January 2021 PTA Meeting Minutes

1/6/2021 6:20 pm

Board Meeting

Wednesday, January 13, 2021 – 6:30 EDT

Present:  Sam Lewis (President), Lee Rushton (Vice-President), Ed Greenaway (Treasurer), Katie Tunney (Lower School Director), Karen McLaughlin (SAR Teacher Representative), Amy Browne (Teacher Representative)

Other attendees: Jenny Marcelin, Alexander Chu, Suzanne McDermott, Julie Ma, Steve Lewis, Julie Ma, Sue Kemalian

Agenda

Welcome, Meeting Overview, Introductions, Meet and Greet Breakouts

• Board and directors introduced themselves.
• Encouragement to join PTA if not already a member. This year, membership dues ($12/family) have a particularly big impact where other fundraising activities are limited.

December 2020 Minutes Approval, Accomplishments

• MOTION to approve December 2020 minutes, seconded and passed. Minutes are posted to PTA Facebook and website.
• Scholastic Book Fair: First all-virtual fair completed and in the books!
• Lyndon Gear Store: Opened for the holiday season, now closed.  The Store will reopen in the spring for another opportunity for ordering. 
• Lyndon PTA received an end of year gift from Boston Exterior Remodeling.
• Reflections (Arts Competition Program): Reflections is a National PTA initiative encouraging all schools to submit student work. Students should submit original artwork in the following categories: dance choreography, literature, photography, film production, music composition, visual arts.  Work is submitted to the local PTA for judging, we then pass our chosen submissions along to the National PTA for the larger competition. Reflections kick off is 11/16 and deadline to submit is extended to Friday, January 15th. Information sessions on each category are available on the PTA website for students interested in participating. 
• Lyndon Day at Fenway: Game will be on Wednesday, September 22 at 7:05pm and price per ticket is $35.  Ticket deadline for ordering is January 25^th.  PTA will hold a subset of tickets for families that will be new to the Lyndon next Fall. 
• Passing Thanks Around Program: Every Thursday, for 6 Thursdays in a row, PTA Facebook page reminder to thank a segment of the school population. Program is finished but templates/ideas are still available on PTA website.
• Snowman Contest: From now until March 15^th – send photo of snowman your child built and prizes will be awarded for various categories.
• There are four programs that raise money for our school with little-to-no-effort on our part:
• Box Tops – cut from purchase or download the app and scan receipts post-shopping trip
• Amazon Smile – signup through your Amazon account or app
• Coca-Cola Give – create an account and scan codes under caps or in cartons
• Stop & Shop – register your S&S card for up to two schools

Updates Across the Lyndon

• School Site Council:
  • New hires at the Lyndon: new paraprofessional for 2-3 SAR classroom, special education support teacher for middle school (filling in for Ms. Harts), hired teacher for grades 2-4 (Filling in for Ms. Barros).
  • Received projection of 689 students for next year.
  • Air quality test results were fine. Air purifiers for classrooms have been ordered.
  • Teachers doing report cards and holding parent-teacher conferences.
  • Holiday gift drive was a huge success – reached over 100 children.
• Citywide Parent Council (CPC) update:
  • Looking for a representative for a new committee that district is starting – would work on information sharing with local police, federal police, & ICE. If you are passionate about these issues – come to CPC meeting and volunteer for this committee.
  • School committee will have retreats over the next few weeks and a few of these will be open to the public.
  • Next CPC meeting – January 26 ^th at 6pm.
• Friends of the Lyndon (FOTL): purchased 3 NEC screens for 2^nd grade team and set up was delivered yesterday.
• Wellness Committee: No Updates.
• Caring Committee: No Updates.
• Lyndon Equity Roundtable: Substantial need for grocery store gift cards (Stop and Shop (most preferred) and Star Market). $25 gift cards are the ideal amount.  Next Meeting: Wednesday, January 27^th at 7pm.
• Library Update: Library committee working with teachers and students to coordinate return of outstanding books. There is a book bin for drop off at the Lyndon so parents can drop off books during school hours.

Treasurer’s Report

• Revenues lower than usual because high revenue activities (e.g. turkey trot) have been canceled due to COVID. Expenses also a bit lower than usual as there haven’t been many opportunities for activities. Balances remain similar to the end of last year due to missed fundraising events/targets and not much need for spending.
• If anyone has new fundraising ideas, please share them with the board.

Spring Event Ideas to Consider:

• Cookie Decorating Contest: Partnering with local baker (Whisk by Maura); $25/kit but cost would be split between PTA and family.  Contest, vote and winners across # of categories.
• Virtual Assembly for Black History Month: Structure as two different sections – one geared toward younger and the other toward older children.
• Other virtual assembly ideas: Financial Literacy program idea via Rockland Trust; Schoolhouse Rock performer.
• Trivia (for Parents’ Night): If someone is interested in taking lead on this and coordinating, please reach out to PTA.
• Spell Check & Spelling Bee: After discussion of pros and cons of program and whether to participate this year, we decided to opt out of spell check/spelling bee this year.
• Kindness Week: Targeting week before February vacation.

Upcoming and Current Events List

• Upcoming Events:
  • January 15^th – Extended deadline for Reflections submissions
  • January 21^st – School Site Council Meeting @ 5:30pm
  • January 26^th – Citywide Parent Council @ 6pm
  • January 27^th – Equity Roundtable @7pm
  • February 10^th @ 6:30pm – February PTA meeting
  • Cookie Decorating Contest – TBD
  • Kindness Week – TBD
  • Parent Virtual Trivia Event – TBD
  • March 10^th @ 6:30pm – March PTA Meeting
  • March 15^th – Deadline for Snowman Contest submissions
• The next PTA meeting will be held on February 10, 2021 at 6:30.

Meeting adjourned. 

Minutes submitted by Secretary, Katie Hazelton