Kyrene de los Cerritos Leadership Academy
PTO Community Meeting Minutes
Date: Wednesday, August 12th
Call to Order: An Executive Board Meeting of the Kyrene de los Cerritos Leadership
Academy was held in the Synergy Room on Wednesday, August 12th, 2015. The
meeting convened at 8:33 am with President Jane Miller presiding and Leslie Swanson,
as Secretary.
Members in Attendance: The following board members were present and a quorum
was present: Jane Miller (President), Allie Schenach (Vice President), Leslie Swanson
(Secretary), Deb True (Treasurer), Amy Huffman (Financial Secretary), Rachel Schurz
(Communications), Genevieve Kennedy (Historian), Louise Yanock (Hospitality), and Jen
Metzger (Hospitality). The Cerritos Administration was represented by Darcy DiCosmo
(Principal) and Courtney Bauer (Student Advisor). The general PTO members in
attendance included Jeff Lutes, Carolyn Yeretzuan, Becky Weinberg, Nikki Nelson,
Cristina Carter, Sandy Morrison, Gayle Jurik, Jeannette Sandoval, Jennifer Domey,
Renee Doty and Mikel Anne Arnce.
Minutes: Minutes of 5/11/2015 meeting read, Genevieve Kennedy motioned to accept
the minutes, Amy Huffman 2nd the motion. The minutes were approved.
Addendum – On June 4th, 2015 an electronic vote was taken to approve the minutes
from the Special Meeting held on May 29th 2015. Jane Miller made a motion to approve
the minutes, and Genevieve Kennedy gave the 2nd. A vote was taken and passed. The
minutes for the Meeting, electing Deb True as Treasurer, were approved via electronic
vote and the PTO was able to officially add her to the Bank Accounts.
Officer’s Reports
President: Janie Miller deferred her notes, as they all pertained more to Old and New
Business.
Vice President: Allie Schenach had nothing to report.
Secretary: Leslie Swanson requested that everyone please sign in and in an attempt to
save more paper, agendas will be emailed to board members prior to the meeings so
that fewer copies will need to be made at each meeting.
Treasurer: Deb True reported that the teacher grant checks were distributed. She
announced that so far for the year we are on budget. A question was asked by Nicole
Bondurant, “What is the overall financial goal?” It was explained that each line item has
a set goal, this is reflected from the funds raised from the Be A Beacon Drive. This year
the Be A Beacon Goal is $18,000, however as a PTO we would like to reach $20,000 for
the 3rd year in a row.
The starting balance of the budget for the year is $33,000.
Financial Secretary: Amy Huffman had nothing to report.
Communication: Rachel Schurz announced that she did receive some support for
people interest in taking part in the communications team. She is waiting to see how
much and what people are wanting to do as far as participate. From there she can see
if she can find a Marquee Chair. The Beep Beep is set to be released that day, along
with literature for Be A Beacon. She included a reminder that you must be on Listserv
to receive any communication.
Volunteer Coordinator: Amy Huffman did share to new families not to be afraid to
step up as a chair, as intimidating as it sounds, you will have plenty of help from the
board/PTO team. There are plenty of resources to guide you to leading a successful
event, and even though it may sound frightening to take on such a big task, there are
plenty of willing helpful people to guide you and answer questions.
Abby announced that Christina Weinmann needs a Co-Chair for the Ice Cream Social.
Abby announced needing a Gift of Time Chair. Leslie Swanson volunteered to take that
position and the Hospitality Team agreed to help support the event. Abby discussed
the need for a Family Fun Night Chair, and the concept of Family Fun Night taking the
place of the Spring Dance in February was discussed. Abby shared that the Spring Book
Fair will also need a Chair.
