PA Minutes
Minutes from the Parents' Association Meetings
September 14, 2011 Parents Association Meeting Minutes
Parents Association Meeting: May 25, 2011
SMS Parents Association Meeting, April 6, 2011
November 3, 2010 Parents Association Meeting
SMS Parents Association Meeting 9.8.10
SMSPA June Minutes
PA Meeting Minutes February 17, 2010
SMSPA Meeting
February 17, 2010 at 8:15 am (Rescheduled from 2/10/10 due to the snow day)
Present: Heather de Pinho, Bethany DiNapoli, Louisa Boatwright, Whitney Slade , Jacqui Colbert, Lori Lind, Deborah Husak, Will Dewey, David Howe, Colleen Iascone, Bonnie Weber, Brooke Gallo, Andrea Breyer, Karen Weinreb, Elaine Lindh, Beverly Little, Angela DiNunzio, Julie Casey, Rachel McCall, Tricia Bilodeau, Jill Cooper, Sharon Gallipeau, Bronwyn McDermott, Ferilen Waters, Mary Filizzi, Julie Fisher, Nicole Scott, Marianne Menas, Nici Lanowy (Lisa Lewis and Curt Richardson are away)
1. Welcome-Bethany DiNapoli welcomed everyone. Passed around sign-up sheets for volunteering and sign-in.
2. Treasurer’s Report-Bethany: Original Works and Yankee candle fundraisers raised $4500 the Secret Store raised $4500 for a combined profit of 9000.Bethany thanked the Secret Store committee.For more details about the treasurer’s report, please contact a board member.
3. Lunch Program-Louisa Boatwright:
2nd semester lunch is going strong. 4. Upcoming Events:
Bone Marrow Drive-Andrea Breyer: St. Michael’s is again holding a bone marrow drive, this time for a two-year-old girl. The drive will be on Tuesday February 23rd from 2 to 6, volunteers are needed. There will be an article in Newport This Week.
“The Summer Kitchen”-Reading and discussion by SMS Parent and author, Karen Weinreb will be on Wednesday February 24th at 6:30. Karen will have a reading and discussion with q and a. This will be a community event. Please let people know about it-great publicity for St. Michael’s.
Skating Party-Lori Lind: The skating party is Saturday March 6th from 6 to 8 PM. Flyer will be going home for sponsorships and volunteering. The raffle will be different this year. We will have themed baskets-you should have heard about this from your class parent-to contribute to the baskets. There will also be Willy Wonka chocolate bars with different golden tickets (lunch with Mr. Slade, Head of School, Ice Cream Party for your class, etc.)-bars will be $5, each bar will at least have a raffle ticket. You can buy bars in advance (bars will not be given out before the night). Children must wear helmets or soft hats and we will have a rink guard. There will be the traditional food. There will be a skate exchange box in the office and will be brought that night.
An Evening with the Stars-Sharon Gallipeau: The party will be on April 30th from 6 to 10 PM. This will be a fun event for faculty and parents. So far we have 40 faculty and parents that will be performing (from funny to professional talent) you won’t want to miss! Food and drinks, red carpet event to start, you will be ushered to your seats, and an after party “green room”(there will be a different ticket price for the after party). There will also be a DVD for sale. The attire is jeans to jewels. We do need volunteers for the event as well as performers. This will be open to friends of St. Michael’s as well. Starting April 1st there will be a marketing push-you will see this at carpool line. There will also be an auction during the intermission.
House Tour- Will Dewey: Will passed out a sneak peek of four of the 5 houses. The house tour will be on Sunday April 25th. The houses on the tour will be Beacon Rock, Broadlawns, Seaweed, Sulthorne and a house on Gibbs-two of the houses are St. Michael’s families. Tickets are 50% of sales; ads in the ticket book are the other 50%. If you know of someone who may like to place an ad, let us know. We ask that at least one person from each family volunteer on the day of the event. Tickets will be purchased at the school (they will be given a map of the houses) and we will have free childcare available at the school for parents that are volunteering. Box lunches will be available. There may or may not be a shuttle-that is still being worked on.
