Hatch PTO Minutes of the September 9, 2003 Meeting

Minutes not available for this date.

Hatch PTO Minutes of the October 7, 2003 Meeting

Co-President Sheila Essig called the meeting to order.

The minutes from the September 9, 2003 meeting were approved.

Roberta White Hunter of Oak Park River Forest Youth Services invited members of the PTO to attend an open house to be held by the Youth Services organization to showcase their programs for children. The open house is scheduled for October 29, 2003 from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. The organization intends to invite all District 97 PTOs, River Forest PTOs, and the high school PTO to educate the PTOs on the programs provided.

Hatch physical education teacher Sandra Noel discussed the breakfast program in which she teaches 5th graders the value of a nutritious breakfast and then prepares one for the 5th graders. She requested $4.00 in funding per each of the 5th graders (currently numbered at 52) to put on the breakfast again this year. A motion to provide this requested funding was made and approved. Whole Foods will donate smoothies for the meal as well.

PTO co-vice president Eric Forte presented proposed PTO by-laws. A draft had been presented at the September PTO meeting. Forte discussed some amendments to the draft. A motion was then made to approve the draft with the proposed amendments presented by Forte. The motion was approved. The by-laws will be posted on the Hatch website (as amended; doc format - 39K).

PTO treasurer Dave Hennings presented a draft budget for the 2003-04 school year. A draft had been presented at the September PTO meeting. Discussion was had and, with one line item change, the final budget was approved.

Hennings also presented a report on Blues Fest, which earned approximately $240.00. Discussion was held about an October date for Blues Fest 2004, which will be the 10th Anniversary of Blues Fest. Further discussion was also held on the Scholastic Book Fair. Instead of taking the proceeds in cash, the PTO opted to take the proceeds in the form of books for the Hatch library. Through this means, the sale raised approximately $2700.00 worth of books.

Co-President Kim Robinson presented the Principal’s Report in lieu of Principal Carter, who missed the meeting due to illness. Principal Carter intends to present a report on the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act on Hatch at the PTO Meeting set for November 4, 2003.

The PTO is still looking for committee chairs for the Spring Fundraiser, Fun Fair (one co-chair needed to share responsibilities with a co-chair who is continuing from last year), and a fourth grade parent to chair the Fifth Grade Celebration.

Next PTO meeting set for November 4, 2003 at 7:00 p.m. in the library.

Hatch PTO Minutes from the November 4, 2003 Meeting

Co-President Kim Robinson called the meeting to order.

The minutes from the October 7, 2003 meeting were presented.

Hatch Physical Education teacher Sandra Noel reported that the breakfast for fifth graders, who have been learning about nutrition, will be on Thursday November 6, 2003.

Hatch Co-Vice President Eric Forte presented his proposal that the PTO organize an event for Hatch parents who operate their own business so that these parents could get to know one another. Parents would be able to present information about the goods or services that they provide. The purpose of the event would be to help parents promote their businesses. A directory of interested parents would also be compiled. Discussion was held about holding such an event sometime during the first week of December. Notices about the event will be sent home with students.

Kim Robinson presented the PTO President’s Report. The PTO still needs one or two people to chair the Spring Fundraiser; another chair for the Fun Fair; and a fourth grade parent to chair the Fifth Grade Celebration.

In addition to the unfilled event chairperson positions, the PTO is also looking for one or more individuals who could serve as photographers at school events. The school owns two digital cameras that could be used by photographers. Pictures could then be used in the yearbook as well as posted on the Hatch website.

The PTO also intends to start communicating with the Hatch community via e-mail. Reminders of school events will be e-mailed to parents who provided an e-mail address to the school at the beginning of the year. Any parent who wishes to will be able to unsubscribe from the e-mail list. Larry McIntyre will maintain the list.

