday Shop preview
  • 11/27 (no newsletter)
  • 12/4: Holiday Shop, Teacher Gift Baskets, Sweet Republic, Suns Game tickets
  • 12/11: Holiday Shop + Teacher Gift Baskets, Suns game tickets
  • 12/18: Winter Break; Save the date for CNY, Tease Chili Cook-off

 

VP of Fundraising (Nicole Carey) 

 

  1. iCode family fun night coming up on November 8th. 
  2. Sweet Republic on Dec. 7th
  3. 16 sponsors for the year! Following up now on maintaining sponsor advertising. New banner out front. 
  4. Personalized Banner for Rebecca Blank (already installed)
    1. Size: 72X36
    2. Cost: $141 (for 2 banners)
  5. “Thank You” Banner Design for all sponsors (already installed)
    1. Cost: $90 (48x24)  to $141 (72x36) for 2 - remaining budget $243
    2. Size: 96X48
    3. Cost: $216 (for 2 banners)
  6. Should we get a smaller “Thank You” banner for the front of the school? What about one for events? Something that is visible for the Kinder and 1st grade parents who park at the library? 

 

Year/Level

20-21

21-22

22-23

23-24

24-25

Total

Bronze

3

2

3

6

7

14

Silver

2

5

3

2

2

12

Gold

4

4

3

4

6

15

Platinum

0

1

0

1

1

2

Diamond

1

0

0

0

0

1

Total

10

12

9

13

16

  
             

Year/Level

20-21

21-22

22-23

23-24

24-25

Total

Bronze

$900

$600

$1,050

$1,750

$2,680

$4,300

Silver

$500

$2,000

$1,650

$1,100

$1,188

$5,250

Gold

$2,800

$3,000

$2,400

$2,950

$4,793

$11,150

Platinum

$0

$1,250

$0

$1,500

$1,553

$2,750

Diamond

$2,000

$0

$0

$0

$0

$2,000

Total

$6,200

$6,850

$5,100

$7,300

$10,213

  





Read More

PTO Meeting Minutes - 9/12/24

9/22/2024 1:13 pm

DCES PTO BOARD MEETING MINUTES 

September 12, 2024

 

Present:

April Beauboeuf,  President

Paige Miller, Secretary

Kristen Easton, Treasurer

Nicole Carey, VP of Fundraising

Stephanie Sedlak, VP Communications

Samantha Oliver, VP Campus Improvements

Blair Geczi, VP of Hospitality

Kimberly Lyons, VP of Hospitality

Whitney Graving, VP of Events

Melissa Caramucci, Teacher representative

Erin Scagnelli, Vice Principal

Amie Hegeman, Mandarin representative 

 

Absent:

Casey Magargle

Craig Doss

Jamie McCrensky

Kortney Hohle, site council representative



Principal Update 

Mrs. Mills & Mrs. Scagnelli

  • Coffee with the principal: September 25th, plus special guests from the district (incl Josh Friedman, Officer Ron (school security) and Officer Pera (our SRO). RSVPs open until Wednesday. 
  • High Heat Guidelines - have now transitioned away from high heat guidelines but there are accommodations for any children who need them. Guidelines are based on heat index for the day; if planned to be above 104, then the kids come/stay inside. 
  • Be Kind - awaiting an invoice for payment from PTO. Negotiated with the vendor to reduce costs for the program this year. 
  • Book Vending Machine: not been promoted yet to students. Teachers will do drawings at end of quarter using Cub Coupon jar, to draw student names and give tokens to kids. 



President Update

April Beauboeuf 

  1. Calendar of events for next 2 months
    1. Follow up on Veterans Day and Holiday Table. Also, what do we need for First Responder Day (volunteers, snacks) w/Hospitality team and admin. 
  2. Phoenix Suns Family Fun Night update: section 211, 212 (40+(9), 50 dollars each for game on April 11 vs the Spurs (last home game) w/option (no cost) to see pre-game player warm up (not an autograph or picture session). Jan 11 game vs the Jazz, matinee at 3pm, 58 dollar seats section 221. We have option to add an uplift as a fundraiser….or sell the tickets at flat rate. Decided we should add the small ticket uplift (5-10 dollars). 
  3. Run Club Update. Mrs Ricciuto wants to sponsor with another teacher; kickoff in mid/late October. More details to follow. 
  4. Holiday shop: dates and location, use early release day to shop with parents - advice is to push to 2nd week of December (Dec 9). Hanukkah starts December 26th.
  5. Art Masterpieces: grades 3-5, thoughts? Upper classes typically not supporting given instructional needs. At the discretion of the teacher and dependent on any volunteers but not a priority. 
  6. Additional car lane signs - decided against offering.
  7. PTO Happy Hour happening on the 19th of September. Had a great time, will do one each quarter.
  8. 5th grade party - return of the bricks discussed. No conclusive decision on their return. Parent one-off donation requested to be allocated to 5th grade party budget; email vote shared with the board who voted by a majority vote to allocate the donated funds to the 5th grade party budget. 
  9. Book Fair and Pastries with Parents. Requested guidelines from Mrs Mills for the pastries shopping event and confirmation of MPR for use during the Book Fair. 

