Tuesday, 8/8/2023

Tuesday, 8/8/2023 | 7:00pm | In-Person & Online

In Attendance:

Board Members:
- President- Melissa Mundt
- VP – Kay Machado
- Treasurer - Janine Torres
- Secretary – Biray Seitz
Staff Members:
- Principal - Jen Nusbaum
- Teacher - Mrs. Leigh

Online attendees = 28

On-site attendees = 14

Meeting brought to order by Melissa Mundt at 7:04pm

Thank you for coming - this is a big turn out and we appreciate everyone making the time to join us online/in-person.
Let’s introduce everyone on the PTO Board and Committees
Welcome Julie Ray to the team as the new PTO Community Chair position. This is a new role which was made official today, so the responsibilities are still being defined. But she will help better connect our families and elevate our family engagement at events, which was something that was lacking at our activities. This role would have pieces in digital marketing, volunteers, and events.
Here is a slide that is a brief reminder of PTO’s role and purpose of what we do to support WGA

[UPDATE 8/10: Info about the PTO Team, PTO objectives and by-laws can all be found wgapto.org/service]

Wildcat Welcome (7/19) and Kinder Woohoo Breakfast (7/19) was 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 (7/28) was a great success. We brought in $225
Back-to-School Bash at Urban Air also had a strong showing of WGA families (we’re still waiting on our fundraising numbers from Urban Air). [UPDATE 8/10: Sold 82 tickets and brought in $524.63]

Scholastic Book Fair (8/21-8/25): Kids will come to the library to shop during designated class time. There will be family hours during parent-teacher conferences so you can come shop with your family. [UPDATE: more information here]
Spiritwear Sales (8/8-9/7) from our vendor 1st Place Spiritwear (on-demand, delivery to your door). They are having their 30% fall sale so it’s a good time to buy. We don’t determine these sales, the vendor informs us and we let everyone know.
Water bottles sales (8/8 to 8/23): For the next two weeks, we are taking pre-orders for customized WGA water bottles (you can personalize with name, etc.) Price range from $22-35 and can be purchased at the PTO Swag store.
You can get to both vendor store and PTO swag store from wgapto.org/spirit
Restaurant In-N-Out 8/23 from 4-8pm at the Germann/Gilbert location
Parent-Teacher Conferences 8/23-8/24 (early release @11:45)
Further ahead…
- 9/5 Substitute Appreciation Week
- Brave Beginnings Breakfast (formerly Bravery Breakfast)
- Fall Break (10/2-10/16)
- Check-a-thon (10/23-11/3)

We wanted to share a list of all the ways that PTO supports WGA - from hospitality (that team spoils our teachers and staff so well) to all the events we put on. (this info is also at wgapto.org/support)
There are a lot of ways to support the PTO and where we get our funding sources - 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. [UPDATE 8/10: additional info on funding sources here wgapto.org/support]

More details on the spirit gear sales (8/8-9/7)
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.

A copy of the budget was presented to members in attendance (along with bank statements)
WGA increased in size by adding 6 additional teachers and 6 more staff members, therefore a hospitality budget increase has been requested and will need to be voted on at this meeting.
We would like to propose a $3000 increase to the existing hospitality budget.
Call for motion to approve the hospitality budget increase. Janine Torres made a motion, Melissa Mundt 2nds, no opposition.

The PTO is focusing on better communication to parents/members this year. We upgraded the website and streamlined processes for messaging.
The website is central hub for all-things-PTO. Everything will be pushed out on the website first, then distributed to other social media channels.
We launched a new members-only page today for PTO-Funded Projects so members know how our budget is being allocated.
Check out the calendar and subscribe. We don’t just list events, we update the descriptions to include all the info you need so you know what events are WGA-hosted and which are PTO-hosted or both.
If there are only 2 things you do to stay updated:
- Create a PTO account on the website so you get email notifications of new updates
- Subscribe to the calendar (iCal links are available)

BookFair: Volunteer sign-ups are up on the websites. We need help to run the registers and help kids with purchasing books.
Fundraising: Working on 3 more restaurant nights. Blue 32 in September, Torchy’s Tacos in November, and Peter Piper in February. More information as dates get determined.
Check-a-thon: The planning is in its very early stages. The theme this year will be “Mario World Bowzer Take Down”. More to come.

Great overview.
Just want to say thank you to the teachers who are here at 7pm!
Wanted to recognize that PTO has been here since the beginning of WGA when our first year was all remote and online.
If you’ve been on our campus tour, you’ll know that I often tell people that our PTO support has been wildly involved and supportive
What’s great about our PTO is how they lead with empathy… does that person want/need that thing? The PTO has always done it.
What people don’t often know about our PTO is that we’ve helped other schools in the last 3 years b/c of the generosity and foresight of our PTO.
Signature events have evolved and grown over the years, too - by adding a cereal drive and ways give back to the community at our events.
At WGA we really value the board and parents… PTO often comes through with what we need at a moment’s notice.
Some of the things and access that your WGA kids have to resources and ideas at this school is because of the PTO.

*** THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO BROUGHT ITEMS FOR THE MOCK STORE TO SUPPORT MRS. WODARCYK AND THE FLitE PROGRAM!***

No questions
[UPDATE 8/10: A few questions were submitted through our PTAQuestions form, but since they were related to WGA curriculum and/or operations, it fell outside the scope of PTO. However, they were passed on to Mrs. Nusbaum]

Close Meeting: Meeting adjourned by Melissa Mundt at 7:33pm