President’s Report – 2/8 PTA Meeting

Thanks to all who joined us on Monday evening. And thanks to Family Covered* for providing the yummy taco fixings!

Jeff Dixon spoke with us about the plans for the new permanent CLC classrooms and music room, to be completed in August. Playground resurfacing materials being explored synthetic grass or a solid rubberized surface (completion in August). This summer, LED lighting and HVAC upgrades will be made to improve classroom environments. He encourage parents to share any facilities concerns online anytime through the Facilities Survey, as parent input is critical.

We also spoke about safety concerns and the possibility of fencing the TOW campus. Principal Conlon is considering extending the kindergarten gate to the main building to better block entry to the main campus from the Tree Top entrance, with the goal of funneling visitors to the office. It would be a significant change to school culture/behaviors if the entire campus was fenced, and we would need to get further parent and district input before action. Meanwhile, there are many safety measures in place on campus and parents are reminded to ALWAYS check in with the front office when volunteering on campus.

Principal Conlon also talked about the lack of volunteer parking. (Currently, the TOW parking lot is 15-20 spots short for TOW staff.) He announced that volunteers can double park or take open spaces, but they need to drop off keys with Claudia (exception: do not park in Pam Majd, district nurse, spot). The truck in volunteer parking will be moved. From Principal Conlon’s report, we also learned that enrollment for the current year was lower than expected and is scheduled to decrease slightly again next year. A STEM lab/maker space will be created this summer and he is also exploring adding murals to the handball courts.

The TOW PTA is currently in a very strong financial position and our mid-year audit is now complete. We discussed the Talent Show and praised the team for such an amazing event. We sold about 565 tickets and the online tickets sales were a success. The Talent Show made about about $6,000 income with $1,500 in expenses, which was well under budget. We discussed creating a performing arts scholarship for a TOW alumnus as a way of using the income to benefit Talent Show students.

The Jogathon chairs are ramping up for Jogathon kick off on Jan 26. We discussed adding a cool down lap to the Jogathon to help eliminate health issues, post run. This year, the winning 5th grade artwork will be featured on a banner. Jan’s Health Bar will be donating smoothies as post-race snack. 

The nominating committee presented the following slate for the PTA board for 2016-2017:
President – Sarah Durand
Vice President – Christine Sarkisian
Treasurer – Laura Jumani
Recording Secretary – Kelly Osborne
Financial Secretary – Danielle Roedersheimer
Auditor – Aegea Lee
Historian – Kristin Weaver-Greengard

Please let us know there is additional interest in any of these positions. We hope you will all join us for our next meeting, which will include elections, on March 14 at 10:00am in the MPR.

Thanks,

Sarah Durand
TOW PTA President

*Family Covered provides unlimited, 24/7 access to urgent care doctors via telephone or mobile app. Consult with a doctor and get diagnosed within minutes, all from the comfort of your own home.