 

Site Council Update

UpdatesTBC (Kortney) - note, site council will hold its first meeting on the 26th of September.



Mandarin Rep update

Amie Hegeman

  • T-shirt contest; submissions coming from students by end of September through the Mandarin classes (will vote in early October). Parent volunteer will turn it into a design for the shirt.
  • Moon Festival - new event this year. Pictures will be taken and should be great to use on social media.
  • Robotics. Kick off with the club week of 9/2. Plan to start next year’s season in the spring of 2025, to be further prepared for the competition and requirements. All donations and dues collected need to be voted on for usage/expenses paid by PTO as we are collecting the funds. Request to vote on 600 dollars to support the club with an additional robot (600 fundraising/600 spent). PTO Board passed unanimously. Team is also working on grant funding. Ask is to take pictures of subsequent club meetings. 
  • 6th grade Mandarin teacher resigned (DCMS) on 9/11. Coffee with the DCMS principal may help to answer any questions. 
  • Sister Cities exchange program visit to China. Amie to provide contact information of the organization as needed to advertise. Informational meeting held on 9/11. 

 

Treasurer

Kristen Easton

  • YTD we have raised income of 23,800 (biggest contributions being sponsorship and yearbook and spirit wear). Expenses so far are 18,000 - net income of 5700. Paid invoice for AR and AIT; stipend reimbursements have also kicked off (2k). Expenses incurred which haven’t yet arrived, including Be Kind Invoice. Bank Balance is 88k but expect it to drop. 

 

Secretary 

Paige Miller 

  • Fall Festival Update - November 16th, 4pm-7pm. Wild West theme (country western). How much to charge for families to come in - aligned to a flat family fee, with extra tickets for booths. Pie the Principal (???)  petting zoo, etc. Ideas on panning for gold station. Live music too. Angie Sellman donating haystacks for hay ride. Invites extended to other schools/post at CASY also and La Petite. Get some flyers made to advertise. Getting donated prizes/gift cards for raffle and auction.  Mrs Caramucci has a BBQ and hamburger food truck (Batchelor Pad in Fountain Hills) connection. Desert Mountain IB can help with clean up, and DM NHS volunteers also need hours. Need to source two security from the district, as well as custodial staff. 

 

Teacher Reps

Melissa Caramucci/Jamie McCrensky

  • PTO president will reach out to Mrs McCrensky on the 5th grade party budget. Look into using classroom collections in the 5th grade for next year to fund any budget deficits for party needs (t-shirts) and reinforce fundraising concept.

 

VP of Events

Whitney Graving

  1. Amazing Race 2025 - Nicole, Emily, Amanda and Whitney 
    1. Theme: Sports
    2. Need Approval on Dates: Timeline “Kickoff” on 2/7/25. Last donations collected on: 3/7/25
    3. Amazing Race to be held on: Thursday, March 6th, 2025  (Please verify NO field trips happening on this day). 
    4. Website: Craig- Please update teacher name list on website by end of Sept. 2024. I’ll email teacher names and grade levels. Thanks! 

 

VP of Special Projects/ Campus Improvements

Samantha Oliver

  • Basketball purchases! All playground equipment that has been ordered has now been delivered. Field is closed for three weeks due to seeding. Trying hard to teach responsibility to students. Maybe color coding or a check out system to further enforce responsibility. The little children are better at taking care of the equipment than the older children. Can we do a gently used equipment fundraiser? No parents have submitted suggestions to Campus Improvements per our ask…. Perhaps do an Amazon Wish List as part of back to school July wishlist. 
  • High heat rooms are discontinued; one is now an ELL classroom and the other one sits in the middle school and is too time consuming to access given the walk required to get there. 
  • Consider ordering equipment that’s slightly more robust. Ask Coach R for guidance on where/how she orders equipment. 
  • Broken sign near North Gate - tabled until next meeting. Samantha to look at removing entirely or re-doing it. Could a vinyl banner be installed over it instead? 
  • School year calendar magnets. Samantha investigating options with Brandables. 

