Call to Order #
The hybrid zoom and in person meeting was called to order at 5:34 pm with a confirmed quorum.
Executive Committee members in attendance:
- Meredith Greene, VP for Events
- Tina Kelly, VP for Educational Programs
- Ashley Farrugia, VP for Staff Appreciation
- Sara Kirschner, VP for Community Relations
- Maggie Bush, VP for Communication
- David DeBoer, Treasurer
- Erin Cassidy, Secretary
- David Horak, Principal
- Anne Oliveira, Assistant Principal
- Michele Micael, Assistant Principal
Approval of Minutes #
Tina Kelly
Tina kicked off the meeting by bringing up the motion for the minutes to be approved from the last meeting on January 18, 2024 They were approved with unanimous consent.
Financial Update (Treasurer’s Report) #
David DeBoer
Financial Situation is really good at this time. Lots of fundraising to still come in, which will put us in an even better situation. Cardinal PTA gifted us 3K. Brought up the question of thoughts to do with the surplus we are expecting. Dave mentioned that we moved $500 from events to the staff grants fund in our last Executive Board Meeting.
Fundraisers #
Tina Kelly on behalf of Megan Miller
Read-a-thons current donations totalling $17k. We have met and exceeded our goal. We are looking to do another Silver Diner Fundraising event likely in May. Keep a lookout on timing.
Enrichment Update #
Tina Kelly
Registration begins March 18 and goes through March 29. Many spots were still open at the time of the meeting; so encouraged folks to sign up and tell others about it as well.
Abingdon’s garden event will occur on April 12 from 3-5pm. Contacts for the event are staff members Molly Fisher and Sharon Burd.
Cultural Heritage Night #
Meredith Greene
It will be held, rain or shine, so pray for no rain on Friday, April 19 from 6-8pm. Needing lots of volunteers throughout the night. From set up, to serving food, to keeping an eye on things through the event. A family owned El Salvadorian restaurant will be providing food. We are hoping to get a few others like that to participate.
Staff Appreciation #
Ashley Farrugia
The Friday after skate night, we provided pizza and salads for the teachers and staff. A huge thank you to everyone that brought in baked goods during conferences and those who donated money towards teachers and staff lunches.
The lunch provided to teachers and staff was from The Lost Dog Cafe on Columbia Pike. We raised $800 for the lunch during conferences to go towards that cost.
Teacher Appreciation week will be the week of May 6. Will be seeking many volunteers to assist with various events that week. More to come!
Community Relations #
Sara Kirschner
Sara discussed the several events for food distribution. She thanked those who have helped and encouraged others to join as they are able: Real Food for Kids, Field to Table. These happen every other Thursday- two times a month. Capital Area Food Bank, occurs at Park Shirlington the 1st Wednesday of every month. Families are able to pick up food there.
Principals Report #
David Horak
Amazing Abingdon was…Amazing! There were 515 that showed up for the event. The main goals of the event were to showcase great instruction that occurs in school and show parents what happens during the day their children are in school. Abingdon made the front page of APS news because of the event.
CETA-we’d like to continue the partnership next year.
All In tutoring has been going well, it ends on April 22. 26 classrooms had students in them after school by tutoring and enrichment.
Standards of Learning- SOL 3rd-5th grades
Budget process is ongoing. April 1-jobs will be posted; after Spring Break.
Q&A from PTA members #
- received positive feedback from Amazing Abingdon from several parents in the meeting (despite the coffee situation)
- Are there capacity issues? Mr. Horak said that 765 is roughly capacity.
APS Proposed Budget for 2025; we have a potential loss of our 2nd Assistant Principal. The School Board will vote on May 9. We have started to obtain signatures to take to the board. 229 online and ~300 in person so far. Encourage your children to sign as well as parents. There are open office virtual times you can sign up for to talk to school board members.
During the meeting- both current APs gave an idea of their day to day schedules and helped us realize even more how much we need both APs next year.
Adjournment #
- The meeting was adjourned at 6:40PM
- The next meeting date is TBD in person.
/s/ Erin Cassidy, Secretary