Mark Hopkins Elementary PTO

General Meeting

September 10, 2024

1. Call to Order:   Amber did so at 6:01
2. Introductions:  Heidi Wagner, Alissa Powell, Amber Pearson, Chelsey Kinney, Sherry Affatica, Melissa Jensen, Nicole Walton, Amy Fielding, Mila Gates, Ali Halpin, Conni Johnson, Liz Sawyer.

1. Principal’s Report:  

1. Frog Armies- These are being kicked off tomorrow (9/11/24).  A group of frogs is called an army, therefore every student at Hopkins is a part of an “army” at the school.  These groups are made up of students from every grade and one staff member.  They meet once a month and do different activities.  Tomorrow, the armies are playing get to know you games with dice.  Students will stay in the same army throughout their Hopkins career.  
2. Grade Level updates:

1. Kinder: still busy learning routines and procedures.
2. 1st: celebrated watermelon day a couple weeks ago.  They are learning about watermelons across their content.  They are starting a science unit about plants this week.
3. 2nd: excited about the new Reveal math and kids are engaged and excited about their lessons.
4. 3rd: learning about forces and motion. They have been busy applying what they have learned to build playgrounds using various materials.
5. 4th: starting a racing cars unit as they are studying force and motion as well.  They are using the scientific method to design tissue box cars.
6. 5th: starting a matter and mysteries science unit. They will be gathering different materials to solve mysteries.  

3. Mr. Troth, our new PE teacher has not used the QR codes for lap counting before, so the school bought him the program to use with the students and during the Hop-a-Thon.
4. Enrollment is up.  We were projected at 342 students and we currently have 371 students.
5. Yesterday we did our sequence of security and safety drills.  All schools are required to do a fire drill monthly, and a shelter in place, lock down, and hold drill twice a year.  The kids were masterful on the fire drill, students were out of the building in 3 mins.  Then they moved on to secure the perimeter drill, and moved into their lock down drill after that.  LPS security walk the building with Mrs. Wagner and MRs. Powell to make sure staff and students are doing what they need to do during these drills.  Lastly they moved into the tornado drill, where all staff and students went down into the library.  One parent attending asked how students know if they are doing a drill or if it is real?  Mrs. Wagner responded by saying she always lets staff and students know when they will be having a drill so that they are prepared.  Therefore staff would know if it is a real threat because they were not notified ahead of time about a scheduled drill.  
6. Excited about Parent Night tomorrow night, where Mr. DeBoer will be talking with parents about students' mental health.
7. I-ready reports are coming home next week.  This is a nationally normed assessment, and it places students in a percentile based on students scores around the country.  Mrs. Wagner wanted to remind parents that this is one body of evidence and it does not count towards report cards.
8. October 8th is the next accountability meeting.  They will be looking at the school performance data.  
9. Last week operations and maintenance came out to walk the school with Mrs. Wagner and talk about needs and wants for the building.  Mrs. Wagner asked for a cute learning space/amphitheater outside by the first grade playground.  She also expressed the need for an addition for office areas, and collaborative learning areas for students, as well as new carpet, new stairs inside the building, and for the pea gravel to be removed and replaced with mulch on the playgrounds.  
10. If anyone has any ideas for assemblies Mrs. Wagner and Mrs. Powell would love to hear them.  They like to do about 3 assemblies a year, or 1 a trimester.  It is very difficult to find something that is reasonably priced.  

2. President’s Report: Amber Pearson:  

1. PPC (PTO Presidents Council) Update:

1. Todd Lambert (LPS Superintendent)

1. Heavy week in Littleton with a passing of a student at Newton and he is very grateful of the outpouring of support the community has given to the school and family.
2. School Performance Rating numbers have been released.  LPS went up from last year's rating and our current rating is 70.8 which puts LPS in the upper 3% of all school districts in the state.  
3. At the September 24th board meeting the new data team is going to give a presentation around all of the student performance to the LPS school Board.  They are going to review what we are doing well and where support is needed.
4. This Thursday (9/12) there will be a First reading on an updated Open Enroll Policy with a final reading at the following board meeting.  Goal is to streamline and align the policy with other policies and make the process clearer. Goal is to make the process simpler and remove the “Intent to Renew” every year.
5. The long range Planning Committee is going to be adjusted, the team will no longer stand up for 1 issue but will meet quarterly with a team of advisors who will inform the team on what the markets are doing.  There will be an application process to join this committee if you would like to join.  There will be a presentation for this at the October LPS Board meeting.
6. Updating Graduation requirements for the class of ‘29 and beyond.  There will no longer be separate High School Requirements; all 3 schools will have the same requirements to graduate.  The workshop will be held on September 11th and is open to the public and will be live streamed if you are interested.  Goal is to firm up timelines of when decisions will be made and some of the top hot items.
7. LHS Football team update - Team is now intact and issues have been resolved with Athletes and parents and the team will continue playing on 9/6 with their largest team of the season.        

