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PTF Meeting Minutes
September 10, 2007

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In Attendance:

PTF Officers
  Byron Sheets & Jeanie Hetrick President Team
  Cherie Fredericks   Vice President
  April Sheets   Spiritual Team
  Debbie Swanson Volunteer Team
  Jeanne Maloney Communication Team
Faculty & Staff
  Deb Childs    
GFA Board member
 

Julie Douty

    
Parents & Students
  Sharon Needham

Mary Dow

  

Byron Sheets opened the meeting with prayer.

Jeanie Hetrick welcomed everyone and shared that the PTF Leadership met on September 9th to review planning issues.  A copy of the notes from this meeting were distributed and are summarized as follows:

  • Family Workdays:  For the '07-08 school year, the PTF will organize family workdays the 2nd Saturday of each month.  However in the month of September, the workday will be held on September 15th. The time set for these monthly workdays will be from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.  Families can work whatever amount of time they are able to.  Look for e-mails and workday notices to be posted on the school bulletin board.
  • New PTF Meeting Format:  PTF meetings will be limited to 90 minutes.  Meeting attendees will be reminded that the PTF meetings are not a forum for grievances.  Meetings will focus on a review of board meeting minutes and new business that will be presented by each of the PTF Leadership.
  • Staff Birthday’s:  The Encouragement Team will be requesting information from faculty and staff in order to acknowledge their birthdays with personalized gifts.
  • Thank you letters/acknowledgements need to be sent to the many individuals who donated significant school improvement items over the summer.  The encouragement team will be working on this task.

August Board Meeting Summary:  Presented by Jeanie Hetrick

  • Amanda Peterson was approved as a new board member.
  • A new PE Credit proposal was presented and approved.  Three or more athletic activities constitutes a PE credit.
  • Mr. Ehrlich has retired from GFA.
  • GFA’s registration this year is at 240 students.
  • The Centennial Campaign has raised $491,000 so far.  The gray pole located in the front school lobby may be used as a thermometer to demonstrate the goals and progress of the Centennial Campaign.
  • Dirk Tiller and JoAnn Warren will be serving as Co-Chairs of the Academic Affairs Committee.
  • Julie Douty, Student Affairs Committee presented the Elementary School Handbook for review and it has been approved.
  • The PTF presented projects completed over the summer.
  • Board training will be scheduled.
  • John Mather presented his proposal to the Board.
  • A review of the By-laws will be conducted by the Board.

PTF Leadership Updates:

President: Jeanie Hetrick presented the following new business:

  • There is not enough money in the budget to enhance the school bus transportation system.  Sharon Needham suggested designating one location in Nampa, Middleton, Caldwell, etc. where parents could drop their children off to catch a bus.  This would reduce the amount of driving to/from the school.  Jeanie Hetrick will speak to Maxene Brown about this suggestion.
  • A parent e-mailed an inquiry about what PTF rules of conduct, term limits, codes, and the requirements for serving on a PTF position.  GFA’s PTF does not currently have any rules of conduct, etc., established at this time.  Jeanie requested the leadership team conduct Internet searches with Cole Valley, Foundations Academy, and Nampa Christian schools to review samples of what others are doing.

Vice President: Cherie Fredericks had no new business to report.

Communication Team:  Jeanne Maloney discussed that the primary functions for this position are taking minutes at the PTF meetings, transcribing them and e-mailing them to the school for insertion into the monthly newsletter and the elementary school weekly newsletter.  The minutes are also e-mailed to Brenda Butler and are added to the school web page.  In addition, Jeanne also maintains the PTF e-mail distribution list.

Volunteer Team:  Debbie Swanson

  • Debbie spoke about the new volunteer form that parents completed at registration. This form was designed to be able to capture various skills and backgrounds of individuals.  The volunteer form has been mailed to all families in the “On Campus” Newsletter.  Please return the completed form to the school office by September 17th.
  • Teachers will be asked to submit their ideas on school projects they feel are important.  Debbie will be distributing a questionnaire to the teachers on this.
  • Next family workday is Saturday, September 15th.  Current projects that need to be completed are:   work in Kindergarten; prepare area for new playground; finish work on staff lounge.
  • Work is in progress to research the costs for a new bus, new lockers, and upgraded track.
  • Deb Childs mentioned that she needs about five chairs for her 5th and 6th grade class.  Debbie Swanson will find chairs to fill this need.
  • A phone tree will be established for the parents who do not use their e-mail for PTF updates.
  • The school bulletin board will be used for upcoming volunteer projects and workday schedules.
  • PTF will suggest to Mr. Sheldon to create a “Project Committee” that would consist of Superintendent; Maintenance; Janitorial; Development and possibly Athletic Director. PTF will re-work our old Volunteer Request Form to incorporate all requests for equipment/materials/improvements - and that all of these requests would go thru this committee. This may help keep everyone better informed and delegate various requests to appropriate groups.

Spiritual Team:  April Sheets and Deb Childs reminded everyone of the Mom’s in Touch prayer group that meets in the school every Friday at 8:30 AM.  Their hope is for other mom’s to meet every day of the school week.  Meetings do not need to be at the school, they could be at a location of choice.  If anyone has questions, please contact April or Deb.  A suggestion was made to e-mail the requests prayed for each week.  Mom’s in Touch treats specific prayer requests with confidentiality and cannot e-mail this information.  However, general prayer requests can be e-mailed.

Encouragement Team:  Sheila Beeman and Monette Glenn were unable to attend the meeting.  One of their projects is filling the bucket with treats in the Teacher’s Lounge.  If anyone can sign up for the months of November and December, please contact Sheila or Monette.

Leadership Nominations:  PTF Leadership positions are needed for all of the above teams.  Please contact the appropriate team leader if you are interested in helping out.

PTF Evaluation Survey and Uniforms

  • 42 evaluations were completed.  More than 75% of the evaluations said that the PTF met their goals for the '06-07 school year. 
  • The question concerning school uniforms was answered as follows:
    • 31: Yes;    6: No;    5: Undecided

Other New Business

  • The pre-school and kindergarten attendance are up this year and helped greatly to balance the budget.
  • Two parents have come forward and are willing to donate the funds to hire a part-time principal.

The next PTF meeting will be Monday, October 1, 2007 at 7:00 PM in the dining hall.