 

VP of Hospitality

Blair, Kimberly

  • 25 families have signed up for teacher treats. Creating more community awareness of who is donating. Need to coordinate with admin for First Responder Day Needs.

 

VP of Communications

Stephanie, Casey

  • Parent Survey Results
  • FB posts - managing posting and approvals
  • Updated website (membership toolkit). Super easy to update the front page with flyers/useful information. If committee VPs want to use that space to “advertise” please reach out to Stephanie.
  • Request for open PTO meetings (will get on the calendar). Room to improve on alerting parents to key events and spacing out those events. Opportunity to work more closely with Gretchen and room parents to further communicate. Ask teachers to put in family newsletters. 
  • Using SUSD print shop. Quarterly invoicing, comes out of printing budget. FYI, Staples does printing donations (between 9-11, with manager onsite).
  • Reason why families haven’t attended events has been scheduling conflicts or were not aware. 
  • Request for parent night/auction night again. Fundraisers: most popular are book fair, AR, holiday shop. Families feel like the number of fundraisers is about right. Opportunity to spread the events throughout the year. 

 

VP of Fundraising

Nicole Carey 

  • 16 sponsors for the year! Following up now on maintaining sponsor advertising and banners. Re-doing PTO banner also. 

 

Year/Level

20-21

21-22

22-23

23-24

24-25

Total

Bronze

3

2

3

6

7

14

Silver

2

5

3

2

2

12

Gold

4

4

3

4

6

15

Platinum

0

1

0

1

1

2

Diamond

1

0

0

0

0

1

Total

10

12

9

13

16

  
             

Year/Level

20-21

21-22

22-23

23-24

24-25

Total

Bronze

$900

$600

$1,050

$1,750

$2,680

$4,300

Silver

$500

$2,000

$1,650

$1,100

$1,188

$5,250

Gold

$2,800

$3,000

$2,400

$2,950

$4,793

$11,150

Platinum

$0

$1,250

$0

$1,500

$1,553

$2,750

Diamond

$2,000

$0

$0

$0

$0

$2,000

Total

$6,200

$6,850

$5,100

$7,300

$10,213

  

 

Personalized Banner for Rebecca Blank (already installed)

Size: 72X36

Cost: $141 (for 2 banners)

Potential “Thank You” Banner Design for all sponsors

Size: 96X48

Cost: $216 (for 2 banners)

 

Budgeted: $600

Spent: $357

Remaining: $243

 

Family Fun Nights: September 18, Lou Malnati’s! Tell your friends! 

  • Invoice for flyers for Family Fun night, when do we get the invoice from the district? I’ve done two runs so far and I’m curious how much it’s taking out of our $700 printing budget. Invoice is made quarterly. Usually not very expensive but we should verify estimates with Oliver at SUSD if there is a concern. 

 

VP of Technology

Craig Doss - absent

 

Read More

PTO Meeting Minutes - 10/1/24

9/22/2024 1:13 pm

DCES PTO BOARD MEETING MINUTES 

October 1, 2024

 

Present:

April Beauboeuf,  President

Paige Miller, Secretary

Kristen Easton, Treasurer

Nicole Carey, VP of Fundraising

Stephanie Sedlak, VP Communications

Samantha Oliver, VP Campus Improvements

Blair Geczi, VP of Hospitality

Kimberly Lyons, VP of Hospitality

Whitney Graving, VP of Events

Melissa Caramucci, Teacher representative

Jamie McCrensky, Teacher representative

Erin Scagnelli, Vice Principal

Amie Hegeman, Mandarin representative 

Kortney Hohle, site council representative

Craig Doss, VP Technology

 

Absent:

Kim Mills, Principal

 

 

Principal Update 

Mrs. Scagnelli

  • DCES shout out for great attendance at principals meeting - 96% and holding for this year. 
  • Stomach bug going around. 
  • Invited parents advised to turn up early to sign in for ROAR assembly and bring their ID.

