Pflugerville Middle School (PMS) PTO Minutes 8/25/15
Time: 7:30 -8:30 P.M.
Members present: Mr. Stell (Principal), Carolyn Parker (8 th grade Assistant Principal), Sue Flores (PTO
President), Claudia Alvarado (PTO Vice-President), Gloria Macias (PTO Treasurer), Juanita Flores,
Monique Gawlik, and Sherry Whatley (PTO Secretary)
1.
PTO members approved the PTO regular meeting minutes of July 28, 2015.
2.
We discussed having a general PTO meeting for families the last Tuesday of the month
(September 29 th ) at 4:30 P.M., and then we will have a later board meeting that night at 7:30
P.M.. Ms. Parker suggested providing refreshments at the family PTO meeting. We discussed providing drinks and cookies at the meeting.
3.
Monique asked how we could get more people involved in the PTO. Mr. Stell suggested having sign-up tables for PTO at sporting events such as basketball and football, and at band events.
We discussed getting NJHS students to help parents to sign up for Remind 101 and for
Shoparoo. We talked about how we can ask AVID kids to make signs for this. Claudia mentioned that we could get four 8 th graders to help parents to sign up. We discussed how we can get tech savvy kids to help sign up for text alerts in Spanish and in English. Ms. Parker volunteered to get four students to help parents to sign up.
4.
Mr. Stell stated that he has 230 subscribers to Remind 101, and his goal is to get up to 500 people signed up. Mr. Stell indicated that he added a Twitter account (@pflugervillems).
5.
Open House is on Tuesday, September 1 st from 6-8 P.M., and PTO will sell concessions and school spirit wear. PTO members need to be at PMS by 4:30 P.M. to set up.
6.
Sue reported that Yvonne obtained $5 free wings gift cards for Pluckers, and $25 gift cards for
Pluckers. Ms. Parker recommended that we could give a $5 free wings gift card to Pluckers to anyone who signs up for Remind 101 during the family PTO meeting.
7.
We discussed having a Box Top competition, and we can offer $1 off on books at the bookfair when a sheet of Box Tops is completed. We also discussed having “free sit day” at lunch for kids
(they can sit anywhere they want to) if they turn in a designated number of Box Tops.
8.
We discussed having perfect attendance awards for teachers.
9.
Claudia asked how long they would have a science substitute, and Mr. Stell stated that they are working on rehiring for the Science teacher who did not return to PMS due to health issues.
Sherry asked how many students were in each classroom, and Mr. Stell stated that 25 students are in most classrooms. He indicated that if special education students are in a classroom, generally the classroom has two teachers with 22 students maximum. Mr. Stell stated that some classrooms have fewer than 20 students, and other classrooms have up to 32 students in the classroom.
10.
Sue reported that Sherrie Maturo volunteered to create and design a newsletter for PMS for the Fall and Spring. The school newsletter will have multiple pages, and will include the departments at PMS.

11.
Mr. Stell reported that Kona Ice came today at 3:25 P.M. (they were scheduled to be here at
3:30 P.M.), and they parked in the street near the sidewalk. We discussed how they need to come at 3:10 P.M. at the latest so they can park in an area that won’t obstruct traffic.
12.
Mr. Stell stated that he has other morning duties, and he will rotate morning car directing duty with other faculty.
13.
Gloria reported that according to the balance sheet for PTO, we have about $4,000 in the account currently. She stated that she is working on updating the current balance. She indicated that T-shirts and hoodies were in the negative, and we discussed how selling these items at Open House will improve this.
14.
Mr. Stell indicated that parents who pre-ordered school supplies through PTO loved it.
However, he stated that we only had about 60 or 70 packages of school supplies pre-ordered because most parents did not know about it. We talked about ways to let more parents know about pre-ordering school supplies, including sending fliers, advertising on the website, and advertising for ordering school supplies sooner. We discussed selling the left over prepackaged school supplies at Open House or selling them at the front office.
15.
We discussed feedback for the 6 th grade camp. Ms. Parker and Mr. Stell reported that the 6 th grade camp went well in spite of the air conditioner and electricity issues. They stated that the students and parents liked the door prizes. We talked about how the pizza was late, and it did not taste good. We discussed having hot dogs at the next 6 th grade camp, as they are less expensive and will likely taste better than the pizza did. PTO gave two scholarships this school year to the camp. We discussed how the $25 fee for the camp was expensive for low SES kids, and the only negative feedback Mr. Stell received about the camp was that it was expensive.
Mr. Stell recommended that we let students on reduced lunches get into the camp less expensively. We discussed how we can charge $25 if the students register the day of the camp, and charge $20 for early registration. We also discussed how the students can get a free T-shirt if they pre-register (the shirts cost PTO $4). Mr. Stell recommended that PTO members start going to elementary school PTO meetings to tell about the 6 th grade camp right after Spring
Break so that parents can start saving for the camp.
16.
Mr. Stell indicated that we can look at parents involved in Boy Scouts and soccer to possibly find more parents to volunteer for PTO.
17.
Sue announced that we now have a Sam’s Plus business card, and we can now write checks.
18.
Sue stated that we need to get a key to the PTO locker.
19.
Mr. Stell stated that Pflugerville Middle School received 6/7 distinctions on the state accountability measures, and we are in the top 5 schools in the state on Index 2 (how all students at PMS are progressing in math, reading, science, and social studies).
20.
The next regular PTO Board Meeting is scheduled for September 29, 2015 at 7:30 P.M. at
Pflugerville Middle School. Additionally, the family PTO meeting is scheduled at 4:30 P.M. at
PMS on September 29, 2015.