More Crazy Hair

Spirit Week - Crazy Hair and Hat Day

To celebrate the end of the school year, the Carver Responsive Classroom Committee organized a spirit week which had students dressing in Carver wear, pajamas, hats, etc. It was a fun week for staff and students.

Carver PTO - General Member Meeting

Carver PTO
General Member Meeting
April 15, 2008

Board members present: Christine Kass, Karen Mueller, Joe Slavin

The meeting was called to order at 7:04 by Christine Kass.

Christine gave the financial update, as Diane was unable to attend the meeting. Transportation costs were paid out for field trips taken through March. The Carnival was a success and Christine remarked that over the past few years, the PTO has come remarkably close to earning similar profits. The raffle income was around $5,000, all other income was around $7,000 and the expenses were around $2200.

The 5th grade team spoke briefly about the trip to Deep Portage on May 5th-7th. The money raised this year was enough to cover the trip. The team will be selecting Deep Portage classes for the students soon. Cathy Boehm and Christine Kass are going on the trip. This is Carver’s 13th year of going to Deep Portage.

A parent offered some comments about the message that teachers are sending before students take their MCAs. Her daughter was stressed because she had heard the message that the school would close if she didn’t do well. In PLC time, Joe told all the students that tests were coming up. As a group the staff hadn’t agreed on the wording to use regarding the importance of testing, without putting too much emphasis on the testing. Cathy Boehm suggested the mother talk to next year’s teacher before the test.

Patti Life requested that the PTO contribute $500 for the end of the year party again for the magician.

Carnival Review-Karen Langer sold tickets and passed on to Cathy Boehm that she heard several positive comments about how nicely it went. Shannon Hafner noticed was that “Adopt a Pet” had way fewer stuffed animals to give away than in previous years. It was discussed that when Spring Break comes right before the carnival, there are generally fewer donations because of the timing. The woman who did the face painting brought her own supplies and the question was asked if the PTO could reimburse her. The volunteer chair position is open for next year. Christine remains open to suggestions about the Carnival for next year.

Christine announced that she had contacted the Minnesota Twins and Carver night will be Friday May 2, 7:10 vs. Detroit. Carver families will get tickets for the family section. Christine and Joe will create fliers and letters will come from the office. Christine reserved 50 seats, as a minimum for the group.

A monetary request came for the STARs banquet. The PTO has historically sponsored a table. Cathy moved that PTO contribute $250 for the banquet. The motion was seconded. When put to a vote it was unanimously passed.

Cathy Boehm mentioned that the PTO has always given the money to the 5th grade for magician for the last day of school. Christine will check with Diane about handling that.

Board elections are technically due to occur. The positions of parent co-chair, teacher co-chair, secretary, and treasurer are open. Diane Brass would like to step aside as treasurer after next year. The current members would like to remain in their positions-the teacher co-chair will be Molly McChesney, Christine Kass will continue as President, Karen Mueller will continue as Secretary, Diane Brass will continue as Treasurer. A slate vote was held and a unanimous vote resulted in the Board retaining its current members.

Regarding PTO agenda items, is there a way to solicit feedback without being here? Should the secretary send out minutes/agenda electronically? Joe has been thinking of a Carver PTO blogspot.

Cathy Boehm asked what staffing looks like for next year. Joe said Lisa Swanson and Kate Russeth are looping up to 5th grade. Carver is experiencing declining enrollment. With the exception of kindergarten, all the grade levels will have between 85-90 students. Tom Mealey will be teaching an all boys’ section of first grade and the plan is to keep them in the same loop to second grade.


The meeting was adjourned at 8:22.

May PTO Board Meeting Minutes - Member Agenda

Carver PTO Board Meeting
May 13, 2008

Members Present: Molly McChesney, Christine Kass, Karen Mueller and Joe Slavin

Joe reviewed the financial statements. The PTO checked cleared to cover the $5000 that was used to add multi-cultural books to the Guided Reading library.

Gold C income was down $6700 from last year. Kathryn Beich brought in about $781 less this year than last.

The overall profit from the Carnival was $312 less than last year. This year, Carver families donated more to the Carnival than in the past and businesses gave less than previously. About one third of the solicited businesses responded and donated something to the Carnival.

After a brief discussion, the Board picked a date for the Carver Carnival; 4/4/09. Karen VandenEinde and Kathryn Gantriis/Libby Tabaka tied with the same number of parent volunteers for this year’s carnival. Those classes will get an ice cream party this Spring.

Field trip expenditures were up more than $3600, but they were still within the allowed budget.

Peaceful playground-Christine asked about how is it going to be rolled out. Paul and the RC committee will plan this spring and implement next fall.

Monetary Request- The Youth Frontiers retreat requires a $750 deposit for next October. Christine will check with Diane.

PTO Today- $199 is due for subscription and subsequent insurance coverage. The Board decided to continue the subscription.

The magician who entertains the fifth grade on the last day of school costs $500. The PTO has covered this in the past. Christine will check with Diane and Cathy.

Molly is wondering about the allocation for field trips expenses. Can there be a field trip statement for teachers to keep track of what they are spending for the year? Joe will create the form.