It was shared that the Sign Up Genius has 153 emails in it, yet there are over 1000
parent emails in the school data base. The question was raised “How do we get people
to join Sign Up Genius” and Amy Huffman suggested that we have the teachers
promote sign up genius at Curriculum Night. Gayle Jurick contributed that she will
“stalk” people to try to see more people get involved. It was discussed that if we split
the number of volunteer hours needed to put on PTO events amongst all of the
parents, each parent would only need to give one hour at only one event and we could
have everything covered. Carolyn Yeretzuan commented that she was “stalked” and it
was effective. The verbiage that was presented to her was that she could “delight her
kids by being there”, it was suggested that using the phrase “delighting your kids”
would help get more people in the door. Genevieve Kennedy suggested promoting
volunteer hours to coincide with the leadership aspect of the school. Jeannette
Sandoval suggested that a half sheet of paper with request for PTO Volunteers be sent
home and it was confirmed by Rachel Schurz that this has been done. Carolyn
Yeretzuan voiced a concern if full time working parents could/would respond to a half
sheet of paper. Jane Miller asked Darcy if we can link into the weekly school newsletter
and Darcy suggested that PTO promote volunteering in a meter similar to the Beacon
meter so it is visual to see how we are doing in reaching our goal. Nikki Neslon
suggested changing the verbiage rather than saying are you interested in volunteering,
to would you want to be “notified” of opportunities to volunteer so that people don’t
think they are committed to actually volunteering if joining sign up genius. The term
volunteering can sound intimidating. Abby Green also suggested some sort of incentive
raffle to promote volunteer sign ups and Jane Miller told Abby to go for it, as the
volunteer chair she has that authority.
Historian: Genevieve Kennedy suggested that as a PTO we talk up the Pictavo app to
parents. Last year only 5-10 parents contributed pictures to the year book, and it was
a lot of the same kids in the pictures because their parents participated. If you would
like to see your child in the year book, please submit pictures. The year book
committee is going to put a one month cap on each event so that the pages can be
completed in a timely manner. The Pictavo App is as easy as taking pictures and then
uploading it into a student folder.
September 3rd is the yearbook training to use the software. The yearbook is currently
looking for people to be in charge of pages and classrooms. The end result on the year
book pages for the classrooms are better when a parent from the class is the
representative rather than a random parent who does not have a connection with that
class, as the pictures are more lifelike. It was discussed if all students had permission
to be in year book photos and how does that relate to Facebook pictures. Darcy
confirmed that if the picture is only for the year book then every student can be in it. If
the picture is going on any type of Social Media there are parameters and there is a list
of kids who cannot be published.
Hospitality: Jen Metzger and Louise Yanock reported on the Welcome Back Breakfast
for the Staff. Thank you to those who made dishes. Each staff member was given a
Sharpie Papermate pen set as a Back To School gift. For meet the teacher the staff
was served Chick-fil-a and positive feedback was received. For the Friday Staff
Luncheon the food provided by Kneaders was good, but there was none left and the
prices have increased, so we will discontinue using them. Thank you to Abby Green
who repainted all of the classroom numbers for the first day of school. For the first
Staff Appreciation Day, chocolate covered strawberries were given with a note “We
appreciate you Berry Much!”. Bus drivers and one crossing guard was included, the
other crossing guard is difficult to get in contact with.
The year-long Staff Appreciation plan was discussed. Rather than one week of
showering the staff with appreciation there will be staff appreciation days spread out
over the calendar year and scheduled each month. It was brought up that we were the
only school that recognizes the bus drivers and the bus drivers appreciate that. There
is a list of people who are willing to volunteer with the hospitality team, and Jen
Metzger and Louise Yanock will reach out to those people to see if they can help take
on some of the Staff Appreciation days or contribute to brainstorming with hospitality
for ideas. The hospitality committee does provide “to go” containers so that people can
take them on the go. The next scheduled Staff Appreciation day will be September 4th
and that is a Baked Potato Bar. The Hospitality team will reach out for easy sides
(cheese, sour cream etc.). Jessica will help with informing the staff where/when the
hospitality events are so that people are not left out. There was much input regarding
making sure that the bus drivers and the crossing guards were informed so that they
don’t miss out on Staff Appreciation.
