Sarah Adams PTO Minutes
September 14, 2015
(Pending approval at October Meeting)
Emily Niepomnik called the meeting to order and welcomed all in attendance.
May 2015 minutes were approved.
Emily shared the “Hug a Planet” activity that has been used as part of the new Social Emotional Learning
(4 R’s) program in the building. The activity helped everyone at the meeting introduce themselves, as
there were a lot of new faces in attendance.
PRINCIPAL REPORT:
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Mrs. Mall shared some details about the beginning of the school year. The staff had 5 days of
professional development prior to the kids arriving this year, including two days of the “4 R’s”
training plus 3 days of district training.
Dave Herlocker also introduced himself as the new Assistant Principal. It is his 11th year in
District 95, having previously taught 4th and 5th grade in the district. He shared his primary
duties – student discipline, testing, lunch/recess supervision, evaluating staff, and other duties
as needed.
Mrs. Mall explained the addition of Grade Level Team Leaders as a new role in the district. Each
team leader will attend one PTO meeting throughout the year in addition to other
responsibilities.
She described some changes to the layout of the LMC this year. They have re-purposed the
computer lab into a primary reading room with most of the primary reading collections in it.
The laptops and iPads are now housed on carts. There will be an idea wall to be used for
language activities.
TEACHER REPORT: Mrs. Amoroso thanked the PTO for the Back to School Breakfast. She also discussed
an example of an activity from the 4 R’s social emotional training that included how to be a good
listening.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT: Emily Niepomnik shared that she will meet with other PTO Presidents from the
district as well as District administration monthly, so she can report at our PTO meetings. Here were the
updates from the most recent meeting:
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Dr. Egan is retiring at the end of the school year. A search firm is running the hiring process and
has already begun gathering feedback from teachers and parents. There are already about 24
candidates who have submitted applications. They are hoping to have someone hired prior to
December 31st.
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Over the summer, the capital improvements in the district included new bleachers at the High
School and minor projects throughout some other buildings.
District 95’s non-profit foundation that helps raise money for Creative Spaces and technology
funds to support the educational goals of the district. Saturday, October 4 is their annual Fun
Run/Walk Fundraiser. More information is on the district web-site.
She shared the slate and asked for anyone who might be interested in sharing a position to help
make the events continue for this year. In particular, Ice Cream Social, Hospitality, and Bingo
are areas of need or they may not happen this year. Pass the word, grab a friend to co-chair, or
offer to help out on a committee. Many hands make light work.
She also shared that if there are any new talents or passions, please contact her. We are open
to new suggestions and ideas for the PTO.
VICE-PRESIDENT’S REPORT: Christina Bos shared that she is the contact person for the PTO Facebook
page. Head room mom meeting happened last week. They are getting their plans underway for the
year. Previous chairs will be asked to document information to make the hand-over easy to new chairs.
Cindy Barnett shared that she assists with fundraising and the bulletin board to keep everyone posted.
TREASURER’S REPORT: Renee Genovese is transferring the role to Dina Maddern. She shared that the
annual audit of last year’s books has been completed and submitted to the district.
A motion was made and approved to change the contact person for our not-for-profit paperwork to
Dina Maddern, removing Sandra Frampton.
Reimbursement forms and cash box requests are available on the Sarah Adams PTO web page for easy
access.
Dina shared the various budget adjustments that were made for the current year. The PTO Board had
previously gone through the budget line by line to utilize previous 2 years of data to make the best
projections for this current year.
One larger change was a reduction in the foundation donation. In previous years, the PTO has donated
about $5000 to the foundation, and Sarah Adams has received that amount back to the school in
technology. The foundation is now funding Creative Spaces and Innovation grants instead. Sarah
Adams applied and was denied a Creative Spaces grant for the library renovation. The proposed budget
included a change in the Foundation donation down to $1000 and moving that money into a new line
item for Building/Facilities to be earmarked for supporting the library renovation as well as playground
equipment purchases as discussed in May last year. After looking at the amount of carry over year to
year, the board also proposed that more money be added to that line item, so that not as much excess
would be remaining at the end of a budget year. The idea behind this proposal was that we have been
successful raising money and we need to spend that money on the school, since we are a not-for-profit
organization. In the discussion, it was also noted that the foundation did provide Sarah Adams with
funds to furnish the Atrium and that the district administration had funded the initial renovations
already completed in the library.
It was also brought up that the Teacher Appreciation Week line item should be broken into Teacher
Appreciation Week Meals and Teacher Appreciation Week Activities, so that it was clearer how the
Teacher Appreciation money was allocated for future chairs.
