Highland Elementary PTO Meeting Minutes
March 19, 2018
Attendees: Georelle Farward, Jaclyn Cromedy, Jen Schultz, Valerie McCormick, Jen Evangelist, Christina McCauley, Jane Hyers, Jocelyn Pickford, Debby Hildebrandt, Kevin Olinger, Brittany Sullivan, Jim Etlen, Bonnie Howe, Sara Diehl, Catherine Jones, Kevin Corr, Eric Gibson, Allison Cofone, Heidi Fitzgerald, Susan Hayes, Shiela Dallas
Welcome: Georelle and Jaclyn welcomed attendees to the meeting.
Principal’s Remarks: Dr. Etlen thanked everyone who came to the Multicultural Festival and said it was an excellent event and the food keeps getting better every year! He also commented that the drum ensemble was awesome. Next month students will participate in the PSSAs and he encouraged parents to read the letter that came home with your students. You can call him with any questions.
Treasurer’s Report: Jen presented the monthly activity and February Financial Report. These are reports will be attached in the minutes email for you to view.
Review of Recent Events: The Special Person’s Dance was a great success! It had great attendance and the kids had a lot of fun. The Name That Tune Social was attended mostly by Copper Beech parents but everyone had a fun night, even with the terrible weather!
Other Business:
APD Safety Presentation– Dr. Etlen and representatives from the Abington Police Department prepared a presentation for parents about school safety, school drill procedures and the long history of partnership and collaboration between Abington School District and the Abington Police Department. It highlighted the working relationship and effective communication between the ASD and APD. Schools have direct communication with the APD dispatch and cars through the blueband radio system and various other means of communication. The representatives shared some ways they train teachers, staff, school resource officers, security personnel and ASD aides in emergency preparedness noting that each of the nine district schools have a customized plan that is updated and adjusted on a regular basis. They use special Proactive Deterrance Programs with ongoing trainings and drills, prevention and intervention programs, and mental health services. Ongoing student training includes regular fire drills, building evacuation drills, shelter-in-place drills and lockdown drills (announced and unannounced). The National Resource Center for Safe Schools has praised Abington saying, “By almost any measure of public school success this district (Abington) has indeed achieved higher levels of safety, school pride, and community support than can be found in the majority of school systems in and around the nation.”
Snap Pizza Fundraiser– Will be held 5/7 from 4:00-8:00pm
Open Positions- There are still available chair positions for the 2018/2019 school year. If you have any interest in becoming the chair of Family Fun Night (Pingo and Karaoke) or Husky Happenings please email Georelle gfarward@gmail.com or Jaclyn jdefortuna@msn.com .
Science Day- Science day will be held this Wednesday 3/21. In the event of a snow day this will be moved to another day, possibly a Wednesday in May.
Spring Fling– The Spring Fling will be held Saturday 4/28. Please contact Jamie at schenks5@comcast.net to volunteer.
Thank you to our new chairs– Jennifer Evangelist will be our new PTO Website chair. She also ran the Souperbowl Fundraiser which filled 7 boxes with soup that were donated to the Interfaith Food Cupboard. Brittany Sullivan will be our co-president next year and Beth Iula is taking over Secret Shop.
Teacher Appreciation Day– Will be held on 5/8. Please email Allison Cofone at acofone@gmail.com if you can volunteer or contribute.
Fundraiser Ideas- A few ideas were tossed around for possible fundraisers for next year. Some ideas were an Art Auction (which we could possibly tie into the ice cream social) and Designer Bag Bingo. If you have any fundraising ideas or would be willing to volunteer to help with a new fundraiser please contact a member of the PTO board.
Please join us for our next PTO meeting on 4/23 at 7:00pm in the library!