Skyridge PTC Meeting Minutes 2009/2010

Skyridge PTC holds meetings on the 2nd Tuesday of each month (see Calendar), from 1:05pm to 2:05pm, in Room 1.  We welcome all parents to attend, and we provide childcare free of charge for school-age children.  The minutes from each meeting will be posted here so that you can keep in touch with PTC happenings even if you can't attend the meeting!

 

Skyridge PTC Meeting Minutes, May 11, 2010

  • Secretary's Report - Minutes from the April 13th meeting were read.
  • Treasurer's Report - Budget
    • Lynda Haupt reported that the General Fund is at $33,215 with approximately $4,000 in expenses yet to be paid out for the year. Included in that $4,000 is the last of the large invoices to be paid, which is the yearbook invoice. The computer lab is currently running at a balance of $8,838 which will help finish out this year and roll over a little bit into next year. The General Fund balance is in good shape and will start us out with a good cushion for next year even with big expenses at the first of the school year.
  • Old Business
    • Staff Appreciation
      • Cathy Jones, Staff Appreciation Chair, thanked everyone who helped out at the week-long event. She gave a run-down of what occurred during the event and stated that it went well. Cathy also stated that due to many donations, financially and otherwise by parents, we came in under budget by about $100.
    • Book Fair
      • Chris Keister noted that the April Book Fair went really well. It is the BOGO (Buy One Get One Free) event and although we didn't necessarily make a profit off of the sales, we did earn a lot in Scholastic Dollars. These Scholastic Dollars help 'purchase' books for the library and the nurse's office and that was extremely successful this year.
    • Auction
      • Just a reminder that the Viva Skyridge Fiesta and Auction is coming up. Volunteers and donations are still needed for the both the silent and live auctions. Ticket sales are low so we still need to get the word out about the event. Proceeds from the auction help pay for the library and computer lab. It is our biggest and most necessary expense.
    • Other
      • Chris Keister used most of the meeting time to discuss the results of the PTC survey that went out to all of the parents. The results, based on a weighted average, are as follows:
        • PTC Survey (Top 3 and Bottom 3 Only)
          • 4.83 Computer Lab/Library
          • 4.46 Classroom Allotment
          • 3.90 Field Trips
          • .
          • .
          • .
          • 3.06 Life Lab
          • 2.91 Trekkers
          • 2.77 Olympics
      • The top three categories were considered essential and a 'must keep'. A discussion was opened up amongst the attendees on how to keep our programs and fundraisers going on a reduced budget. Lynda Haupt and Chris wanted to reassure everyone that programs won't be cut but adjustments must be made to the current system. As an example, the Passport to Fun program has a budget of $1,200. The prizes and certificates are free because they are donated but the expense is in the making of the passport folder and the top prizes of medals, limo ride and pizza party. Chris suggested that the program become an opt-in program where only those kids who want to participate receive a passport folder. This would save money.  Also, it was suggested that the medals be replaced with certificates.
      • Renee Christensen pointed out that although fundraising is important, parent volunteer and participation is just as crucial if not more. Without help the programs and fundraisers won't work. Case in point, the Jog-A-Thon. It was a big disappointment due to the lack of a chair to help run and get it off the ground. The PTC always welcomes new ideas and ways to improve the PTC programs. It's important to always be on top of things instead of waiting to change when a crisis point is reached.
      • Questions were raised as to why the library is only opened once a week. Due to budget cuts, the school district does not fund the computer lab or library.  The Auburn Education Foundation pays for the librarian once a week (the PTC contributes $500 toward the librarian). The PTC pays to staff the computer lab, and that person also helps in the library.  The question then came up as to why the school doesn't do the same with a P.E. teacher for the K-3 grades or a music and arts teacher(s). Courtney Loveday suggested, for next year, that each parent chip in a certain amount to help staff these positions. It would mirror a program currently be used in the Loomis School District to staff certain positions that have been cut. She also suggested tapping local businesses to help out with program funding.
      • The PTC Board will be holding planning meetings for next year to discuss the budget and make decisions on current programs and fundraisers. Also, the new 1:10 meeting time was put to a vote and we had a split decision. This topic will also be discussed for next year.
    • New Business
      • Executive Board Open Positions 2010-2011
        • Chris Keister announced that there will be vacancies on the Board next year. If anyone is willing to take on a position or knows of anyone who might be interested, please contact Chris or anyone else on the board.
      • Election of 2010-2011 Executive Board
        • President - Chris Keister
        • Vice President - Renee Christensen
        • Vice President - Courtney Loveday
        • Treasurer - Lecile Eklund
        • Chris, Renee, Courtney and Lecile stepped out of the room in order for the vote to be discussed among the meeting attendees. The Executive Board was voted in at 2:10.
    • Recognition
      • Chris Keister thanked Cathy Jones, Juli Houston and Lynda Haupt for doing in exemplary job for the board over the past few years. She was especially thankful to Lynda for being her right-hand 'man'. This was their last meeting as PTC board members and they were presented with a gift and Certificate of Appreciation. They will be missed.
      • Chris also thanked those in attendance today. It was the most we have had at a PTC meeting all year.
    • Meeting Adjourned

