I. Welcome (7:05PM) – John
II. Old business and approval of last meeting’s minutes
III. Introduction of new Board Members – All new board members 🙂
John Ball, PTO President
Kate Smith, PTO past President
Amanda Andrade, Room Parent Coordinator
Stephanie Barnaba, Social Event Chair
Nicole Paliotti, Fundraising Chair
IV. Social Events Report – Halloween Picture Contest (Stephanie)
○ Virtual Costume Contest
○ Students/Families/Pets can dress up, pose for a picture, and submit it to the padlet for the school community to vote
○ Cocoa “bombs”/pottery
○ Twas the night before Christmas/Advent Event
VI. Fundraising Update (Nicole)
○ School store
○ Squad Locker – Nicole is reviewing Squad Locker as we speak and will be including items that are approved by the Administration. We intend to include: apparel, mugs, chairs, etc.
○ Virtual book fair – Via Wakefield Books (website, in-person, or call and order). Will be promoted after Halloween. Nov 27 – 29th. MCS will get 20% of the proceeds.
○ Family restaurant nights – Hoping to do it monthly!
○ Shopping programs (Amazon Smiles, Stop and Shop A+ rewards, Box tops)
VII. Principal’s Report (Dr. Lisi)
○ Thank you to all who attended and to the Board
○ It’s a different year for us as some of the traditional fundraising opportunities/events will not be possible (Christmas Festival/Golf Tournament/etc.)
○ Annual Fund has been successful
○ This is an expensive year for MCS due to the need for PPE, cleaning equipment, etc.
○ Dr. Lisi would love for us to think of creative ways for us to support teachers. This new environment puts a lot of stress and added pressures on the teachers. Due to constant caution and trying to keep the students healthy.
▪ IDEAS: Gift card rally, luncheons, can teacher appreciation be spaced out or done earlier/maybe we do something 1x per month vs. 1 week in the Spring, have a food truck visit, have the students write thank you notes/draw pictures
VIII. PTO Goals for the Year
○ Sense of community (finding opportunities to come together virtually) – Parents Night in, finding ways to bring new families together, etc.
○ Supporting Teachers
○ Fundraising
○ Laminator needed for the teachers –> $1,500 – 2,500 — Ask the Catholic School Office to see if they have a bulk purchasing idea
○ Air filtration for the classrooms (Sara is looking into Corporate Sponsorships)
IX. Open Discussion, Q&A Group
○ A.M. Finlay
○ Shared an idea for GeoCashe
○ Online Internet Escape Room (escaperoom.com)
○ Michelle Main/Audrey Scott/Cassie – Christmas Festival is not possible; however, should we close the loop with vendors and give them a “Save the Date” for next year (1st Sunday of December). Audrey is happy to inquire to see if vendors could be interested in donating items for an auction/raffle in exchange for advertisement.
○ Kate Smith – Idea (!) – Daily “Calendar” Raffle with vendor donations as a fundraiser or create a silent auction/fundraising site. We can advertise for them on the PTO website. Minimum – $25/Send picture.
○ John Ball – Idea (!) – Zoom raffle live on the 1st Sunday of December
○ Diana McLaughlin – Advertise the Christmas Festival vendors etsy shops
Decision : Audrey Scott will go forward with the Daily “Calendar” Raffle. Sara is going to help with verbiage on the email.
○ Nicole – Virtual Jog – a – thon/road race – can be tracked by an app
○ Sara – Mr. JP would like to do a Living Nativity/drive thru at the school (ask for donations). Consider doing that the 1st Sunday of December.