It was announced that the Hospitality will provide an appropriate snack at the Monthly
Staff meetings on Wednesdays at 1:00 pm and the staff will be informed of this.
There will still be one big Staff Appreciation Day in May with cards, gift cards and notes
from the parents. This will include a luncheon. There was a suggestion made to get
students involved with Staff Appreciation and assigning Lighthouse Students to provide
the Bus Drivers with their Staff Appreciation.
The Hospitality Team is balancing their end of the budget by alternating between
purchased items (strawberries etc.) and contributions provided by parents (baked
potato sides) to help keep the cost down. There will also be a shift on the contribution
end from Baked goods to Side dishes so that there is something that everyone can
provide.
Amy Huffman suggested that Corporate Sponsorship can help to sponsor the Staff
Appreciation. It was asked if we could make a line item to Staff Appreciation for that
type of specific Corporate Sponsorship. It was decided that we would need to vote to
increase the budge for hospitality to include that line item.
For Curriculum Night, Louise Yanock is delivering Zuppas to the staff for dinner. The
Staff will be given a choice of their meal. Abby Green will be volunteering to help
Louise, and Amy Huffman volunteered to help. The teachers will need to eat between 4
pm and 5.
The tablecloths that were ordered for Hospitality were ordered round and needed to be
square. They have now been exchanged and Louise Yanock asked for any suggestion
on colors.
Principal’s Report – Darcy Di Cosmo Thanked the entire PTO Community for
attending, stating that all of the parent involvement creates a great opportunity for the
students and teachers. Special appreciation was acknowledged to the Hospitality Team
for their Back to School events. Their work made for a great start of the year.
Darcy Di Cosmo presented a program that she is interested in bringing to the school
called Playworks. Playworks is a structured Recess Program that teaches children how
to play games in a fair and consistent way. It teaches students how make teams, and
how to work through disagreements on the playground. Darcy feels that being a
leadership school, the students do not always transport the leadership skills to the
playground. She feels that this program will find a common ground between a club
player and a novice. There is an opportunity for PE faculty to come out during cooler
weather to instruct game/sport play, but recess is something that is challenging for the
administration to constantly moderate. The program teaches kids how to play recess
sports fairly. From there the fifth graders take the leadership skills, that are then
passed down to fourth grade, so that the concept is in motion through the school. The
cost of the program is $13,000. There is potential for a discount. Darcy feels like this
is a perfect match for the leadership element that Cerritos is known for, and she feels
like it will add consistency in our leadership program from classroom to playground.
Amy Huffman asked if it is a structured environment for everyone or do students have
the chance to make their own decisions on what they want to do. Darcy answered that
the Playworks program would have multiple activities going on at once so that all
students can play and make a choice as to what they want to do. The program would
be implemented 5 days a week. The thought of inviting another sports related
program, such as 30 Down, into our campus to promote and tailor a positive play
environment was suggested. It was asked if the administration could look at other
options that were more cost effective, even volunteer parents to help mediate activities,
rather than spending the money, due to the deficit and budget cuts that the school is
facing. Nicole Bonderant felt that having an outside source will help the student learn
differently. She also included that this would take away any type of favoritism and the
idea of using an outside source would benefit the school. It was suggested that this
idea would help bring the school together to find something that students as a whole
enjoy doing. Darcy DiCosmo presented that the Diamondbacks are offering grants
(totaling $100,000) to support schools. Darcy DiCosmo was looking for people who are
interested in helping compile a grant to cover the cost of the Playworks. The question
was asked if there was a contract with Playworks? Darcy DiCosmo answered that there
was not. The program’s purpose is to teach skills, have those skills passed around
through the school. Teachers are also included in the training so that the entire school
is on the same page with what the Playworks concepts are. It was suggested to use
the Big Buddies from Alta Dena. Darcy DiCosmo was concerned that over time the
mentors in the Big Buddy program lose interest in helping and do not fully do their job.
