DrumBeat: Drummond LSC and PTO News & Views

Drummond PTO Meeting Agenda
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
9:00 A.M. – Drummond Montessori, Room 007

Present: Grace Kwon, Pam Anderson, Simone Widney, Mark Niedlinger, Miriam Espada, Neha Gandhi, Sabrina Craig, Melissa Stern, Bonnie Kenaz-Mara, Elsa Rivera, Seth Severns, Malefia Emiru-Charo, Julie Neswold, Cindy Nicita, Mollie Stromberg, Sarah Landicho

1. Welcome/Introduction

2. Principal’s Report
- Thank you to everyone who has participated in PTO and Drummond this year.
- Sent 8th graders off to Washington this year. PTO helped to be able to send teachers on the trip
- Kiss n Go volunteers, thank you.
- Pam and Grace thank you for leading and doing a phenomenal job this year.
- Thank you for the bird houses. 35-40 made this year
- School picnic will be on school grounds this year
- Working with the Alderman and closing off Wolcott, grilled hot dogs and veggie dogs, instead of
donations we are asking each child to bring $1-2 to cover cost and make it simpler, will be more eco-
friendly – going to use big tubs of water and lemonade, kids can recycle their cups
- New Parent Meeting May 26th, hosting after hours reception for brand new parents
- SIPAA approved budget

3. Treasurer’s Report
- Currently in bank: $3,168.34
- Outstanding expenses: Teacher Appreciation Day, End of Year Picnic, Summer Get Together
- Includes: $853.00 given to Drummond for 8th grade field trip
- Filed form 990-N with IRS to maintain non-profit status

4. Old Business / Updates
• Teacher Appreciation – Pam Anderson
- Maria Sotelo and Pam Anderson
- Lunch for teachers from Birchwood Kitchen
- Chair massages for all teachers
- Children wrote notes why they appreciate their teacher
- Overall went well. Message to community could have gone better. Did backpack express. Might be
better to have notes sent through home room reps and get an earlier start next year.
- Teachers enjoyed the lunch as opposed to a breakfast.

• Drummond Montessori Matters Update – Mollie Stromberg
- $50,000 in bank, have a number of other commitments expected to come in
- Half-way to our goal
- 57 families have given and made this happen
- Have been going into the classroom to share with the kids the importance of community and being
involved in their school.
- Any child or extended family who gives a donation will have a flower with their name hung on wall
- Getting pink envelopes this week to help parents to make their donations easier
- Going to have a crazy week of donations: $2 Tuesday, $5 Friday, Non-uniform Day on the Friday for
kids who brought in a donation
- Need help with celebratory party at the end of the event
- Alderman made a generous donation to the end party

• Tortoise Concert – Mollie Stromberg
- Was going to be our event at the end of DMM
- Jeff Parker is a parent and musician. His band is successful and they have a strong following
- June 3rd, they will do a concert and give proceeds to Drummond
- Drummond parents are welcome to attend the concert
- Please promote on Facebook

• Pink Tower Party – Mollie Stromberg
- Selling pink tower t-shirts
- Class with highest participation will receive a pink tower t-shirts i.e. # of students participating not
$$ raised by class
- June 12, 7-10 pm, Chicago Liquidators, adults only, $15 per person
- Drinks and food provided
- Up to 100 auction items and still looking for more
- Can shop in Chicago Liquidators and 50% of profit will go to Drummond
- Everyone can purchase raffle tickets which are cards they can put in to win the auction items

• End of the school year picnic - Laura Lopez & Maria Holstead
- Malthea, Maria, Flora coordinating
- sent fliers home. Did different colored fliers for upper and lower elementary
- no one has returned yet
- Need kitchen help, game volunteers, and room volunteers (assist
- Asking for nominal donations to cover cost of food
- Asking for everyone to bring their water bottles
- Plan to brief parent volunteers prior to day of event on duties
- Bonnie would like to order a few boxes of face paints (Bonnie will investigate cost)
- Kids do face painting themselves

5. New Business- Committee Reports
• Spring Room Parent Assignments & Recruiting – Bonnie Kenaz-Mara
- Assigning 1 room parent per room before end of school year
- Leave 2nd room parent open for fall if any brand new parents want to be involved.

