General Membership Meeting Minutes — April 11, 2023

Call to Order #

The virtual meeting was called to order at 7:01 PM. 25 participants were present. Executive Committee members in attendance:

• Sharon Burd, President
• Christian Lindstrom, Treasurer
• Ken Venable, VP for Educational Programs
• Clare Rosenberger, VP for Fundraising
• Megan Miller, VP for Community Relations
• Ashley Farrugia, VP for Staff Appreciation
• Dan Burd, Secretary

Approval of Meeting Minutes #

Membership voted to approve the March 14, 2023 meeting minutes.

PTA Updates #

Treasurer’s Report #

Christian Lindstrom, Treasurer

Christian provided the Treasurer’s report. The financial statements are here and here.

Events #

Ashley Farrugia for Meredith Greene, VP for Events

The PTA is still looking for volunteers for International Night, which will be held on April 28.

Staff Appreciation #

Ashley Farrugia, VP for Staff Appreciation

Teacher Appreciation Week will be on May 8. The PTA will have something “big” every day of that week, starting with a breakfast on Monday. We may offer salon treatments like express manicures. We are also partnering with Nothing But the Cakes this year, and hoping we can offer another staff t-shirt this year.

We are also asking for gift cards that we can raffle off to staff at Abingdon. We’re probably going to do a candy day to give candy to teachers.

Educational Programs #

Ken Venable, VP for Educational Programs

The spring enrichment session started today.

Fundraising #

Clare Rosenberger, VP for Fundraising

We had $22,873 in donations from the Read-a-thon, which means we take home $18,298. We will be providing gifts classes that won awards. And everyone who signed up will get a bookmark. Students who read 250 minutes or more will get a pencil, and students who read 500 minutes or more will get a fidget/squishy thing. Students who read 1,000 minutes or more will get a Rubik’s cube.

We are also looking to have a Spirit Night with more neighborhood restaurants.

We’re grateful for the direct support from Kay Houghton and Associates for our Book Fair Vouchers, for which they provided $750.

Finally, the Arlington Community Foundation has covered transportation costs for field trips at our request. They are donating approximately $2,000 to the PTA for that purpose.

Community Relations #

Megan Miller, VP for Community Relations

Megan had a conversation with Stephanie from Arlington’s Food Security program, who will reach out to Mr. Horak about plans for next year. Otherwise, we have a fully-stocked snack pantry and a fully-stocked clothes closet.

Nominating Committee #

Lauren Shaub

The Abingdon Elementary PTA’s Nominating Committee would like to report the following nominees for the 2023-2024 school year:

President’s Report #

Sharon Burd, President

An Eagle Scout has expressed a desire to do stenciling work on our school’s black top. We look forward to that project starting this summer.

Principal’s Report #

David Horak, Prinicpal

• APS will likely approve a pay increase for staff, which is good news for recruitment efforts.
• Abingdon’s teachers are keeping busy this summer: several will work at summer school, Mary Claire Moller will be the summer school prinicpal at Claremont, several staff members will attend Responsive Classroom training, several staff members are going to Philadelphia to improve our family and community relations, and some staff members will work on our School Plan.
• This Friday, we have our garden ceremony, with Ms. Kingsley organizing the music and with Ms. Upshur working on the garden as well.
• Friday the 21st is Eid, and there will be no school.
• If you know people who are teachers or who want to be teachers, we will have positions open sometime soon.
• Fifth grade outdoor lab is coming up. Ms. Abbott and Ms. Reicheter’s classes will be there on May 1 and 2, while Ms. Zandonella and Ms. Thorpe’s classes will be there on May 4 and 5. They should have good weather this year.
• SOL’s are currently scheduled as follows:

CETA Partnership Presentation #

Kathi Aagaard, Living Histories Teacher

Ms. Aagaard gave a presentation on Abingdon’s partnership with the Kennedy Center. Her presentation slides are available here.

Adjournment #

• The meeting was adjourned at 7:37 PM.
• The next meeting will be Tuesday, May 9 at 7 PM.

/s/ Dan Burd, Secretary