She also felt that the Big Buddies would need adult supervision. Jill asked if we are
taking away the students free time. She questioned if we really need structure and
control on the playground or are we taking away the opportunity for students to learn
how to figure it out. Nicole Bonderant suggested that we try to find a place to meet
half way. She wanted to know if the program could only offer a few days a week, or
working with the school half of the time. The question was raised if it was a voluntary
program for the students or must they participate and Darcy DiCosmo did not know the
answer. She suggested that if you wanted to go visit a school that offered Playworks,
there was one where you could see the program in action. Jane Miller addressed that
there was a problem at recess that does need a solution. She shared that there are
recess issues that need to be addressed, however the PTO/administration will need to
research options to help out the situation. Jane Miller suggested that a committee be
formed to research Playworks and other options and at the next general meeting the
PTO can vote to see if it is willing to help support the Playworks option. Darcy DiCosmo
did share that the Program provides 4 staff members for one month. The Playworks
program does bring equipment and they teach the students how to be responsible with
that equipment.
Old Business
School Supply Kits : The sales are done. There were 289 sold and purchased by over
half of the students. For the extra 5 per grade level that were purchased, all but 2 of
them were sold at the start of the year. Those supply kits did come in a day late and
EPI gave a credit of $100 as an apology for the error. We will revisit this program for
next year.
Welcome Team Recap : At the end of last school year, welcome calls were made.
The PTO provided the MYTN event with the pre-tour and reception. The pre- MYTN
event had more people than expected and it was crowded, but overall the events had
positive feedback. There was also parent help with the Kindergarten classes at the end
of the day for pick up, busses, and after school. The response was good from the
teachers.
There were volunteers to help kindergarten at the end of the day. That was good. The
Welcome Social Hour at the Morrison’s went very well. Sandy Morrison said she would
do it again next year. There was positive feedback for on the comfortable atmosphere
and the amount of husbands that attended. The Welcome Committee is looking to do
some new family events throughout the year as well.
New Business
New Board Member Nominations : A motion was made by Rachel Schurz to elect
Allie Schenach to the position of Vice President. The motion was 2nd by Genevieve
Kennedy. The motion was approved.
A motion was made by Rachel Schurz to elect Abby Green to the position of Volunteer
Coordinator. The motion was 2nd by Genevieve Kennedy. The motion was approved.
Be A Beacon Donation Drive: Starts Thursday, August 13th. Allie Schenach and
Jane Miller will go to each class room to promote the drive and hand out information
packets. Each student will earn a black lanyard with a $10 donation submitted. The
lanyards will then be used to grab a pin from the “Funky Pin Cart” on Tuesdays and
Thursdays at Lunch Recess. The earlier you donate the earlier the pins can start being
collected, therefore more pins will be received. The question was raised that we not
single students out for not being able to afford a donation. PTO is trying to motivate
kids by small nominal prizes similar to the Jump Rope For Heart Ducks.
Peter Piper Pizza Night – Thursday, August 13th Be A Beacon Kick Off Party:
A sign up genius is out to get volunteers to work the PTO table at the event. Amy
Huffman asked if we needed to have the flyers for the school to get credit for the
event. Jane Miller said she would confirm that we did not. Going back to the Be A
Beacon discussion, there was talk of the Raffle Grand Prize donated by Bonderant
Racing for $1000 towards a Drivers Package at the Bonderant Racing School, the
Bonderant Family also donated a mini Ipad. Every donation of $10 that a student
brings in will be good for one Raffle Ticket into the drawing. There will also be smaller
scale, but fun prizes to win such as a trip to the Spiritwear closet, or a free homework
pass.
Spiritwear Drive: Mikel Anne Arnce announced the Spiritwear pre order is in motion
until the end of August. The order will be placed at that time. They are expecting
about a 2 week turn around for the products to be done. PTO is purchasing staff T
shirts. They will be done by Monday or Wednesday of the following week, hopefully in
time to distribute for the Staff Meeting.
