CD $2,189.93
Savings $2,693.66
Scholarship $407.44
Checking $5626.81
8th Grade Savings $6321.50

• Our school will receive an American flag from the office of Chris Murphy. He will come to our school to present this flag to us in November.
• The school has applied for various technology grants. We will be using the funds to purchase additional Smartboards.
• The boy's soccer coach is Mr. Labbadia. The games are going well. They won against Falls Village.
• There will be a regional dance on October 26th sponsored by North Canaan. There will be a Halloween theme. Additional chaperones could be used from 7 to 9:30 p.m.
• Grade 2 is gearing up for their Halloween concert at Geer on October 30th.
• A food critic/chef, Peter Elliott will come to each classroom to cook a dish with them in November.
• Dr. Gray Clarke is leaving Sharon Pediatrics. Miss Keilty will put this information on the back of the calendar to let other parents know.
• Barb Ghi and other volunteers painted the 4 Squares Grid on the middle school playground. Thank you very much for doing this Barb!

VICE PRESIDENT NOMINATION - Voting to fill the vacant vice president position took place. Jessica McCarthy was unanimously voted the vice president for the school year 2007-2008.

STEERING COMMITTEE NOMINATIONS - Voting was held to create the steering committee. Leigh Ann Merrill, Vicki MacDonald, Viv LaBerge, and Amy Dodge were unanimously voted to the Steering Committee for the 2007-2008 school year.

MEETING TIME - Nikki Blass suggested that we change the time of our meeting to earlier in the evening and to offer dinner (potluck or purchase pizza) and babysitting. After a discussion, a motion was made by Nikki Blass to change all future PTO meetings to dinner at 5:30 and meeting starting at 6:00 p.m. Members voted and the motion was passed. Nikki will create a flyer to send home to parents about the change to our meetings. Eve Bouchard suggested that a sign up be placed on the middle school bulletin board. She agreed to make a flyer. Marilyn Schneider will be asked to recommend students to help with babysitting.

TEACHER WISH LIST - Nikki Blass stated that at the regional meeting other schools noted that they provide their teachers with the whole school year to fulfill their wish. Nikki told the teachers at the faculty meeting she attended that this would be the process we would try this year. Nikki has created made a wish list flyer and will distribute to teachers.

BOX TOPS - Tammy MacDonald stated that Lisa Bousquet and the girls club are cutting the box tops from last year. Tammy stated she is not interested in being on the committee this year. After discussion, it was decided that Nikki will create a flyer to send home reminding parents to save them.

REGION 1 PTO MEETING - Nikki Blass stated that representatives from the Cornwall PTO and the Kent PTO came to the meeting. Some good ideas were generated and it was very informative.

WEBSITE - Nikki's e-mail address has been added to the website. Members expressed concerns that teacher web pages are out of date. Rosemary Keilty stated that she is working on the situation.

OPEN HOUSE - There was a good turn out. There 21 bakers that signed up but we ran out of refreshments. There was a PTO booth with committee sign up sheets and samples of the apparel.

MAGIC SHOW - The magic show will take place on Friday, November 2nd at 6:30. The PTO will provide refreshments. The admission will be free, to help offset cost of the show we will purchase magic toys for people to buy at the end of the program. The magician costs $300. It is bound to be a fun evening. The show will last about 50 minutes with audience participation. Tammy will make flyer to send home looking for bakers.

FACULTY MEETING - Nikki attended the faculty meeting on Tuesday. Eve Bouchard was interested in the idea of having a chili cook-off. Nikki invited the faculty to attend meetings. Teachers expressed concerns about the meeting time being so late. They expressed interest if the time was earlier.

NCES APPAREL - Nikki received a telephone call looking to do school apparel for our organization. This sparked the idea of contacting Stadium System to make proto types of t-shirts, sweatshirts, windbreaker, and windpants. There seems to be a great deal of interest in this apparel. Nikki will create an order form to be sent home. There will be no deadline to purchase items but rather all year. After discussion the group decided to round the prices up from the list that Nikki had. Nikki will also contact Mrs. Palmer to put order form on the webpage. The money profited will be placed in eighth grade savings account.

COMPUTERS 4 EDUCATION - Nikki reported that a company would like to send us a kit for this fundraiser. Parents would give them the name a friend or family member and their address for a profit of $.50 per name. This company also offered magazine subscriptions. After discussion, it is was decided that this is something we are not interested in.

MIDDLE SCHOOL PLAYGROUND - Nikki reported that she received a telephone call from a parent with concerns about the middle school playground. This parent wanted to know why the playground wasn't being used and if it was a safety issue then why wasn't the PTO making it safe? Eve Bouchard reported that part of the playground was unsafe. However, the monkey bars have been removed. There are teachers stationed by the equipment. The issue has been resolved. The students also have balls, hula hoops, and other activities to play.

FAMILY PORTRAITS - Nikki reported that Debbie Carroll e-mailed her with an interesting in having Betsy Fox do family portraits. Debbie agreed to contact Betsy and to investigate this idea further. If Betsy can't do it then there is another photographer that she know who may be able to do it.

GYM ARTWORK - Barb Ghi presented the idea of adding more murals to the gymnasium walls. She had the idea of including images of activities that kids can do outside of school. She has talked to Beth Miller about the artwork and has received four different sketches. They are of child(ren) swinging, walking, skateboarding, and jump roping. The murals will be strategically placed so they don't have to be moved when sports banners are added to the walls. Beth gave Barb a price of approximately $710 for the 4 murals. After discussion, a motion was made [Barb Ghi/Dolores Perotti] approve up to $750 for four 4-feet cut out images of activities that children can do at home. By a vote of 8 to 4 the murals were approved.

OTHER BUSINESS:

• Flowers have not been sent to Debbie Carroll yet. Tammy MacDonald will make the arrangements.
• Tammy MacDonald reported that the PTO Insurance has been renewed.
• Helping out students - Nikki stated that she brought up at the faculty meeting about helping students who need to help defray costs of class trips. Dolores Perotti stated that the board has set aside money for overnight trips. After discussion, it was decided that the PTO does not need to help out at this time.
• 7th grader bake sale - Nikki said that two girls are trying to raise funds for their class trip. She is going to help them get set up at Lindell's on Saturday but she was wondering if anyone could help them by baking.
• Parent teacher conference lunch - Dolores Perotti provided an overview of the event. The luncheon will be on November 14th. Tammy can help to make phone calls but she can not be there to set up. Dolores can help out but would like others to help her. Tammy and Dolores will organize. Jill Holderman offered to help set up.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:25 p.m.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, November 7, 2007 at 6:00 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Melissa A. Bachetti