September 10th General Meeting Draft Minutes
Last Tuesday we had our first General PTA meeting of the new school year!
It was great to welcome so many new faces and we’re excited see what the new year brings.
Below are our draft minutes for the last meeting. Note that we spent more time introducing the PTA and what we do throughout the year than normal. So that meeting, and these minutes, hopefully provide a good overview of what the PTA will work on going forward (there’s more, but these are the highlights). These minutes will be submitted for review at the next PTA meeting on October 8th. For those who attended this meeting, reviewing these minutes to see if anything was missed or misrepresented is a great activity to prepare yourself for the upcoming meeting.
Vestal General PTA Meeting
September 10, 2024 6:30pm-7:30pm
In Attendance
Board members present
Co-Pres. Jake Sepulveda, Co-Pres. David Jones, V.P. Renée Becerra, Treasurer Nicole Hochstrasser, Volunteer Coordinator Janice Lavy, Messaging Emma Koehler, and Secretary Justin Stoller
General public
Ashley, Aubrey (member), Beth, Jon, Katie (member), Kelley, Lisa, Reece, Renita, and Sarah (+ 1 whose name was missed)
Welcome
Meeting convened around 6:30 by Pres. Jake Sepulveda. And everyone in attendance introduced themselves.
Previous Minutes
The minutes from the last General Meeting, held on May 14th, were accepted without amendment.
Intro to the PTA
Jake reviewed what activities the PTA does including
Honeycomb
We helped bring Honeycomb to the school and help get it updated. Existing users have had their accounts updated. New users should get invites by the end of the week
Movie nights and Pancake night
Fun community events throughout the year
Harvest Festival
A new, large, event has been suggested by a teacher. Sounds amazing but will be a lot of work. Still evaluating if and when it will happen.
PTA Newsletter
New this year, a monthly newsletter with everything parents need to know, the first one will be out soon!
Bike Town Hall
Local congresspeople are touring Montavilla this weekend and the PTA will be speaking about our role in helping improve the neighborhood
Depave Outdoor Classroom
Helping a local non-profit to vastly upgrade the “outdoor classroom” – construction begins this spring for an estimated finish around the start of school next year. Hoping a successful project leads to a greater reworking of the entire grounds.
Green team
Pushing for bike participation, road safety, grounds cleanup and garden maintenance
Reading Results
Following the budget cuts last year the PTA is preparing to fund up to 100% of this program to keep supporting kids who need help reading.
Grow Portland in the Garden
Following the budget cuts last year the PTA is preparing to fund up to 100% of this program that has each class spend time each month in the School Garden.
Classroom Reps
Pilot program to better connect parents within each classroom with the PTA and the administration.
Notes
Interest from Renita to be ITSC K-2 Class Rep
Janice reviewed upcoming volunteering opportunities and how people can become volunteers
Get your background check at https://www.pps.net/volunteer
You don’t have to be a PTA member to volunteer at the school or a PTA event. Membership is only required if you are leading a PTA sponsored event
A form to stay up to date with the PTA and be contacted for volunteer opportunities was sent out in the Back to School packet and is available online at https://forms.gle/5Xd5hDG5ow6P7hWy5
Upcoming events we are looking for volunteers for
Book Fair with Linda Letra (requests have already gone out)
Picture Day (October)
Pie sale (late September)
Library helpers – Ms. Hazen would prefer volunteers who can come consistently throughout the year as there is some training involved.
Notes:
Volunteer forms should go out on socials
Principal Update
Jake gave the Principal update because Ms Sabrina couldn’t attend
According to Sabrina the first few weeks of school have gone well
She has heard concerns from parents regarding the air filters in the building and is working to get them updated.
Treasury update
June was a good month for fundraising
There were many small, and expected, end of year charges though
The first big payment of the year has been to Zoom
We currently have $23.5k in our account
Motions
Resolution to move the website from WordPress to Squarespace
Motion raised by Justin Stoller. Seconded.
Passed with all board members concurring, some new attendees abstaining and no one in attendance disagreeing.
Discussion of Upcoming events
Linda Letra
Kids going on the bus will be allowed to visit the fair before school lets out so they can still make the bus.
Can kids that go to aftercare (YMCA, PMA, etc) get that opportunity as well?
Flyers coming in backpacks by the end of the week
Pie sale discussion lead by Lisa
Annual event and usually best source of fundraising
Fliers coming home soon, ends on the end of the month
Looking for volunteers and people pass on knowledge to
Lisa also lead a discussion of Box Tops
There is an app available to download https://www.boxtops4education.com/s/get-the-app
Scan receipts from nearly any grocer to have money go to Vestal
Double check the school, there are several Vestals around the country
Kelley discussed the work to get the proper air filters in the school
David discussed upcoming Bipartisan Day
We encourage folks to patronize a neighborhood business and receive a portion of the profits for the day
Still in the works but probably October 17th, encourage folks to go and we get a cut of the profits for the whole day
Aubrey expressed talking with East Glisan Pizza about a similar kind of event
Lisa gave the background that we have had good relations with McMenniman’s (Mall 205 location) and Threshold Brewing in the past for similar events.
Renée mentioned Hopworks is also doing a similar event with a different school
Closing
Jake reminded everyone that our next meeting is October 8th!
Meeting adjourned at 7:26
