Hunt Middle School Blog - October 30, 2016
October PTO meeting minutes, 10/27/2016
President’s Report –
Paula Henry
Harvest Dinner
that was to be held this evening has been cancelled, due to lack of available
staffing resources. All acknowledged
that this is a terrible disappointment and a loss to the school community.
Three to five volunteers are needed to help fill out our
school’s Principal Profile form,
distributed to all schools from the Superintendent’s office. Any parent interested in working on this
should contact the PTO at huntmiddleschool@gmail.com.
The PTO is still looking for a 6th grade parent
to step forward as a Treasurer
“apprentice”. We will need a new Treasurer in place by next September. Paula is currently filling this role (as well
as President) but this is not a good idea, and she is an 8th grade
parent. Any parent interested in finding
out about the PTO Treasurer role should contact the PTO at huntmiddleschool@gmail.com. Jen L’ecuyer has offered to communicate with
6th grade teams, to see if any of those parents are interested.
Treasurer’s Report –
Paula Henry
Very little financial activity since last month. Our checking
account balance, as of September 30th is $8,370.
Of this, $4,524 is unrestricted funds.
The 2016-17 budget was reviewed.
There are many fundraising opportunities, which we need parent
volunteers to step forward and take on.
The PTO agreed that the holiday wreath fundraiser is a community favorite but the vendor we use
each year results in a very labor-intensive project. Len found another local vendor who delivers
finished wreaths directly to customers.
Paula will check into this to see if this is something we can take on.
New Business
At this time, our primary fundraiser is the HMS t-shirt sales. The pre-orders were delivered to students
earlier today, and we are preparing to sell more shirts at school shortly, once
the school store is set-up and manned by the new Student Council. Contact the PTO if you can’t wait and want to
buy your shirt now!
Fall gardening is mostly done by Property Services. Paula will clean out the planters. Bella can help as needed. All agreed that the students really
appreciate the work done on the gardens in front of the school.
More fundraising
opportunities
We are still looking for a team of volunteers to head up an
online fundraiser which would allow parents to donate by credit card. With the holidays approaching, we will repost
information to families about our Shutterfly account. Jen will give us an update next month. We can also consider partnering with a local
restaurant for a percentage of sales on a given night.
The issue of Idling was
raised again at this meeting. A study
was done by an outside group, and HMS was found to have very low emissions, due
primarily to our lack of busing. However, we can still do better. Increased signage and student/parent
education was discussed. Student
produced videos could be linked to our website and shared as part of our
Digital storytelling. Bella will work
with Len on this initiative.
Principal’s Report –
Len Phelan
Mr. Phelan was sad to report the need to cancel the popular
HMS Harvest dinner. Unfortunately, the
school schedule was such that the dinner could not be held this year. We hope to be able to host this positive
event in the future.
He also mentioned that it is important for the community to
support the Burlington School District in the upcoming months as the school
district budget for the next school year is created. Our district in intent on providing the most
beneficial educational programming possible for the students of Burlington.
New $20,000 Grant,
through the Verizon Charitable foundation, has been awarded to HMS! A special thanks to Victor Prussak & Val
Lodish for writing the grant. The funds
will be used to create a Makerspace in
the library. There will also be 9
STEM-themed carts that teachers can roll into their classrooms for hands-on
learning! Stay tuned for more exciting
info on our future Makerspace!
This Friday, 11/4, marks the end of the first term, with Report Cards going home next Friday
11/11. The school has changed the way it
does Progress Reports, due to the CANVAS student grading system. All parents
have access, real time, to their child’s assignments and grades. If any parents are having trouble getting
onto Canvas, please do not delay in contacting the school. This is important information.
Paper copies of Progress
Reports will continue to go out if a student has a grade lower than a C in
any subject. Progress Reports are still available
UPON REQUEST by any parent. Please
contact the school if you would like to receive a Progress Report. Students look at their grades in CANVAS every
Monday in homeroom, so ask your student how s/he is doing!
Parent-Teacher conferences will be held ALL Day MONDAY
11/21, and in the MORNING TUESDAY 11/22.
There is no school that entire week of Thanksgiving. Please note: IF YOU WANT a P-T conference,
please call or email the school’s Guidance office and let them know. They will send you a link to schedule your
conference online. THE GUIDANCE OFFICE
IS NOT CALLING ALL PARENTS TO SCHEDULE CONFERENCES. YOU NEED TO CALL THE SCHOOL. Scheduling has already started. Conferences last 30 minutes and are with all
of the teachers on your child’s team, all together at the table. Unified Arts and Language conferences are
separate. A Connect5 robocall will go
out soon, to let parents know.