 

President Update

April Beauboeuf 

  1. Parada del Sol. Need volunteers to support StuGo. Asked admin to connect with Ms. Tipton further on what she needs or wants regarding help. 
  2. Birthday Book Club. 1st one scheduled for October 18. Reminder to parents sent out to sign up!
  3. Yearbook price increase + dedications. Reminders sent. 
  4. Parking Auction Signs. Need to move signs to align with parking spaces. Whitney to connect with school maintenance. 
  5. Phoenix Suns Family Fun Night. Waiting on flyer; link to purchase tix is live. 
  6. Book Fair. Volunteers needed to assist with cashier and set up/tear down.
  7. Room Parent Class Collections. Big difference between grade level collections. We need to further understand the gaps.

 

Site Council Update

Kortney Hohle

  • Shared an update from site council meeting on Sept 26th.
  • Teacher Reps (Robinson, Busch, Coach R, Wilson)
  • Parent at Large rep is still needed.
  • Reviewed bylaws and roles/responsibilities. 
  • Will meet quarterly (Nov, Feb, April).
  • $55k tax credit balance.
  • 3 clubs requesting stipends: Robotics (1500), Run Club (grades 1&2 1-mile fun run, Ms Ricciuto), Girls on the Run (Ms Kar, Mrs Loiacono, grades 3-5 girls plus parent dues, working towards 5k run). Increased the amount of field trip funds to 1500 per grade level. 



Mandarin Rep update

Amie Hegeman

  • CNY T-Shirt Design Contest
    • Wrapping up this week. Judging will begin when we return from break. Mrs. Sparks & Mrs. Chen will narrow down the finalists and then teachers/staff will vote in the teacher breakroom. Will need an email to go out to ask teachers/staff to vote.
    • On track for plenty of time for pre-orders.
    • Discussion about staff/gifting t-shirts ~$500. Preference to invest in children’s costumes that can be reused year over year. What about doing a simple DCES Mandarin CNY shirt for staff? Could be re-used by teachers also. Or what about having stock on-hand in the PTO closet for teachers to re-use each year? What about annual collectibles? Pens or patches to distribute. 
      • Amie to investigate options and decide in function of feedback. 
  • CNY Prep
    • Lion Dancers/Bonzai Boyz/Tea Snow are all reserved. 
    • Mrs. Chen requesting facilities early - in November
    • Starting to look at decorations for the campus in January & Event. Focusing on - Entrance gate to campus, office, North Gate/Garden area, Drive up area in back.
    • Would like to use sign in front of BBall court to put up a banner in Jan/Feb
    • Discuss additional class costumes for an additional grade (K or 1st). ~$500
  • Robotics 
    • Kiddos voted on the name “The Hamburgers” 
    • We are moving to the MS to have a permanent place to stay set up there.
    • Tshirt design shared

 

Treasurer

Kristen Easton

  • Current Bank Balance: $91,190 
  • Significant funding and spending activity since our last meeting: 
    • Funding - Rally up parking space auction ($4,647); Robotics dues/donation collections ($420);  PTO Store sales (primarily driven by yearbook sales of $800, only small amounts for spiritwear/bday book club, etc. - As a reminder we collect yearbook money up front but will pay the majority of costs in May 2025 upon delivery)
    • Spending - Teacher/Specials funding allocation (~$900); birthday book club spending (~$1,400),  purchase of playground equipment (~$500) 
  • Upcoming spending for October: Be Kind invoice ($6,950), September hospitality reimbursements, Athletes in Training September invoice, Fall Festival Expenses, etc  
  Income Spending Net Income (Loss)
Budget $116,850 $(142,910) $(26,060)
YTD Actuals $30,299 $(21,653) $8,646
  • **Expense Reimbursement policy update clarification - Please do not use PTO funds to purchase gift cards for PTO volunteers or school staff. This is viewed to be consistent with cash gifts, which are also disallowed for transparency and tax purposes. 

Secretary / Fall Festival Chair

Paige Miller 

  • Fall Festival Update - November 16th, 4pm-7pm. Wild West theme (country western). Pricing per family. Feedback shared on price to charge per family. More to come - a lot needed to get ready for the event!

 

Teacher Reps

Melissa Caramucci/Jamie McCrensky

  • No agenda items

 

VP of Events

Whitney Graving

  • Butter Braids Fundraiser- Pre-Register (need parents/guardians email to upload) or Self-Register (families register themselves - like last year). 
    • BB Fundraiser Starts: 11/4      Fundraiser End date: 11/18        
    • BB Delivery Date: 12/4 at 1:45pm - Going to make a SignUp Genius to help pass out Butter Braids
    • Paper flyers to be sent home with students on Friday, November 1st. 
  • Amazing Race - Website not updated with student and teacher names. Craig committed to update by EOW, October 4.