Faculty and Staff Appreciation Week-Bethany: Will be the first week of May. This will be a week long of showing our appreciation to the teachers and faculty. We will start planning after the March break.
Spring Dance: Since the Halloween Party was canceled; we will have a spring dance, towards the end of May. Jeanine Siwicki will be chairing this event-please contact her if you would like to volunteer. This will be in the gym, an earlier time for the lower school and a later time for the middle school.
5. On-going PA Activities
One Cause/Stop & Shop: The school gets a percentage of sales; please visit One Cause before doing your online shopping. A letter went out about Stop and Shop, the school gets a percentage, you go online and enter your stop and shop card number-you don’t have to do anything else-it is automatic.
Box Tops-Heather: A letter should have gone home yesterday announcing that box tops need to be turned in by Monday February 22nd. Box tops should be sent to school in a baggie or envelope with your child’s grade written on it. You do not need to write on each box top. So far, we have collected 1,738 box tops for $173.80. The third grade won the last “box tops challenge” with 372 box tops collected. There will be an ice cream party to celebrate. For the next challenge, there may be a different reward, depending on the grade.
School Clothing-Bethany: If you need to order clothing for your children, please visit Lands End (their uniform site) or Harrows (sports clothing and accessories)-St. Michael’s does profit from each sale-you must log in.
6. Head of School Announcements-Whitney Slade: The Island Moving Company will be here for 2 weeks working with the 2nd and 3rd graders, this is funded by the PA field trips fund. Also funded by the PA is the multicultural survey. There are discovery groups meeting and a survey to all parents will go out next week. All of the information collected will be analyzed for St. Michael’s and we will get a report on how we work in regard to multiculturalism. Additionally, Rodney was here in February and will be again in March and he will be making a quilt to be left with the school.
7. Did You Know? Presentation by Beth Holland: A link was sent out to view. Beth reviewed what is in the presentation. There is a link on the sub-web under parent resources. There are also other web resources for parents.
8. Meeting was adjourned at 10 am.
Next Meeting: Wednesday May 26th at 8:15 am
PA Meeting Minutes November 18, 2009
St. Michael’s Parents Association Meeting
November 18, 2009 at 8:15 am Board Members Present: Bethany DiNapoli, Curt Richardson, Jacqui Colbert, Lisa Lewis, Louisa Boatwright, Heather de Pinho Parents and Faculty Present: Sue Petrovas, Nicole Scott, Angela DiNunzio, Debbie Crocker, Lynne Rey, Beverly Little, Julie Fisher, Andrea Breyer, Colleen Iascone, Victoria O’Loughlin, Nici Lanowy, Brooke Gallo, Bonnie Weber, Becky Smith, Terry Lanza, Lori Lind, Sharon Gallipeau, Deborah Husak, Sally Jenkins, Rebecca Postum, Rachel McCall, Janine Siwicki, Linda Spinney, Elaine Lindh, Kristina Michelson, Whitney Slade 1. Welcome: Bethany welcomed everyone and gave a recap of the fall events and asked if anyone wanted anything added to the agenda. 2. Treasurer’s -Curt Richardson: We had a busy fall financially with the new events this year. The yard sale netted $8600 of $10,000 in sales. Yankee Candle fundraiser and Original Art fundraiser netted a $4400 profit. We have contributed $3000 toward field trips so far (with a budget of $25,000). A question was asked as to how field trips are chosen. Whitney said it is decided based on curriculum and there is an inventory done every year. Curt also mentioned that the PA contributed to the diversity survey (see Head of School Notes below). The goal of the PA is to contribute to the school for things/events not planned for in the school budget. 3. Tennis League: Curt Richardson filled in for Julia: last year we were down to 10 people. This year we have 21 participating parents and now men are invited too! If you know of someone interested in joining, please contact Julia Richardson. 4. Stop and Shop: Curt: You can use your Stop and Shop card to earn money for the school. 5. Lunch Program-Lisa Lewis and Louisa Boatwright: Because of the swine flu, the lower school is getting their lunch in the old library and are eating lunch either outside or in their classroom. The middle school is served lunch in the cafeteria. Please sign up for second semester lunch by January 20th. The international lunch week: Cornucopia provided the lunch-they did a great job. Louisa and Lisa worked with the diversity within the school in planning the menus. They met with different families in planning, there was also fun and games incorporated at lunch. The next International Lunch week will be in April-if you are interested in helping please contact them. 6. Review of fall events-Bethany:
