PTO Minutes

At the Elementary Meet the Teacher Night, several parents signed up with interest in taking leadership in PTO this year. We set up a meeting for Thursday, August 24 after school and contacted people who signed up and others who had expressed interest at other times. We apologize if we missed anyone, but be assured that if you missed this meeting but are interested in help PTO, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be involved. The next Leadership team meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 5 at 7:00 in the Elementary Commons.

Leadership Team Planning Meeting Report
August 24, 2006
Summary by Suzanne Stillwell, August 27

Parents present: Marcia Reddick, Shannon Ballard, Jennifer Blumer, Laura Kabrick, Kami Wimer
Hallsville Staff present: Penny Fadler, Suzanne Stillwell

We started with a discussion of PTO, its history as PTSA, and recent problems with communication, organization of volunteers and parent involvement at the leadership levels. We decided to have a leadership team this year to lead PTO instead of the traditional officers. The leadership team will be comprised of a chairperson, co-chair (who will probably move into the chairperson spot next year), committee chairpeople, and grade level representatives. We hope to have most of this team in place by the first week in September.

Chairperson:                              Jennifer Blumer, parent
Co-Chair:                                   Laura Kabrick, parent

Calling Committee Chair:             Shannon Ballard, parent     Suzanne Stillwell, K-12 Tech, PTO Faculty Liaison
Budget/Fund Raising Chair:         Marcia Reddick, parent     Penny Fadler, MS Teacher/PTO Treasurer
Spirit Merchandise Chair:
Carnival Committee Chair:           Amy Bartlett, 4th Grade Teacher
     Carnival Co-Chair:                 Kami Wimer, parent
Activities Committee Chair:
Hospitality Committee Chair:
Grade Level Representatives:
Pre-School
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade     Tina Overton, parent
6th Grade
7th Grade
8th Grade
High School

The group decided that PTO needs a clear mission statement.   After some discussion the Mission Statement of Hallsville Parent Teacher Organization is: To enhance the cooperation between home and school to benefit the education of children and youth.

Other business:

Laura and Suzanne will work together to organize the membership information and select Room Coordinators.
Jennifer, Laura & Shannon will come in to school Friday, August 25, to inventory our current supply of Spirit Merchandise. Suzanne will post an updated order form on the web site and make copies to give out in the offices.
Requests from the Leadership Team:
- Schedule a Grandparent Day during the week of September 110-16.
- More communication on what the teachers are doing on Early Release days.
- Spring Parent/Teacher Conferences in addition to the Fall conferences - All levels
The next meeting of the Leadership team will be Tuesday, September 5 at 7:00. At that meeting we plan to revise our by-laws and make final plans for the up-coming September 18 Open House. Anyone is welcome to attend these meetings. We appreciate your patience - if we do not directly contact you to invite your participation, please come and let us know how you want to be involved this year.