WILMINGTON MIDDLE SCHOOL PAC MINUTES
Minutes for meeting held on:
September 24, 2015
The meeting was called to order by Lynne Parr at 6:05pm
In attendance
Four Board Members
1 Principal
1 Teacher
Two Parents
Approval of Agenda and Minutes
The agenda for today’s meeting was motioned by Tricia Brisbois, seconded by Jess Bourgeois and unanimously approved.
Welcome and Introductions
Principal’s Report
Middle School Principal, Amy Gerade, was kind enough to join us and give us an update on how the first month of school is
progressing.

The new schedule seems to be working out. Any overlapping issues have been addressed. Teachers and students
are getting used to the schedule and finding the longer time blocks beneficial.

The new 6th grade is transitioning nicely and adjusting to middle school.

The Open House had a great turnout. Ms. Gerade sent out a message just to reassure parents that she understood
hosting the Unified Arts teachers in the cafeteria didn’t really work out. Next year they may try having 8th grade
peer leaders to direct parents to the various classrooms and attempt to separate the Unified Arts teachers so
that their presentations can be heard.

This year, Ms. Gerade will be looking to the PAC and working with the Middlesex District Attorney’s office to help
her fund student enrichment programs. These programs will include focus on student social and emotional health,
handling social media, and drug awareness (the opiate problem). Rather than just focusing on the older students,
Ms. Gerade hopes that with additional funding these programs can be schoolwide (when developmentally
appropriate) to instill a healthy culture throughout middle school. She is also interested in hosting some workshops
for parents on communication, handling your student’s social media presence, and financial planning. She would like
to hear from parents to see what topics would be helpful.

These enrichments will go hand in hand with the results from parent survey that the superintendent posted. These
results showed what parents felt were the most important core values that the school should be encouraging in the
student’s behavior. Please see the school superintendent’s blog for details.

Doreen Crowe will be representing the schools at the town’s drug awareness meeting to be held at St. Thomas on
Wednesday, October 28th at 7:00pm. This is a presentation for adults (all are welcome), showing the film “If Only”
and discussing the growing opiate problem in Wilmington and nationwide.

The middle school goals for this school year will address the Student Handbook and Tier 2 Intervention in addition
to MCAS goals.

Katie Jackson, member of the District Safety Committee, also appealed to the PAC for funds to help get supplies
for the Emergency Kits that will be located in each classroom in case of an emergency situation. The Middle School
is tasked with getting the hand-crank flashlights for the Wilmington school district. This would total about
$800.00.

ACTION ITEM: The PAC will see how the fundraising through direct donation goes and then discuss
donating all or a portion of these funds.

There will be an ALICE drill coming up and parents will be notified by ConnectED.

The Fire Drill earlier this year went well.
Treasurer’s Report
Motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report by Tricia Brisbois, seconded by Jess Bourgeois and unanimously approved.

Budget report is just starting out. Rhonda will have a more detailed report next meeting to reflect the direct
donation campaign and some deposits that have not yet been made.

The direct donation campaign has raised about $2500.00 so far. If this goes well the PAC should be able to
eliminate doing any other fundraisers and have enough money to finance the enrichment programs, the teacher
luncheon and holiday treat fest.
Ongoing Business

School Store
o
The school store will open on October 2, 2015. It will be open every Friday during the lunch hour for all
grades.
o
The Grand Opening will be announced at school and a slide should be made for the school TV message
boards.

o
ACTION ITEM: Make slide for message boards and announcements.
The store will be staffed by volunteer parents. For the first week, Lynne and Rachelle will be able to cover
the hours. Volunteers will be needed starting on October 16 th.

ACTION ITEM: Jess will set up Sign-Up Genius so parents can volunteer online.
o
The store will need an inventory list so items can be checked off when purchased and we know what is
selling or when supplies get low. Also we may need a quick write up on how to run the store for volunteers.
o
Rhonda has a cash box that the store can use.

o
ACTION ITEM: Rhonda will supply the cash box and get the cash (singles and quarters) to make
change.
When discussing what items may sell at the school store, Maria suggested that maybe holding a raffle for
kids who filled out a survey. This survey would list improvements for the school store and give ideas for
items they would like to see at the store. Rachelle mentioned that last year kids were asking for those
small drawstring backpack bags, wool caps and bandanas.

ACTION ITEM: Jess will make a sheet where kids can write their school store suggestions in
exchange for a ticket for the raffle. One raffle for each grade.
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
Rock-n-Roll Bingo
o
Caryl Nansel contacted Lynne about having Rock-n-Roll Bingo this February. She would be happy to chair
this event again. She was unable to attend this week’s meeting. After discussion, it was decided that we
would table this for another meeting. This year fundraising was the direct donation campaign, there is
concern that the message the PAC was sending was that the fundraising this year would just be a direct
donation and then people wouldn’t have to worry about any events for the rest of the year. This may not be
well received if we then ask people to attend an event for additional fundraising. May have to bring this up
again if direct donation does not go well.
Box Tops for Education

o
This is not a PAC fundraiser. The PAC provides the volunteers to manage it, but the money goes directly to
the school to be used as they see fit.
o
Last year, the school received about $700.00 from this effort.

o

This is an ongoing fundraiser. Simply clip the coupons off of many household products and send them in
with your student to school. Each coupon is worth $.10. They will be tallied and submitted for cash. When
clipping please make sure the coupons are not expired!
Bags2School
o

ACTION ITEM: The PAC needs to decide if it will continue providing the management for this
fundraiser and if so, a communication needs to go out to parents to help get this fundraiser going.
Will the Box Tops Madness contest be held again?
This clothing drive style fundraiser has been held in the past. Whether this will be held in the spring will
be discussed again pending the results from the direct donation campaign.
PAC Schedule
o
The meeting schedule has been approved and is up on the website. Meetings are held on Thursdays in the
Middle School Library: Thursday, 10/22 @ 8:30am, Thursday, 11/19 @ 6:30pm, Thursday, 12/17 @ 8:30am, Thursday,
1/14/16 @ 6:30pm, Thursday, 2/11/16 – @ 8:30am, Thursday, 3/10/16 @ 6:30pm, Thursday, 4/14/16 @ 8:30am,
Thursday, 5/12/16 @ 6:30pm, Thursday, 6/9/16 @ 8:30am
Announcements
Next Meeting will be Thursday, October 22nd at 8:30am at the Middle School Library.
Motion to adjourn was made at 7:40pm.
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