Fall Frenzy-it was a great day with a DJ hosting contests and everything flowed well. There was no charge this year to make it an open event. There was a discussion as to whether to keep certain events and to charge for which ones. One of the principle reasons for having events is to create a sense of community. It will be up to the next PA to determine whether to hold events and whether to charge for them. The fall frenzy is not costly. The DJ was great-some said just too loud. Bringing in the hot dog cart was a great idea. One parent commented that it was a happy note to start the year by not charging-we aren’t asking for money right away. There was picnic before fall frenzy for the new families hosted by Sally Jenkins.
Yard Sale-It was overwhelming at times but definitely worth it. Nicole Scott spearheaded organizing inventory and many others (dads, moms, faculty stepped up and helped out. We had a great turnout to and reached out to the community. Most schools that have yard sales start planning a year ahead. We will have a wrap up meeting, probably next week, to discuss what worked and didn’t and if we did a yard sale again what to do differently. All of the left over merchandise was donated to Salvation Army, Lucy’s hearth, and Newport and Middletown Public libraries. We still have a piano if anyone is interested ($300). Comments: Storage is the key to the yard sale-possibly a self-storage unit. Expenses were banners, pod storage, movers to pick up and deliver large items. Bethany thanked all those that helped.
Ballard Park Pumpkin Tour: Thanks to Elaine, Johna, and Jim for organizing. Elaine: it was the 7th tour and the 2nd time we participated. This year we had about 80 pumpkins. Colleen McGrath reported that 4000 people attended. We were the only school listed as a sponsor. This could be a community service opportunity for 7th and 8th graders to help set up in the future.
Halloween Party: We weren’t able to have it because of swine flu precautions. Since the precautions are still in place, we are not sure if there will be another event in its place. Suggestions were: something for New years or Valentines dance a “Snow Ball” or something tied in with the Olympics. If you have ideas or suggestions please let us know-email Bethany.
Yankee Candle: We had about 40 different orders, $5300 in sales about $2500 in profit. It was a very easy fundraiser-very little work involved. There are still a few orders left to pick up; orders are in the old library.
Original Works-Louisa and Jacqui: Leslie Fisk had set up a different project for each grade. There were 150 orders, $9000 in sales about $2600 in profit. 7. Upcoming events-Bethany:
Secret Store: Since the cottage was available and there was a demand, it was brought back for this year. Sue and Andrea: The secret store will be held December 10th and 11th. They are in need of donations, especially for dads and pets. A winter wonderland is the theme. Colleen has worked hard to decorate it. The committee meets every Thursday at 1 p.m.. Please sign up to help on December 10th and/or 11th to help out-we really need help those 2 days. Drop off any donations in Claire’s office.
“Where do the Children Play” Documentary-Bethany: In January we are planning to host this documentary. Providence Children’s Museum is sponsoring screenings with a panel discussion afterward. The film is about the state of play in the United States. The film follows children raised in 3 different environments and how that affects them. It is a one-hour documentary
House Tour-Bethany: We are trying to get our houses lined up. If you know of a house that is really great (on the island), please let us know. Of the possible house, we will choose 5 houses that best fit the tour (variety, transportation issues, etc). We want to choose the 5 houses by December
Parent Party-Bethany: A group of 7th grade moms and a couple of others are meeting today after the PA meeting. Please give any suggestions. It will be the same weekend of the house tours. 8. On-going activities
School Clothing-Bethany: Lands End and Harrows are our clothing vendors-ordering instructions will be sent to you next week.