     

  • Skyridge PTC Meeting Minutes, April 13, 2010

    • Secretary's Report - Minutes from the March 9th meeting were read.
    • Treasurer's Report - Budget
      • Lynda Haupt reported that the General Fund is at $37,968 with approximately $8,000 in expenses yet to be paid out for the year. That should be good to get us into next year even after the first of the year expenses are paid. The computer lab is currently running at a balance of $12,864 which will help finish out this year.
    • Old Business
      • Staff Appreciation
        • Cathy Jones, Staff Appreciation chair, noted that everything was coming together. She is still in need of a few more volunteers, possibly more supply donations and a few more lasagnas and salad for Friday's luncheon. Specifics of Staff Appreciation are as follows:
          • Dates: Monday April 19th - Friday April 23rd
          • Friday (March 16th): Clean up staff room and supply room starting at 2pm.
          • Monday: Breakfast theme headed up by Laura Moore. Start time will be at 7:15 with clean up at 10:30. There will be plenty of baked goods, breads, bagels, yogurt and juice as well as table decor and flowers (all of which were mostly donated).
          • Tuesday: Headed by Lesley Rogers, 'Forget-Me-Not' seed packets along with a nice card will be placed in the staff cubbies.
          • Wednesday: Supply Day. The teachers will receive a basket of supplies including paper, pencils, dry erase pens, post-it notes, and pens just to name a few.
          • Thursday: Headed up by Liz Koch, the theme will be chocolate. Bags of Hershey kisses and a note will also be placed in the staff cubbies.
          • Friday: An Italian luncheon will be served from 11 - 1pm. It will include lasagna (8 kinds), salad, bread and dessert.
        • She also noted that she may need runners to bring food to those staff members who couldn't get away (i.e. kitchen, office, etc.).
      • Book Fair
        • Ann Keen, Book Fair Chair, stressed heavily that she needs volunteers to help out with wish lists, the registers and general 'security'. This is our third and final book fair of the year and it's a big one because it is the Buy One Get One (BOGO) free event and it is always a big hit.
      • Auction
        • Just a reminder that the Viva Skyridge Fiesta and Auction is coming up. Donations and volunteers are greatly needed in all areas including the silent auction portion with Jen Cutter and ticket/raffle sales. As far as ticket sales go, people attending the auction can buy individual tickets, buy a table or get a corporate sponsorship.
        • Each class has created a basket of 'goodies' to be raffled off at the event. Some of the teachers including Mrs. Chandler may be offering up themselves as a prize. The idea is that a group of kids could spend the day with a teacher that may not necessarily be their own. Ideas for those days include: Lego day, arts and crafts day, pizza party, movie, babysitting etc.
      • Assembly
        • Chris Keister mentioned that Wild Things, a popular animal presentation, did not show up for the last assembly and it is now too late to fill that time slot. There are no more assemblies scheduled for the rest of the current school year.
    • New Business
      • Executive Board Open Positions 2010-2011
        • Chris Keister announced that there will be vacancies on the Board next year. If anyone is willing to take on a position or knows of anyone who might be interested, please contact Chris or anyone else on the board.
      • Chair Open Positions
        • Chris Keister announced that there will also be vacancies for chairs next year. If anyone is willing to take on a position or knows of anyone who might be interested, please contact Chris or anyone else on the board.
      • Meeting Time Next Year
        • The discussion continued on whether or not to change the PTC meeting time next year in order to get more parents to attend. Holding PTC meetings at night on a regular basis was ruled out, however, there may be nightly informational meetings but only 2-3 times during the school year. The purpose would be to give an general review of what the PTC has been doing, note what will be happening in the future and answer any questions or concerns the parents might have regarding the PTC.
        • The other option is to hold the meetings between kindergarten pick-up (12:55) and Elementary pick-up (2:10). This time may be more convenient for kindergarten parents who cannot come back at the 2:20 time and fills the time gap for those parents who pick up children at both times.
        • A PTC survey put together by Lynda Haupt will be coming out soon and the question of the PTC start time will be on the survey for parents to give their input.
      • Other
        • There were a two fundraising suggestions to consider for next year:
          • Chris Keister suggested selling Butter Bread. It was a fundraiser last school year and was a big hit and worth giving a try.
          • Mrs. Casler suggested getting Brad Kearns involved in creating a fun run to help raise money. This could be a 5k or a 10k and include an entry fee and be open to anyone. This could be a part of the jog-a-thon or be run separately at another time of the year.
    • Chandler's Chat
      • Star Testing will be held the week of April 26th-30th.
      • Springs pictures will be taken on April 27th.
      • Open House will be Thursday, May 6th from 6:30 to 8:00. The science fair will be held that night as well as a fine arts display and possibly performing arts.
      • Mrs. Chandler threw out a goal of raising $25,000 from the auction. So 'get out there and talk to people'.
      • Mrs. Watkins is bringing in a filming crew from the National Geographic to film and interview children regarding a big science project they put together regarding watershed and other water-related matters. It will be used as a training video for teachers across the country.
      • A new discussion series called Kids on the Block, presented by the Assistance League, will talk about bullying in school and will be presented to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade classes.
    • Staff
      • Mrs. Gruber and Mrs. Casler were attendance and announced that Buddy Sports Day will be held May 28th from 8am-11am. The day was shortened due to weather concerns (it was extremely hot last year) the need for all-day volunteers.
      • They also thanked the PTC for continually helping to fund the computer lab. It's a great asset for the school.
    • Recognition
      • Chris Keister thanked Cathy Jones for filling in and doing a great job with Staff Appreciation Week.
      • Cathy Jones made an announcement that students will be posting poster boards around the school in the following weeks as a morale booster. The signs will recognize the staff and note that 'Skyridge rocks!'.
    • Meeting Adjourned

