News & Notes

The PTO community meets monthly in the school LMC to discuss important topics relevant to Sandburg students, staff, parents, and families. 

La comunidad de PTO se reúne mensualmente en el LMC de la escuela para discutir temas importantes relacionados con los estudiantes, el personal, los padres y las familias de Sandburg.

We will also plan PTO-sponsored events.

También planearemos eventos patrocinados por PTO.

When possible, Spanish translation, food and childcare will be provided. 

Cuando sea posible, se proporcionará traducción al español, comida y cuidado de niños.

We hope you'll join us!

Esperamos que te unas a nosotros!

Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Feb 20th 2023, at 5:30pm to 7:00pm in the Sandburg Library. The PTO will be providing a chip and dip theme for snacks, so feel free to bring your favorite chips and dips to share! 

Nuestra próxima reunión está programada para el lunes 20 de febrero de 2023, de 5:30 p. m. a 7:00 p. m. en la biblioteca de Sandburg. El PTO proporcionará un tema de papas fritas y salsas para bocadillos, ¡así que siéntase libre de traer sus papas fritas y salsas favoritas para compartir!

2022 -23 School Year Important Documents 

(most recent documents on top)

Minutes from Meeting on 1-23-23 / Minutos de la reunión de 1/23/2023

Meeting Date: 1/23/23

Officers Present / Oficiales presentes

: Kara McNeill, Cindy Kimbrew, Becky Van Boxtel 

• PTO Miscellaneous / Notas misceláneas de PTO:

  • We are still looking for a secretary for the PTO, so please let us know if you are interested. The role is not too complicated, and takes a commitment of about 1-2 hours a week. The person would take notes during meetings, write up the minutes, and update the website once a month. 

  • Updates from last meeting: We have thought about having a movie night, but we are still unsure about the logistics of this. It is being tabled for now. 

• Todavía estamos buscando una secretaria para el PTO, así que háganos saber si están interesados. El puesto no es demasiado complicado y requiere un compromiso de aproximadamente 1-2 horas a la semana. La persona tomaría notas durante las reuniones, escribiría las actas y actualizará el sitio web una vez al mes.

• Actualizaciones de la última reunión: hemos pensado en tener una noche de cine, pero aún no estamos seguros de la logística de esto. Por ahora se pondrá en espera.

• President’s Report / Reporte del Presidente:

  • We discussed ways to get people more involved with the PTO events. We went over having a newsletter, using Dogo, Seesaw, texting, calling and using emails or facebook, backpack mail, and personally giving people flyers in kids backpacks. We found all the ways have benefits and challenges. We decided to have a section in the monthly newsletter that the school sends out. We will give links to Nikki for the PTO FB page and website as well, so she can send that in a Backpack mail. Kara will update that, as she has more contact with Ms. Lopez, being at the school twice a week. 

  • T-Shirts are being postponed as we figure out more fundraising ideas for this year. 

  • Kara has the Big Dreams List from the teachers and will put together a request letter for area businesses with Ald. Sabrina Madison. 

• Discutimos formas de involucrar más a las personas en los eventos de PTO. Pasamos a tener un boletín informativo, usando Dogo, Seesaw, enviando mensajes de texto, llamando y usando correos electrónicos o Facebook, correo de mochila y entregando volantes personalmente a las personas en las mochilas de los niños. Encontramos que todas las formas tienen beneficios y desafíos. Decidimos tener una sección en el boletín mensual que envía la escuela. También le daremos enlaces a Nikki para la página de FB y el sitio web de PTO, para que pueda enviarlo en un correo de Backpack. Kara actualizará eso, ya que tiene más contacto con la Sra. López, estando en la escuela dos veces por semana.

• Las camisetas se posponen a medida que descubrimos más ideas para recaudar fondos para este año.

• Kara tiene la Lista de Grandes Sueños de los maestros y preparará una carta de solicitud para negocios del área con Ald. Sabrina Madison.

• Treasurer's Report / Reporte de Tresireria 

  • The 990 forms are completed, and we are just waiting for the IRS to process the paperwork.

  • The PTO has $1,500 in the account. 

  • The school has about $2,000 set aside for PTO activities, so we will be utilizing this for the dance. 