David Hennings, Hatch PTO Treasurer, reported on the fall fundraisers and the budget. While wrapping paper sales exceeded last years gross by $2000.00 with an expected additional profit of approximately $1000.00, sales of Entertainment Books grossed $3000.00 less than last year. The school store, however, is thriving. Additionally, the PTO will be sending home a form through which adults can purchase clothing with the Hatch logo.

Hennings further reported that the PTO had approved $115.00 for Marilyn Foster, the speech teacher, for flash-card type teaching aides, and $200.00 for the purchase of a color copying machine for the library.

Principal Sheila Carter reported that the state had not released the school report cards and she was consequently postponing her report on the ISAT results and the No Child Left Behind Act until the next PTO meeting in December.

PTO Co-President Kim Robinson reported on the October PTO council meeting, at which District 97 Superintendent Fagan spoke about the budget. A District 97 Budget Forum will be held at Hatch school on the evening of November 13. The school board and superintendent will additionally attend a Town Hall Meeting at Hatch, tentatively planned for February.

Sandy Noel requested $120.00 to retain Dion Ricardo of the Victory Martial Arts Academy to teach a six week martial arts class during lunch some time this winter. The PTO approved the request. The class will be open to all children, although interested students will have to sign up in advance.

The next PTO meeting is scheduled for December 2, 2003.

Hatch PTO Minutes from the December 2, 2003 meeting

Co-President Sheila Essig called the meeting to order.

The minutes from the November 4, 2003 meeting were presented.

Sheila Essig presented new business. She discussed the start-up of Hatch Highlights, the e-mails of events at Hatch being sent by Larry McIntyre to parents who gave the school an e-mail address at the beginning of the year.

She also stated that the first PTO Business Network meeting, organized by PTO co-Vice President Eric Forte, was scheduled for December 4, 2003 at 7:00 p.m.

Discussion was held about distribution of the school directories. Co-President Kim Robinson mentioned that some other schools allow parent business owners to advertise in their school directories. We may want to consider this idea next year.

Discussion was also held about creating or designating one of the current PTO vice president positions to be a vice president for fundraising. The person in this position would help coordinate the fundraisers and be a point person for committee chairs who run specific fundraising events.

Committee chairs are still needed for the spring fundraiser (1 or 2 positions), the fun fair (1 position), and the Fifth Grade Celebration (1 fourth grade parent needed).

Treasurer Dave Hennings presented some ideas that Allison Hennings had researched and compiled for fundraisers, possibly to be held this spring. These include:

1. Art Cards - where children’s art work is reproduced on card stock and then sold in packs of ten.
2. Handprint Tiles - where children make tiles of their handprints in plaster of paris. The school can sell them to parents or area businesses can purchase tiles with their names on them.
3. Movie night - once a month the PTO would show a movie in the auditorium. We would charge admission and sell snacks.
4. Valentine’s Day Dance.
5. Spring plant sale.
6. Hatch cookbook containing recipes that Hatch kids eat at home and love.

Hennings also presented the Treasurer’s Report. The school store continues to do well. We plan to again do School Pacs, so children can pre-order their school supplies for next year. Also, the PTO is recycling old ink cartridges from fax machines and printers, cellphone and camera batteries and the likes in the foyer of the school.

Linda Merchant presented a report on the success of the fall fundraiser, which she chaired. The school’s profit from the sale of wrapping paper and Entertainment Books is approximately $4200.00. Some adjustments still need to be made by the vendors so the actual profit should be higher.

Anybody still possessing an Entertainment Book that he or she didn’t sell should turn it into the office.

Principal Sheila Carter gave a report on the No Child Left Behind Act and Hatch’s ISAT scores. Hatch is in compliance with the Act.

PTO Co-President Kim Robinson discussed the last PTO Council meeting at which the presidents of all the District 97 schools meet. At the last meeting, Superintendent Fagan spoke about the No Child Left Behind Act and gave a summary of the budget forums that have been held in the district.

The PTO picked possible dates in January for a Town Hall Meeting at which the school board and superintendent would come to Hatch and meet with the community.

The next PTO meeting is scheduled for January 6, 2004.