    Skyridge PTC Meeting Minutes, March 9, 2010

    • Treasurer's Report
      • Due to an illness in the family, Lynda Haupt was not able to attend but did pass on the information that there had been no changes to the budget since the prior meeting.
    • Old Business
      • Staff Appreciation
        • Cathy Jones will be chairing the event this year which will be April 19th - 23rd. She is looking for volunteers to help at different times during that week. Also, supplies, such as paper, pencils, erasers, etc for the teacher's boxes are needed. Cathy will be emailing previous Staff Appreciation Week volunteers as well as those on the general PTC list asking for volunteers and donations. She noted that the budget of $600 for the event is skimpy so we need to get creative. The schedule of events for Staff Appreciation are as follows:
          • Monday- Morning treats such as muffins, coffee, tea, orange juice, etc, and fresh flowers will be set up in the staff room which will also be cleaned by volunteers. Laura volunteers. Laura Moore volunteered to be in charge of this task.
          • ? Lesley Rogers volunteered to put together 'Forget-Me-Not' seed packets with a card to go into the teacher's cubbies.
          • ? Supplies, as mentioned above, will be gathered to give as gifts to each teacher.
          • ? Still looking for a good idea for the fourth day. One suggestion was to give out the 'gift of chocolate' as the theme for the day - other suggestions are welcomed.
          • Friday- Italian Luncheon. Eight total lasagnas (meat and/or vegetarian) will be needed. Laura Moore and Juli Houston offered to each bring in a lasagna.
          • Liz Koch also offered to be in charge of one of the days as well.
      • Auction
        • Julie Houston, Auction chair shared new details about the event due to the fact that several things have changed. Specifics of the event are as follows:
          • The theme has changed from Medieval Nights to Viva Skyridge a fun Mexican theme with decorations by Hillary Grenier.
          • Cafe Delicias will be the caterer and will be running the kitchen. The food will be served family style with large platters. Sangria will be served instead of selling bottles of wine.
          • The night will start with hors d'oeuvres and the silent auction with the dessert auction and then the live auction to follow. The dessert auction entails each table bidding on the desserts that night by putting bids into a large glass bowl located on each table. The largest pot will win and in case of a tie it will come down to the highest bidder (table). The live auction will begin after the dessert auction and will be run by Rob Haswell.
          • Jen Cutter is still looking for help with the inventory and payment processing before, during and possibly after the silent auction.
          • The 'Hat Ladies' are still looking for volunteers to help sell drink tickets during the event.
          • Donations are still needed and appreciated.
          • The whole event should end by 10:30pm.
      • Yearbook
        • Liz Koch stated that the yearbook is pretty much done and will be ready to go after the Variety Show.
      • Nighttime PTC Meeting
        • A suggestion from one of the parents at the school was to switch the PTC meetings from the afternoons to night time. The parent felt more people could attend because the time would be more convenient. (A lot of parents work or have other obligations during the day that keep them from being able to come to the school in the afternoon.) Those in attendance felt this would not work due to the fact that it's been done in the past and there was no change in attendance.
        • Chris Keister brought up the idea that attendance might increase if we change the one-hour meeting time from 2:20 to approximately 1:10 which is after the kindergarten pick-up and right before the 1st-5th grade pick-up. The change in time is still being considered and should this go into place, it would start the following school year.
    • Chandler's Chat
      • Bounce-U in Roseville has offered to give us gift certificates for the 10,000 page mark in the Passport to Fun program.
      • On Thursday, March 11th, the Falcon Flyer will be sent home in backpacks with a survey from the Site Council on the back. Parents will need to fill this survey out and send it back to school. The Falcon Flyer will resume online status after this week.
    • Meeting Adjourned

