Marlow PTA
John D. Perkins, Sr. Elementary School
919 NH Rt. 10
Marlow, NH 03456

PTA Meeting Minutes - April 2, 2007

The meeting was called to order at 3:10 pm with 6 members and 1 staff present.

School Yard Clean Up:

Nancy said she received a note from Mrs. Peterson asking if the PTA did annual school ground clean up days. The PTA does sponsor clean up days each year, but it is always difficult to get volunteers. The PTA had also discussed at the last meeting that, since the school board is planning to dedicate the garden near the observation tower to Mrs. Cunningham, the garden could use some sprucing up in anticipation of the dedication. It would be nice if the PTA paid for some new mulch as well. Marcia asked if there is enough money left in the budget to purchase mulch, and if some money could also be contributed from the school budget. Nancy said she would bring this up at the next school board meeting. She will also see if the school office will put out the request for volunteers since that might get a greater response. She will check with Mrs. Peterson about setting the clean up date for the week of May 1, before the black flies come out.

Treasurer’s Report:

There was no treasurer’s report this month, but Nancy said there is $298.34 left in the operating account. We will need to buy atlases for the 12 6^th graders at about $20 a piece. There is also $187.33 left in the capital reserve account. The mulch could be purchased from this account. Marcia said she will order the atlases for the 6^th graders and see about getting a volume discount.

Teacher Appreciation Week:

Teacher Appreciation week is May 7-11, with Teacher Appreciation Day on Tuesday, May 8. Nancy said she asked Mrs. Peterson what teachers might like this year, but she has not yet heard back. She will try to connect with her again.

After some discussion it was decided to hold a teacher appreciation lunch which could be set up buffet style in the teacher lounge. Nancy will send a note home on April 30 asking for food donations.

School T-Shirts:

Sarah brought in pricing information for getting t-shirts done at RJ’s in Gilsum. The cost will be about $5 each for one side printed and just over $6 for both sides printed. There are also one- time fees of $9 to do the screen and a $10 computer fee. After some discussion it was decided to go with one-sided traditional style t-shirts. Sarah and Stephanie brought in several sample t-shirt images with text and polar bears. One favorite was picked from each set to be voted on by the students. Nancy will bring the two images in for voting later this week. There was also a discussion on what to do if the voting came out very close since the two images had very different feelings. It was suggested it would not cost that much more to get two styles done, but everyone agreed to wait to see how the voting goes then decide what to do.

Field Trip Funds:

Mrs. Wyman submitted a receipt for the kindergarten and 1^st/2^nd grade trip to the Montshire Museum. No other requests for funds have come in.

Spring Music Program:

This will be on June 6. If the teachers will be staying at school between the end of the day and the program, it would be nice if the PTA made a dinner, as we have in the past. Since we are not sure how many teachers are planning to stay at the school, Nancy will check into it to get an idea of how much food we should plan on making. Pasta and salad seem like good options.

Playground Fundraiser Idea:

Sarah mentioned fundraiser nights that can be done at Pizzaria Unos Restaurant where 20% of sales go towards fundraising. She will get more information about it.

Guest Artist Idea:

Marcia heard about an artist that came to Westmoreland School recently. He paints very quickly to music in front of the kids, capturing images of everyday heroes. He also tells stories about why they are heroes. The cost is about $1000, but she suggested that perhaps Stoddard might be interested in splitting the cost. After the event, the paintings are available for $300 each. Westmoreland asked parents for donations. It was a great, positive event that included the whole school, and they had a nice painting to remember it by in the end. Marcia suggested we could use enrichment money for this next year. She will look into getting more information. It may be awhile before he has an open date.

Next Meeting:

Monday, April 30, 2007, 3:00 pm

Meeting was adjourned at 4:00 pm.