Stop and Shop: see above
One Cause: Please remember to go through One Cause when shopping on-line. The school receives on average 3% from the purchases.
Box Tops-Heather: We will be collecting box tops before the winter break. Please start saving. The class with the most box tops will have a party. Shaw’s receipts: Miss Morris started it, keep saving and send them into Mrs. Morris. Money collected from the receipts goes to the MLK center. 9. Head of School announcements-Whitney: The PA is funding money for the NAIS Assessment of Inclusivity and Multiculturalism (AIM). The school assessment will be launched in the new year. Focus groups will meet and discuss different aspects of the school. The second piece is an online survey that will go out to everyone in February. Between the two we will have a strategic plan as to how we are doing and a plan for the future. 10. Swine Flu Update-Rebecca Postma, our new school nurse was introduced. Rebecca had a Q and A. The swine flu is a virus that is contracted through the air. What makes it so complicated is that it can become severely bad pneumonia, immune response-starts fluid and inflammation. The lungs start to fill with fluid. If it is not treated, it can be deadly. Children do not have a good immune system to fight it off. It is also serious for those with a bad illness, as they don’t have a good immune system. Those being hospitalized are young children and those with chronic illness. Some are worried that the vaccine is not safe. Why do you need to have 2 doses? The CDC is saying that children under 10 should have 2 doses, a month apart. What is happening daily at
SMS to prevent spread? St. Michael has done a great job by separating at lunches, extra cleaning, shutting down water fountains, extra hand sanitizers, teaching kids to cover mouths properly and educating the children. By being vaccinated, does that affect the child’s body to develop immunity on their own? Is it better? If the child does not get the vaccine then yes, the body will start to develop immunity, however is it worth the risk? Diseases that we have not seen for many years are because of vaccines. How is the school attendance? There was a spike last week, but attendance has been much better there has been a rise and fall. She is checking it everyday and keeping in touch with sick parents. Parents were recommended to be the best advocate for your child. Are they going to administer mist or injection? They are going to be administering the injection at school as the mist went to pediatricians. There is very little thermarasol in the vaccine. The vaccine is being administered after school on December 10th. The CDC website is updated every Friday if you would like more information. Rebecca needs forms ASAP-3 days before she has to give a total of children to be vaccinated. Parents will come in with their children, probably do it by last names, they will have to observe child for 15 minute. There are 2 vaccinators, parents check in and get form, get in line for vaccine, then a waiting period for 15 minutes in the observation area (looking for allergic reactions)-they will have an EMT on site. You can download the form online or get it from Claire or Rebecca. We will have faculty volunteers to help. Meeting adjourned at 9:45 am
November 18, 2009 at 8:15 am Board Members Present: Bethany DiNapoli, Curt Richardson, Jacqui Colbert, Lisa Lewis, Louisa Boatwright, Heather de Pinho Parents and Faculty Present: Sue Petrovas, Nicole Scott, Angela DiNunzio, Debbie Crocker, Lynne Rey, Beverly Little, Julie Fisher, Andrea Breyer, Colleen Iascone, Victoria O’Loughlin, Nici Lanowy, Brooke Gallo, Bonnie Weber, Becky Smith, Terry Lanza, Lori Lind, Sharon Gallipeau, Deborah Husak, Sally Jenkins, Rebecca Postum, Rachel McCall, Janine Siwicki, Linda Spinney, Elaine Lindh, Kristina Michelson, Whitney Slade 1. Welcome: Bethany welcomed everyone and gave a recap of the fall events and asked if anyone wanted anything added to the agenda. 2. Treasurer’s -Curt Richardson: We had a busy fall financially with the new events this year. The yard sale netted $8600 of $10,000 in sales. Yankee Candle fundraiser and Original Art fundraiser netted a $4400 profit. We have contributed $3000 toward field trips so far (with a budget of $25,000). A question was asked as to how field trips are chosen. Whitney said it is decided based on curriculum and there is an inventory done every year. Curt also mentioned that the PA contributed to the diversity survey (see Head of School Notes below). The goal of the PA is to contribute to the school for things/events not planned for in the school budget. 