October Minutes

Joe- President Off to a good start, parent involvement up. Friendraiser was successful. Ms. Webster is staying. Michelle- VP Co-location setting, had first meeting, going to try and plan a Friendraiser w/ Ocean Charter so we can all get to know each other. Biggest issue right now is safety issue and getting kids to school. Trying to get a crossing guard/ cross walk at Appleton or a designated loading drop off zone in front of school and will need a lot of support from parent volunteers, 3 per shift at drop off and pick up for maybe ½ an hour. Ocean Charter is also having these issues. We will be circulating a letter to DOT with signatures so please sign it. Looking at more things to do together w/ Ocean Charter. Last year had 5th graders read to younger students and kids loved it. Thank you everyone who was at Friendraiser and we are starting to think about the next one. Mark Simm (out sick)- Treasurer Alan Blomquist - what he heard from Mark. Believe we have raised 52,000 for annual fund so far and $4000 from garage sale. We are a third of the way there. Sarah Reimers -- Fundraising The annual fund best fundraiser because there is no overhead. We are at the 52,000 right now and that is just with 62 families giving. That is 20% of our population. Our goal for the annual fund is $100,000. That is double last year. We have already surpassed the total from last year and that is thanks to a lot of kinder families. The yard sale was 4,205 gross but net was a little less because we bought the yard sale banners that can be used over and over. It was 3,705 net. Thanks for yard sale, thanks to Claudia and Carrie Ansel who is not longer here for organizing, we quadrupled the profits. Last thing, going to pass around the Ralph’s card sign up. Our numbers have been really low on this. A friend of mine mentioned their school makes several thousand dollars on this. It just involves someone taking this on as their baby. It would be someone who could send out a flyer and physically get as many people in the system as possible. This is one of the easiest money makers we just need to set up a system to get people in. Sara Dee – Fundraising I have scrip with me this evening. We are still doing this. Whole Foods give 5% to our school. They are in increments of $50. You can use it at any Whole Foods in US. The money doesn’t expire. Joe Folorazano –cont’d On our website, there is escrip and if you sign up. You can have anyone in your family sign up and they give money back to our school. A lot of us know this, maybe if we put all of this into an email and send it out it might be helpful. Michelle Dean-cont’d While we are on subject, wanted to mention that tomorrow night at West Side Pavillion at 6:45 just for showing up, you get 500 points. They are having a magic show. We are trying to get the most points. All of the schools are competing against each other. Sara Dee—cont’d A few more points about upcoming fundraising. We have Entertainment Coupon books and Sally Foster catalogs. These books are $30 and there is saving for travel, dining, restaurants, you get your money back ten fold. This replaces signature as our big fundraiser. There is no cost or overhead. We are looking to raise $12,000 for school and there is a potential to make 50% profit. Our hope is that each family sells 3 coupon books. This begins Monday October 26th and orders are due in two weeks on November 9th. About 3 ½ weeks later the merchandise is delivered. There are incentives for prize earning. We are going to donate the prizes to a local charity just in time for the holidays. We will give a pizza party to the room with the most sales. Shari Gold – Back to Schoo Night/ Grantwriting BSN coming up next Tues, October 13th from 5:30 to 7:30. Have posted on FOW website and we are still looking for people to take tickets, swag table. Would like to have enough people to rotate in and out. We have the soft taco guy from the silent auction serving our food. I will be passing around a sign up sheet. Grantwriting- have been meeting with Arlene and discussing the need for new computers in the classroom. We are looking for grants to fill the need of about 18 computers for the classrooms. We are also working on the California Beautification Grant for monies to give the office entrance a facelift with a new office sign that is “easily discernable from the road”. Also want to have a bulletin board/ community board that would be hung adjacent to the office door. Michelle – cont’d Everyone needs to sign up on the room parent group and reiterate that the room parent group is private. All the class groups and teachers groups are “private” and you don’t have to worry about everyone reading about what is going on in the classrooms. Everyone please remind everyone to fill out the volunteer forms and put them in the VP mailbox in the office. Myra – Star Afterschool Program About 3 different programs. There are the galaxy programs that are free and we also have enrichment programs like Eco programs, yoga, rock star (with rockstar they perform at the end of the year at House of Blues). There is also woodworking. The free classes are for 1st through 5th and they include Eco and rock star. This helps you the parents out so you don’t have to pick up right after school. There is a literacy and math night that is a free service coming up. I do have about a few hundred kids in the program now, I would like to have more. If we could have a parent liaison helping get the word out. Ms. Fortier – the Principal Ms. Webster is staying in 1st grade. I don’t have all the details right now but ultimately “they” will tell me all the parameters in detail, but for right now, she is staying in her classroom. We are getting rid of the 4th and 5th grade split. The 4th grade class will have 28 and the fifth grade will have 22. Kinder has an aide in every class. We have one aide in first grand and processed one who will be in second grade. We have an aide in third and forth grade. We have another person processing to going into fifth grade. Barbara Pace is processing and going to fifth. At this point priority wise, first grade is covered. If any other parents come in and say they are interested in working as an instructional aide and we will start compiling a list of those folks so that you can then be turned over to you (FOW) to hire. Sara Reimers -- just to clarify second and fifth grade do not have full time aides right now so they are next in line to get aides. Fortier – 10% title one money is coming back to us now as a program development school and we can use that money only for professional development (earmarked for conferences). The staff wants to have intervention programs (tutoring) so now I can move the money out of there, which was designated for professional development and allocate it to intervention programs. Parent asks if the “professional development” conferences/ money would take the teachers out of the classroom, she feels it is contradictory. Fortier responds – the key is not to lose instruction time so she is looking into what she is going to do and is going to be picky about how they get things done. Parent asks if this plan is mandated by the district. Fortier – at this time the plan is not. Michael Stenger – Playa Vista has about 15 schools that they fund (but Walgrove is outside their district). Looking into trying to acquire some of these funds for Walgrove. Fortier—one last announcement, the money for painting school. The money isn’t there this year because of budget cuts, but the request is in so hopefully we will get the money next year to re-paint the school. Michael Stenger- One last announcement that he hopes everyone comes out for campus beautification day on October 24th. Michelle Dean – are there two separate things for campus beautification where we plant or is this where we clean the classrooms? She thinks this should be two separate days. Joe suggests getting Francine together to coordinate this. Michael Stenger – mentions “Growing Great” program that had to get pushed back until the growing garden is overhauled. Joe- if you are involved volunteering for FOW you don’t need a TB test, but if you are here with the kids during the day per LAUSD you need a TB test. Found another opportunity to raise money, if you have a used cell phone you aren’t using they will pay you up to $75, just bring it in and drop it off. There will be a drop box in the office. Sara Dee- Danielle will be point person here on campus for the Entertainment books. For parents of 1st through 3rd graders the Geffen is going to come in again this year and they are doing Ferdinand the Bull they are coming the Monday before Thanksgiving.