    Skyridge PTC Meeting Minutes, February 9, 2010

    • Secretary's Report - Minutes from the January 12th meeting were read.
    • Treasurer's Report - Budget
      • Lynda Haupt reported that the General Fund is going strong. The February book fair brought in approximately $500 and the Sock Hop is estimated to bring in approximately $800. The money earned through both of these events will help offset the PTC budget woes.
    • Old Business
      • Auction - Julie Houston, Auction Chair, had a few questions/concerns regarding the auction this year.
        • What will the proceeds from the auction be funding? In the past, funding went to the computer lab and library. Generally, enough money had been raised to fund both for at least one year with carry over for the following year. This year it is doubtful that the auction will make enough money to cover one year. After some consideration, it was suggested that for now the flyers going home state that the proceeds will be funding general PTC funds.
        • Due to a scheduling mishap, St. Teresa's will no longer be available to us as the auction venue as originally planned. However, Juli was able to secure the Veteran's Memorial Hall. The rent for the hall will be half the cost of St. Teresa's at $450. It is possible that we may get the venue for free, negotiations are still in the works. The one downside of the Veteran's Hall is that it is a smaller venue. Rather than having a sit down dinner, the event will be more 'mingle' style.
        • There will be a general meeting Thursday, February 25 at 8am to discuss auction information and to gather volunteers.
        • Julie is hoping to raise approximately $16,000 through this event.
        • The auction announcement flyer will be going home in a few days.
        • The task of preparing the raffle baskets will start this week.
      • Book Fair
        • According to Ann Keen, Book Fair Chair, the event was a success. Saturday's family day was a big hit as well. The final numbers have not come in yet, but Ann estimates that the book fair will bring in approximately $775.
      • PTC Liaisons
        • Renee Christensen, reported that the email project is working out great. Email addresses from the Skyridge directory have been grouped together in order for these parents to receive general school information from the PTC. Again, all information will come from the Skyridge Communication email address and not a personal address.
      • Yearbook
        • Robbin Maloney and Liz Koch reported that they have received a ton of pictures since their request at the last PTC meeting. The yearbook is now about 80% complete with just the Sock Hop and Variety Show left to fill the remaining pages. Pictures are still needed and appreciated. They thanked Chris Keister for use of the billboard easel out in front of the school, which definitely grabbed attention.
      • Sock Hop
        • Lynn Gehlbach reported that the 4th and 5th grade teachers will not be running the event as originally thought. The event has been handed over to the PTC and therefore all proceeds from the Sock Hop will go into the PTC general fund.
        • The specifics of the Sock Hop are as follows:
          • Date: February 12th
          • Time: 6 - 8:30 (for all grades)
          • Ticket prices are $3 and every child must bring an adult (i.e. parent, relative, special friend, etc.) Drop-offs are NOT allowed.
          • Photography by Ann Keen Photography, hula hoop contest and a costume contest to be judged by Lee Chandler.
          • Lots of food: popcorn, hot dogs, floats, chips, etc
      • eScrip, Raleys (Quality of Life), SaveMart (S.H.A.R.E.S.)
        • Another grocery card scrip drive will commence sometime before Easter. An email with the registration attachments will be sent via Skyridge Communication informing recipients of the progress made so far through these programs. It will also give them another opportunity to sign up or get other family and friends to sign up as well.
    • New Business
      • Staff Appreciation
        • Staff Appreciation week is scheduled for the week of March 15 unless it is moved back to the previously scheduled week which is the first week of May. The reason for the March 15th move is that it could cause a timing/volunteering conflict with the Auction slated for May 15th. Chris Keister will need to go over this with Ericka McKay, Staff Appreciation chair.
          • The schedule of events for Staff Appreciation Week or as follows:
            • Monday: Breakfast Goodies
            • Tuesday: Supply Day
            • Wednesday: Lunch - Sandwiches
            • Thursday: TBA
            • Friday: Italian Pasta Luncheon
          • As part of the appreciation week, the teacher's room will be cleaned and adorned with flowers and include treats such as tea and snacks. As always, volunteers are still needed.
      • "Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss" - March 2nd
        • Chris Keister reminded everyone of this fun 'holiday'. To celebrate this day, older students will be reading to the younger students. Also, if kids bring in gently used books for donation, they will receive a poster compliments of the Book Fair.
    • Chandler's Chat
      • Mrs. Chandler thanked Ann Keen and Chris Keister for doing such a great job with the book fair. She also thanked Shannon Rich for securing coffee and donuts for the family day on Saturday.
      • Mrs. Chandler also expressed concerns from parents regarding the Falcon Flyer (FF). It's been quite an adjustment going from reading a weekly paper to remembering to check online for the school news. There has also been a couple of issues regarding not being able to access the FF online. However, John Green has been working really hard to keep this going and the Site Council suggested parents remain patient in order to leave it online.
        • It was also noted that by putting the FF online, it saves the school approximately $250 year on paper costs (78 reams) not to mention the time-savings on labor.
        • Shannon Rich suggested if we go back to paper, print only a half page with the dates of field trips and events and leave links to the stories to get people online.

      • On a final note, Cathy Jones made an announcement that the Girl Scout Troop on campus is working with the group Hope for Haiti. They're gathering supplies to send to Haiti and are accepting items such as hygiene products, blankets, pillows, hand-sanitizers and non-perishable foods. Anything we can offer up would be appreciated.

