PTA adopts budget for 2011-12 school year

In the next school year, the PTA plans to spend more money to help finance field trips and social activities for students.

The budget, approved by members in May, calls for the PTA to put $10 per student toward field trips for the 2011-12 school year.

The amount represents an increase over the previous year’s budget, in which the PTA put $6 per student toward defraying field trip costs. The PTA originally had budgeted $3 per student last year, but in October bumped up the contribution to help families after closing out the prior budget year with an unexpected surplus.

The field trip contribution is $5,400 of the $69,045 in expenses planned for the coming school year. Of that total, the spending plan outlines $42,450 in costs associated with running fundraisers. The remaining $26,595 is earmarked for student-oriented programs such as Art Awareness, Brainiacs and Reflections; for events such as family fun nights; and for operating and other costs.

Building on another change enacted in October, the budget sets aside $2 per student to help finance classroom parties in 2011-12. The PTA added the party contribution last fall to help parents, who are hit with a number of expenses early in the school year. The item accounts for $1,080. 

The intention is for the PTA money to pay for the parties without asking parents for an additional contribution. If the allocation is used up before all three parties have been paid for, the PTA could increase the allotment to a total of $3 per student.

All told, the budget projects revenue of $64,250 in the coming school year to fund the $69,045 in anticipated expenses, creating a one-year spending deficit of $4,975.

The PTA will make up the difference using its savings, which is expected to be about $16,500 after the final accounting of the 2010-11 budget year. Financial advisers have said our PTA should maintain reserves of about $10,000, and the PTA leadership recommends spending down the reserves to that amount.

The projected revenue of $64,250 represents an increase of 3.5 percent over last year’s budget of $62,065, but a decrease from the $67,428 anticipated based on actual revenues last year. The amount budgeted for 2011-12 reflects past experience with the fall fundraiser and a cautious approach to the new fall fun run that’s replacing the product sale. The budget projects $9,000 in revenue from the fun run, in line with product sales from prior years; this year’s product sale netted $11,885.

Other proposed changes include:

· Increasing the budget for the Art Awareness program to $300 from $100 to update supplies and pay for attendance at Art Institute of Chicago seminars .

· Reducing the donation to the LMC to $1,900. The current budget included $2,550 to buy three sets of SMART Responders. With that purchase complete, LMC Director Carrie Ory recommended returning to the previous budget level.

· Adding $500, for a total of $2,500, to pay for assemblies.  

For a look at the full budget, visit our PTA Budget page. Please contact President Judy Nagel-Conley or Treasurer Beth Siwicki with comments or questions.

Growing a gallery

Few things could be more encouraging for a young artist than having an original creation put on public display.

Art teacher Deb Gelso plans to start a permanent gallery of student artwork in the coming school year with support from the PTA.

Ms. Gelso’s vision is to turn the main hallway leading from the office toward the gym into a showplace for two-dimensional art students create in class during the year. She would select a piece to represent each grade level and, if students and parents agree, the art would be matted, framed and hung. Art may be displayed permanently, or rotated periodically, Ms. Gelso said.

The PTA membership agreed to support the gallery by buying paint to freshen up the hallway and to buy the first six frames, for a total cost of $400 from the current year’s budget. Ms. Gelso’s plan includes adding six frames each year, an expense members indicated they would support in future budgets.

Buy buying the frames, the PTA is supporting the visual arts in much the same way it supports students’ talents through programs such as Reflections, Brainiacs and the Variety Show.

School Supplies orders due Wednesday

Picture yourself in August.

You’re trying to make the most of the waning days of summer, but you also need to make sure everyone has clothes and shoes that fit, backpacks that are in good shape and gear for getting lunch to school.

Now ask yourself: Do you really want to spend time chasing from store to store in search of low-odor dry erase markers?

To help make those back-to-school days a little more sane, the PTA is once again offering parents the chance to buy their children’s school supplies in a pre-packaged kit.

The cost of the supplies is comparable to buying the items at a store, and your purchase benefits the PTA (and, therefore, your children).

Order forms will be distributed with your school registration packets and are available on the Forms, Fliers and Further Details page.

We will use the same supplier as last year, EPI. With this supplier, you can expect:

· Quality products from companies like Crayola, Elmer’s and Expo, but at a lower total price;

· Supplies provided in a sturdy memory box;

· A sheet of labels pre-printed with your child’s name to affix to individual supplies;

· $10 Office Depot coupon in every pack;

· Guaranteed replacement if you are dissatisfied with a product during the school year.

