October 2023 Meeting Minutes

Brown School PTO Meeting
Thursday, October 12, 2023, 8:30 AM
Location: Brown School Garden

WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS
Abby Lewis & Kate Schmeckpeper, Co-Presidents

Enrich the curriculum
Support teachers and staff – reimbursements for classroom teachers ($200/year) for classroom supplies.
School spirit and community – Monster Mash, Holiday Shop, family events to support community.

NATIONAL GRAND BANK PRESENTATION
Jim Nye & Matt Martin

DISTRICT UPDATE
Michelle Cresta, acting superintendent

Last night the school committee appointed Dr. Theresa McGuinness as new superintendent – she will be starting in the next month or so.
PTO makes school fun!

BROWN SCHOOL UPDATE
Principal Mary Maxfield

Welcome to the new school year. Happy to serve for the second year as principal.
SAC (School Advisory Council) needs a PTO vote – motion to accept the SAC Committee, seconded by Kristin Pratt, all in favor – everyone in attendance. Meetings are 3rd Thurs of every month.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Enrichment – $40,000 – mostly coming from Magic Hat thrift shop (donates 2x a year). Allocations dependent on volunteer hours.
Student Support – welcome back, folk dance ,Monster Mash – $32,200
Faculty & Staff Support – teacher reimbursements, meals, teacher appreciation – $20,500
– PTO Expenses – insurance, software fees – $3,655
– Facility Support – crossing guard gifts, playground equipment – $2,500
– Technology – teacher subscription requests – $1,500
– Total Budget 2023/24 – $100,355

ENRICHMENT COMMITTEE
Bit Coppola, advisor

Work alongside Principal Maxfield and teachers to match enrichment activities with the curriculum throughout the school year.
Also working on more nighttime family events
Always looking for more volunteers to help facilitate enrichment, reach out to Bit Coppola if you’re interested in volunteering.

TEACHER APPRECIATION COMMITTEE
Katie Benoit, advisor

Try to do a TA event every month to support and show gratitude for our teachers.
Always looking for volunteers and new ideas

HALLOWEEN EVENT – MONSTER MASH COMMITTEE
Kate Schmeckpepper, Co-President

October 20th! 5-7 pm
Halloween themed carnival that we put on in the parking lot of Brown School every October. Carnival games, treats, and parent run “haunted house” (very mindful of the ages of kids going through). This year’s haunted house is inspired by nevermore academy – Adams Family.
Tickets on sale through Wed online and tickets at the door.
WE NEED VOLUNTEERS! Parent volunteers to run the different games, booths, events during the event. Please sign up! Especially need help with sign up – Friday Oct 20 2:30-5pm
This event is just for the Brown School community. We need to be able to anticipate the number of people coming, and our school community makes for a large event.
For set up, you can come for whatever amount of time you can give and leave when you need to.

SCHOOL GARDEN COMMITTEE
Kristen Pratt, advisor

Garden encompasses the upper beds and the beds around the exterior of the school.
Holly Hannaway is the educator, she provides 6-8 opportunities for each class to come work in the garden and do enrichment activities.
Harvested a lot this week and third grade students voted to donate it to a food pantry.

MAGIC HAT UPDATE
Mary Kennedy, advisor

Magic Hat is a large revenue source for us – goes to all enrichment programs, garden, etc. Provides our enrichment activities and funding for the year.
Volunteer hours translate to our donation amount each school receives.
Magic Hat is a thrift shop located in the basement of Vets Middle School.
Each school has its own week for volunteering, you are also welcome to go in anytime available – tagging clothes, accepting donations, organizing, putting out merchandise
Parents and family members can donate furniture for 1 hour/piece – specify it should be applied to Brown School
Grandparents can also volunteer for hours for Brown School
Open during the week and also on Saturdays
You can also take a bag of laundry for them and wash it at home, bring it back and you will get an hour for your school
You also get a discount on anything you purchase the day you’re volunteering

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

Contact brownschoolptomhd@gmail.com for details:

Harvest of the Month – Lead Cara Whelan – next date is Oct 26
- Kids try a different fruit/veg each month, coordinated with Glover School
Teacher Appreciation Events – Lead Katie Benoit
Playground Supply Replenishment – Lead Jess Chamberlin
- Using a cart this year that the teachers can take out to recess with them. Will need help replenishing throughout the year

SPIRIT WEAR & SCHOOL SPIRIT ACTIVITY
Karla Strobel, Vice President

We order spirit wear throughout the year. Baseball hats,winter hats (last 2 years), try to find items for both boys and girls. All done through Marblehead Sport Shop.
We are doing a Brown PTO scarecrow for the scarecrow stroll, a town-wide community event.

REMINDERS:

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School Volunteers

School welcomes classroom volunteers – reach out to your classroom teacher if you’re interested in volunteering in your child’s classroom.
Always need substitutes! If you’re interested please reach out to Mary Maxfiield. We need to fill spots every day. Volunteers need a CORI check and fingerprints. Daily rate is $110/day for day sub. If it’s a longer term sub it’s higher. Qualification – high school diploma. Requested hours for subs – all day every day.