The proposed 2015-16 budget was approved including the addition of a line item for Building/Facilities
as well as the Teacher Appreciation changes. The Building/Facilities line item will work similar to a grant
in that the proposal will be submitted for the library renovations and then the funds will be approved.
A discussion was had regarding Target Red Card. It is a simple way to earn money for the school, since it
can be registered to Sarah Adams and the PTO will receive 5% in addition to the 5% discount you can
receive by using the card.
SECRETARY’S REPORT: Adrianne Myers and Lisa Smith will work as Co-Secretaries this year. Adrianne
will continue to do the PTO Newsletters that are sent out with the Principal’s Post a few times each
month. She will send out emails to committee chairs about a week prior for them to get her information
to include for that newsletter.
Lisa will be taking on the PTO blast reminders. So if committee chairs need something blasted out
quickly, please contact her.
Christina Bos will continue to be the contact for Facebook reminders.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
RESTAURANT NIGHT/SAVERS: Krista Evans thanked those who attended the Oberweis restaurant night.
They are still totaling final numbers. The next night is Culver’s on October 20th (Tuesday). She is also
work on a fall Savers event, so save your donations.
BOX TOPS: Emily shared on behalf of Jenny Cotsiomitis that the contest runs through this Friday,
September 18th. The winning family will win a $25 Manna gift card of their choice.
SPIRIT WEAR: Kerri Glicksman said sales totaled about $1700 this year. Since most orders were online,
they are playing around with the idea of all online sales next year and removing paper orders.
YEARBOOK: A new chair, Carol Trnawa, has stepped up! Suzanne Hilton and Rebekah Morrison will
continue to assist with this year’s yearbook. Deadlines for event pictures will be given throughout the
year. They are also looking for classroom liaison to assist with proofreading the classroom page and
uploading pictures. There will likely be a yearbook club for 5th graders as well. Order by September 30th
and get your yearbook for only $15.
WALK-A-THON: Lisa Smith shared that the event is Sept 28th – Oct 2nd. Due to the early release during
the week, two classes will only walk once. Please see the sign-up genius to sign up to help out – it is an
easy job to supervise the walkers, but we need a lot of parents to monitor the complete course. T-shirts
are being offered as an incentive for $15 donation per child. The information will come home with your
child and is also on Virtual Backpack.
BOOK FAIR: Kim Klunder shared that the fall book fair will take place Oct. 13th – Oct 16th, ending with
the Ice Cream Social on the 16th. Diary of Wimpy Kid 10 will be a pre-order. This year’s addition is an
online fair that will run simultaneously, which will open a larger set of titles to the kids. Sign-up genius
will be coming. She shared that there are a few Scholastic Dollars that will expire October 14th. Mrs.
Mall will oversee those funds. A suggestion was made to use that for another One Book, One School
program this year.
BOO HOO OR WOO HOO: Petra Craddock shared that the events were successful again this year. They
reached over 20 families with the two events.
HOSPITALITY: Suzanne Whitacre shared the Back to School Breakfast went off successfully. She had a
wonderful sign-up for all of the donated meal events throughout the year, and all slots are filled! She
has everything up and running, but is looking for someone to step up to continue it for the remainder of
the year. She and her family are moving to Florida, and the PTO feels strongly that this committee
needs to continue. If you are interested in helping to chair or participate on the committee, please
contact Emily Niepomnik.
GRANTS: Kelley Belew shared that Teacher Grants will run in the fall rather than later in the year, so
that the teachers can have their items in their hands earlier in the year. Applications will be out to
teachers shortly. The process will run similar to in years past.
JOANIE’S CLOSET: Petra Craddock and Kerri Wilson shared that 305 school supply backpacks were
packed up and given out to district families this year. They are running a Jeans Drive at St. Francis,
collecting new or gently used jeans from young to adult. There will also be a Coat Drive coming up in
November. Families submit forms to request a need, and it is a confidential way for families to receive
support through the district.
MANNA/BENEFIT: Adrianne Myers shared that Manna will run similarly to years past. However, all
orders will be delivered to your child or held in the office to pick up. There will be Cash and Carry cards
again this year available for purchase in the school office. She introduced a new Benefit Mobile App
that the PTO will be using this year. It is a free App that you can use to purchase electronic gift cards for
immediate use from your phone. Once you set up your account, you can select where your money will
go – either PTO general funds or 5th Grade TAFT Fund to support an individual student. Information will
be posted shortly on Virtual Backpack.
Emily Niepomnik called the meeting to a close.
October 5th is next meeting.
Minutes submitted by Adrianne Myers