 

VP of Special Projects/ Campus Improvements

Samantha Oliver

  • District has requested to remove sign in front of the bball area. Not clear when they will actually take it down though. What about the old marquee out back? Or using the sign out front to advertise events? Marquee letters are sitting in the PTO closet. Samantha to investigate. 

 

VP of Hospitality

Blair Geczi, Kimberly Lyons

  • Parent teacher conference meals using individual packaging (order for larger quantities given timing). What is the setup time and the running time of the event? Dinner should be set up by 330. 
  • 1st responder day: pop up tent and tables, sign up for parents to sign up to bring items. Have ice chests with cold water and packaged snacks. No need to decorate per se. Make a facilities request through (Shelley) for tables. 20-30 pax. 
  • What is the setup time and the running time of the event? Who is in charge of layout? Event starts early in the morning, so need everything set up for 1st Responder event at 8am. 90 min event. 
  • What about a cake for Officer Pera? Seems like he may be retiring at the end of this year. National SRO day is Feb 15th (Saturday). 

 

VP of Communications

Stephanie, Casey

  • No agenda items

 

VP of Fundraising

Nicole Carey 

  • 16 sponsors for the year! Following up now on maintaining sponsor advertising and banners. New banner out front. Still waiting on Lou Malnati’s family fun night.

Year/Level

20-21

21-22

22-23

23-24

24-25

Total

Bronze

3

2

3

6

7

14

Silver

2

5

3

2

2

12

Gold

4

4

3

4

6

15

Platinum

0

1

0

1

1

2

Diamond

1

0

0

0

0

1

Total

10

12

9

13

16

  
             

Year/Level

20-21

21-22

22-23

23-24

24-25

Total

Bronze

$900

$600

$1,050

$1,750

$2,680

$4,300

Silver

$500

$2,000

$1,650

$1,100

$1,188

$5,250

Gold

$2,800

$3,000

$2,400

$2,950

$4,793

$11,150

Platinum

$0

$1,250

$0

$1,500

$1,553

$2,750

Diamond

$2,000

$0

$0

$0

$0

$2,000

Total

$6,200

$6,850

$5,100

$7,300

$10,213

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personalized Banner for Rebecca Blank (already installed)

Size: 72X36

Cost: $141 (for 2 banners)

 

Potential “Thank You” Banner Design for all sponsors

Size: 96X48

Cost: $216 (for 2 banners)

 

Budgeted: $600

Spent: $357

Remaining: $243

 

Should we get a smaller “Thank You” banner for the front of the school? What about one for events? Something that is visible for the Kinder and 1st grade parents who park at the library? Cost: $90 (48x24) to $141 (72x36) for 2 - remaining budget $243

 

VP of Technology

Craig Doss 

  • ETA to get student/parent lists updated in membership toolkit - by EOW Oct. 4
  • FB link is broken on MTK. Comms (Stephanie) to fix

 

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PTO Meeting Minutes - 8/8/24

9/7/2024 11:22 am

PTO Meeting Agenda Minutes – 8/8/24

 

