Evergreen Elementary Community Club

Please note that there is no Community Club meeting in December.   The information on the school calendar regarding a meeting on December 1st is an error.  We will resume our normal meeting scheduled after the New Year.  Our next Community Club meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 5, 2010.  Happy Holidays to you all!

Evergreen’s Student Council will be having a Spirit Day on Friday, November 13^th.  The theme is “Sports Day!”

This month’s Community Club meeting was held on Tuesday, November 3, 2009.  The following is a summary of the information presented at that meeting. 

Principal’s Report:  Dr. Trimmer shared information about a Community Forum that the District is hosting this month.  The Forum will be held on Saturday, November 14th from 8am to noon at South Pointe Middle School, with the purpose of soliciting opinions and ideas from the Community with regard to next year’s District budget.  The District is looking to have to cut an additional 14 million dollars from the budget for next year. 

Dr. Trimmer also discussed the traffic issues that occur during morning drop-off.  The District has instructed that no parent or staff member is to be on public property directing traffic due to fears of personal liability should a traffic accident occur.  This change has caused some additional traffic issues during drop-off, and alternate solutions are currently being sought to deal with these issues.  Dr. Trimmer had previously spoken with the Walnut Sheriff’s Department about coming out to observe the traffic flow problems we are having.  They have not yet been out to conduct that observation, but Dr. Trimmer will continue to push for this to happen. 

Teacher’s Report:  As the Teacher Representative, Mrs. Gorsuch reported that Kindergarten Parent/Teacher conferences have been completed, and the conferences for the upper grades are scheduled to occur this month.  She reminded the group that the polls were open today (Nov 3rd) to vote on candidates to the School Board, and urged us all to consider wisely which candidates would be most student centered in their focus.  Finally, Mrs. Gorsuch made the group aware of a School Board study scheduled to occur on Wednesday, November 4th to discuss the budget for the 2010-2011 school year.  News has already been heard of at least one planned school closure (Ron Hawkwalt Academies), and of class size increases to 30 students.

Coordinating Council:  Reports were made regarding information presented at the past two Coordinating Council meetings. 

September: 

• Further budget cuts were discussed; moving the cost per student figure down to $258. 
• There will no longer be free soda/water available to the schools for events.
• There is now a District Cafe open in the Transportation Dept.

October: 

• Any vendor hired for school events (i.e. bounce houses, dunk tanks, etc.) must hold at least a $1 million insurance policy, and must sign a form acknowledging that they are insured for this amount.
• Swine Flu Prevention:  Any classroom having 5 or more students out due to fever will receive deep cleaning treatment in an effort to prevent the spread of any virus.
• Coldstone Ice Cream made a presentation to make the schools aware that they offer fundraising opportunities. 
• Next Coordinating Council meeting is scheduled for November 18th.

Family Fun Night:  A huge Thank You goes out to Janeene Stanley for putting on a terrific event.  Family Fun Night was great, and everyone had a wonderful time.  It was also a great fundraiser for us, bringing in over $2400 in profits that we can in turn use to help our students and the school.  This was Janeene’s last year to serve as Family Fun Night planner, so the Community Club is seeking individuals interested in coordinating the event next year.

Family Portrait Night:  Family Portrait Night has been cancelled because we were unable to get enough appointments booked. 

Health and Welfare:  The Health and Welfare Committee has two events coming up in the coming months.  The Food Drive will be held in November, and the Toy Drive will be held in December.  The plan for these events is to first give assistance to Evergreen Families who may be in particular need this holiday season.  Once these families have been helped, any additional food/toys will be distributed to local organizations to help other families in our local communities.  Drop-off stations will be set up in front of the school during both drives to make donations easy.  Gift cards for food/toys are also welcomed in lieu of goods.  Any questions regarding these drives can be directed to Sue Swisher.

Membership Drive:  Our 2009 Membership Drive was a great success.  We exceeded our goal of $20,000, which will enable the Community Club to provide for the school and the students without door-to-door fundraising.  Because our goal was met, all students will receive nylon kites.  An assembly will be held on November 13th to announce the Pizza Party winners, and to hold the Pie Flying event for those students who donated at least $200.  A huge Thank You goes out to Danielle Amaya-Martinez and her committee for doing such a terrific job on the Membership Drive! 

Yearbook:  The original presale resulted in 275 orders for yearbooks, so a second presale will likely be held in February.  Dedications will also be sold at a cost of $10-$15 each.  The Cover Contest went really well.  There were 39 people who submitted artwork, and the 4th graders are voting on their favorites to determine the winner. 

Recycling:  We have been unable to gather enough volunteers to make this program work successfully at the school.  Therefore, the Community Club will now explore options outside of Evergreen to find organizations that might be willing to collect and recycle the materials for us in exchange for a share in the profits. 

Kiln Repair:  The kiln at the school was recently repaired.  The Community Club approved a motion to cover the cost of this repair. 

Cable Bill:  At our September meeting, the Community Club approved a motion to pay to provide basic cable television to the school to be used for educational and emergency purposes.  Since that time, it has been determined that as a part of the Unified School District, Evergreen is eligible for free cable services, so this will no longer be an ongoing expense for the Community Club. 

Upcoming Events:

• Canned Food Drive:  November 16 – 20
• Toy Drive:  December 7 – 11
• Snowy Day (for Kindergarten): January 29

Please note that there will be no Community Club meeting held in December.  The next Community Club meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 5, 2010.  We hope to see you there!