Orchard Farms PTO

Executive Board in attendance: Lisa Gargaro, President, Wendi Barricelli, Vice-President, Mrs. Pauline Lisi, Principal and 2nd Vice-President, David Gargaro, Treasurer, and Laurie Thies, Secretary.

Meeting was called to order at 7:03PM.

Lisa Gargaro thanked everyone for coming to the PTO meeting. New attendees introduced themselves. Lisa thanked the teachers for coming to the meeting. She reminded everyone that we will stick to the agenda and have open discussion time at the end of the meeting.

Principal's Report: Mrs. Lisi asked if people were interested in having someone come talk about instant messaging on the computer. She knows of a presenter that talks to the parents at the PTO meetings. Many of the parents stated that they would be interested. Mrs. Lisi will look into scheduling the presenter for the January meeting.

Vice President's Report: Wendi Barricelli mentioned that we raised a little over $10,000 from the walkathon this year, which was an increase from last year. She said that we will not be doing the Three Wishes fundraiser this year because the company could not handle the amount of orders from our school. We are planning on moving the Holiday Shop into fundraising, which should compensate for Three
Wishes.

She said she was thinking of selling pies around Easter. The pies would be $6.00 each. She reminded everyone that if we would like to purchase the stage curtains which cost between $20,000 and $30,000, we will need to raise money from extra sources. One parent suggested that a letter be sent out stating the goals for the year and break them down by how much each family might contribute. Wendi remarked that they tried that last year and received a lot of negative feedback from it. She would like to send a letter home explaining exactly for what we are raising the money. Wendi said that she was thinking of trying to get corporate sponsors for the curtains and purchasing a nice plaque with the sponsors' name on it to place by the stage. It could list the various levels of sponsorship.

Sandi Sousa is going to be the chairperson for the spirit wear. Next meeting Wendi will report what we made from the spirit wear items. One parent requested that white clothing items be added along with the red and blue. Lisa Gargaro offered to add white to the supply list.

Treasurer's Report: David Gargaro went over the budget for the year. It was suggested that next year the membership dues be raised from $5.00 to $10.00. The 5th graders are not allowed to sell snacks during recess (due to the concerns over peanut allergies) which enabled them in the past to raise money for their field trip to Boston. The PTO may need to supplement the 5th graders' suggested raising the cost of the lollipops we sell around Valentine's and then splitting the money with the 5th graders. Another parent suggested that the 5th graders sell carnations or flowers around Mother's Day. Sandi Zayat has a friend who sells flowers and she will talk to her about it and report back to Lisa.

A parent asked if the stage curtains were necessary. Mrs. Lisi stated that they were not necessary this year, but would be something very useful in the future. Mrs. Lisi mentioned that she would rather have a sign to the school at the entrance of Scituate Avenue. The stage curtains need their own fundraising efforts. Wendi will pursue the possibility of corporate sponsors and the plaque.

David Gargaro suggested that we increase the minimum amount of money required to go forward in a year from $5,000 to $8,000 due to the start up costs that we incur before the school year's fundraising begins.

All in attendance were given a copy of the proposed budget. Everyone will have 30 days to review it. At the next PTO meeting on November 13th, the proposed budget will be voted on. Remember, only paid PTO members are allowed to vote.

President's Report: Lisa Gargaro reported that next month we will vote to move the holiday shop under the fundraising committee. We will vote on the proposed budget and also vote on increasing the amount of money required to go forward to $8,000. We will also vote on adding a website committee to the bylaws. Steve Kostecke has done an amazing job getting our new website up and running. Thank you, Steve. David Gargaro had also requested adding school assistance to the budget. This money would be used to help those families that need assistance paying for field trips or other required school costs.

One parent questioned what the PTO operating expenses were. Lisa Gargaro stated that they are for items such as copying paper, postage, supplies. The dues and subscriptions are for the recycle center, CEAB, and VICS.

Lisa asked all committee chairpersons to update their procedure binders regularly.

Committee Updates

After-School Activities: Lisa Levin said that this fall's after-school activities session of 6 weeks will begin on November, 6th and run through the middle of December. The cost will be $30 for the six week session. A sign-up form will be going home soon.

Box Tops: Barbara Smith White found box tops from last year that, added to this year so far, came to 4,785 box tops. Barbara will be sending out a sheet for the month of October. Anyone who returns the sheet will get a small prize. The class who turns in the most box tops will receive a free Hollywood video rental for everyone in the class.

CEAB: We are in need of a chairperson for the CEAB. The volunteer will attend monthly meetings to discuss school and city curriculum related issues. If you are interested in volunteering for this position, please see Lisa Gargaro or call her at 464-8635.

Cultural Arts: Diane Shelhart has some interesting programs in the works. Information will be in the next newsletter.

Fundraising: Please see Vice-President's message.

Ice Cream Sales: Ice cream sales are running smoothly. Thank you to everyone who signed up to sell ice cream.

Membership: This year we have had the largest number of families join our membership drive. Thank you to everyone who joined.

Photo & Publicity: The picture boards look great. Thank you to Lee Iassogna for taking the pictures and creating the boards.

School Beautification: Thank you to Confreda's for donating all the fall decorations for the Open House. The school looked beautiful. Thank you to Beth Rollo, Karen Fargnoli, Suzanne O's to plan the Father and Daughter Dance scheduled for Friday, February 8th at the Alpine Country Club. Josephine McConaghy is considering a Sock Hop for the Mother and Son event. She will also get together with her committee to start planning that event.

Sunshine: Lisa talked about the article in the newspaper about the food banks being really low on food. Last year the Sunshine Committee collected food and arranged food baskets for some of the families at Orchard Farms. Suzanne O'Shea offered to help collect food for CCAP. They are in need of any food, not necessarily Thanksgiving related items. It was suggested that we conduct one food drive in November. The seasonal food items can be set aside by the Sunshine Committee to make food baskets for the Orchard Farms families. Suzanne can collect the rest of the food to send to CCAP. Gift cards to grocery stores are also encouraged.

COZ again needs hats, coats, and mittens. A flyer will need to be sent home for this year's coat drive. Last year the coat drive was coordinated by Kim Perry. Lisa Gargaro will talk to her to see if she is willing to coordinate the coat drive again this year. If not, Suzanne O'Shea offered to do it.

Lisa Gargaro will call Crossroads to see if they are interested in our backpack drive again this year.

VICS: Karen Fargnoli will attend the VICS meeting in November and report at the next PTO meeting.

Website: Steve Kostecke has developed a website for our PTO. The address is www.orchardfarms.org. He mentioned that the website has had quite a few visitors already. If you visit the website, there is a link available to make comments or give feedback. He included a list of upcoming events and will try to update it regularly. One parent asked if this website will replace the cpsed.net site. Mrs. Lisi said that it will not, because they are required by the district to be linked to the cpsed.net site.

The minutes, newsletters, agendas, and other important information will be on the website. You are unable to unsubscribe at any time. No one will see your personal website address.

Steve will send out a flying telling people about the email service.

The next PTO meeting will be November, 13th at 7:00pm. The meeting was adjourned at 8:16pm.

Laurie Thies
PTO Secretary
secretary@orchardfarms.org