Frozen Fridays: Leslie Swanson announced the Frozen Fridays have started. Sales
for the first Friday were slow, probably due to lack of notification to the students. Amy
Huffman asked if there was a possibility of an IOU system. Jane Miller determined that
an IOU system would be too complicated to keep track of. Jeannette Sandoval asked
about the possibility of purchasing a punch card. Jane Miller left that to the discretion
of Leslie Swanson to determine if it was worth doing.
Changes to Vons/Safeway E-script Program: Jane Miller announced that Safeway
is doing away with the Escript Fundraising Program. To offset the loss of funds raised
by the PTO through Escript, they will come back to us and pay quarterly $1182 to make
up the difference of what the PTO will not earn this year.
Community Garage Sale: Amy Huffman presented a fundraising idea for a big
community Garage Sale. The idea would include families donating gently used items to
the school for the PTO to sell for the benefit of the school. The PTO has the permission
to use the school on a weekend. Gilbert will need to be compensated for his time at
the school. The items donated will need to be stored in the MPR the day prior to the
sale. Depending on the weather, the sale will be outside. The idea is to make money
for the school, so donating families should not put a particular price tag on items. The
date was set for Saturday, November 7th.
Recycling Bin Request from Su Rogers: This topic no longer needs a discussion as
Su Rogers was able to handle her request.
Corporate Sponsorship Chair Board Member Position: Jane Miller brought up the
idea to request a change of the Bylaws for a position on the board for a Corporate
Sponsorship Chair position on the PTO Board. The position on the board is currently
entertained by Amy Huffman and Nicole Bonderant, as they have partner together to
develop a marketing plan including tiered (such as gold and platinum level)
sponsorship. Currently they have Woolaver Orthodontics and Edward Jones Financial
Advisor: Betty Teille already committed.
The current bylaws do not show a position for that role, and the PTO would need to
amend the bylaws in order to vote Amy Huffman and Nicole Bonderant into the above
said position. Jane Miller addressed that moving Amy Huffman to this position would
open up the role of the financial secretary, in which Sandy Morrison has agreed to take
on the position filling the Financial Secretary role. Leslie Swanson motioned to amend
the bylaws to add a position of “Corporate Sponsorship Char” to the bylaws. The
motion was 2nd by Allie Schenach. It was questioned that the situation would be
challenging to fill in future years, however it was agreed that it was a position that a
functioning board could do without if they could not fill the position. Rachel Schurz
suggested a change be made to the wording to become Corporate Development Chair,
as opposed to sponsorship. A decision was not met on changing the position title. The
role of the position was discussed, and it would not be limited to using flyers to help
promote business, allowing businesses to sponsor a Staff Appreciation Luncheon. Amy
Huffman also asked if you had connections to any businesses that may be interested in
getting involved to contact her. Nicole Bonderant suggested that this is a great way to
build local businesses. Amy Huffman also reached out to the PTO for those who were
interested working on helping out with small details with the committee; the Chairs
would need help with that. Jen Metzger agreed to help with photos and notes of
appreciation to let sponsors know where their contributions are going. A community
vote was taken and the vote to add the motion to amend the bylaws to add the new
position passed.
Fall Book Fair: Renee Doty is Chairing the Fall Book fair. She is looking for help to
prep the Junior Crew. Abby Green and Cristina Carter volunteered to help Renee with
this.
Announcements
Darcy Announced that there will be a School Communication going out making to
parents to notify them of how to get on Listserv, how to get on the text messaging
system, and how to get on the list for sign up genius. Hopefully this will generate more
emails for the Sign Up genius site, as we cannot add families through the school email
list.
Next meeting is 09/09/2015 at 8:30 am.
Meeting Adjourned At: 10:05 am
Minutes Compiled By: Leslie Swanson
The foregoing minutes were approved by the Executive Board on <date> .
_________________________, Secretary