The kits will contain all the supplies itemized on the Brookdale School Supply Lists except school bags/backpacks, gym shoes, art smocks, computer headphones and assignment notebooks.

    Orders are due by Wednesday, May 18. Please send your order form in a separate envelope marked “School Supplies” and with a check made out to the Brookdale PTA.

If you notice your check has not cleared by July 1, please contact Coordinator Sarah Williams as this may indicate your order has not been placed.

Once again, we are scheduling two times when families can pick up their supplies at school:

· 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Aug. 17

· 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Aug. 20

If you are unable to pick up your kits on those dates, please make arrangements with a friend or neighbor to pick them up for you.

If you have any questions, please contact Sarah Williams at (630) 717-9979 or sarahdave@
wowway.com.

Proposed PTA Events for 2011-12

Dear Brookdale Families,

We want you to know we appreciate all the feedback we received this past year regarding the changes in PTA-sponsored events, including classroom parties. We listened to what you said and gave all suggestions serious consideration as we contemplated the schedule of events for the 2011-12 school year. We hope the proposed plan, below, addresses the various concerns raised and will allow all Brookdale families to enjoy the PTA-sponsored activities. We want to highlight a few key points in the PTA events schedule:

• The Fall Classroom Party is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 7, 2011. Having this party two weeks later than it was this year should allow the party committees to have adequate time to plan and prepare for the party. It also will provide a nice kick-off to the three-day Columbus Day weekend. Team-building activities still should be a major part of this party.
• We would like to add a Costume Parade to Fall Family Fun Night, scheduled on Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. We feel that adequate planning, a scaling down of the event, and the implementation of additional safety features to Fall Family Fun Night will allow this change to occur. This change will allow children to share their costumes with their friends and family by walking around the perimeter of the school (weather permitting). Families who choose not to participate in the Costume Parade may come after the Parade and still enjoy the festivities of the night. We are proposing that the event start and end earlier (i.e., 5:45 to 8 p.m.) with the hope there still will be some daylight for the parade and that families with small children will be more able to enjoy the night together.
• The Winter Party will be on the last day of classes before Winter Break, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011.
• The Friendship Party will take place at the end of Friendship Week on Friday, Feb. 17, 2012. With Presidents Day on Feb. 20 and Parent/Teacher Conferences on Feb. 21, the party will be a nice way to start the extended weekend.
• Students choosing not to attend a classroom party due to religious beliefs or other personal reasons will be provided an alternate activity at school. This alternate activity will be developed with parental and student input to ensure a positive experience for all students.

Please take a moment to review the proposed schedule and let us know what you think via a one-question survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/BrookdalePTA2011events by Friday, May 20.

Thank you,

Brian LeCrone
Brookdale Principal

Judy Nagel-Conley
PTA President

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May 2011

Greetings Brookdale Parents:

Mr. LeCrone and the PTA Executive Board met in accordance with board policy on May 9, 2011, to collaboratively plan and discuss the scope and nature of classroom parties and PTA sponsored school events for the 2011-12 school year. The proposed plan is provided for your consideration.

Friday, Oct. 7, 2011                                2:30-3:15 p.m.                  Fall Classroom Party

Friday, Oct. 28, 2011                              5:45-8:00 p.m.                  Fall Family Fun Night and
                                                                                                        Costume Parade

Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011                         2:30-3:15 p.m.                 Winter Classroom Party

Monday to Friday, Feb. 13 to 17, 2012                                            Friendship Week

Friday, February 17, 2012                       2:30-3:15 p.m.                 Friendship Party

Friday, April 20, 2012                             6:00-9:00 p.m.                  Spring Fling

Classroom party format includes a simple treat and a focus on socialization and fun activities/crafts as directed by the classroom coordinators and party committees.

Please review the above information and indicate whether you support the proposed plan by responding to a one-question survey available through Friday, May 20, at www.surveymonkey.com/s/BrookdalePTA2011events. Parents will have the option to comment via the survey.

Thank you for your feedback in this process.

Brian LeCrone
Principal

Judy Nagel-Conley
PTA President

PTA begins planning Fall Fun Run

In the fall, our children won’t ask Grandma and Grandpa (and other friends and relatives) to buy wrapping paper, jewelry or anything else to support the school.

Instead children can ask those who care about them to invest in their health, in their school spirit and in the opportunities the PTA provides them.

The PTA membership voted Thursday to replace the annual fall product sale with a fun run for the 2011-12 school year.

“The way I see it, it’s a healthy opportunity to have fun, it gets the kids involved with helping their school and, I think, it will develop school spirit,” PTA President Barb Peterson said. “Things happen with this that don’t happen with a product sale.”