  • The Budget Committee met this weekend and created a budget for the remainder of the school year. If we do not raise more money this year, we will be short about $1,500. This is not including the school’s $2000 earmarked for the PTO. We should be okay, but we will need to make more money so next year’s PTO can also have money for activities. 

  • In order to save money, the PTO will no longer provide a full meal at the meetings. We will provide snacks and water. We still encourage potlucks and anyone is able to bring food if they like. 

• Los formularios 990 están completos y solo estamos esperando que el IRS procese la documentación.

• PTO tiene $1,500 en la cuenta.

• La escuela tiene alrededor de $2,000 reservados para las actividades del PTO, por lo que utilizaremos esto para el baile.

• El Comité de Presupuesto se reunió este fin de semana y creó un presupuesto para el resto del año escolar. Si no recaudamos más dinero este año, nos faltarán alrededor de $1,500. Esto no incluye los $2000 de la escuela destinados al PTO. Deberíamos estar bien, pero necesitaremos ganar más dinero para que el PTO del próximo año también pueda tener dinero para actividades.

• Para ahorrar dinero, el PTO ya no proporcionará una comida completa en las reuniones. Proporcionaremos bocadillos y agua. Todavía alentamos las comidas compartidas y cualquiera puede traer comida si lo desea.

• Dance Update / Información sobre el baile

  • The Dance Committee has been created and is working on the dance. 

    • Amanda Dedo is in charge of music and lighting.

    • Jimena Maier is in charge of setting up a sign up sheet for the bake sale.

    • Kate Pinkerton is in charge of the bake sale. 

• The dance has been scheduled for April 28th, time TBD.

• We must make sure we stay in the capacity restrictions on the gym, which is 92 kids at a time. We will have other rooms in the school to use for crafts, art projects, food, a smaller and quieter room with music, for those of us who don’t want the loud noise, and a literacy component (which will allow us to use some of the school funds earmarked for literacy programs.) 

• The team decided on not allowing middle school students to attend the dance, as this will help with capacity issues, and there have been some issues with middle schoolers bothering some of our students. We discussed ways to make sure this happens: stamps on hands, limited tickets, and invitations. We did not finalize this at this meeting. We are requesting parents to get in touch with someone at the school if they are not able to attend with their student, and make arrangements for them to go with another family.

• Se ha creado el Comité de Baile y están planeando el baile. Amanda Dedo está a cargo de la música y la iluminación. Jimena Maier está a cargo de configurar una hoja de registro para la venta de pasteles. Kate Pinkerton está a cargo de la venta de pasteles.

• El baile ha sido programado para el 28 de abril, hora TBD.

• Decidieron no permitir que los estudiantes de secundaria estén presentes en el baile, ya que esto ayudará con los problemas de capacidad. También ha habido algunos problemas con los estudiantes de secundaria que molestan a algunos de nuestros estudiantes. Discutimos formas de asegurarnos de que esto suceda: sellos en las manos, boletos limitados e invitaciones. No finalizamos esto en esta reunión. Solicitamos a los padres que se comuniquen con alguien en la escuela si no pueden asistir con su estudiante y hagan arreglos para que vayan con otra familia.

• Fundraising / Recaudación de fondos: 

  • The Photo Event went really well, and we made $762. With 26 families. Everything went really well, except for the amount of No-Shows/Calls. We want to make this an annual event, but in September and outside by the Sandburg Woods. We want to make this a big fundraising event that brings in a big chunk of money. 

• We are planning on doing the Culver’s Scoopie Night as soon as we get the nonprofit status back, which will hopefully bring in some money. 

• We also discussed having a Sandburg group at an upcoming consignment sale in April. The sale is Lil’ Badger Consignment Sale in Monona on April 14th and 15th. We decided to stick with big items and only good quality clothing. 

• The officers will store and tag all the items, and do the volunteering to get the 70% of the profits from the sales.  

• We will figure out a week’s time for people to bring their items to Sandburg, before April 1st, so the officers can clean and tag all the items. 

• We would like to have one more volunteer if possible to help tag items. 

