Fairmount Park Elementary PTAGeneral Membership MeetingMonday, January 26, 2015

Call to OrderHillary Shaw, President, FPEPTA

Approval of Minutes from November 3, 2014 Membership Meeting

Motion to Approve Meeting Minutes

I move that Fairmount Park Elementary PTA approve the minutes from the November 3, 2014 General Membership Meeting as presented.

Reports of Officers and PrincipalPresident, Treasurer, School Principal

President’s Report

Please review the comprehensive written report available at fpepta.org. Printed copies are available to share at the PTA information table.

Key Points:

Systems in place for efficient operations – tweaks and constructive dialogue continue

HCC middle school pathway group needs support

Some grant applications for 2015/16 school year are available now

The president serves as an ex-officio member of all committees except the nominating committee.

Renee Hopkins

Thanks to Leah Hunkins for reviewing the FPEPTA’s bank statements each month!

Morning Drop-Off/Afternoon Pickup Reminders for all Families

Drop off time is 8:25-8:40.  Please do not come earlier than 8:25.  Arriving after 8:40 will result in a tardy if your child can’t make it into the classroom by 8:45.  I am not allowed to have a drop off pattern that uses 38th Avenue.  This agreement was made between the City of Seattle and SPS due to traffic jam concerns on that street.  Please don’t make me the person who has to remind you of this.  It was an agreement made before I came on board, and I must enforce it.  PLEASE STAY OFF OF 38TH DURING THE DROPOFF AND PICKUP TIMES.  (yes, I know it is a public street, but the agreement was made that I would have a traffic pattern that did not include 38th)

All students in grades 2-5 are to be dropped off on Fauntleroy in front of the buses. I have a duty person on Fauntleroy from 8:25-8:40 every morning supervising that walkway. Students will walk up the pathway to the blacktop area. K/1 students and preschool students are able to be dropped off out front on Findlay under the following guidelines:

• Cars enter on Findlay, go up the hill, turn around, and then unload in areas free of red painting (fire zone) and crosswalk lines.

• Let your child exit on the right side of the car onto the sidewalk. Your child then has a protected walkway to the school.

• Please do not park there beyond unloading your child. I am in the process of getting the current signs changed to read “active unloading/loading” only.

We have no car pickup areas in the afternoon. My apologies for that but we have no area to do so. All students transported by private vehicles go to the courtyard after school. Adults must find legal parking spaces (there are always open spaces on the western side of Fauntleroy) and walk in to meet their children. I’m sorry for this inconvenience but I can’t fix this challenge. I will be at the main doors next week and will not allow students to exit those doors unless they are walking home.

Please remember that the safety of all students is my most paramount responsibility.

Reports of Standing Committee ChairsCommunications, Enrichment, Fundraising, Legislative Advocacy, School Spirit, Volunteering

Communications

Communications

•Student Directory was completed since the last board meeting and was emailed to all PTA student contacts.

•79 families requested printed copies of the directory. Holly Anselm has taking on this task. Thank you, Holly!

•Steps for compiling 2015/16 school year student directory have been outlined in Basecamp. Volunteers needed for next year - email volunteer@fpepta.org if interested.

•Communication emphasis immediately before and during winter break was on the Donor Challenge. A Falcon Flyer plea, multiple emails and facebook posts were used to solicit year-end donations.

•Fundraising banners were tattered by the weather during break, so Chester took them down. Dave Shaw is attempting to repair them so they can be hung again before Literacy Night. Chester has suggested hanging from the brick wall to minimize exposure to the elements.

•The auction committee launched pages related to information and ticket purchases at fpepta.org

•Auction invitations were distributed via student folders on 1/12

•Cari Lui is working on the Yearbook. Email yearbook@fpepta.org if you want to help Cari, or if you have candid photos to share from school events.

Enrichment

Number of Classes Offered 29

Number of Student Participants 180

Number of Enrolled Participants across All Classes 333

Every student got the classes that they wanted, except for the classes that under-enrolled!

Fall 2014 Enrichment

Enrichment

Number of Classes Offered 29

Number of Student Participants 150

Number of Enrolled Participants across All Classes 260

Winter 2015 Enrichment

• Classes started today• 25 classes are in session, because four classes did not meet the minimum• Five scholarships awarded for winter session

Additional Extracurricular Enrichment Updates

• Enrollment period for Spring and onwards shall be shortened to one week as most students are enrolled in the first week

• Looking for a volunteer who can assist with direct enrollment on first day – between 7:00-9:00 am for Spring session

• Should reduce or eliminate questions directed to front office staff

• For Spring session, considering running classes within the 8 week period

• Classes that fall on holidays shall have less classes

• Time/Date stamp machine will be used during spring registration -- for record keeping to minimize ambiguity in the registration process

A Special Thanks to the parents of FPE who support Before & After school enrichment and to the volunteers who made every aspect of running this program a success and a great pleasure to be associated with.

Fundraising

Past Campaigns, Events, and Grants

Charter Donors

NUMBER OF DONORS: 37

TOTAL DONATIONS: $9,090

SPECIAL RECOGNITION TO:

Gatewood PTA for donating $3,000 to help fund start-up expenses!