3. Tennis League: Curt Richardson filled in for Julia: last year we were down to 10 people. This year we have 21 participating parents and now men are invited too! If you know of someone interested in joining, please contact Julia Richardson. 4. Stop and Shop: Curt: You can use your Stop and Shop card to earn money for the school. 5. Lunch Program-Lisa Lewis and Louisa Boatwright: Because of the swine flu, the lower school is getting their lunch in the old library and are eating lunch either outside or in their classroom. The middle school is served lunch in the cafeteria. Please sign up for second semester lunch by January 20th. The international lunch week: Cornucopia provided the lunch-they did a great job. Louisa and Lisa worked with the diversity within the school in planning the menus. They met with different families in planning, there was also fun and games incorporated at lunch. The next International Lunch week will be in April-if you are interested in helping please contact them. 6. Review of fall events-Bethany:
Fall Frenzy-it was a great day with a DJ hosting contests and everything flowed well. There was no charge this year to make it an open event. There was a discussion as to whether to keep certain events and to charge for which ones. One of the principle reasons for having events is to create a sense of community. It will be up to the next PA to determine whether to hold events and whether to charge for them. The fall frenzy is not costly. The DJ was great-some said just too loud. Bringing in the hot dog cart was a great idea. One parent commented that it was a happy note to start the year by not charging-we aren’t asking for money right away. There was picnic before fall frenzy for the new families hosted by Sally Jenkins.
Yard Sale-It was overwhelming at times but definitely worth it. Nicole Scott spearheaded organizing inventory and many others (dads, moms, faculty stepped up and helped out. We had a great turnout to and reached out to the community. Most schools that have yard sales start planning a year ahead. We will have a wrap up meeting, probably next week, to discuss what worked and didn’t and if we did a yard sale again what to do differently. All of the left over merchandise was donated to Salvation Army, Lucy’s hearth, and Newport and Middletown Public libraries. We still have a piano if anyone is interested ($300). Comments: Storage is the key to the yard sale-possibly a self-storage unit. Expenses were banners, pod storage, movers to pick up and deliver large items. Bethany thanked all those that helped.
Ballard Park Pumpkin Tour: Thanks to Elaine, Johna, and Jim for organizing. Elaine: it was the 7th tour and the 2nd time we participated. This year we had about 80 pumpkins. Colleen McGrath reported that 4000 people attended. We were the only school listed as a sponsor. This could be a community service opportunity for 7th and 8th graders to help set up in the future.
Halloween Party: We weren’t able to have it because of swine flu precautions. Since the precautions are still in place, we are not sure if there will be another event in its place. Suggestions were: something for New years or Valentines dance a “Snow Ball” or something tied in with the Olympics. If you have ideas or suggestions please let us know-email Bethany.
Yankee Candle: We had about 40 different orders, $5300 in sales about $2500 in profit. It was a very easy fundraiser-very little work involved. There are still a few orders left to pick up; orders are in the old library.
Original Works-Louisa and Jacqui: Leslie Fisk had set up a different project for each grade. There were 150 orders, $9000 in sales about $2600 in profit. 7. Upcoming events-Bethany:
Secret Store: Since the cottage was available and there was a demand, it was brought back for this year. Sue and Andrea: The secret store will be held December 10th and 11th. They are in need of donations, especially for dads and pets. A winter wonderland is the theme. Colleen has worked hard to decorate it. The committee meets every Thursday at 1 p.m.. Please sign up to help on December 10th and/or 11th to help out-we really need help those 2 days. Drop off any donations in Claire’s office.
