Call to Order #
The virtual meeting was called to order at 8:00pm. Executive Board members in attendance:
- Sharon Burd, President
- Ken Venable, VP for Educational Programs
- Clare Rosenberger, VP for Fundraising
- Meredith Greene, VP for Events
- Megan Miller, VP for Community Relations
- Dan Burd, Secretary
The board voted to approve the January 24 Executive Board Meeting Minutes.
Nominating Committee #
Dan Burd
Three members volunteered to serve on the Nominating Committee: Lauren Shaub, Maureen Harlow, and James Harlow. We will hold a vote at the next General Membership meeting to approve of the three of them forming this year’s Nominating Committee.
Amazon Smile #
Dan Burd
Amazon Smile ended in February, almost as soon as we joined the program. They sent us a check for about 45 dollars. As an aside, we have earned $995 from Harris Teeter so far this year, with 129 participants.
Grade Level Field Trip Funding Support #
Sharon Burd
The PTA intends to pay for grade level field trips using donations from the Arlington Community Fund. This is challenging because staff do not know how much they need to close the funding gap until soon before the trip takes place. This is, in part, because they don’t know how many parents will be able to pay or will choose to pay for others. The requests or estimated needs so far are as follows:
| Grade | Destination | Date | Cost | POC | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| K | DC: Washington Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, & Jefferson Memorial | Ideally the week of May 15 | $360 | Ms. Tyson | |
| 1 | US Botanic Garden or Natural History Museum | March or April | $600 | Ms. Jondahl | |
| 2 | National Zoo | June 2 | $455 | Ms. Bennett | |
| 3 | Kennedy Center | March 13 | $1,300 | Ms. Coan | |
| 4 | Jamestown | April 14 | $2,652 | Ms. Kooiman | (Sharon Cost Estimate) |
| 4 | Renwick Museum | March 29 | $390 | Ms. Barnes | |
| 5 | Ms. Zandonella | ||||
| $5,757 |
APS apparently does not intend to fund field trips next year. This was relayed at the last CCPTA meeting which discussed their budget.
We were told by a parent who works at the Renwick Museum that that museum provides free transportation to Title I schools, which is a fact that we need to relay to the art staff.
Yearbooks #
Sharon Burd
We received the final invoice from our yearbook vendor. We received four free pages for Lovelines.
Movie Night #
Sharon Burd
There is a DEI Movie Night on Friday night. The flyer says that the PTA is sponsoring it, although we hadn’t reviewed the flyer and are not providing financial or logistical support.
March General Membership Meeting #
Sharon Burd
Ms. Moller confirmed the literacy team’s presentation for the General Membership meeting on March 14. The Board decided to hold this meeting virtually.
Book Swap #
Clare Rosenberger
The Board decided to cancel the planned Book Swap as it was coming up too soon and they did not have the time or the availability to put it in place.
Read-a-thon #
Clare Rosenberger
The Read-a-thon will start next week. Dan will put out a special edition Cardinal Courier promoting it. The theme is “Reading is an Adventure.” The Board was not sure how to get Mr. Horak to commit to a Read-a-thon prize, but they discussed asking one of the assistant principals instead.
Fairlington 5K #
Sharon Burd
Beth McGinn had reached out to ask us to promote the 5K, so we did. They apparently donate some of the earned money to help with Field Day.
International Night #
Meredith Greene
Mr. Horak is fully supportive of International Night and would like to open up the entire school. We would have food in the cafeteria, performances in the gym. There might be activities in the art room like “paint your flag.”
Dan will see if he can contact the Bolivian dancing group we tried to book last year. They apparently do not speak English.
Work Day Appreciation #
Meredith Greene
Very positive feedback from staff about the charcuterie setup.
Winter Wonderland Ice Skating #
Meredith Greene
The event went well. There were about 150 skaters and about 50-75 people who did not skate.
Spirit Wear #
Meredith Greene
There have been under 100 orders at this point.
Book Fair #
Sharon Burd
The Book Fair is ongoing. Students in need receive book vouchers which cover up to $13 in books (because books for older kids cost more). There has been positive feedback about this from teachers and students. It will cost about $1,500. We haven’t yet secured a donation to support this initiative so we may need a budget amendment.
Andrew Vitols Memorial Bench #
Sharon Burd
We have a bench in the PTA closet that we would like to place somewhere.
Garden #
Sharon Burd
We will have a ribbon cutting for the new shed at some point.
We are hoping to have an Earth Day garden event. Apparently the mice ate a bunch of plants that were planted at school.
April General Membership Meeting #
Sharon Burd
Mr. Horak wanted Ms. McGinn to discuss Responsive Classroom and Kathi Aagard to discuss CETA. Mr. Horak said they can both present in April. The Board agreed that this was fine. They also agreed to have this meeting be virtual as well.
Boy Scout Service Projects #
Sharon Burd
One Boy Scout is tenatively slated to paint designs onto our blacktop (world map, hopscotch, etc.) and another would like to set up multilingual signs around the school. A third student intends to beautify the traffic triangle near the car pickup area with flowers or other landscaping, which fulfills a longstanding request from Mr. Horak.
Don’t Drop By Classrooms Unannounced #
Sharon Burd
Apparently a parent dropped by a classroom unannounced, which we’re not supposed to do. As a result, warnings went out on School Talk and Cardinal Courier not to do that.
Big Wave #
Sharon Burd
A staffperson told me that they were concerned that Mr. Horak was going to cancel the Big Wave. The Board recommended that Sharon ask him about it so that we can dispel the rumors.
Snack Pantry #
Megan Miller
Megan asked if the snack pantry would receive new funding from Amazon next year. Sharon said that Mr. Horak had said during the Kindergarten Information Night three hours ago that he wasn’t sure himself whether they would receive new funding or not.
Budget Amendments #
Dan Burd
The Board approved requesting the following budget amendments at the March 14 General Membership meeting:
To pay for book vouchers, move the following to create a new $1,500 Book Fair Vouchers line item:
- Laminator Film — $1,000 (out of $1,500. Some of it was used)
- Coffee Events — $500
To further support Teacher Appreciation Week, fold in the following $2,000 to bolster the current $3,000 line item up to $5,000:
- Instructional Assistant Appreciation — $1,000
- Thanksgiving Appreciation — $250
- Holiday Appreciation — $500
- February 8th Teacher Work Day — $250
These other items could pay for something else that comes up. Sharon mentioned expected needs including a bus for chorus members or recess equipment.
- Movie Nights — $1,000
- Open House — $250
- School Play — $750
- Winter Event — $600 unused
Enrichment #
Ken Venable
Enrichment registration opens on Monday. It was not possible to do sooner because teachers kept dropping out and the lineup kept changing. Flyers will be placed in Tuesday folders as soon as possible. Dan will put out a newsletter and place it on the website.
Adjournment #
- Meeting adjourned at 9:50 pm
- Next Board Meeting: Tuesday, March 28, 2023, 8 pm
/s/ Dan Burd, Secretary