BROOKE
ELEMENTARY
HOME & SCHOOL ASSOCIATION
THE NEXT MEETING IS
AT
MONTHLY
MEETING MINUTES FOR
Number of people
attending: 20
1. CALL TO ORDER: Suzanne Mosebrook called the meeting to order
at
2. SCHOOL BOARD REPORT by Joe Ciresi:
§
The
Board was looking at a geothermal system for Brooke, but this was shelved due
to a 12-year payback.
§
Brooke’s
fire alarm system has been replaced; now have strobe lights along with a very loud
alarm. Sprinkler systems will be
installed in Brooke Elementary and Spring City Elementary this summer.
§
Americans
with Disabilities Act upgrades are being made.
§
The
Board is currently pursuing a $52 million bond; $35 million would be allotted
for the High School. A new high school
is estimated between $80-200 million.
The high school is currently approaching its maximum capacity (1600
students). However, when the current
second grade class (the largest in the district, with over 600 students) gets to
high school (8 years), it would need to accommodate up to 2100 students. Expansion of the high school is a priority.
§
Act
1 is still a possibility. We currently
have a 4.4% tax increase allowed by this legislation. Must get involved in the process to have a
say in what happens with our schools!
§
The
state may still push for full-day kindergarten but has said that he would think
there will be a 3-5 year phase-in. If
this were to happen, we’d need an additional elementary school.
§
The
Board is looking at putting in three turf fields, which will increase the
number of students able to be involved in sports.
§
Our
exchange program with Limerick, Ireland, is progressing. The gentlemen who visited for the opening of
Evans Elementary were very impressed with the district’s resources and had a
lot of misconceptions about American schools that were dispelled during their
time with us. Dr. Hurda and another
district representative will be visiting
§
Dell
Computers, which has a corporate office in
3. PRINCIPAL’S REPORT reported by Barbara
Halphen:
§
Current
enrollment at Brooke is 430.
§
Thanks
to Suzanne Mosebrook for weeding the gardens and decorating the school for
Fall.
§
The
S-F School Board has authorized us to seek funding for the pond for the
Courtyard Habitat. We already have $1000
in donations. The total for the Pond Habitat will cost between $5,000 and $6,000.
Dr Mackel asked the H&S to authorize
$500-$1000 to help fund the project so it can move forward.
§
Remedial
Math and Reading Programs have completed the screening processes and will be up
and running shortly.
§
Assemblies
o
Author
Day was October 2. Bruce Van Patter gave
two assemblies, workshops for 3rd and 4th graders, and an
evening parent workshop.
o
Fourth
grade will attend a pet therapy assembly on October 19.
o
An
all-school Bully Free assembly will be held on October 26.
§
Field
Trips:
o
Miss
Zummo and Mrs. Messer’s classes will continue their community-based field trips
on October 11 and 18.
o
On
October 11, Kindergarten will go to Weaver’s Orchard.
o
Fourth
grade will have their Environmental Education field trip on October 11 and 12.
o
First
grade is going to Adventure Aquarium on October 30.
o
Fourth
grade will travel to the
§
Upcoming
Events:
o
Linfield
Fire Co. will come to Brooke for several Fire Prevention Programs on October
12.
o
Math
Night is Tuesday, October 16, at the 5/6 Grade Building.
o
Halloween
parade and parties will be Wednesday, October 31.
o
Our
first
o
There
is no school on Tuesday, November 6.
o
Student
picture retakes are scheduled for Monday, November 12.
o
Walking
Club is set to start in mid-October. Third
and fourth graders will be allowed to participate.
3. PRESIDENT’S REPORT by Suzanne
Mosebrook:
- Thanks to
everyone for volunteering to help with Picture Day and the Fall Fun Fair.
- PTO Today has a
good resource website:
back2school2007.com. This is
a great website for parents to help with all kinds of school topics.
- PTO Manager
donated Earth Chips, a healthy snack item, to be distributed at a later
date to all the students.
- Don’t forget
Market Day pick-up on October 17.
4. SECRETARY’S
REPORT by Liz Brull: Approval of the
September meeting minutes was motioned by Joyclyn Faust and seconded by Kim
McLaughlin.
5. TREASURER’S REPORT by Pam Ciresi:
- Copies of the
Treasurer’s Report were available during the meeting. The account balances as of
Commerce Checking $ 8,870.86
Commerce Savings $27,770.63
Total $36,641.49
- Our liability
account stands at -$6,528.93.
- Thanks to
everyone who contributed to the Family Contribution Campaign and all those
families who joined the Home & School Organization. We exceeded our budget in both of these
areas.
- A motion to accept
and approve the budget was made by Sue Jucker and seconded by Robin
Seifert.
6. VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT by Tracie
Hackett:
§
Thanks
to Suzanne Mosebrook for handling beautification and fall decorating.
§
SNAP
needs more involvement. They have
requested that a representative from every elementary school attend their
meetings, which occur on the second Tuesday of each month at
§
Tracie
sent out detailed instructions for PTO Manager.
If you have any questions, please give her a call.