“Where do the Children Play” Documentary-Bethany: In January we are planning to host this documentary. Providence Children’s Museum is sponsoring screenings with a panel discussion afterward. The film is about the state of play in the United States. The film follows children raised in 3 different environments and how that affects them. It is a one-hour documentary
House Tour-Bethany: We are trying to get our houses lined up. If you know of a house that is really great (on the island), please let us know. Of the possible house, we will choose 5 houses that best fit the tour (variety, transportation issues, etc). We want to choose the 5 houses by December
Parent Party-Bethany: A group of 7th grade moms and a couple of others are meeting today after the PA meeting. Please give any suggestions. It will be the same weekend of the house tours. 8. On-going activities
School Clothing-Bethany: Lands End and Harrows are our clothing vendors-ordering instructions will be sent to you next week.
Stop and Shop: see above
One Cause: Please remember to go through One Cause when shopping on-line. The school receives on average 3% from the purchases.
Box Tops-Heather: We will be collecting box tops before the winter break. Please start saving. The class with the most box tops will have a party. Shaw’s receipts: Miss Morris started it, keep saving and send them into Mrs. Morris. Money collected from the receipts goes to the MLK center. 9. Head of School announcements-Whitney: The PA is funding money for the NAIS Assessment of Inclusivity and Multiculturalism (AIM). The school assessment will be launched in the new year. Focus groups will meet and discuss different aspects of the school. The second piece is an online survey that will go out to everyone in February. Between the two we will have a strategic plan as to how we are doing and a plan for the future. 10. Swine Flu Update-Rebecca Postma, our new school nurse was introduced. Rebecca had a Q and A. The swine flu is a virus that is contracted through the air. What makes it so complicated is that it can become severely bad pneumonia, immune response-starts fluid and inflammation. The lungs start to fill with fluid. If it is not treated, it can be deadly. Children do not have a good immune system to fight it off. It is also serious for those with a bad illness, as they don’t have a good immune system. Those being hospitalized are young children and those with chronic illness. Some are worried that the vaccine is not safe. Why do you need to have 2 doses? The CDC is saying that children under 10 should have 2 doses, a month apart. What is happening daily at
SMS to prevent spread? St. Michael has done a great job by separating at lunches, extra cleaning, shutting down water fountains, extra hand sanitizers, teaching kids to cover mouths properly and educating the children. By being vaccinated, does that affect the child’s body to develop immunity on their own? Is it better? If the child does not get the vaccine then yes, the body will start to develop immunity, however is it worth the risk? Diseases that we have not seen for many years are because of vaccines. How is the school attendance? There was a spike last week, but attendance has been much better there has been a rise and fall. She is checking it everyday and keeping in touch with sick parents. Parents were recommended to be the best advocate for your child. Are they going to administer mist or injection? They are going to be administering the injection at school as the mist went to pediatricians. There is very little thermarasol in the vaccine. The vaccine is being administered after school on December 10th. The CDC website is updated every Friday if you would like more information. Rebecca needs forms ASAP-3 days before she has to give a total of children to be vaccinated. Parents will come in with their children, probably do it by last names, they will have to observe child for 15 minute. There are 2 vaccinators, parents check in and get form, get in line for vaccine, then a waiting period for 15 minutes in the observation area (looking for allergic reactions)-they will have an EMT on site. You can download the form online or get it from Claire or Rebecca. We will have faculty volunteers to help. Meeting adjourned at 9:45 am
PA Minutes September 9, 2009
St. Michael’s Parents Association Meeting
Wednesday September 9, 2009 at 8:15 am
Board Members in Attendance: Bethany Di Napoli, Jacqui Colbert, Curt Richardson, Lisa Lewis, Heather de Pinho, Louisa Boatwright not in attendance for doctor’s appointment
Parents and Faculty in Attendance: Johna Toppa, Angela DiNunzio, Nicole Scott, Kristina Michelson, Colleen Iascone, Linda Spinney, Elaine Lindh, David Howe, Sally Jenkins, Whitney Slade, Steven Sitrin, Beth O’Shea, Deborah Husak, Debbie Crocker, Beverly Little, Will Dewey, Jill Gudoian, Jill Cooper, Shawen Williams, Cornelia Hodosh, Lori Lind, Bronwyn McDermott, Lauren Marvell, Sue Petrovas, Andrea Breyer, Bonnie Weber, Brooke Gallo, Mary Filippo, Michael Page, Becky Smith, Bill Jacklin, Annie Anderson, Julia Richardson