Hatch PTO Minutes from the January 6, 2004 meeting

Co-President Kim Robinson called the meeting to order.

The minutes from the December 2, 2003 meeting were presented.

New Business was discussed. The school board is soliciting membership for a legislative advocacy committee. The committee will help develop a district agenda and then seek support for the agenda goals from the state and federal representatives. Dave Hennings has volunteered to be Hatch’s nominee for this committee.

Co-Vice President Eric Forte discussed the success of the first PTO Business Network Meeting. Approximately 15 parents in the Hatch community attended the first meeting, held in December. At that meeting, each parent spoke for a few minutes about his or her business. Those in attendance would like to see more opportunities for marketing and business development. Forte is looking into getting someone on faculty at Triton College to speak at the next meeting on the topic of building a business. Forte hopes to organize another meeting within a month. He has already created a directory containing the names and contact information of those who attended the first meeting.

Coffee House will be held on Friday, January 16, 2004 from 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.

The spring fundraiser will be a Hatch cookbook. Allison Hennings has agreed to chair this fundraiser. She will be collecting the recipes and consolidating them into a cookbook. The cookbooks will sell for $15.00. A mailing will be sent home to parents with information regarding how to submit recipes.

Robinson also announced that Patience Nelson would be filling the heretofore open Fun Fair co-chair position. Also, Sheila Essig and Kim Robinson have agreed to chair the 5th Grade Celebration. No other committee positions remain open.

Sandra Noel, physical education teacher, spoke about the possibility of doing a fundraiser through the Growing Power Rainbow Farmers Cooperative. This fundraiser would involve selling boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables on a weekly basis. The produce would come mostly from local farmers engaged in organic and sustainable agricultural practices. Interested parents would order and pay for the boxes of produce in advance, and pick them up at the designated time at Hatch. The PTO is looking for someone interested in further investigating this program and possibly coordinating it. Anyone interested should contact PTO co-president Sheila Essig at 524-5431.

Noel also discussed the upcoming Brain Food Dinner, to be held Tuesday, January 27, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. Chefs will work with Noel to present a hands on cooking lesson featuring healthy meals to help kids learn.

The PTO has decided not to conduct a Scholastic Book Sale in February since there was not a widely available selection of new books. Next year, the PTO will conduct one book sale closer to the winter holidays.

Dave Hennings presented the Treasurer’s Report. The school store continues to thrive. The PTO also just received Hatch sweatshirts previously ordered. Once payment is received for these, the PTO’s positive cash flow will increase. Hennings also announced the distribution in December to each teacher of $150.00 to reimburse each teacher for out of pocket classroom expenses.

Principal’s Report: Principal Sheila Carter reported that second grade teacher Mrs. Stack is coordinating a field trip to see the Freedom Train musical on Tuesday, February 10. The trip is for students in second through fifth grades. Tickets will cost $3.00, with the ticket prices subsidized by the proceeds from Ice Cream Fridays. Mrs. Stack is looking for two volunteers from each classroom attending the trip. Principal Carter also reported that she has an ongoing responsibility to monitor the timeliness of students arrival in the morning and that she has in the past, and will in the future, be sending letters to parents of students who are consistently late.

PTO co-President Robinson announced that the Town Hall meeting with the school board is set for February 12, 2004 at 7:00 p.m.

The next PTO meeting will be February 3, 2004 at 7:00 p.m. in the media center.

Hatch PTO Minutes from the February 3, 2004 meeting

Minutes not available for this date.

Hatch PTO Minutes from the March 2, 2004 meeting

Co-President Kim Robinson called the meeting to order.

The minutes from the February 3, 2004 meeting were presented.

New Business was discussed. A discussion of visitor and parent protocol was held. The Oak Park Teachers’ Association will be preparing a policy on parental visits to schools. Any visitor to Hatch, including all parents or guardians, should go to the office first. In light of some problems at other schools, discussion was held about how parents should not stop into their children’s classroom without a prior appointment during school hours to talk with their child’s teacher.