Tyler Stolp Memorial Ideas- What is a meaningful tribute to Tyler? Planting a tree, naming the garden in the front of the building. Tyler liked sports, maybe naming the ball diamond after him? Is there a service project to connect with his name? Animal shelter volunteers? Feed Our Starving Children? Naming the annual Twins outing after him, charging an extra $1 and making a donation to a charity? The discussion will be taken to the general meeting.

Christine will contact the recycling company regarding the collection of ink cartridges. They may have some promotional fliers, or other ways to get the information out to the community that we are collecting and recycling the cartridges at school.


The board will not meet in June, but will pick a date for an August meeting.



PTO Member Meeting
May 20, 2008
Agenda

1.) Treasurer’s report
2.) 2nd grade presentation
3.) Monetary requests
4.) Peaceful Playground
5.) Open house/Parent info/Math night/Toolbo
6.) Policy discussion-
Personal businesses of Carver families-when/how do we determine who we give our “business” to?
7.) Tyler Stolp memorial ideas

Track and Field - Grades 3-5

Mr. Vogel and the third, fourth, and fifth grade students enjoyed a wonderful track and field day. Students competed in numerous events. The sun shown all day and the temperature was perfect for running, jumping, and competing.

Carver Before and After School Opportunities

This year, Carver Elementary has offered over 20 different before or after learning opportunities for students. Some examples of these 5th grade choir, chess club, academic team, math and reading clubs, as well as Spanish Club. These opportunities were offered by school staff as well as parent volunteers. We are excited at the number of students who were able to take advantage of these opportunities. We look forward to expanding our before and after school program in the future, possibly working in conjunction with Community Education to expand enrichment as well as remedial programs.
The pictures are from the Carver Chess Club's final event of the year. Members of the chess club put their skills to test against staff, parents, and other family members during their end of the season get together. The level of play was high and everyone had a fabulous time. Thank you to Mrs. Swanson and Mrs. Bearth for all of their work with the students this year.

Twins Game One More Time

More Pictures from the Twins Game

Carver Night at the Metrodome

On Friday, May 2nd, over 260 Carver students, family members, and staff attended the Minnesota Twins game. The turnout for this first time event greatly exceeded our expectations. Thank you to all of you who were able to attend and make this a great Carver event!

Deep Portage and Carver Staff Changes

DEEP PORTAGE

The 5th graders had their Deep Portage trip this week. This annual trip, which is supported tremendously by the Carver PTO, supports district 5th grade science curriculum as well as provide the students with a unique experience with their teachers and classmates.

While at Deep Portage, the students attend classes on orienteering, canoeing, lake study, rock climbing, team building, etc. Teachers and parent volunteers accompany the students and help provide supervision with the bus ride to and from, classes, meal-time, night-time, etc.

I had the wonderful opportunity to spend part of Tuesday with the students at Deep Portage. It was fun for me to see how much fun the students were having. The parent volunteers were having a great time too.

Thank you to all for your support of the 5th grade Deep Portage trip. We look forward to the trip again next year.

CARVER STAFFING CHANGES

During my short time at Carver there has been a considerable amount of change of the staff. I have had the privilege to add many wonderfully skilled teachers as well as sadly say goodbye to staff members moving on to other positive opportunities.

For example, last year Mrs. Laurie Wahl left Carver to accept a newly added math specialist position at Oakdale Elementary School, and Mrs. Kristen Blissenbach and Mrs. Karla Glenna each took a leave of absence to stay home with their children. These different life events/opportunities are wonderful for the individuals and their families but often leave the school community saddened at the loss their absence creates.

Parent Involvement

Carver Elementary is very committed to supporting the involvement of parents in the education process. Below are 6 different types of Parent Involvement.

TYPE 1--PARENTING: Assist families with parenting and child-rearing skills, understanding child and adolescent development, and setting home conditions that support children as students at each age and grade level. Assist schools in understanding families.
TYPE 2--COMMUNICATING: Communicate with families about school programs and student progress through effective school-to-home and home-to-school communications.
TYPE 3--VOLUNTEERING: Improve recruitment, training, work, and schedules to involve families as volunteers and audiences at the school or in other locations to support students and school programs.
TYPE 4--LEARNING AT HOME: Involve families with their children in learning activities at home, including homework and other curriculum-linked activities and decisions.
TYPE 5--DECISION MAKING: Include families as participants in school decisions, governance, and advocacy through PTA/PTO, school councils, committees, and other parent organizations.
TYPE 6--COLLABORATING WITH THE COMMUNITY: Coordinate resources and services for families, students, and the school with businesses, agencies, and other groups, and provide services to the community.

Our hope is that this BLOG may help in supporting the parent involvement types of communicating, decision-making, learning at home, parenting, etc. You will find that the BLOG allows you post comments, and we encourage you to do so. The more opportunities that we have to dialogue about things that go on at Carver, the better able we will be able to meet the needs of your child and your family.

Finally, this BLOG is a cooperative effort of Carver School staff (me) and the Carver PTO. It is our hope that this tool will help support the work of the PTO as well as the work of the school.

Please feel free to share our questions and comments anytime, and please check back often for current topics, discussions, etc.

Joe Slavin
Principal - Carver Elementary School