September 2013 PTO Minutes September 26, 2013

Carol McDonald Co-President of the PTO welcomed everyone in attendance to the first Pine Glen PTO meeting of the 2013-2014 calendar year. Principal's Report John Lyons Co-Vice President of the PTO reported the following: Thanks to the parents and the PTO for all their support. It has been so wonderful to see the students grow. Thank you for letting us share in the experience. We are just an incredible school community. The students are great, we have fantastic teachers and an active parent group. We were excited to have a new piano delivered to us. It is beautiful and we will enjoy it at the upcoming student concerts. The weather has been very cooperative which has been great for outdoor recess. We have continued the Pine Glen tradition of the Heros Assembly. On this day every year we say a big thank you to the Burlington Fire and Police Departments and the brave men and women in the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marines and Navy who keep us safe. We also take time to remember Thomas McGuinness, a former Pine Glen Student and Lt. Commander in the Navy, who our Pine Glen community lost on September 11, 2001. I would like to thank the McGuinness Family for attending our school assembly and all the men and women who keep our community safe. It was great to see so many familiar faces at our very well attended Open House on September 17th. Parents really enjoyed hearing about the different things their children will learn about this year. Our new math Program EnVision Math is going very well and I have heard good feedback from teachers and students. This program was specially developed to provide comprehensive coverage of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Take a

look through your child's math textbook/workbook and youll notice that each lesson specifically targets one or more of the content standards (shown just below the lesson number). Our new writing program for grades k2 called Explorations in Nonfiction Writing is likewise going well. We are very excited as these programs will put us even more inline with the Common Core Curriculum. The fifth graders has a very memorable trip to Camp Bournedale. I really enjoyed playing street hockey with the fifth graders. This outdoor education and team building trip students frequently tell us is one of their favorite memories in end of the year reflections when leaving Pine Glen School. We are pleased to welcome new staff members to our Pine Glen Community.
Andrea Hayes is going to be our new team chair. Although not new to Pine Glen, Taryn Flaherty, who was our permanent substitute, will now be a special education instructional assistant. Also, not new to Pine Glen school, Amanda Lane will continue as RTI tutor in the morning and teach grade 5 in the afternoon. We will also see the addition of two new RTI tutors. We are happy to welcome Jessica Wolfenden and Michelle Proehl as RTI tutors. We also enthusiastically welcome Siobhan OBrien, Michelle Mills, and Alyssa Capuano as Special Education Instructional Assistants. We are further delighted to welcome special education teacher Alexia Karamoutsos. Music teacher Laura Berger, Guidance counselor Alexis Dwyer School psychologist Madeline Lormand. Courtney Browne as our permanent substitute. 2013-2014 Calendar for the Year and Membership Update Carol McDonald/Ginelle Davidson Co-Presidents of the PTO and Catherine Gillespie Co-Vice President of the PTO reviewed the events for the upcoming year and updated membership drive and committee updates.

Deadline for Genevive orders is October 1st. This is one of the biggest PTO fundraisers. There is a new PTO board in the lobby with all events. This year there will be a reduced number of only 5 PTO meetings to try to increase attendance and participation. Discussed possibly having some PTO meetings off site. Please refer to PTO blog for all updated information. Halloween Dance is scheduled for Saturday October 26, 2013 from 6-8pm.

PTO membership only at 34% presently. Literature went out to all students to encourage families to sign up. Reviewed in detail what PTO contributes to Pine Glen students such as Ten Marks summer membership last year, shelving for the library, Field Day, Author Enrichment Program, Bourndale Scholarships, Artist in Residence, 5 Star General Reading Program, 5th Grade Yearbooks and Moving Up Ceremony, Spring Carnival, reduction in field trip costs and much more! PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING!!!!!!!!! New this year, PTO dues may be paid via PayPal. This is available via the PTO Blog. $14,000 fundraising goal set for the 2013-2014 year.

Adrienne Mattson, PTO Treasurer, provided everyone in attendance with an updated printed budget overview. Labels for Education/Box Tops Catherine Gillespie, Co-Vice President reported there will be a fall Label for Education and Box Top contest this year. The money raised from the Labels for Education is used to purchase playground equipment and the Box Tops are used to purchase books for the Pine Glen Library. Last year the Box Tops raised $1200! Prizes will be given in each category for first, second and third place. Deadline for submissions are October 18, 2013. There will be another contest in the Spring. Adopt A Class Thomas Killilea, Co-Chair of Adopt A Class did an extensive overview of the Adopt A Class program and distributed written information about this wonderful program. This program is a very unique program in which a local business or organizations commits to work with a specific class on raising funds for scholarships. Everyone in attendance was encouraged to read literature, discuss with family and friends and help participate in anyway they can. Requests for Funds Pine Glen LTC requested the following funds and approval was given by present membership. $25 iTunes gift cards for each of the 18 classrooms to help teachers individualize their particular classroom needs $390 for shelving units for the Pine Glen Library for recently purchased books. At present, Pine Glen has two literacy closets and shelving is needed.

Guest Speaker- Dan Callahan Dan Callahan, Pine Glen Instructional Technology Specialist presented a wonderful overview of the technology at Pine Glen School. Dan Callahan works

with Laura D'Elia, Pine Glen Librarian, to assist Pine Glen students with technology needs and library instruction. Some of the highlights from the presentation Discussion of how Box Tops helps supports the purchase of books for the library Birthday Book Club...$15 donation and children will have book dedicated in their name for their birthday. All students in district in grades 1,4,5 have 1:1 iPads this year. Currently, Pine Glen School has 60 iPads not assigned to specific classrooms. Next year grades 1-12 in district will be 1:1. iPads assist in blended learing Examples of how each grade uses iPads to help with Common Core Curriculum was given. First Grade- iPads are used for creating comic books and graphic novels Second Grade- Book Creator App used, Study books on Culture done Third Grade- Mass Biography Project utilizing research and video presentation of this project Fourth Grade- Genre Studies done Fifth Grade- Ad Campaigns Recently Pine Glen LTC was given local and national recognition. 9 school districts visited, 2 software developers and 2 visits from the MTA came to Pine Glen. Dan Callahan and Laura D'Elia were invited to speak at conferences and the fifth graders were invited to attend EdCamp in Boston.. Library/LTC time has been increased from 30 to 45 minutes a week.

Attendance Carol McDonald, Ginelle Davidson, John Lyons, Catherine Gillespie, Adrienne Mattson, Joanne Shortell, Sheila Lewis, Michelle O'Hare, Beth Baglio, Erin Fillmore, Jill McCabe, Patti Heldenbergh, Kate Berger, Heather Peckham, Sandiya Krishnan, Denise Desmond Next PTO Meeting November 7, 2013