Discovery Parent Teacher Organization

General Meeting, October 1, 2008

8AM – 9AM

MINUTES





The meeting began at 8:08 a.m., with approximately 15 parents in attendance (a few more joined later). Debra Giles welcomed the parents, and thanked them for their participation.


DPTO Goals

DPTO President Kris Angerthal welcomed parents and teachers, then turned the floor over to Jackie Greene, who presented the DPTO goals that have been developed in response to feedback and the brainstorming session at the DPTO’s first meeting. These goals have been posted on the DPTO’s blog, and ongoing feedback is encouraged, to ensure that parents and teachers are truly shaping the organization and its activities.


Finances

Kris Angerthal reviewed DPTO activities with those in attendance. There was a review of the organization’s financial situation, as follows:


DPTO took out a loan the previous school year for L. 51,576 to purchase logo wear. This year’s DPTO board has agreed with Debra to pay back L. 27,000 by the end of October, another L. 13,000 by the end of the school year, and the remainder (L. 11,576) during the following school year. Thanks to ad revenue from the school directory and t-shirt sales, this leaves us with approximately L. 30,000 with which to work. We will put roughly L. 25,000 toward the purchase of cafeteria tables, a priority established by the previous year’s DPTO, and supported by Discovery’s administration.


Cafeteria Tables

There was a discussion of the cafeteria tables, which will be wooden picnic tables, that provide durability at a reasonable cost, and are in line with the environmental concerns expressed by parents, teachers and students (as opposed to plastic tables).


Elizabeth Morrison discussed a possible vendor, and Kris Angerthal will follow-up. Kris also has bids from two other vendors.


Kris asked for feedback on the size of tables, as smaller tables are also available. Kindergarten teacher Gigi Mejia supported this idea, noting that the smaller children often tumble off their seats at the large tables.


Teacher Appreciation

There was a brief discussion about ideas for teacher appreciation week. One suggestion was to have the children write a card or note for their teacher. One parent asked if there will be a farewell to departing teachers and families, similar to last year’s Picnic Under the Stars. Because the school is planning a Family Day toward the end of the year, the DPTO has decided to simply support Family Day, rather than establishing a second event within a couple of weeks of Family Day, in order to avoid saturating families with activities.


Fall Fun Run

Based on the feedback from the school community, the DPTO has selected a Family Fun Run as the social event/fundraiser for the fall. This will be a pledge event, where children collect pledges and earn according to the number of laps completed.

Kris invited parents to join the organizing committee.


Volunteers

DPTO Secretary Amy Robertson brought several sign-up sheets to the meeting, for providing refreshments, working on the fun run, the spring fashion show, etcetera, and passed them around. It is also possible to sign up via email or the blog.


Open Forum

A parent brought up the idea of a garage sale as a fundraiser. This has been a highly successful event at other schools in other countries. Many parents were enthused about the idea.


Note: there was an attempt at a garage sale during the 2007-2008 school year, which was aborted due to lack of interest in buying tables. There is an annual garage sale in front of the Union Church that does not charge for table space.