The fun run, she said, allows every child to feel involved because every child takes part on the day of the event regardless of whether he or she collects pledges or how much money the child raises.

The Get Movin’ Crew, a Michigan-based firm, will handle much of the planning and organization for the event — from a kick-off pep rally in which the kids will meet Movin’ Max the mascot to running the fun run itself. 

On run day, the crew will lay out a track in the grass near the school, set the mood with fun music, lead each grade level through warm-up exercises and encourage the children to move around the track for 20 minutes. Kids are welcome to run, jog, walk, skip, hop, mosey — or just about anything else they can think of, provided it’s safe. When they’re done, they’ll take a cool-down lap and enjoy a Fla-Vor-Ice before heading back to class.

Each child — regardless of whether they collect pledges — will receive a pedometer to keep and encouragement to take 10,000 steps a day. They’ll also receive a number like a racer bib to wear during the run and that can be affixed to a memory sheet that asks children to record their favorite memory from the day and to make note of a new healthy habit they plan to adopt.

The PTA leadership began considering a change in the fall fundraiser several months ago when the parent volunteers who had run the product sale announced they were stepping down.

Given that the sale had generated nearly half of the PTA’s revenue — about $9,000 on average in recent years and $11,885 this year — the executive committee sought input from the membership and the parent community at large. A survey conducted in early April indicated parental support for a fun run and a strong opportunity to involve families that have not participated in the product sales. For a look at key results from the survey, click here.

Before the vote Thursday, the fun run received endorsements both from teachers in attendance and from Principal Brian LeCrone.

“We’re moving that direction as a school, as far as the health and wellness aspect,” he said. “I, personally, would love to see a fun run.”

The fun run was approved unanimously by the members present Thursday.

The PTA’s Executive Committee has proposed a budget anticipating $9,000 in net revenue from the fall fundraiser. They estimate we will reach that goal if 60 percent of Brookdale families collect pledges and raise an average of $60.

 Barb Peterson and Ron Heger have volunteered to coordinate the fun run.

Have you seen the agenda?

We hope you're not busy on Thursday, because the PTA sure is.
In the meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 21, we'll hear from a representative of a company that organizes fundraising fun runs for schools.
The presentation will precede a review of the results of the PTA's Fall Fundraiser Survey, in which more than 120 parents and staff members shared their views on the product sales we've had in the past and several options the PTA might consider instead.
Ultimately, the PTA will vote on whether to continue with a product sale or change to another fundraiser. The decision is critical because the PTA relies on the Fall Fundraiser to generates about half the annual income that allows us to offer family nights, assemblies, after-school enrichment classes and more for our students.
Also, members will be called on to elect new officers -- a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer -- to serve on the executive committee for the 2011-12 school year.
A nominating committee last month recommended the following slate:

• President: Judy Nagel-Conley
• Vice President: Susan Corrigan
• Treasurer: Beth Siwicki
• Secretary: Christie Willhite

PTA members are eligible to nominate themselves for election during the meeting on Thursday.
The PTA executive committee realizes the meeting is at the beginning of a four-day weekend that includes a holiday for some families. Officers are considering a variety of ways to allow parents who are unable to attend the meeting in person to follow the meeting and participate. Stay tuned to the blog, the Facebook page and listserv email for updates.
Here's the full agenda:

Make your opinion heard

Maybe you've heard ... the PTA is facing a pretty big decision about the Fall Fundraiser.
Traditionally, we've run a product sale - wrapping paper for several years and, through a new vendor this year, we also offered jewelry and cookie dough. The sale this year generated $11,885, roughly half of the PTA's projected revenue of $21,540.
But the volunteers who have organized the sale are stepping down, leading the PTA's Executive Committee to ask whether members like the sale or would prefer to make a change.
That is, of course, where you come in.
The PTA has created a short (short!) survey to gather your thoughts on the fundraisers we've had in the past and to learn what you think of a couple other options.
One idea is for the PTA to organize a fun run. Similar to the Jump Rope for Heart program, students would ask for pledges and all students would participate by running or walking during the school day.
A second idea is to ask parents to make an optional donation to the PTA in lieu of a sale or pledge program.
Ideally, we'd like the fundraiser - whatever form it takes - to continue to generate the revenue of past fall fundraisers. The income allows the PTA to offer programs for our students - things like After-School Enrichment classes, Brainiacs, assemblies, family nights and more - and to help our teachers support our children.
It's a lot to think about. If you'd like a little more detail, check out this past post from President Barb Peterson.
Then please take a few moments between now and Tuesday, April 12, to let us know what you think by taking the survey.