Friends of SW Charter

Monthly Meeting Minutes

October 6, 2015

Open Community Comments

School Board member Jessica Nichols will attend our meetings in place of Aaron. Welcome Jessica!

Jobs and Committee Openings

Elise is compiling a list of Friends committee and job openings. She read off those that still need to be filled. Elise will compile this list into an email to be sent out to the community. For working parents, we’ll include which jobs can be completely done from home.

• Auction Committee – We’ll be needing a lot of volunteers for the auction in February 2016.
• Block Party (September 2016)
• Camp Wilkerson (June 2016) – We need an on-site coordinator the weekend of the event.
• Chicken Care Coordinator
• Comfort Kits – Need someone to shadow Sarah Mutal. Involves getting kits assembled  and distributed to classes. Kathy and Nicole volunteered to assist.
• Earthquake Committee – An earthquake committee will focus on improvements that can be made inside the school such as bolting bookcases to walls, etc.
• Field Day – Kathy B. will work on it again this year. We’ll also need additional help.
• Hot Lunch – All-school lunches are the 1st Friday of the month (when school is in session). Friends would like to add a hot lunch option. We did one last year with Rovente Pizza that was successful. If we want to do it again this year, we need people on board to get something going. Christina is going to ask Verde Cocina about participating. Melissa will contact the International School. They do a weekly hot lunch featuring international cuisine from local restaurants. Malia will help with this.
• Mini Grants for Teachers
• Playground Committee – Work with Kathy Price and Marta on ideas to improve the playground. Fara and Jenny volunteered to will work on this. Anderson Construction might be willing to help out.
• Restaurant Nights – Possibly Harmony. Christina will talk to her.
• Room Parent Coordinator – Currently Elise does this job. We would like someone for next year.
• Run for the Arts – Adrienne would like someone to shadow her.
• TLC Committee – Melissa and Jessica will coordinate meal trains and other care for staff and community in need. Kathy Beckley would like to help. Melissa will write up a description of the TLC Committee we can send out to the community.
• Volunteer Coordinator – This requires work throughout the year but can be done from home.
• Yearbook – Elise and Brittany will work on again this year.
• Crafternoon (Spring 2016) – Liz and Melissa will work on again this year.
• Black Friday Rollerskating (November 2015) – At Oaks Park

FoSWCS 2015/2016 Board Member Openings

President – Christina would be willing to shadow with someone who is interested in taking on a leadership role.

FoSWCS Board Vote on Fund 2014/2015 fund allocation

• The Friends Board is currently deciding how to allocate our fundraising for the scholarship fund and teacher mini grants.
• Last year, we made $6400 for scholarships!
• This year, we’ve budgeted $5000 for scholarships.
• Mini grants for teachers are $200. We could keep them at $200 per grant and have a cap of 5 grants. Or we can up it, if we want. If all the mini grant money doesn’t get used, we can roll it into scholarships.
• Mini grants are awarded through the Friends. Scholarship money goes to the school. Anne Gurnee works with families on using scholarship funds.
• Rather than take time at the general Friends meeting this evening, the Friends Board will discuss these allocations via email.

Financial Update

Elise provided a proposed budget that the Friends Board hasn’t approved yet. We will turn our proposed budget into the School Board for their meeting on October 16th. Once approved by School Board, we’ll add the budget to the Friends’ website.

Final Community Comments

Sarah Mutal let us know there will be a one question survey coming out via Marlene tomorrow asking to rank the 14 proposed auction themes. Some of the ideas include: Mardi Gras, Black & White, Starry Night, Camping, and Back to the Future. There is also an option on the survey to add an unlisted theme.

Get a  Google Docs version of the October 2015 Minutes here.