2. Joan Anderson (LPS School Board Rep)

1. Legislature Special Session around Property Taxes on the Ballet citizen initiative “50” and “108” - “108” will kill funding for schools.  With School funding - a % is raised through Property taxes then the state backfills the funds needed.  Right now with the property tax cuts that happened recently the school board does not know what the overall impact will be.
2. Citizens Initiative “138” Student Choice is also being looked at and watched.  The LPS Board feels this would really hurt the funding for LPS schools from the State level.
3. Wanted to thank all voters for the ability to build Centennial Stadium.  The athletes are really benefiting from this field and are very excited to have another stadium to play at.

3. LPS School Board Resources

1. User this link to access anything around the LPS Board including live streaming the board meetings, review past meeting notes, review upcoming events

https://littletonpublicschools.net/board-education

4. School Safety Protocols  

1. When there is activity where Law Enforcement is involved they sometimes ask schools to be put on Hold, Secure, Lockdown or Evacuate.  To find more information about what each means click on this link: https://littletonpublicschools.net/school-safety-protocols
2. The School did receive feedback based on the events a few weeks ago around the  Sandburg neighborhood and have decided to change the safety protocols.  The team is working on a communication plan so the next time a school has been placed on secure (or any other event), parents and staff (not Students) of that school will be notified by Text with a link that will take you to a page with up to date information that is relevant to the event that is happening at that school.  Recommendation is that all parents check to verify they have the Text Message option selected in Infinite Campus to receive these communications. LPS will send an email out to the community to share this new information.  

5. LPS Foundation Update

1.  Foundation Exists solely to raise money for LPS schools.  When the foundation raises money it goes to all students at all schools.
2. Upcoming  Events for the LPS Foundation

1. LPS at Colorado Rockies (www.rockies.com/schools -

Saturday, Sept 28th and Sunday, Sept 29th  

2. A Night at the Theatre- Jersey Boys (theatre4lpsf.givesmart.com)

  Saturday, October 5th at 6:30 PM

3. The Stride 5K/10K & Wellness Expo (www.runthestride.com)

Sunday, October 27th.

4. Colorado Gives Day (www.coloradogives.org)

Tuesday December 10th

5. LPS Spirit Celebration

Friday, April 4, 2025

3. Vice President’s Report: Vacant
4. Marketing/ Communications: Sherry Affatica:  

1. The stickers for the Hop-a-Thon were ordered today.
2.  Looked into getting popcorn from AMC for Movie Night, but it is really expensive, so she looked on Amazon and they have popcorn from a small business with great reviews. It is $30 ish for 9 gallons of popcorn.  
3. Students have been uploaded into Membership Toolkit so that we can start pushing notifications for fundraisers.  

5. Secretary’s Report: Chelsey Kinney  

     i.  Asked everyone to sign the attendance sheet.  

6. VIPS Report: Ashley Garza

1. I Love to Read - Currently off to a great start.  There are a lot of volunteers and everyone is glad this program is continuing.  Kids are super excited too.
2. Hop-A-Thon - The volunteer list is ready to go and we will also send an email to include in the Friday update.
3. Library Assistance - Amy Marszalek at the district was hoping to set up some volunteer hours/spots in the library throughout the year.  Ashley will follow up with the team on what they are looking for.
4. October Book Fair - Does Mrs. Clark know the schedule and volunteer needs for the Book fair (We could also set it up like we did in the past).  It is scheduled for the same week as the Boo Ball, like it has been in the years past.

7. Treasurer’s Report: Lindsey Gorzalski Hocking:  

1.  Last years budget is balanced.  We overspent the budget by $1,717.21.  This was due to the over order in spiritwear.
2. We plan on adjusting the 24-25 budget for review and approval after the Hop-A-Thon, at the October or November meeting.

