CSPN Board Meeting   September 13, 2006

In attendance: The meeting was called to order at 1:35 p.m. with Amy Mulroy, Dr. Susan Copeland, Pam Rose, Mary O’Kelly, Lee Meyers, Senese Duhart, Claudia Lakey and Bethany Walker in attendance.

Minutes: The minutes of the August 24 Parent Meeting were approved as submitted. The minutes of the August 7 Board Meeting were approved with one correction. Dr. Copeland noted that an additional Smart Board projector was purchased and funded partially through a grant. Secretary Lee Meyers will make the change and submit corrected minutes to Milton Craft for posting on the school website.

Bank Statement: Lee Meyers opened, briefly reviewed and initialed the August bank statement, and then handed it to Treasurer Mary O’Kelly.

Treasurer’s Report: Mary reported that August was a busy month for the CSPN account, with the beginning of the year expenditures for school supplies and the open house. For the school year to date, we have a loss of $989, as is typical for this time of year. Mary noted that the success of planner ad sales allowed us to purchase planners at a greatly reduced cost.

Planned Expenditures: Susan ordered 10 maps, but is sending 5 of them back for corrections. Pencil sharpeners have been delivered and are in use in the classrooms. Susan has a quote in the amount of $1,312.37 for presentation easels, and the board authorized her to proceed with that purchase as well as the other Educational Growth Plan items previously discussed with the board. Susan has ordered wireless remotes for the Smart Boards and she is working on remote CD players. Mary pointed out that she has added a “technology purchases” line item to the financial statement so we can better track expenditures.

Playground Equipment: Mary will clarify whether the cushioning surface is included in the $5,000 to $7,000 estimate for the purchase of a climbing wall for our playground. Susan will check with Memphis City Schools to see if they will construct the frame for the cushion surface. Amy reported that Diane Coleman has suggested pursuing a grant from Lowe’s for additional fitness or recreation equipment. Lowe’s requires that the grant request come from the parent group rather than the faculty. Ms. Harris can help with this grant request, and Lee Meyers offered to ask her husband if he could suggest someone from the U of M to offer grant-writing guidance. Deadlines for grant submission are mid-October or mid-February.

Info Fair and Parent Meeting: The group agreed that these events were both successful. Attendance at each event was high, which is helping us reach our goals of increased communication and greater parent involvement.

Newsletter: Amy noted that Jane Parks did a great job with the first edition of the newsletter for this school year.

Website: Milton Craft is updating the website. Amy is taking photos at the Family Gatherings and sending them to Milton for posting. To date, 95 people have enrolled on the mail serve.

Support Drive: So far, the Support Drive has raised $3,663. A reminder about the drive will go home tomorrow.

Family Math Night: This event will be held on September 21. The teachers are working on a new format with a Math Carnival to be held in the playroom, and Susan encouraged everyone to attend. The board authorized $100 for the purchase of door prizes.

After School Enrichment Activities: Conversational Spanish, Chinese, drama, guitar, piano, tap dance and tennis are now being offered. An after school chess club is forming. Board members expressed delight at the range of offerings.

Cookie Dough: Amy recommended a new vendor, Little Lambs, that offers both the break-apart cookies as well as the popular Play ‘n Bake. Two board members had previous positive experience with Little Lambs, so the board voted to proceed with this vendor.

Fall Fest: Bethany Walker and Beth McGoldrick are event co-chairs this year, and Bethany attended the meeting to report on progress. She suggested we consider changing the silent auction format to increase interest. Susan was open to displaying auction items inside the building. The entire committee will be meeting within the next few days to begin finalizing plans.

Teacher Appreciation: Talana Vogel suggested adding some teacher appreciation activities throughout the year in addition to the annual spring appreciation luncheon. The board had a very favorable reaction to this idea.

CiCi’s Pizza: Pizza Nights have proven to be very popular, and the board agreed to add two more dates. Amy will identify some possible dates and report back.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 2:40 p.m. The next board meeting will be held on October 11 at 1:30 p.m.