  1. Principal Update: had a great first week!
    1. Enrollment is looking really good – 81 kindergarteners. 43 are Mandarin! 1st time more in Mandarin than in English class. Able to return all of our teachers this year as well.
    2. Curriculum night on August 20th, primary from 4-45, 3-5th from 515 to 6pm. Children are
      welcome but may not be the best forum for them; cannot use the playground unsupervised.
    3. DCES STEM/Robotics teams – hoping to capitalize on a grant from ASU. Open to grades 3 through 5. Mrs
      Mendelson is applying for the grant along with Mrs Wilson. Will be labelled as a school club. Site
      council likely to pay for teacher stipend time. Open question on paying for additional robot cost
      (approx. 400 dollars); could come before PTO for vote.
    4. Communication sent to parents about the ball court and using it for high heat days. Gates are on the court due to the fire code; involves safety training for students and staff as kids could push the door and walk out. Cameras also supposed to be installed along with an alarm on the gates; Mrs Mills is following up with the district on these
      points.
  2. Celebrations
  3. Calendar of Events for Q1 of the school year (10 mins)
    1. PTO Happy Hour
    2. Open PTO meetings
    3. Need to close out on school events (make sure calendars align).
  4. Fundraiser with the Phoenix Suns/Phoenix Mercury - will require a vote from the board (10 mins). Vote passed unanimously to try as a family fun night.
  5. Budget votes (AR/STAR reading)
    1. AR/STAR reading: 35 dollar increase (passed unanimously). Keep in mind that the 1k discount for this year will not be applicable next year; hoping to use district Fastbridge or other assessment tools for next year to reduce costs.
    2. Be Kind program. Need to increase the budget by 450 dollars to cover the differential in the invoice. Passed unanimously.
  6. Secretary role vote. Vote passed for Paige Miller Blum to serve as PTO secretary.
  7. Committee & VP Budgets (5 mins).
    1. Treasurer has a volunteer (Lee Lander) to help with teacher reimbursements/stipends.
    2. Treasurer to share budget guidance with committee leads associated with specific budget line items (i.e. 5th grade party, Chinese New Year).
    3. Events: parking auction update. Made 5100 dollars on the auction, PTO will earn 4600 dollars after fees.
    4. Communications. Parent Survey feedback: people love our comms channels. Email preferred form of communication. Back to School Bash (dance) got a lot of positive feedback as well.
      1. Remember to send bio and photo to Stephanie. Deadline is Monday evening for going out in the Wednesday newsletter.
    5. Hospitality. Teacher Treat sign up will get up and running shortly. Decorating of teacher workroom for snack delivery. Will get feedback from Mrs Caramucci on preferences. Need list of featured restaurants who have donated to us before; team will follow up with Casey and Melanie.
    6. IT Support. Working on emails and updating the web home page.
    7. Teachers: ink toner needed for the color printer. We have blue and magenta and yellow in stock; black will be ordered by VP of campus improvements and yellow has been delivered. Does not come out of CI budget.
    8. Sponsorship. Raised 7053 dollars in in paid sponsorship YTD. Going to advertise through FB and newsletter which drove new sponsors also. All sponsorship suggestions are welcome! Will do new banner and update.
  8. Updates from all VPs (15 mins) – include Comms Survey update.
  9. Mandarin Update. T-shirt designs as CNY falls in late January. Moon Festival coming up in class; Sister Cities opportunity to travel to China with students.
  10. Teacher Updates. Playground equipment. Mrs Caramucci to follow up with Treasurer and VP of Campus Improvements to order.
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PTO Meeting Minutes - 6/4/24

6/5/2024 11:22 am

DCES PTO

BOARD MEETING MINUTES

 

Date:

Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Time:

3:00 PM
Location:

DCES Main Office and via Zoom

 
Attendance:

April Beauboeuf, Board Co-President

Kristen Easton, VP Treasurer/Finance

Adam Cusimano, Board Secretary

Nicole Carey, VP Sponsorships

Stephanie Sedlak, VP Communications

Casey Magargle, VP Communications

Blair Geczi, VP of Hospitality

Kimberly Lyons, VP of Hospitality

Melissa Caramucci, Teacher representative

Jamie McCrensky, Teacher Representative 

Erin Scagnelli, Vice Principal

Kortney Hohle, site council representative

Amie Hegeman, Mandarin representative

Samatha Oliver, VP Campus Improvements

Kimberly Mills, Principal
Absent:

 

Craig Doss, VP Technology

Whitney Graving, VP Events

 

 

Call to Order 

  • The open board meeting was called to order at 3:01 p.m. by President April Beauboeuf.

Principal Updates

  • Working on parent incentive with a tax credit. Plan to add date for fundraiser
  • Enrollment is currently going through the district office. A digital flyer will be shared
  • Currently transitioning to a new website platform
  • New kinder teacher, Melissa Caramucci, announced
  • All teachers fully staffed

President Updates

  • Setting plans to auction parking spaces
  • Focus on the paw partnership for the coming year
  • Discussion about increasing the teacher treats for the upcoming year
  • Memorial bench has been ordered and will be installed in August.

Treasurer Updates

  • Roughly $80k in the bank to start 2024-2025 schoolyear with only a few pending reimbursements and expenses to process.
  • 2023-2024 schoolyear brought in $107k while spending $137k
  • Budget draft for 2024-2025 was reviewed line by line with highlights. Some numbers can still be adjusted to offset eachother including lowering the book fair expense and increasing the movie night expense.
  • April made a motion to accept the 2024-2025 budget pending those changes. Adam seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed.

Next Meeting/Adjournment 

 

  • With no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting date will be August 8, 2024.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Adam Cusimano – Board Secretary

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