    • Meeting Adjourned

    Skyridge PTC Meeting Minutes, January 12, 2010

    • Secretary's Report - Minutes from the November 10th meeting were read.
    • Treasurer's Report - Budget
      • According to Lynda Haupt, the PTC budget has fallen short this year. The net income was originally budgeted at $21,250. The actual budget for 2009/2010 shows a net income of $16,520 for a shortfall of $4,730. To help get through this shortfall, some of the reserve will have to be eaten, leaving a little bit of a cushion for next year. As a result, some cuts will have to be made in the 2010/2011 budget. Reasons cited for the drop in income include:
        • The low turnout for the Jog-A-Thon (JAT) which is one of our big fundraisers. It was originally budgeted at $12,000 but final numbers show it only brought in $8,514.
        • We did not have the Candy Sales drive in December, which had been originally budgeted at $2,000.
        • There are fixed costs and expenses in the budget that are concrete and cannot be altered.
      • It was suggested by Renee Christensen and Chris Keister that an email be sent out to all the chairs, via the VPs, noting the tight budget and to cut out any unnecessary frills. (The chairs do a pretty good job of this already.)
    • Old Business
      • eScrip, Raleys (Quality of Life), SaveMart (S.H.A.R.E.S.)
        • Lecile Eklund gave a brief EOY report on the number of participants and amount raised through these programs, which are as follows:
          • eScrip: 37 Participants $109.66 raised as of Nov. '09
          • Raleys: 110 Participants $797.11 raised as of Dec. '09
          • SaveMart: 95 Participants $132.00 raised as of Dec. '09
        • It was suggested that there should be another registration drive prior to Easter in order to recruit a few more participants.
      • PTC Liaisons
        • Renee Christensen raised the question of how to use email as a form of school-wide communication. As it stands, Renee would be using personal email to send out information to several 100 families and this really isn't a possibility due to legal matters, email saturation, and privacy issues. A couple of solutions were to check out email services who send out bulk emails for groups such as ours or create a Yahoo or Hotmail Group. It was finally decided to make a Skyridge Communication email address and have the emails come from that address instead of Renee's personal email.
        • The content of the emails would also need to be 'appropriate' in that the email(s) would be created in a format that could not be altered by the recipients as well as include an 'opt-out' option.
      • Yearbook
        • Robbin Maloney and Liz Koch, Yearbook Chairs are in dire need of pictures for the yearbook. It's very important to get the word get out that if anyone has pictures or candid shots of field trips, functions, assemblies, classrooms, etc. please send them in. (The sooner the better, last year approximately 200 pictures came in the last four days before the book was to go to print.) They currently have a few photos of the Jog-A-Thon, Running School and an assembly but do not have any class field trip photos. Cathy Jones can provide photos from Trekkers and Renee Christensen offered to bring in her snow day photos of the school.   An email will be sent out to the Chairs and PTC Liaisons.
        • They will accept prints, CDs, and emails with photo attachments. If anyone brings in a disk and wants it back, please leave a note on the disk. All photos can be brought into the office and put into the 'Yearbook' bin.
        • The yearbook will be going to print three days after the Variety Show (March 12th).
      • Holiday Fair
        • Chris Keister noted that the Holiday Fair was a success. The kids seemed to be really excited to be able to buy gifts for Christmas. As a result, the fair brought in $422. For hosting the event, Chris received a nice dry-erase board with stand to be used for posting school announcements.
    • New Business
      • Book Fair
        • Anne Keen, Book Fair Chair, announced that there will be a second 'for profit' book fair added to the lineup this year. In addition to raising more money for the PTC, this fair gives us the added bonus of receiving an extra 10% in scholastic dollars to go towards the library, classrooms and kids who don't have money to buy books.
        • The specifics of the new book fair are as follows:
          • Dates: February 4th - 8th
          • Location: Room 21
          • Theme: Book Fair Diner
          • Family Day: Saturday 8am - noon
        • The BOGO Book Fair will still be held at the end of April.
      • Sock Hop
        • Chris Keister announced that Lynn Gehlbach will chair the event this year as a fundraiser for the 4th and 5th grade classes instead of the PTC. It will be held February 12th.
      • Fundraising Ideas
        • The discussion, led by Chris Keister, definitely had its pros and cons. The PTC really needs to raise funds for next year and beyond but in light of the economy, is it too much to ask parents for just one more thing? It was suggested that we re-work our current fundraisers and improve them for next year. We can start with the auction, which is our biggest event of the year, and place our energy on that.
        • Shannon Rich, Directory and Website Advertising Chair, mentioned that she is still looking into raising money by placing business advertisements on the PTC website for a small fee.
        • Chris Keister was given information for a fundraiser selling reusable bags from a company called ChicoBag. The bags come in different sizes, shapes, colors and prices. They range from a basic shopping-style bag to a day pack that acts as a backpack with pockets and accessories. It was suggested by Shannon Rich that a good time to sell these would be around Earth Day.
    • Chandler's Chat
      • Golf lessons are starting the week of January 18th. If it's too wet, they can move the lessons indoors.
      • A new character developing program called 'CARING' is starting up soon. The program consists of teaching students the qualities of caring and respect as it relates to relationship with family and friends. Small discussions will be held in the cafeteria and different times. For the program, 2nd and 3rd graders will be grouped together and the 4th and 5th graders will be grouped together.
      • There will be a Spelling Bee for the upper grades Thursday, January 14th and a Geography Bee on January 22nd.
      • The choir will have one of their first performances on January 19th.