1. Welcome: Bethany Di Napoli welcomed everyone back to a new year.
We have 21 new families with 35 new students-please reach out and welcome them! The purpose of the PA is to organize events that bring our families and parents together, a spirit of community.
2. Treasurer’s Report: Curt Richardson gave a recap of last year. The PA was able to provide about $21,000 toward the wish list including smart-boards, drama lights and drama tech, grow lights and science kits and funds for an Art patio and Greenhouse in escrow. The Miles Scholarship fund was also started in honor of Miles Fisk. The PA gave a total of $53,000 toward student and school activities. The PA started the year with approximately $36,000 in the PA account and has committed to raise $25,000 for field trips and assemblies during the school year. Any funds collected from cookbook sales goes right toward the PA account. The House Tour raised net $ 15,000. The adult party raised $7,000.
3. Lunch Program: Lisa Lewis announced that today at noon is the last chance to sign up for lunch for the first semester. If you ordered lunch last year, the Power School system did not erase what was ordered for last year. All changes must be done on Power School. If you have any problems please email or call Louisa Boatwright. All children are eligible for lunch (3 year olds thru 8th grade). One or two parents assist at each lunch. The contact for volunteering to help serve lunch are: Monday: Angela DiNunzio, Tuesday: Deb Crocker, Wednesday: Sheri-Lee Shaw, Thursday: Colleen Iascone and Linda Spinney, Friday: Jeanine Siwicki. If children forget lunch there is peanut butter, bread, jelly, and cream cheese. There will be no noodle soup available this year. If your children want the fresh fruit, please make a donation toward the fruit. Milk and OJ program is done through the school ($75 is for every day of the school year)-Rhody Fresh is the provider. Tara Gnolfo is the contact person. You will be billed in October.
4. PA Special Events for 2009-2010:
1. House Tour: Will Dewey and Jill Gudoian are our co-chairs again. The House Tour will be in Newport on April 25th, 2010 from 10-4. The hope is to double the amount raised from last year. They need 5 architecturally significant, interesting homes and are looking for volunteers with marketing. The ads in the program contribute significantly. Please contact Will, Jill or Bethany with any questions about the house tours. We will need a lot of volunteers for the day of the event, preferably at least one parent from each family.
2. Fall Frenzy: This Sunday from 1-4 to welcome everyone back. We have a bigger rock-wall, water slide, ponies, DJ with contests and prizes, homemade ice cream, hotdog cart ($2.25 each). The event is free admission this year with exception of the hotdogs. It is not a big money making event and we thought it would be nice to have an event that was free for families. We need volunteers for this event, please see Bethany. The rain date is September 20th.
3. Yard Sale: is Saturday October 3rd from 9-2. We need donations and volunteers. Clothing, household objects, electronics in good condition-things that can sell well. A storage POD is arriving tomorrow for extra space. Please do not bring in worn or old items. One day we will have a pick-up for larger items that you can’t bring yourself. Please let Nicole Scott or Lisa Lorhum, our co-chairs know if you need a pick-up. The sale will be in the gym and the gym will be available the Thursday and Friday before hand, if you are able to help set-up, please come!
4. Ballard Park Pumpkin Tour: Elaine Lindh: The Ballard Park Pumpkin Tour will be Saturday October 17th from 4:30-9:30 PM. Please purchase a pumpkin (larger is better) and carve as close to the 16th as possible. Jim Toppa will have his truck here that day to take the SMS pumpkins to Ballard Pumpkin. We are a sponsor this year-the more pumpkins the better!