• Spring Uniform Swap – Bonnie Kenaz-Mara
− traditionally, did uniform swap in fall, doing a free spring uniform swap on Fridays
− Need 1 volunteer each Friday
− Starting Friday, May 28th 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm (weather permitting)
− Next to ice cream stand
− Email notice will go out to parents

• Fall Walk-A-Thon – Grace Kwon
- Jennifer James will be co-chair but we need 1-2 other co-chairs (Cindy Nicita is interested)
- PTO needs budget money for next year and want to use this fundraiser to obtain funds
- Fundraiser: enables the kids to be involved in fundraising and ask their friends and family
- Mark wants to sit down with co-chairs and Mollie to coordinate corporate approach efforts

• Drummond Buddy Family – Grace Kwon
- Put a letter in new family packets to see if anyone wants a buddy and asked current families who
wants to volunteer to do this.
- In process of matching up families

• Kiss N Go – Cindy Nicita
- Cindy Nicita plans to step down as co-ordinator
- Julie Neswold volunteered to head up Kiss N Go for the 2010-11 school year

6. PTO Elections for 2010-11
Nominations:
Sabrina Craig and Melissa Sterne as new Co-Presidents
- Nominated by: Grace Kwon. Second by: Sarah Landicho. In favor: All. Opposed: none.

Maria Devrya as new Vice President
- Nominated by: Grace Kwon. Second by: Sarah Landicho. In favor: All. Opposed: none.

Megan Hinchsliff as ongoing Treasurer
- Nominated by: Grace Kwon. Second by: Sarah Landicho. In favor: All. Opposed: none.

Simone Widney as ongoing Secretary
- Nominated by: Grace Kwon. Second by: Sarah Landicho. In favor: All. Opposed: none.

7. Kudos / Thanks
Pam Anderson and Maria Sotelo for Teacher Appreciation Day Activities
Neha Ghandi for Home Depot Bird House Project
Mollie and Neswold for their efforts with Drummond Montessori Matters
Jennifer James for planning the bird watching at the Nature Center
Cindy Nicita and Kiss N Go Volunteers

8. Announcements

9. Adjournment

NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at The Hideout, 7:00 pm

Drummond PTO Meeting Agenda
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
7:00 P.M. – Drummond Montessori, The Hideout

1. Welcome/Introduction

2. Principal’s Report

3. Treasurer’s Report

4. Old Business / Updates

5. New Business- Committee Reports
• YMCA sports program – Mollie Stromberg
• Drummond Montessori Matters – Mollie Stromberg
• Teacher Appreciation Day (Pam Anderson & Maria Sotelo chair)
• End of the school year picnic (Laura Lopez & Maria Holstead chair)

6. PTO Elections for 2010-11
Nominate Simone Widney as new PTO President and Megan Hinchliff as ongoing Treasurer.
Still need VP and Secretary.

7. Kudos / Thanks

8. Announcements

9. Adjournment

Drummond PTO Meeting Agenda
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
9:00 A.M. – Drummond Montessori, Room 007

Present: Grace Kwon, Megan Hinchsliff, Simone Widney, Elsa Rivera, Hollly DuPart, Bonnie Kenz-Mara, Lisa Wright, Sabrina Craig, Marilyn Rosano, Neha Gandhi, Malefia Emiru-Charo, Laura Lopez, Marilyn Rosado, Sarah Landicho, Sherry Coleman, Mark Neidlinger

1. Welcome/Introduction

2. Principal’s Report
• Staffing
- Congratulations to Laura Lopez, Drummond’s new Parent Worker
- Mark has officially been chosen as Drummond school principal. Thank you.

• CPS is facing a projected $700 million to $1 billion deficit for the 2010-11 year
- Specific figures and potential plans CPS has to reduce this deficit were shared
- Mark expects to receive Drummond’s 2010-11 budget by end of March which will give a
better idea of how the budget cuts will affect Drummond.
- Notification letters to new student families will be delayed to April, pending budget.

3. Treasurer’s Report
• Current balance: $4,711.16
• Upcoming expenditures (estimated):
- Teacher Appreciation Day $400
- End of Year Picnic $400
- Summer Get Together $700
- 8th Grade Trip (max) $1,000
- Database $1,000

4. Old Business / Updates
• Drummondschool.org website
- Some updates have been made on the website. More to come.

• Newsletter – Sarah Landicho
- Hopefully next school year, newsletter will be a class during the day.

• Book Fair – Sarah Landicho
- Working on spending the money raised from the Book Fair to add new materials.

• PTO Elections
- Elections will be held in April
- Anyone interested in being nominated should contact Grace Kwon.

5. New Business- Committee Reports
• Diversity & Outreach Fundraisers – Sabrina Craig
- Planning on fundraisers to support the Spanish language program
- 63% of parents indicated they would like to see Spanish implemented
- Working to get Spanish language classes during school time.
- Using a vendor such as Language Stars could cost $10-$15K for each student to receive
Spanish classes 1-2 days/week for 45-minutes.
- Need to raise money by August 1st
- Plan to have 3 small, events based summer fundraisers this year to raise the money.
Game Night at Leona’s - Parent driven
Parent Night at Lotties’ - Parent driven
Pump It Up – Child driven
- Goal: Install Spanish language program at Drummond and sustain it.