In other new business, Physical Education teacher Sandy Noel agreed to be the initial coordinator for the Rainbow Coalition Market Basket Fundraiser. The first vegetable delivery will tentatively be scheduled for March 12, 2004.

Also, the PTO will have several board positions opening at the end of the school year. The positions will be a co-president, a co-vice president for fundraising and a co-treasurer. Each position is for a two-year term. Anyone interested on serving on the PTO board should contact current PTO co-president Kim Robinson at 848-3158.

Committee Reports
PTO co-vice president Deb Patnode gave the Treasurer's report. Cookbook sales have been doing well. Discussion was held about setting up a table to sell cookbooks at Gallery Hatch, to be held on April 23, 2004. Fun Fair was a great success and profitable. Many thanks to the organizers and volunteers who made it a success.

Sheila Carter gave the Principal's report. Two teachers, Mrs. Simmons in 2nd grade, and Mrs. Chubbs, in 5th grade will be retiring at the end of the year. While their positions will be filled, the hiring process is not yet completed. Mrs. Carter is hoping to organize a kindergarten jamboree in August at her gym in Naperville for all incoming kindergartners.

Approximately 13-15 students per grade level are participating in the math-a-thon. Mrs. Carter, along with Mrs. Dressel, work with the math-a-thon participants during the lunch hour. The parent workshop on learning styles that had been scheduled in February was cancelled. Standardized tests for second through fifth grades will be given during the time period of March 29 through April 6. The PTO will buy snacks for test takers.

Kim Robinson gave a report on the February PTO Council meeting. At that meeting, discussion was held about parent and visitor protocol. Tim Hull, HR Director for District 97 discussed the addition of a multi-racial category on the ISAT for student categorization.

School Board Member Sharon Patchak-Layman discussed plans by the Village of Oak Park to sell bonds to provide District 97 with additional funding to help the schools resolve their budget crunch.

Important dates:
The next PTO meeting is set for April 20 at 7:00 p.m. The PTO meeting currently scheduled for May 4 has been changed to May 11 to allow more times between meetings. Elections to the PTO Board will be held at the May 11 meeting. Anyone interested in running for the open positions of co-president, co-vice president, and co-treasurer should contact PTO co-president Kim Robinson at 848-3158.

Hatch PTO Minutes from the April 20, 2004 meeting

Co-President Sheila Essig called the meeting to order.

The minutes from the March 2, 2004 meeting were presented.

New Business was discussed. Co-vice president Eric Forte introduced a discussion on the timing of student events and activities. Discussion was held regarding whether more events such as the Spring Sing and Spelling Bee should be held in the evening so that working parents and guardians could more easily attend. Principal Sheila Carter noted that evening events have in her experience reduced student participation. Additionally, timing of events has been dictated by to whom the event is targeted - the parents or the students - as well as by past scheduling traditions. Discussion was also held about moving some events to the beginning of the school day so that parents would not have to leave work to attend but could go in late. No resolution was reached with regard to the timing of any specific event. The PTO may create a section on its web site where members of the school community could post comments regarding this issue.

In other new business, PTO officer elections will be held at the May 11 meeting. There are openings for a co-president, co-vice president and treasurer. Eric Forte agreed to create a flier to distribute regarding these open positions. Any one with interest in being on the PTO board should feel free to contact any of the current PTO members.

Discussion was also held regarding the Rainbow Cooperative Vegetable deliveries. There have been some problems with deliveries being late. The PTO discussed circulating another flyer regarding the program so interested individuals could sign up. Physical Education Teacher Sandy Noel has been running this program.

Committee Reports
PTO Treasurer Dave Hennings gave the Treasurer’s report. Cookbook sales and yearbook sales have been profitable. The morning kindergarten class won the popcorn party for most cookbooks sold. There has been low sign-up to date for the school packs program. The PTO will circulate another flyer about this program in which parents can sign up in advance to purchase their children’s school supplies. The supplies are then delivered to the children on the first day of school

Sheila Carter gave the Principal’s report. The school leadership team needs parent members for next year. Anyone interested should contact Mrs. Carter.