5. Halloween Movie Night: Instead of the Halloween Party, the Lower and Middle school will come on Friday the 30th at different times with different movies. The details have not been finalized. The PA is looking for volunteers to help coordinate the event or volunteer that night.
We need a chair for the following events:
6. Skating Party: in march
7. Parents Spring Party: tentatively the Friday before the house tour
8. Newport Gulls Baseball Event: in the spring
9. Faculty/Staff Appreciation Day
10. We will not be having the secret store this year as there are a lot of volunteers needed and we will need a lot for the Yard Sale. Another reason is there a problem with where the location would be for the store. Instead the children will be doing an art project with the kids to be used as gifts (mugs, bags, etc).
5. On-going PA Activities
1. Cookbook Sales and Marketing: We are looking for a team to look into to selling the remaining 3,000 cookbooks gearing toward the tourists that come to Newport and our main stores that already sell them. Cassandra Fitzgerald will still coordinate sales at the Food and Wine Festival (September 25th and 26th) and at the Flower Show. An idea that came up was to offer a cooking class geared toward things in the cookbook as an after school class.
2. Ladies Tennis: If interest in joining the ladies tennis club please Julia Richardson tennis starts the 18th of September.
3. Publishing House: Volunteers bound books created by Lower School children. Volunteers are needed, schedule is very flexible.
4. School Clothing: The PA will no longer be selling school clothing, however the PA is in the process of setting up school clothing accounts with two new vendors. Lands End will offer dress code items and Harrows for athletic clothing. You will now have a much greater selection! In the next couple of weeks the PA will send out a catalog for Lands End as well as website information for both vendors with instructions. Please look for the clothing table at Fall Frenzy for our clothing inventory liquidation!
5. One Cause: Please visit the website OneCause.com before shopping online. Many stores participate and the school receives a percentage of all sales!
6. Box Tops: We are again collecting box tops! Please write the grade # on the back of each box top. Later in the fall, they will be collected by each grade-the grade with the highest # of box tops will have an ice cream party! Please contact Heather de Pinho or Shannon Majewski with any questions.
6. New Fundraising Initiatives:
1. Yankee Candle: This year the PA is participating in selling Yankee Candles, 40% of sales comes back to the school. The forms will be given out the first week of October and items will be available the beginning of December.
2. Kids Art Gifts: The children will be making art gifts to give as presents.
7. Head of School Announcements:
1. Whitney Slade announced that the new website is much more informative and
up to date information can be found using the online calendar. This year, the morning coffees will be “Grade Coffees” for with specific information for each grade.
2.Whitney introduced Lisa Conway, as the St. Michael’s School Director of
Academic Initiatives. Lisa will be responsible for working with the administration in regards to alternative revenue sources for the school. One way is encouraging international students to come to St. Michael’s. Another is the new after school program. This program will not only offer new and different academic programs, but also reach out to the community. Classes for lower and middle upper above and beyond what is offered during the school day. Middle school classes are offered on Wednesday to fit with the sports schedule in the fall and spring. Classes are offered once a week for 8 weeks, 3 semesters. Classes will be changing. The deadline for fall classes is September 10th. Visit the website for more information and please spread the word.
8. Board of Trustees: President of the board, David Howe explained that the board is made up of alumnae, people in the community, faculty and parents (past and present). There are 5 meetings each year. The annual meeting will be held on September 30th at 2 pm in the library all parents are encouraged to attend. The board is made up of many committees. The board sets the budget and tuition for the upcoming year. Enrollment last year was beginning 236 students ended the year with 245 students. We are starting this year with 227 students.
9. Comments/Suggestions: It was asked about having a father/daughter dance and mother/son event. If interested in planning such an event, please contact the PA.
10. The New St. Michael’s Website-Navigating Tips for Parents: After the PA meeting, Whitney demonstrated how to navigate the new school website.