3. Fundraising Reports:

1. Southglenn Street Smarts Program (Kristin):  

1. Program started on August 1st and will run through April 30, 2025.  
2. Last year we won the $1,500 prize and were able to purchase gift cards from Qdoba, Parry’s, Chick Fil A, and Dairy Queen.  These cards will help fund prizes for the Hop-A-Thon as well as staff conference meals.
3. This year we have an opportunity to earn 25,000 points if we would like to participate in the Christmas Parade, and also earn points at other sponsored events.  Southglenn is also offering space to hold events (Flyer with more info to come).
4. As of August 15th we are ranked #1 in the Southglenn Street Smarts Program with 27,675 points
5. Southglenn is running a back to school special.  Receipts can earn 10x the points per $1 spent from select stores.  Promotion is running through September 30th.
6. The first Southglen Event where we can earn extra points is the Chalk Art Festival where we will earn 1,000 points per person who attends, if they submit a photo of themselves with all of their family members.

2. Spirit wear:

1. The back to school spiritwear sale is ending on September 24th.
2. We currently have 80 orders totalling $1,794.17 which comes to a $179.47 commission to Hopkins.
3. We will receive checks quarterly.

3. Restaurant Nights: (Chelsey Kinney): The first Restaurant nights will be:

1.  August 28th- Andy’s Frozen Custard (4-8pm)

2. September 18th- Bad Daddy’s (5-9pm in restaurant only)

3. October 8th- Mici’s (all day)

4. Hop - A - Thon: (Amber Pearson) -

1. Hop-A-Thon is scheduled for Thursday September 26th.
2. Prizes: First Prize: tablet, Second Prize: wireless headset, Third Prize: $25 gift card to Dairy Queen. There will also be small prizes awarded to students who earn specific amounts.  Students who earn $250 or more get to participate in a special event with Hopkins staff.  
3. Packets are ready to be assembled and delivered for Take Home on Friday September 13th.
4. Student T-Shirt: Ordered, awaiting delivery date from vendor.
5. Mr. Troth is currently setting up the lap tracking system.
6. Emily would like to help coordinate with Ashley and Amber.
7. Chelsey and Kristin can help sort the shirts again this year.  Amber will connect once the ship date has been received.

5. Square 1 Art (Amber Pearson) -

1. Art kit has been ordered and expected to be delivered September 12th to the school.  We will work with Mrs. Caven on the schedule and reimbursement she needs for Art Supplies.  

6. School Supply Kits- N/A
7. Moo-La from Longmont Dairy- N/A

4. Hopkins Events

1. Hopkins Movie Night: Inside Out 2, Friday September 20th.  Kona Ice is scheduled to be there from 6:00 PM-7:10 PM.  Movie will start around 7:00.  We will have Glow Sticks, and possibly popcorn. Will need volunteers to put popcorn bags together and hand out glow sticks.  Thinking about adding another speaker for the movie.  Ashley can create a volunteer sign-up for possibly 3-4 people to help set-up, 3-4 for help tear down.    
2. Fall Conference Meals: All planned
3. Boo Ball (Need Confirmation of Coordinator - Ashley?):  

1. Scheduled for Friday October 25th 4:30-6:30 PM
2. Kona ice is booked for the Boo Ball
3. Candy for the trunk or treat
4. Book Fair will stay open during the Boo Ball again this year.

4. LPS The Stride: (Mr. De Boer and Mr. Juan will head this up): Date: Sunday October 27, 2024.
5. Fall Parents night out: Looking for someone to head this community event.  Wondering if we want to stick with Parry’s, or find a new place.  
6. Yearbook- (TBA): We will discuss this more at the October meeting.   Melissa Jensen mentioned that she is available to help out.  
7. Teacher appreciation meals throughout the year:  Will know more about what we can do once we have the funds from the Hop-A-Thon.
8. Spring Conference Meals:
9. Science Fair (Mary Paddock):
10. Kindergarten Info Night:
11. Spring Talent Show: TBD   
12. Staff Appreciation Week (Need Coordinator):
13. 5th Grade Party (Lindsay will co-coordinate):  5th grade teachers requested to pick a date early, as well as a place (pool?).  
14. Spring Parents Night Out- (Need Coordinator) 
15. Staff Gift Wrapping (Need Coordinator)

IV.   Adjournment:  Amber did so at 7:20.