The PTO agreed to pay for bookmarks for the read-a-thon participants as well as pizza to be supplied for the party held for participants at the gym in Naperville.

Participants in the math-a-thon will be getting goodie bags of education-related items.

Sheila Essig gave a report on the March PTO Council meeting. Discussion at that meeting was held regarding the consultant’s reports on Brooks and Holmes schools, issues of activities fees, and where budget cuts may be made in the following year.

Hatch PTO meetings for the 2004-05 school year are tentatively set for the second Tuesday of each month.

The next PTO meeting will be held on May 11, 2004 at 7:00 a.m. in the media center. Elections for the open officer positions will be held.

Hatch PTO Minutes from the May 11, 2004 meeting

Co-President Kim Robinson called the meeting to order.

The minutes from the April 20, 2004 meeting were presented.

New Business was discussed. Kim Robinson discussed a proposed fall fundraiser trip to Kiddie Land with other District 97 schools for a Friday night in September. Hatch PTO would sell tickets to Hatch students and would keep approximately $8.00 per ticket, with ticket prices tentatively proposed at $16.00.

PTO officer elections were held. Current PTO co-vice president Eric Forte was elected to be a co-president, with Sheila Essig continuing into her second year of a two year term as co-president. Rhonda and Schon Bowyer were elected to, and will share, the position of vice-president. The position of PTO treasurer remains open, with current PTO treasurer Dave Hennings agreeing to continue to serve next year in that capacity while he trains a new treasurer. A flier will be sent out seeking a co-treasurer.

Committee Reports:
Leslie Whitaker gave a report on the spelling bee, which will be held on May 13, 2004. This year, each grade will compete against itself (as opposed to having multi-grade competitions), with each classroom holding preliminary bees to select six finalists for the May 13 competition. Magic Tree Book Store donated $15.00 gift certificates to be given to each winner, with the PTO paying for additional certificates for the second place finisher and bookmarks for all the competitors.

Kim Robinson gave the treasurer’s report. Gallery Hatch was profitable this year, although numbers still need to be incorporated into the treasurer’s report.

Rhonda and Schon Bowyer gave a report on the Block Party, which will be held Friday May 21, 2004 from 6-8 p.m. Admissions will be $2.00 per person, $6.00 per family. Discussion was held about giving each entrant a wristband to wear identifying them as having paid. Discussion was further held about having two entry places (one towards Ridgeland and one towards Harvey) where people would pay to enter. Robinson Ribs will again sell food, with the PTO selling other food such as soda, chips and ice cream. Activities will include games, fun jump and a DJ.

Sheila Carter gave the Principal’s report. The school is hosting a retirement party on May 20th for Marva Chubbs and Marva Simmons, both of whom are long time Hatch school teachers. Other teachers who will not be returning next year for various reasons include the kindergarten teacher, Leslie Spencer; the art teacher, Jan DiGirolamo, and special education teacher, Deborah Davis.

Mrs. Carter also reported that the talent show will be held on May 14. The read-a-thon and math-a-thon will end on that date as well. The school intends to do Opera for the Young again next year. This year, Opera for the Young did a performance of Pirates of Penzance. The last day of school will be on June 10, 2004.

Kim Robinson reported on the April PTO council meeting. At that meeting, the council discussed the fact that a search firm has been retained to seek a replacement for District 97 Superintendent Dr. Fagan, who will retire at the end of next year. The search firm intends to seek input from various District 97 constituents. ISATs next year will be held from March 7-18. Spring break will be the last week of March, instead of mid-April as it was this year. The next school year will start August 30, 2004 and end June 9th. The PTO council also listened to a presentation by Gail Crantz on the new report cards that went into effect this year.

The next PTO meeting will be on September 14, 2004 at 7:00 p.m.