§
Still
need a volunteer to work on investigating whether or not it is worth having the
Home & School popcorn machine repaired.
A new popcorn machine is $500.
7. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
§ Beautification
Need chair for this
committee. This committee may be broken
up into pieces so that one person doesn’t have to do it all. If interested, please contact one of the
board members.
§ Basket Bingo – April Smokowicz and Ruth Horwatt
October 19-- Need
volunteers to work the event; sell tickets, refreshments, etc.
§ Book Fair – Dana Rosenblum and Tracie Hackett
Our first Book Fair
is scheduled for November 12 – 16; the theme is Book Blizzard and everything
will be 20% off the list price. Pizza
Night will be Thursday, November 15.
Book Bingo has been postponed until Spring 2008.
§ Box Tops and eScrip – Gina Ciocco-Schmitt
First deadline for sending
Box Tops into Brooke is
§ Dance-a-Thon/Movin’ N’ Groovin Night – Tracie Hackett and
Pam Ciresi
This is scheduled for
Friday, November 2, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM.
Paperwork is complete and sponsorship packets will be distributed early
next week. The family with the most
donations by November 1st will win a Wii game system. Will also have raffle prizes throughout the
night. The committee is asking teachers
to participate by providing some short entertainment during two brief
intermissions or stopping by the event to visit with the students.
§
This craft show is
scheduled for Saturday, December 1, 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM. Need volunteers for poinsettia/wreath sales,
food concession and gift wrapping and a co-chair for Santa’s Secret Shop. Also, if you know of anyone who resembles a
certain jolly old elf, please let Christine know if he would be willing to work
for a few hours in the morning.
§ KidStuff Books – Liz Brull
We sold 204 books;
over half the families of Brooke participated.
Thanks to everyone who supported this fundraiser by buying a book. If you still have not returned or paid for
your KidStuff book, please do so as soon as possible.
§ Market Day – Kim McLaughlin, Marlo Oslon & Jenn
DeRosa
Had a great sale in
September; made $1,421.27! This month’s
sale pick-up is Wednesday, October 17, from 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM. Could use more help unloading the truck from
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM on October 17. Fathers
and children are welcome!
§ Public Relations – Janice Johnson
Janice is currently
looking into all types of free publicity & advertising for Brooke
events. The directory has been printed
and will be distributed shortly. Shirts
have been ordered for all grades as well as Olympic Day volunteers. This year, fourth grade shirts will be gray. Thanks to Miss DiGuiseppe for doing the
design for the shirts, as well as the yearbook cover.
§ Restaurants – Pam Ciresi
First Spirit Night is
at Chick-Fil-A on Thursday, October 11, from 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM. Please come out and support Brooke.
§ Spirit Wear – Suzanne Mosebrook
Suzanne will have a
flyer or sample for the next H&S Meeting.
She has ordered flannel pants,
sweatshirts, and beanies for the kids. Will look at golf shirts for teachers
and also investigate ladies cut t-shirts and long sleeve shirts for teachers
and parents.
§ Teacher/Staff Appreciation – Joyclyn Faust
& Robin Seifert
The Halloween lunch
is scheduled for October 25. Would like
“spooky” themed food. Need volunteers to
donate homemade food items.
§ Track – Ann Schwenk
Need people assigned
to track duty to cover their timeslot.
Have had to cancel a few shifts due to insufficient volunteers.
§ Yearbook – Janice Johnson
Janice investigated
different color options for the yearbook.
A yearbook entirely in color is $20, which was determined by Dr. Mackel
and Janice to be too high a price for an elementary yearbook. The cost for the existing book with Zoom
(color insert) is $14.35. Have decided
to have a color collage on the center 2 pages.
The cost for this is $14.79 without Zoom and $15.79 with Zoom. To make bookkeeping easier, the prices will
be rounded up to $15 and $16 with the choice of adding Zoom to your individual
yearbook. Color pages must be complete
by December 1.
8. TEACHER’S REPORT:
§ Mrs. K. Smith thanked
Linda Grossman for the fruit and veggie kabobs provided after the last H&S
Meeting.
§ She also requested
that if there are only two volunteers covering track duty, that they post
themselves at the opposite ends of the track for better visual coverage of the
entire track. If both people stand at
one end, there is an area of the track that cannot be seen.
§ Mrs. Daly expressed
Mr. Laurie’s gratitude for all of the people who helped with the Fall Fun Fair
as well as all of the families who attended.
He very much appreciates all the help provided.
9. NEW BUSINESS:
§ There was discussion
about the funding for the new pond in the Courtyard Habitat. Should we provide Dr. Mackel with up to $1000
(to be listed as a liability) for the pond construction as he requested? A motion was made by Tracie Hackett and
seconded by Ruth Horwatt to designate $1,000 from our accounts and list it as a
liability for the pond habitat. The
motion was passed.
10. ANNOUNCEMENTS
§ No School – Tuesday,
November 6
§ Picture Retakes –
Monday, November 12
§ Book Fair – Monday,
November 12 through Friday, November 16
§ No School – Monday,
November 19 through Friday, November 23
11. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at