Minutes from May 20 Meeting

Introductions
New attendees: Dwayne Hansmann and Julie Koster.

Title Teacher’s Report
Mrs. Jan Klarenbeek, Mrs. Sondra Francis, and Mrs. Jill DeRuyter, Title I teachers at the elementary school, shared some details on the program. It is a federally funded program and is done in Hull Christian School as well (in the little house next to the school by Mrs. Linda Doorenbos). All teachers are fully endorsed. Next fall, information on the Title I program will appear in the school newsletter and parents can pose their questions to the teachers at open house.

Mrs. Jan Klarenbeek shared that Boyden Hull has chosen to focus on reading, not so much on math. They are using AIMS Web, which is a series of short tests, which helps them determine if a student should be considered for Title I. In addition, the teachers are asked as sometimes a student will not test well so their insight is needed.

Mrs. Jill DeRuyter shared all the testing is recorded and available to reference on the computer. Their progress is monitored and graphed. Every student is tested at the beginning of the year.

Mrs. Sondra Francis shared all students will receive information on the summer reading programs available at their local libraries (Boyden and Hull) and the summer reading program coordinators will talk about their programs.

It was noted 59 students were involved with the reading program throughout the year. In addition, Mr. Kerr shared a student cannot be on an IEP and on Title I at the same time due to budget reasons.

This handout was provided by the Title I teachers at the meeting:

Title I Reading: Title I reading instruction at Boyden-Hull Elementary is
usually done with students in Kindergarten up to Fourth grade. Students are
served in small group settings and given instruction based on the students’
needs. Those needs are determined by classroom teacher recommendation and
testing that is done within our school. We have used ITBS test scores and DIBELS
testing in the past. Now, we primarily use testing done with the AIMSweb which
is very similar to the DIBELS testing but gives us more information. We still do
look at ITBS testing as well as other scores a student may receive.

Students who demonstrate the need for reading instruction are then
grouped by skills and age. Mrs. De Ruyter, Mrs. Francis, and Mrs. Klarenbeek are
assigned to these small groups to teach skills needed. These teachers are fully
certified teachers with all the necessary reading endorsements required by state
and federal law.

If you have any questions about the Title I program, please feel free to contact the school to discuss your concern with one of these teachers or Mr. Kerr, the elementary principal.

Treasurer Report
The treasurer report shows a balance of $5,928.89. This includes a deposit of $2,178.68 from the Reach for the Stars Program and a deposit of $1,756.00 from the yearbook project. We will need to write a check for approximately $725 for the yearbooks. This will leave us with a remaining balance of around $5,200.

Purchases
It was decided to purchase a laminator for the school from the Education Station in LeMars, Iowa. Crystal R. and Sindy B. had done some research and we can purchase one for approximately $2,000. With a local purchase, the school will be provided with training on the machine. Mr. Kerr will make this purchase for the PTO.

Mr. Kerr shared the receipts turned into Dan’s Food Center came to over $90,000. With these receipts, the school was given money to purchase items from a catalog. Some of the items purchased were a laminating cart and shredder. A paragraph will be submitted to the newsletter about the importance of turning in your receipts and a thank you to Dan’s for participating.

Yearbook
The elementary yearbooks are at the printers and are expected to be in later in the week. Greta G. and Donna M. will distribute them when they come in. A final copy of the yearbook was available at the meeting and it is fantastic. A special note of thanks to Greta for coordinating this project.

Fundraisers for 2008-09
We will do a Scholastic book fair in the fall. Peggi O. already has dates secured: September 8 and September 23 (dates of parent teacher conferences). We will tentatively set up the display in Mrs. Zoet’s former classroom. Specific details will be worked on in August.

It was decided to not do the long sleeve t-shirts/sweatshirts this fall. We will plan to offer clothing on an every other year basis.

Reach for the Stars program will be done again but the dates will be moved up (somewhere in February). Julie K. will work with Mr. Kerr to set specific dates.

The group discussed doing a Christmas picture gift tag fundraiser. Photography by Mark offers this product. It is a full-color glossy sheet of gift tags and Christmas ornaments featuring the student’s school picture. It sells for $10, and the school gets $2. In the fall or early winter, parents would be sent home an information sheet about the product. If they wanted it, they would return the form and their money to school. The picture gift tags will then be sent home with the student. We discussed this for a while and decided to go ahead with this program. Peggi O. will coordinate this.

Donna M. researched other possible fundraisers and presented those to the group. They included:

• Silent auction of student art and writing projects.
• Traditional carnival.
• Bake sale.
• Garage sale.
• Contest for drawing a school employee. Students would pay $1 to be able to draw a school employee’s picture. Parents and community would then pay $2 to view the completed entries and vote on their favorites.
• Dinner party. Older students would make a meal, and people would pay to enjoy it. It would include nicely set tables, etc.

We decided to pursue a garage sale for next spring. Donna M. will coordinate this project.

We also decide to do the yearbooks again. We discussed how to do this next year. We plan on having TAG and student council do most of the work, using the new software program. Greta G. and Crystal R. will show Sondra how to use the software.

Other Business
Pam W. will submit a newsletter update to Peg during the first part of July. This will include information on yearbook sales, staff appreciation and upcoming meetings.

Mr. Kerr reported on the upcoming talent show. For the first time, Boyden-Hull Elementary students will present a talent show. It will be on Friday, May 23 at 2pm. He also noted that summer school will be offered through 4th grade in cooperation with Northwestern College. It will be held from June 2 – June 25 at Boyden-Hull Jr/Sr High School in Hull. New reading curriculum is being considered for fall. Also, an Awards ceremony will be held on Tuesday, May 27 at 2pm.

Thank you notes from teachers for the staff recognition activity were shared.

The next meeting will be Monday, August 11.