• Teacher Appreciation Day
- Pam Anderson (Chair)

• End of the school year picnic
- Laura Lopez and Maria Holstead (co-chairs)

• Revamping Online T-shirt store – Grace Kwon
- Need to get pictures of t-shirts available to post online
- Currently receiving reporting of online store from PayPal
- Happy with current t-shirt vendor. Price and quality are quite good
- Marilyn Rosano offered to take over online PTO store management

• Database – Grace Kwon
- Current database is 1/5 of PTO budget
- Looking into creating our own database or purchasing & customizing

• Corporate Giving Concept– Holly DuPart
- Ideally, with corporate giving program, we would have a pool of finances, donated by
corporations, to fund various committees so fundraisers would not be necessary.
- Lots of parents feel bombarded by fundraisers
- Need to be proactive to get other people (businesses) to give us money
- This would be a corporate giving program that happens annually with Friends of
Drummond (FOD) helping to fund the program.
- October is a good time of year for this with matching donations at the beginning of the
calendar year.
- Design flashy promo materials are needed.
- Montessori Matters has a corporate giving component. Holly and Mollie and Montessori
Matters will touch base to ensure no overlap of services.

• Montessori Matters – Mollie Stromberg
- Kick off was delayed until budget received to be able to provide a tangible goal.
- Goal was: $75K but will need to increase this goal due to CPS reports.
- Website in the works. Has logo, diverse photos of children, similar to big event
website.
- Conclusion is June 3rd with a concert. Location TBD.
- Next step is to communicate why we need this money.

• Fall Walk-a-Thon – Grace Kwon
- New group fundraiser to help finance PTO, After School Care, Diversity & Outreach,
Teachers, and possibly 8th grade trip to Washington, D.C.
- If we raise $25K, that would be $5K to PTO and rest help fund each group
- Possible name: Drummond Montessori Matters Walk-A-Thon

6. Kudos / Thanks
• Everyone who made Family Reading Night a wonderful success!

7. Announcements
• Accepting nominations for PTO 2010-2011

Drummond PTO Meeting Agenda
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
9:00 A.M. – Drummond Montessori, Room 007

1. Welcome/Introduction

2. Principal’s Report

3. Treasurer’s Report

4. Old Business / Updates
• Drummondschool.org website – Mark Neidlinger
• Newsletter – Sarah Landicho
• Book Fair – Sarah Landicho
• Drummond Montessori Matters – Mollie Stromberg
• PTO Elections will be held in April of this year

5. New Business- Committee Reports
• Teacher Appreciation Day
• End of the school year picnic
• Revamping Online T-shirt store
• Database
• Montessori Matters
• Fall Walk-a-Thon

6. Kudos / Thanks
• Everyone who made Family Reading Night a wonderful success!

7. Announcements
• Accepting nominations for PTO 2010-2011

8. Adjournment

Drummond PTO Meeting Agenda
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
7:00 P.M. – The Hideaway

1. Welcome/Introduction

2. Principal’s Report

3. Treasurer’s Report

4. Old Business / Updates
• Drummondschool.org website – Simone Widney
• Newsletter – Sarah Landicho
• Book Fair – Sarah Landicho

5. New Business- Committee Reports
• Drummond Montessori Matters – Mollie Stromberg
• PTO Elections will be held in April of this year

6. Kudos / Thanks

7. Announcements
• Volunteers needed for Family Reading Night

8. Adjournment

Drummond PTO Meeting Agenda
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
7:00 P.M. – The Hideaway

1. Welcome/Introduction

2. Principal’s Report

3. Treasurer’s Report

4. Old Business / Updates
• Family Reading Night – Grace Kwon
• The Big Non-Event – Grace Kwon
• Drummondschool.org website – Simone Widney
• Newsletter – Sarah Landicho
• Book Fair – Sarah Landicho

5. New Business- Committee Reports
• Drummond Montessori Matters – Mollie Stromberg
• PTO Elections will be held in April of this year

6. Kudos / Thanks

7. Announcements
• Volunteers needed for Family Reading Night

8. Adjournment

Drummond PTO Meeting Agenda
Thursday, October 15, 2009
9:00 A.M. – Drummond Montessori, Room 007

1. Welcome/Introduction

2. Principal’s Report

3. Treasurer’s Report

4. Old Business / Updates
• T-Shirt Sales (Drummond “Spirit” Shirt Sales) – Grace Kwon
• Pasta Palooza – Speaker
• Family Directory – Sabrina
• Newsletter - Sarah

