Officers Kathy Belka, President

Mandy Korte, Vice President Catherine Kole, Treasurer Anna Leitch, Co-Secretary Jenny Steele, Co-Secretary Cathy Mannor, Past-President

Welcome and introductions - Kathy Belka

Principal’s Report - Blake Bowman • Two loads of 3,000ish books for Cathy Mungor for Florida! :) • Had to clean out the four fan rooms to meet inspection, and there is PTO stuff we need to go

through. • Child 2nd-5th grade - will see “Scoot Pad” used on the laptops. It was piloted before and kids really

enjoyed it and NWEA and MSTEP scores shot up. Helped greatly with fact fluency (shooting off mul-tiplication facts, etc.) and will be starting that this month.

• Polar Express day is changing to Grinch Day this year. Polar Express started as DK/K day, and it grew to the entire school. Changed it because the Grinch movie is coming out this year, and details to come. It will be on 12/14/18, which is also a popcorn day. Popcorn will be given to the entire school that day, so should we schedule a separate PTO popcorn day? Decision - we will send paid ones home, and the school popcorn will be eaten during the day.

• Christmas program - 12/4/18. Unfortunately, MDR program is the same night as the ERMS program. We don’t have the option to reschedule, but if parents have a concern, let them know that it won’t happen again in any Rockford school and direct them to Blake. This affects about 10-20 families in the school.

• Thank you for all of the parents who helped pass the bond proposals. It’s not an automatic yes, and the support that was provided was huge.

• Dr. Kelley is retiring and Mike Ramm is going to take over as Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, effective 1/1/19.

Treasurer’s Report - Catherine Cole

Fundraisers – Kathy Belka • Box Tops/Family Fare Receipts – Johanna Vanderwall

o Our first box top collection has concluded, for a school total of $5,075. A check from Box Tops for Education will be issued in December for $507.50 and our June turn-in check should be issued as well for $495.50. They issue checked in April and December.

o Next collection dates are 2/15/19 and 5/10/19. o Our Family Fare/DW recents total $102,000, which is 2/3 of the way to our goal of

$150,000! o Need to email and find out - once we get to $150,000 and we get our $1,000, what

happens next? Can we start over and do it all again? Or is it a one-time deal?

Meadow Ridge PTO Meeting Minutes November 14,2018

6:30-7:30 pm Library

• Walkathon – Anne Detmers, Chrissie McIntosh, Jessica Dyer o Exceeded the goal! o All three chairs are done and we need to find someone else to chair the Walkathon for

next year. We posted on Facebook and got a few responses from interested parents. o The three current chairs will be around for next year to mentor new chairs. o Best schedule: Meet in January to plan for the Spring, then meet again in May. They

had a group at North do all the stapling ahead of time and they got the envelopes ready during the Spring/Summer. Jessica got sponsors as it got closer. Three seemed to be a good number in order to divide up the responsibilities.

o What to do for Dippin’ Dots next year? And should opt-out families receive Dippin’ Dots or the equivalent in years to come? Things to think about and discuss down the road.

o It would be a lot more successful if every parent would carry around the sponsor form and drop it off. Most businesses say yes! Not always a big amount, but it was often something. People are more likely to say yes to your face than over the phone, so if many parents can do this while they’re out spending money anyway, we would get a lot more. Doesn’t have to be only Rockford businesses.

o We started as one of the only schools doing it, but now most schools do it, which makes it harder to get sponsors.

o Thank you cards (cute!) got sent to each business sponsor. o Crestwood is also soliciting sponsors for their track, which will also make it trickier to

get sponsors. • Entertainment Books/Butter Braids – Jenny Steele, Anna Leitch

o $400ish for Entertainment Books o Just over $3,000 for Butter Braids, which is more than last year, but not quite as much

as expected. We will do another fundraiser in the Spring. o Will bring kids down this year Monday afternoon to pick up their Butter Braids instead

of sending the bags to the classrooms. • Carnival (February 1, 2019) – Raquel Ahern

o Building permit is in. o Comes up quickly after Christmas and we wanted March 1, but it was already taken by

another school. o Need to start thinking about Silent Auctions… will talk about that in the January meet-

ing. • Spirit Wear - Tiffany Stuart and Mary Campanelli

o Forms went out today to oldest child, and orders are due back by Tuesday. Families can also order online. If you look on your phone, you don’t see Logo A and B, but you do see those on a laptop.

o Need a list of teachers so they can start sorting as they come in. Will sort over Thanks-giving weekend, submit by 11/26, and receive product by 12/13.

o Offering more winter-wear right now, but will offer summer-wear in the Spring and do another round. (Note: Make sure everything meets dress code for summer wear.)

Non-Fundraisers – Mandy Korte • Birthday Bulletin Board

o All months are filled! • Classroom Parties – Bambi Morgan

o All classrooms have a party parent and Halloween parties went well. A reminder for Christmas parties (12/20) will go out soon.

• End of Year Party – chair needed o Still need a chair! o Don’t overlap with graduation. Usually happens anytime in the last couple weeks of

school. Recommendation would be the last week in May, which is the second-to-last week of school. The last week is pretty busy already.

o Usually there’s a DJ and other fun things out on the playground. • 5th Grade Picnic – Johanna Vanderwall, Cathy Mannor

o Venue is booked and set at 3 Mile Project.

• MDR Cares – Jenn Davis o A Walkathon sponsor reached out about wanting to sponsor some MDR families in need

for the holidays. They were put in touch with Jen Gard, school social worker, who is connecting with them to make this happen.

o Jenn Davis is working with Title Boxing Club - they are going to do a coat, hat, and mitten drive for MDR Cares.

o Waiting to hear if Wolverine is going to donate boots this year. They have for the last three years.

• Staff Appreciation – Lisa Bostwick, Angela Samuels o Went well during the week of conferences! The food is great, but to also hear the

laughter and camaraderie between the end of school and the beginning of conferences is awesome. The food is lovely, but it feeds the teachers in so many other ways, as well.

• Friday Snacks – Carrie Dahlquist, Sarah Behm o Change from Grinch Day to Polar Express Day.

New Business – Kathy Belka 1. ISAC Report

a. Non-Homestead Millage Renewal passed! Dr. Shibler and RPS thanks all! b. Dr. Ryan Kelley, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction retires as of 12/31.  The re-

placement process is in place.  Several great candidates have been considered.  Dr. Shibler has made his recommendation to the school board.  See Charles Honey’s SNN article about Dr. Kelley...great read!

c. 2014 Bond work entering its latests phrase.  VV will get 2 more portables, Learning Center at HS should be done by late spring and NRMS will get some TLC along with Ad-min. Next year.

d. SRO Officer Eric Bruner, a Kent Co. Sheriff Deputy, was hired by RPS to start 1/1 circu-lating to all buildings.

e. REF- The Taste will be 4/14 get your tickets...this will sell out.  Winter Grant deadline 1/21.

f. The next DHK evening presentation is January 22nd.  Parents of students of ALL ages and students ages 11+ are encouraged to attend. The topic is anxiety and will feature a movie followed by discussion. The high school peer listeners will be leading this evening.

2. Approval of last month’s minutes – September 13, 2018 a. Motion to approve - Chrissy b. Seconded - Blake

3. 9 Square in the Air - see attached sheet

Adjournment - 7:47 p.m. – Kathy Belka