Thursday, 8/8/2024
Minutes >
WGA PTO General Meeting Board
Thursday, 8/8/2024 | 6:00pm | In-Person & Online
In Attendance:
Board Members:
President- Melissa Mundt
VP – Kay Machado
Treasurer - Janine Torres
Secretary – Gwen Ladson
Staff Members:
Principal - Marcie Romero
Teachers - Mrs. Delci
Online attendees = 38
On-site attendees = 17
Meeting brought to order by Melissa Mundt at 6:04pm
President's Welcome
Welcome and thank you for coming - she let everyone know that we have two meetings per year, one at the beginning of the year and one at the end of the year. During the year members can visit the website and social media to stay up to date.
She reviewed the agenda and let everyone know what we will cover.
Let’s introduce everyone on the PTO Board and Committees. She explained the structure of PTO, that we have a board and committee chairs.
Each person introduced themselves, shared how long they have been involved in PTO, the grade levels of their children and how long they have attended Weinberg.
Presidents Report
Melissa went through a slide that explains PTO’s role and purpose of what we do to support WGA. We thrive on getting people connected to the WGA Community. We are fortunate to raise quite a bit of money through our fundraisers that goes directly back to the school.
She went through a slide that lists the supported programs and events as well as the funding sources of how we raise money. Our annual Check-a-thon is our biggest fundraiser of the year, but we also get funding from spirit sales, restaurant nights, and partner programs.
We encourage you to leverage those passive revenue streams like Box Tops and Fry’s, too.
Info about the PTO Team, PTO objectives and by-laws can all be found at wgapto.org/service
Wildcat Welcome (7/15) and Kinder Woohoo Breakfast (7/17) were a great success. Thanks to the hospitality team for helping to feed our teachers and staff during those events.
First Restaurant Night at Haagen-Dazs (7/26) was a success. We brought in $226.06
Back-to-School Bash at Elevate also had a strong showing of WGA families. We had 168 paid admissions and raised $318.48
Vice President’s Report
Kay discussed what you can find on the website and ways that people can get involved. All of our volunteer opportunities are listed on the website. Commonly asked questions are referenced on the website and there is an FAQ. You can see our funded projects to be able to track where our money is spent. You can sign up as a member for free to see all information that is shared. There is financial information that can only be shared with members. You can link the PTO calendar to your google calendar and it will automatically update.
Effective today there is a Back to School sale on spirit gear. It is a 30% off sale that will run through 9/10. You can find the link on our website to order. Items will ship directly to your home. This is the largest discount the vendor does all year.
The vendor (1st Place Spiritwear) has an amazing customer service team. We encourage you to reach out to them if you have any questions about the products
Also, keep in mind that sizes do run a little small.
The Scholastic Book fair is coming up on 8/19-8/23. It will run during parent/teacher conferences and this year we will be open during the afternoon/evening conference times so you can shop as a family. There is a post on the website that lists what days each class will shop with their class. Please prep your children if they will have money to shop and when you will have them shop, whether it is during their class time or as a family.
Further Events: Brave Beginnings is a school run event. It will take place on 9/20. Fall Break is 9/23-10/7. Family Movie Night will be on Oct 18th. More details to come.
Treasurer’s Report
A copy of the budget was presented to members in attendance
Janine walked everyone through the budget. It is always available to see or ask questions. We are very transparent about the money we raise and where it is spent.
At the end of last year a decision was made to update the budget based on line items that could go away and new categories that needed to be added. She reviewed what was deleted and what was added.
Check-A-Thon is our one big fundraiser for the year. We raised about $120K last year. She also reviewed the other fundraising income we receive and where that comes from.
Janine explained how and why we have a large amount of money that carried over from last year. She reviewed that we are looking to spend the money on a shade structure for the amphitheater and additional 3D printers to keep up on what is needed for our students.
The budget is updated quarterly on the website but you can always ask to see something at any time.
Call for motion to approve the budget. Janine Torres made a motion, Kay Machado 2nds, no opposition.
Committee Reports
Check-A-Thon: Erin Wilkens and Apple Lahey are our Check-A-Thon Chairs. They were not able to be at the meeting. Melissa reviewed what Check-A-Thon is and how it works. The theme for this year is Harry Potter. Check-A-Thon is happening earlier this year. The dates are Sept 3rd-13th. All of the money raised stays with the school. All donations will receive a tax receipt. Please ask your employers if they participate in any company match programs.
BookFair: Shannon Zajac is the Committee Chair.The kickoff date for the Scholastic Book Fair is Aug 19th. Volunteer sign-ups are up on the websites. We need help to run the registers and help kids with purchasing books. Please check out the website to figure out which day your child’s class is shopping. We will also be open in the afternoon/evening on conference days. Parents can set up an Ewallet online ahead of time so your kids have a predetermined amount they can spend. That does rollover if they don’t use the full amount. Teachers will also pull books they want as a “wish list” and families can purchase those books for them. The book fairs are how our library is funded. All the money from the book fairs goes to purchasing new books for the library.
Events: Julie Ray is the Committee Chair. She will be setting up an Events Committee. We have standard events that we do each year, but she has some ideas for new events and/or updates to existing events. If you are interested in serving on the Events Committee please reach out.
Volunteer: Tayra Rodriguez is the Committee Chair. There will be links to volunteer opportunities for Check-A-Thon, Movie Night, and Book Fair posted on the website. Check it regularly to see opportunities to volunteer.
Principal’s Report
Marcie Romero is our new principal. This is her 24th year in education and her 9th year in administration. She attended Weinberg as a child.
She thanks everyone for making her feel so welcome.
She thanked the PTO for welcoming her and bringing her up to speed.
She revealed that we will be moving to a Driveline app for parent pick up.
Right now teachers are working on their individual growth projects. It looks like Weinberg will target math as the school’s overall growth plan.
If you are interested in volunteering and don’t know where you best fit, please ask PTO or the front office and they will find a place for you.
Please make sure you are signed up on Parent Square. This is where you will find the information you need, it is the main form of communication for the school and teachers.
Brave Beginnings will be Sept 20th. This is the first showcase event of the year to have families come and see the projects that the students have been working on in the 1st quarter.
She announced that Mrs. Zitar, one of our 2nd grade teachers, will be leaving Weinberg. She has received a promotion to become the Math Leader for CUSD. We also are in need of a Noon Aide, please let Mrs. Romero know if you know of anyone who is interested.
Thank you so much for coming. It is important to get involved, the same few can’t do it all. Having many people involved is what makes things work.
Q&A
There was one question asking if teachers have updated their “Favorites” lists. They are working on getting those updated and they should be posted soon.
Close Meeting: Meeting adjourned by Melissa Mundt at 7:02pm