      • Chris Keister wanted to let everyone know that Cathy Jones did a great job at the meeting. Cathy had to run the meeting because Chris had been a little under the weather and was losing her voice.

    • Meeting Adjourned

    Skyridge PTC Meeting Minutes, November 10, 2009

    • Secretary's Report - Minutes from the October 13th meeting were read.
    • Treasurer's Report - Budget
      • Chris Keister read an email from the PTC Accountant regarding the great work that Lynda Haupt has been doing. He stated that that she does an 'exemplary job' and the PTC is lucky to have her.
    • Old Business
      • Jog-A-Thon (JAT)
        • Lynda Haupt gave the final numbers for this year's JAT. The JAT was budgeted at $12,00 but only brought in $8,700, which is an 'all-time low', especially when compared to last year's numbers which came in at $12,783. The shortfall will be made up with the $500 from the Discretionary fund (which will not be spent this year), the extra $2,000 earned through the PTC sponsorship drive and the profit from the Book Fair, which came in around $300 - $400.
        • It was stated that the biggest reason for the lack of success with the JAT was that there was not a designated chair person to run the event. Although Jill Sweeney, Running School and Chris Keister did a good job putting the event together, having someone in charge to oversee all the details would have made a big difference. SIDE NOTE: A discussion ensued regarding changing the name of the JAG because no one actually 'jogs'. A few people felt that this type of fundraising coincided with the PTC sponsorship drive and therefore causes a financial conflict. This then led to the idea of changing the time of year the JAT is held or maybe having two JATs. As a result, it's possible that the JAT, with the help of a chair person, could be completely revamped next year. (This discussion along with how to get people to volunteer for 'chair positions' will be continued.)
      • eScrip, Quality of Life, SaveMart
        • Lecile Eklund, Scrip Chair, noted that as of today, 75 families (and counting) have signed up for the Quality of Life or Raley's grocery cards. Most of those families have also requested the SaveMart cards. In addition to that number, there are also around 35 families who have signed up for the SaveMart cards only. Those cards should be coming in the week of November 16th. Tracey Hansom suggested that a note be sent out on how to register Safeway cards through eScrip, citing that most people probably don't know how to do it. Lecile will be checking into that.
      • PTC Liaisons
        • Renee Christensen, PTC Liaison Chair, has been diligently working on getting parents to sign-up for the PTC Liaison positions. There are currently ten classrooms without a liaison. Another email will be sent out to the teachers of these classrooms to ask for volunteers.
        • Although liaisons are not required to attend PTC meetings, Renee pointed out that are a few liaison responsibilities which include:
          • Putting together the classroom gift baskets to be raffled off at the auction. (This is the primary responsibility.)
          • Getting volunteers for Staff Appreciation Week.
          • Bridging the information gap between the PTC and the classroom.
        • Renee has all the information the liaisons would need and communication is primarily done via email. Renee could not stress enough how important (and easy) it is to have representation for EACH classroom.
      • Labels for Education & Box Tops
        • Chris Keister announced that the Box Tops brought in $875. The school will receive the money in December.
        • It was also noted that a notice needs to be put into the Falcon Flyer (or sent home) explaining the importance of cutting out the Box Tops and Labels for Education correctly. Labels and box tops with missing information or expired cut-off dates are not excepted.
      • Holiday Fair
        • A reminder from Chris Keister that the Holiday Fair is coming up. She needs parent volunteers for helping kids shop, money management and theft deterrent.
    • New Business
      • Subway Cards
        • Chris Keister and Lecile Eklund discussed handing out 24 Subway Cards as a small fundraiser. The card holder needs to link the card to Skyridge by registering it online with Subway under the Subway School Rewards program. The card can then be taken to any Subway, 'loaded up' with cash and then be used to make Subway meal purchases. Subway will give back up to 2% of each purchase to Skyridge.
      • Enrichment Program
        • The Enrichment Program is at a standstill. Again, the problem is that it does not have a designated chair person.
      • Website Advertising
        • Shannon Rich, Directory and Website Advertising Chair, is looking into raising money by placing business advertisements on the PTC website. There will be a small fee for advertising and possibly coupons placed on the site for people to use at those locations. Links for each business may also be posted on the website. SIDE NOTE: Along these lines, there was a discussion regarding the Falcon Flyer (FF) going from paper to online. Questions were raised as to whether or not the FF should be linked to the PTC website. Would it make sense? It may just be a technical question that should be taken up with Mr. Green. The discussion also included whether or not people should subscribe to the FF and it would be automatically emailed to them every week. (This will be an ongoing discussion.)
    • Chandler's Chat
      • Mrs. Chandler wanted to thank the Book Fair staff for doing a good job this year.
      • She reminded everyone that children should not be at the parent/teacher conferences next week and that after Monday, the rest of the week would be all minimum days.
      • Flyers on the damaged slide were posted around the neighborhood asking if anyone knew or saw anything.
      • The tree that fell on the Life Lab greenhouse will be cut on Monday, Nov. 16th and the firewood would be raffled off.
    • Meeting Adjourned