Thurgood Marshall Elementary PTA for donating $1,250 in seed money.

Lafayette PTA for donating $500 in seed money.

SDOT Grant – THANK YOU, Shanti!

GRANTED: $1,000

Bacon and Donuts Fund Run – THANK YOU, Milyssa!

TOTAL DONATIONS: $1,903

Fundraising

Current CampaignsAnnual Give

PARTICIPATION GOAL: 100%

REVENUE GOAL: $100,000

TOTAL DONATIONS (approx.), 1.26.2015: $48,000

Auction

REVENUE GOAL: $50,000

TICKET SALES, 1.26.2015:

Membership – Membership Chair Position is Open

TOTAL MEMBERS, 1.26.2015 : 290

TOTAL DUES COLLECTED: $6,255

Auction

Fundraising

Affiliate Accountswww.fpepta.org > navigate to ‘Contribute’ for registration information: AmazonSmile Box Tops for Education eBay Giving Works eScrip Take Charge of Education (Target) Thriftway Receipts Zazzle Spirit ShopTOTAL REVENUE THUS FAR: $156

(In the works: GiveBIG, Great Lakes Scrips Center - shopwithscrip.com)

Legislative Advocacy

Focus Day

Stand Up. Speak Up. Show Up. Johanna counted 14 FPE folks and is pretty sure we had more

participants than any other WS school. We met with all 3 of our elected officials, which apparently

wasn’t the case for many other districts. Woohoo! We met with 34th District Legislators, Sen. Sharon Larson, Rep. Eileen Cody, and Rep. Joe Fitzgibbons.

Joined other families from WSEA schools as well as members and families of the Seattle Counsel PTA and WA State PTA. 

Students enjoyed arts and crafts, making posters, as well as a scavenger hunt. 

There was a rally on the capitol steps at noon that included several legislators expressing their support for fully funding McCleary.

Thank you, Johanna Lindsey, for organizing those meetings!  If you want to get involved, there is still time!  Write to

advocate@fpepta.org to express any concerns or personal stories regarding how lack of funding for public school has affected your student's education.  FPE Legislative co-chairs will draft an email for you to sign and send to your legislator!

School Spirit

Bowling 55 falcons attended the bowling event on January 24

Thank you to Jenny Chynoweth for organizing!

DRAFT

Volunteering

ONGOING AVAILABLE JOBS:

Library: Help in the library is needed ongoing; both for checking out books for kids and for categorizing and putting away books.

Art room: Similarly; Mrs. Maude is in need of help hanging finished art at school and assistance during art classes.

Recess and before school supervision help: While a few teachers are always on the playground and blacktop before school and during both recesses, more eyes ensures safer parameters and play.

Thank you to all who have helped with these so far this year! Volunteer as many times as you want – and it becomes easier. Consider taking a regular roll; recess help every Thursday, both recess shifts or help in the library once or twice a month. Recess help is our biggest need as we are commonly short on help during those.

It’s important to sign up online under the volunteer tab at: http://www.fpepta.org so that you can know whether we already have plenty of help for what you plan to do, and so that we can know who is coming, how many we will have, and later track how many people helped so that we can better plan for future things.

New BusinessBudget Amendments

Budget Amendments

5.1 Annual Budget: The treasurer shall prepare the annual budget for presentation at a FPEPTA general membership meeting. An operating budget shall be approved by the FPEPTA before each fiscal year begins in July. Reallocation of funds over $500.00 shall be made by a budget amendment at a general meeting.

Budget Amendments

Because at least $6,100 of funds allocated to the Funding Programs budget line item will not be spent due to Seattle Public Schools and a private fundraising effort covering the costs of a piano and ukuleles, it is recommended that some of those projected unspent funds be reallocated as follows:

Because the budget accounted for 21 Classroom Grants at $300 each, and there are 24 classrooms, it is recommended that $900 be reallocated from the Funding Programs budget line item to the Classroom Grants line item.

Because the school community has demonstrated a desire to have the PTA host parent and teacher enrichment programs throughout the remainder of the school year, it is recommended that $2,000 be reallocated from the Funding Programs line item to the Enrichment Programs line item.

Motion to Approve Budget Amendments

I move that Fairmount Park Elementary PTA approve the budget amendments as presented.

Announcements

Adjournment!Thank you for participating tonight.

Calendar

January 30 - Day Between Semesters

**No School**

February 6 - LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION, 4:30 pm - 7:00 pm

At School

February 6 - LOST&FOUND COLLECTION DAY

February 10 - PTA BOARD MEETING, 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm

At School

February 21 - FPEPTA Auction (tickets available at www.fpepta.org)

Portage Bay Cafe - South Lake Union

March 11 - Parents’ Book Club Meeting, 5:30 pm-6:30 pm

At School

The Fairmount Park Elementary PTA exists to promote the social, emotional, and academic well-being of all students by working in synchronized collaboration with school families, teachers, and administrators to raise funds and develop programs that support engaging enrichment opportunities, efficient systems for coordinating volunteers, best practices in education and advocacy, and relevant resources for the Fairmount Park Elementary community.