Minutes from April 15

We welcomed Donna M. who attended for the first time.

Treasurer Report
The treasurer report shows a balance of $2,043.13 without the money deposited from the Reach for the Stars fundraiser.

Meeting Attendance
In an effort to encourage greater attendance at meetings, next school year we will:

• Hold meeting on the third Monday of every month (in Boyden)
• Begin at 7:00 instead of 7:30
• Mr. Kerr will ask the teachers to sign up to attend a meeting so we will have a teacher representative present at each meeting
• Childcare will continue to be offered
• Our first meeting for next year will be Monday, August 11, which is actually the second Monday but we wish to have one meeting before the school year begins.

Fundraisers

• The Reach for the Stars fundraiser was a success. The school will receive a total of $2,457.92 in cash minus $258 in books to be purchased for the library. Some of this money will be used to purchase a laminator. Crystal R. will inquire with other schools to get some recommendations and report back to the PTO. We will try to keep the purchase amount around $1,700. It was recommended the school should not send home Scholastic book orders while this program is going on. Mr. Kerr will ask the students to sign a thank you card to be given to the three area banks that donated $100 to the program (this money will be used for books for the library as well).
• The elementary yearbook project has been well-received. This year, 195 yearbooks were purchased, an increase of about 25 over last year. Cost was raised from $8.00 to $9.00 to cover the expense of the software purchase used to create the yearbook. Cheryl V. will input orders and Greta G. is coordinating the completion of the yearbook. We will order an extra 20 yearbooks as they can be used by Mr. Kerr to give to new families and also for last minute requests.
• We will not be doing the school supply boxes as a project for the 2008-2009 school year. There was some apprehension on the part of teachers and a few parents so this idea has been tabled for now. However, it was decided we will fill a Rubbermaid container of necessary school supply items to be put in the office so if a teacher has a child who does not have a particular supply, they can use this resource. We will do this in August.
• In the next newsletter, we will include statistics on the Reach for the Stars program and details on the yearbook.

Principal's Report
Mr. Kerr reported on the following items:

• Kindergarten round-up was held and 53 children attended. The number of children attending kindergarten could go up to 70 as not everyone eligible to attend kindergarten was at this round-up.
• There will be a number of field trips before the end of the year:
  6th graders – Iowa History trip (May 1 and 2 – return home around 5:30-6:30)
  5th graders – Camp Foster (May 9)
  4th graders – Omaha (May 12)
  3rd graders – (note -- already completed -- went on farm tour)
  1st and 2nd graders – Sioux Falls Pavilion/Zoo (date TBD)
• CBM testing was completed last week.
• There have been a number of preschool meetings for Mr. Kerr and the administration as the school is applying for a grant. The school must meet a May 28th deadline. With this grant, all four year old children could attend preschool —free of charge and they would be bused to a facility. The school board feels offering preschool to all children, regardless of their income level, is a priority.
• JC Van’t Land will be speaking to the Kiwanis on Thursday, April 17, on his appointment to West Point.
• IDM (instructional decision making) in-service was held this month.
• PBS (positive behavior system) report will be done by Mrs. Rensink at the next board meeting.
• Student council is recognizing accomplishments of some students on a wall in school.
• There is an AR competition going on with the classes, and there will be a pizza party for the winning class.
• Students are encouraged to write a book review, and students can pick up a form in the office.
• Mrs. De Ruyter’s mother passed away and the funeral will be Thursday, April 17.

Upcoming Events
Teacher and staff appreciation week is coming up: May 5-9.