5. New Business- Committee Reports
• Fall Book Sale – Sarah
• Food and Coat Drive – Mary
• Emails from PTO Database - Grace

6. Kudos / Thanks

7. Announcements

Next PTO meeting- Tuesday November 17, 7:00 pm at The Hideout

8. Adjournment

Drummond PTO Meeting Agenda
Thursday, October 15, 2009
9:00 A.M. – Drummond Montessori, Room 007

1. Welcome/Introduction

2. Principal’s Report

3. Treasurer’s Report

4. Old Business / Updates
• T-Shirt Sales (Drummond “Spirit” Shirt Sales) – Grace Kwon
• Pasta Palooza – Speaker
• Family Directory – Sabrina
• Newsletter - Sarah

5. New Business- Committee Reports
• Fall Book Sale – Sarah
• Food and Coat Drive – Mary
• Emails from PTO Database - Grace

6. Kudos / Thanks

7. Announcements

Next PTO meeting- Tuesday November 17, 7:00 pm at The Hideout

8. Adjournment

Drummond PTO Meeting Agenda
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
7:00 P.M. – The Hideout

Present: Grace Kwon, Pam Anderson, Megan Hinchscliff, Simone Widney, Sarah Landicho, Bonnie Kenaz-Mara, Laura Lopez, Lisa Wright, Holly DuPart, Mary Zerkel

1. Open
- Grace Kwon opened meeting at 7:00 pm

2. Kudos
- All 4 PTO Officers for stepping up to role.
- Howard Orloff Imports for donating $250 to Pasta Palooza
- Tipsey Bakery for donating a cake for Pasta Palooza

3. Approval of the Minutes from August 18, 2009
- Minutes not present. Not approved.

4. Consensus / Voting
• Secretary Nomination
o Sarah Landicho nominated Simone Widney as PTO Secretary.
o All in favor. Motion passed

• Change in Bi-Laws
o Grace Kwon motioned to elect new PTO Board in April for smoother transition period.
o All in favor. Motion passed

• Change Date of Funds Transfer to Drummond School
o Grace Kwon moved to transfer leftover PTO funds to Drummond School September 30th instead of
August.
o All in favor. Motion passed

5. Old Business / Updates
• Buddy Families Program
• Grace Kwon reported the Buddy Family program was successful and well received by new families

• PTO Database
• Pam Anderson reported database is successful as there is a check and balance to ensure parents
are getting emails, ability to send to only specific groups or committees, parents can enter skills
and resources

• Uniform Swap Fall
• Bonnie Kenaz-Mara reported more uniforms were collected than past years, profit of $140, a
classroom box for extra uniforms in a range of sizes has been made available to teachers, and
Bonnie will donate remaining uniforms.
• Bonnie stated she would like to increase Uniform Swap to 2x/year

6. New Business- Committee Reports
• T-Shirt Sales (Drummond “Spirit” Shirt Sales)
- Grace Kwon reported shirts sales conducted online first time with mostly positive comments
grossed over $3,000 for 250-300 shirts.
- Net profit of approx. $1700 was 3x last year profit
- Going forward, Grace would like to do online shirt sales 2x/year with additional options.

• Pasta Palooza
- Grace reported PTO would be co-hosting an information table with LSC at Pasta Palooza on
Thursday, September 17th, including a Fun Facts info sheet to inform parents of little known info.

• Homeroom Reps
- Bonnie reported all rooms were assigned 2 homeroom reps and there were a few extra volunteers
enabling lead volunteer positions
- Going forward, Bonnie recommended publishing homeroom rep responsibilities in April

• Directory
- Pam reported Sabrina is working on the directory, which will be printed for those without Internet
access who request a printed copy.
- Goal date is October

• Newsletter
- Sarah Landichio reported newsletter may not be published 4x/yr as in past as it is no longer a 5th –
8th grade elective and is now an after school option and format may change from previous years.

7. Announcements
- Pasta Palooza – Thursday, September 17th

- Birthday Gift Idea – Consider making a donation to a class or school cause when birthday invites
request ‘no gifts please’.

- Birthday Book Club – Mary Wheatley is trying to start a Birthday Book Club where a book is donated
for a child’s birthday and the birthday kid would get to check out the book first.

Next PTO meeting- Thursday October 15, 9:00 am, Drummond Room 007

8. Adjourned by Grace Kwon at 7:55 pm

Highlights include:  

 New Business
          Hideout fundraiser report and acknowledgement (5 min)
          Book Fair fundraiser – H. Zakas (3 min)
          NCLB budget transfer – Jennifer James (3 min)
   Old Business
          Federal grant renewal update – Mark Neidlinger and Isabel Mesa-Collins (15 min)
          Community Representative appointment (10 min)