    Skyridge PTC Meeting Minutes, October 13, 2009

    • Secretary's Report - Minutes from the September 8th meeting were read.
    • Treasurer's Report - Budget
      • Lynda Haupt reported that the PTC sponsorship drive brought in $5,500, which, as Chris Keister noted, was an all-time high. This figure exceeds the original budgeted amount of $3,500. Thanks to Shannon Rich who did a great job getting advertising in the school directory, which alone brought in $800. As a result, there is now $29,502 in the general fund and the PTC was able to pay out class field trip money as well as half of the classroom allotments.
    • Old Business
      • Jog-A-Thon
        • Chris Keister, Jog-A-Thon (JAT) Chair, reminded everyone that the JAT was coming up on the 16th and to get the JAT forms in on that date. It was suggested that there be an extension on the turn-in date for the forms in order to help bolster participation.
      • eScrip
        • Lecile Eklund, Scrip Chair, reminded everyone of the importance of eScrip in terms of fundraising for the school as well as ease of participation. However, participation is very low so there is a great need to get people signed-up.
      • Book Fair
        • Ann Keen, Book Fair Chair, gave a run-down of the Book Fair schedule as follows:
          • Wednesday Oct. 14: Set up @ 1:00
          • Thursday Oct. 15: Teacher Preview
          • Monday Oct. 19 - 26: Book Fair
          • Friday Oct. 23: Family Night and Ice Cream Social
        • Ann stated that this year there would be incentives for teachers who created a wish list for their classroom: 1) They would be given $10 to spend at the book if they created a wish list and 2) Their names would be entered into a raffle to win a $20 Starbucks gift card.
      • PTC Liaisons
        • Renee Christensen, PTC Liaison Chair, noted that there are only 10 PTC Liaisons - not nearly enough to represent every classroom. Another letter will be sent out to the teachers asking for their help/input in this area to get parents signed-up. A suggestion was then made to email parents, who are part of classroom lists, information on PTC Liaisons and see if we would get volunteers that way.
      • Auction
        • Juli Houston, Auction Chair, along with Jen Cutter, noted that meetings for the auction have already started. This is a big event that needs lots of volunteers. There are committees that need to be chaired and filled with these volunteers. Generally, the auction funds nets about $24,000 which funds the library and Mr. Green in the computer lab. Any money raised over that amount gets spread amongst the other school programs.
        • Auction Night Information:
          • Auction Date and Place: May 15 from 6pm-10pm at St. Teresa's Parish Hall
          • Auction Theme: Medieval Nights
          • Cost will be $15/pp
          • There will be a live and silent auction. The baskets that are created by each classroom and raffled off are a huge hit. Juli made the suggestion that maybe a few baskets could be raffled off at Open House to fire people up about the auction.
          • The PTC will provide and be in charge of the food, beer, decorations, ticket sales, prize donations and publicity. The donation and publicity chairs are two of the most important functions of the auction and are greatly needed.
          • Jen Cutter will off 'training classes' on check-in/check-out, silent auction, ATM-use, etc. for those volunteering to help.
      • Sponsorship & Movie Night
        • (For sponsorship information, please refer to the Treasurer's Report.) Movie night was a big success. There were requests from people in attendance to have something like this more often - possibly in the spring.
    • New Business
      • Labels for Education
        • This program will be headed by Chris Keister, who reminded everyone to keep looking for and cutting out Labels for Education which can be found on products such as Prego, Campbell's Soup and Pepperidge Farm. The labels can be given to your child's teacher, which Chris will tally at the end of each month.
        • On a similar note, Lindsay Ledbetter, Box Top Chair, stated that she needs help with counting the box tops. A sign-up sheet was sent around to collect volunteers. She also noted that she supplies all the prizes that are given to the students who turn in their box tops. People are welcome to donate little prizes as they see fit to be given out at the Box Top stand. In the future, Lindsey plans on providing a schedule, through the Falcon Flyer of when the Box Top stand will be open.
      • Raley's/Bel Air/Nob Hill Quality of Life
        • Lecile Eklund will be heading up the Quality of Life card program for the Raleys, Bel Air and Nob Hill stores. The program requires all participants to fill out a registration form and return to your child's teacher. The teacher can turn the forms into the Book Fair/Scrip box in the office. Registered cards will be sent home within 2-3 days with your child. Use the registered cards at any one of these grocery stores when making a purchase and they will donate 6% of your grocery bill back to Skyridge. It was suggested by Lindsay Ledbetter to check with SaveMart grocery store. They also have a similar program that can be used for the school.
      • Holiday Fair
        • Chris Keister will be heading up a Holiday Fair this year. This will be a small fundraising event for kids at no cost to the school or the PTC. The dates of the fair will be Dec. 7th - 11th in the MPR. The purpose of the fair is to let the students shop and buy small Christmas gifts for friends and family (75% of the items are under $4). There will be a wrapping option along with small, medium and large gift bags. The organization that puts these fairs together will be sending out cardboard 'banks' in the next two weeks for students. The idea behind the cardboard banks is to help students manage and save their money for Christmas.
      • ACTV
        • Chris Keister informed everyone that Glenn Tonkin of the local cable access station (channel 20), would like to work with students and teachers at Skyridge. This would be included in the Enrichment programs and be called "TV Production" with Mr. Maxwell and Mrs. Pressler heading up the program. Filming would take place at Placer High and would include the 4th and 5th grade classes. The program would include the following:
          • Storyboarding
          • Writing
          • Production/Post-Production
          • Equipment/Camera Use
    • Mrs. Chandler
      • Mrs. Chandler noted that Trekkers is doing an excellent job and a big thank-you went out to Cathy Jones for her work with the group.
      • The Professional Learning Community (PLC) is still going strong. The teachers at Skyridge will be meeting with other teachers in the area at a conference to discuss PLC and to keep it moving forward. Currently, Skyridge teachers from grades 1-5 are meeting weekly for an hour and starting January 5th, the Kindergarten teachers will also become involved with PLC.
    • Meeting Adjourned

