Wausau Montessori Charter School

Wausau Area Montessori Charter School

Parent Connection - Meeting Notes

Parents present: Tara Luce, Leslie Keeffe, Kevin Keeffe, Lisa Bennett

Lisa reported that Ellen Kemnitz will be setting up a checking account at People’s State Bank. Opening balance will be the left over money from February’s Game night. She will get a Federal ID # in order to set up the account. Many fundraising/event ideas were discussed. Kevin will forward our ideas to the staff to get their input. The ideas we’d like to move forward with this year are:

1. Ice Cream Social & Raffle – each class would choose a theme around which to assemble a basket that will be raffled off. After a theme is chosen each family will be invited to contribute a small item to the basket. Maybe we can get parents to make a basket also. Tickets will be sold at the time of the raffle only, not ahead of time. We think that this way we don’t need a raffle license. Lisa will double check on this.
2. Car Wash – will think of locations (Quality Foods?) where we could set this up when weather warms up. Need to find parents who would be interested in heading it up.

Other ideas we will keep for the future:

1. Rummage Sale with perennial sale (people donate plants from their gardens to sell)
2. Spring Clean-Up Service: get a list of elderly & handicapped who need help with spring yard clean up and ask for a donation
3. Plant Sale – ask a greenhouse to raise a particular flower for us that we sell in spring – the plant could become our “signature plant” like the Aspirus Geranium Sale or the Am. Cancer Soc. Daffodil sale.
4. Fall School Supplies Boxes – have kits pre-made that parents can buy that would be filled with all of the required school supplies
5. Sell environmentally safe cleaners like Shaklee products – have a 5^th or 6^th grader and a parent be in charge of ordering monthly. Also use these products in our school.
6. UWSP Wisconsin K-12 Energy Education Program (KEEP). Energy efficient light bulbs, etc.
7. Put on a talent show (students & parents) and sell tickets. Have a nicely decorated table with dessert & coffee for a reception after the show.
8. SCRIPT program – needs at least one parent coordinator
9. Election Day in November – Set up a Bake Sale and Used Book sale at one of the polling stations.
10. T-shirts etc. with school logo when we get one

Game Night – Tara will set up another game night for April 4^th.
After School Programs - funded through the 21^st Century Grant.
Leslie has arranged a program with the owner of Water Street Arts. She will come in 5 Mondays from 3:15pm-4:30ish starting April 7^th. She will teach a couple of painting techniques and some clay work. The class would be limited to 20 students and she would need at least one but preferably two parent helpers. Tara volunteered to be one of the parents.

Kevin is working on setting up the Dream Flight program. This is a space shuttle simulation program. It comes with two trained instructors to teach the “missions”. There is a component of “astronaut training” that would be done in two after school sessions prior to the arrival of Dream Flight (a one day event).

Events Calendar – discussed the need to make a plan for what events we want to put on each year. Came up with a partial/preliminary list:

1. August - Orientation
2. Late Sept/Early Oct. – Fall Color Walk & meal
3. October/November – School Play (after school activity)
4. Jan/Feb – Teacher Appreciation Day
5. Earth Day
6. Peace Day
7. Montessori Education Week
8. Game Nights – 2 in fall as weather gets cooler
   2 in winter/spring before weather warms
9. Spring – Talent Show