    Skyridge PTC Meeting Minutes, September 8, 2009

    • Amendment to the Constitution to accommodate addition of new Executive Board structure.
      • Motion to accept this amendment and change the by-laws was first motioned by Rob Haswell and then seconded by a PTC member. The amendment was passed unanimously.
    • Treasurer's Report - Budget
      • Lynda Haupt gave a detailed accounting of this year's budget noting specifically that the classroom allotments will remain the same ($375 for K-3rd and $450 for 4th- 5th grades).
      • Two new items have been added to the budget this year: The first item is the Parking Lot Board Project to be spear-headed by Chris Keister at an expense of $900. The second item is the addition of two ice cream socials at an expense of $250.
      • Finally, the proceeds from the auction which cover the Computer Lab/Library Expense will also cover $500 for the librarian this year.
    • New Business
      • VPs and Committee Chairs
        • Volunteer sign-up sheets for the Book fair and Committee Chair vacancies were passed out to the PTC members attending the meeting.
        • Committee Chair Reports
          • Family Movie Night: Renee Christensen provided details about the event which included the presentation of two movies (Up! and Night at the Museum II), reserving both the quad and MPR because of weather concerns, popcorn and water to be sold at the event and free tickets to those who help clean up.
          • Passport: The first counting was on Wednesday September 16. A suggestion was also made to have a medal presentation during Round-Up Assemblies for those who reach the 15,000 page reading goal.
          • Directory: Chris Keister noted that there has been a great turn out for the student directory so far.
          • Several committee chairs are vacant or are looking to change hands, these include: Life Lab, Staff Appreciation, PTC Liaison, Assemblies and Enrichment. Cathy Jones read a letter from the current Life Lab chair who stated that the Life Lab is looking good now but suggests that lighting be added to the site to deter vandalism, which has been a problem in the past. There is still a need to finish the irrigation system and to hold another work day. Mrs. Gruber and Mrs. Jacobsen also agreed that an action plan be put in place between the parents and teachers as to better communicate what is to be done and kept at the Life Lab.
          • There is a possibility that the Sock Hop this year will be passed on to the 4th and 5th grade classes for their own fundraiser - not to be sponsored by the PTC. Mrs. Chandler will talk to the staff and see what they want to do.
        • A reminder that Facility Use Forms must be turned into the office any time a facility needs to be reserved for an event.
      • The Skyridge PTC Website, created by Lynda and Chris Haupt, is now complete with interactive forms that can be filled out and forwarded to Lynda who will then forward those to the appropriate person. It was asked that the PTC Chair list also be added to the website.
      • A request was made by Chris Keister to each PTC volunteer to wear and return the PTC Volunteer buttons to the office.
    • Old Business
      • The question was asked if school t-shirts would be sold again this year. It has been decided that will not happen this year but there is leftover inventory for sale at $5 a shirt. This most likely would be the small shirts due to the sizing problem last year. They can be re-ordered but only through a bulk order of 24 shirts at a time.
    • Mrs. Chandler/Staff - Mrs. Gruber and Mrs. Jacobsen
      • Mrs. Chandler stated that Back-to-School was very successful - one of the best.
      • There are three teacher-sponsored events during the year: the Halloween-Door Judging contest, Oct. 29 (they are currently looking for a few judges), the Egg-Drop contest to be held on Feb. 5 and Buddy Sports Day to be held in the morning of May 28.
      • Both Mrs. Gruber and Mrs. Jacobsen discussed the Professional Learning Community (PLC) that meets between 7:25 and 8:25 by grade level once a week. The PLC focuses their discussions on "data based student performance, leveled groupings to meet individual needs, curriculum alignment and grade level concerns". Grades 2nd through 5th will be going through some type of the leveling process in order to meet their needs. It is unclear if this will happen with the other grades. While the teachers are meeting, Mrs. Chandler takes the students from that grade level between 7:55 and 8:25 for Opening Exercises.
    • The PTC members in attendance introduced themselves as did the PTC Board.
    • Meeting Adjourned