• El evento fotográfico salió muy bien y recaudamos $762 con 26 familias. Todo salió muy bien, excepto por la cantidad de ausencias/llamadas. Queremos que este sea un evento anual, pero en septiembre y afuera en Sandburg Woods. Queremos hacer lo un gran evento de recaudación de fondos que genere una gran cantidad de dinero cada año. 

• Estamos planeando hacer Culver's Scoopie Night tan pronto como recuperemos el estado de organización sin fines de lucro, lo que con suerte traerá algo de dinero.

• También discutimos tener un grupo de Sandburg en una próxima venta en consignación en abril. La venta es Lil' Badger Consignment Sale en Monona el 14 y 15 de abril. Decidimos quedarnos con artículos grandes y solo ropa de buena calidad. 

• Los oficiales almacenarán y etiquetarán todos los artículos y se ofrecerán como voluntarios para obtener el 70% de las ganancias de las ventas. Determinaremos el tiempo de una semana para que las personas traigan sus artículos a Sandburg, antes del 1 de abril, para que los oficiales puedan limpiar y etiquetar todos los artículos.

• Nos gustaría tener un voluntario más si es posible para ayudar a etiquetar artículos.

The next PTO community meeting will be on Monday, February 20th, 2023 at 5pm. /  La próxima reunión comunitaria de la PTO será el lunes 20 de febrero de 2023 a las 5 p.m en la biblioteca de Sandburg. 

Agenda for PTO Meeting on Monday, Jan 23rd, 2023

The agenda for tonight’s PTO meeting include: Information about the budget, an update on the dance planning process, upcoming fundraising events, forming a Teacher Appreciation Planning Committee, and Sandburg PTO’s Dream Big list. Please join us for our meeting tonight at 5:00pm - 6:30pm. Childcare, Spanish translation, and a vegetarian chili dinner will be provided. We hope to see you there!

Minutes from Meeting on 12/14/22

PRESENTERS: President: Kara McNeill; Treasurer / Secretary: Becky Van Boxtel (Cindy Kimbrew VP was absent due to illness)

• President’s Report: Kara McNeill

  • We are working with Alderperson Sabrina to get monies from donors and community supports. She wants to make Sandburg a big priority in her platform. Kara and her are working on a few donation requests to local businesses. 

• Treasurer’s Report: Becky Van Boxtel 

  • The PTO’s annual reports have not been done for the past three years, so we are working with an accounting agency to complete these. The price is $475 to get all three years completed, plus the $275 is costs for the reinstatement. The process will take about 1 - 3 months to be finalized, which will limit certain fundraisers that need the PTO to have the tax exempt status, such as Culver’s Night. The PayPal Giving Fund will reissue the check from last years grant of $1000, but only after the tax exempt status has been renewed. 

  • The Food Pantry Account is no longer in the PTO's name. It is now in the care of Lynne and Jeremiah. 

• Secretary’s Report:

  • The officers have discussed getting rid of the PTO website, because it has not been updated in a few years. However, they decided to keep the website for two major reasons. 

    • Many of our parents are not off social media, so this is another way for parents and community members to get updates on the PTO news and activities. 

    • If the PTO is going to be asking community partners and local businesses to donate funds, supplies or time, there needs to be a way for those partners to get in touch, or get information. And since only members of the Sandburg community are allowed on the PTO FaceBook page, those partners will need a place to go to both verify the PTO is an actual organization, and get important information. 

• The Dance

  • Carrie Welsh is leading the Dance Committee and is looking for volunteers to join. We need to focus on getting lights, music, food, fundraising ideas for the dance (bake sales, etc...) and possible some middle school volunteers. By the January meeting, Carrie will for her committee and create a budget for the dance. 

• Fundraising Ideas:

  • The PTO officers were bouncing around ideas for fundraising options without the tax exempt status, and came up with a few ideas. When discussed with the PTO, these ideas were decided and finalized. 

    • Family Photo Event: So far, this event has been somewhat successful, for our first time running it. There were some early complications, mainly due to space, but we were able to find a location. We had to abandon the idea of doing the shoot at the school, due to staffing reasons, so we are doing the shoot at the Van Boxtel Photography studio. We still have openings for this coming Saturday. 

• Events: 

  • We discussed having a movie night, but there may be some complications with that, copywriting issues, etc. Mike Ryan will check with his friend who got around the issue at his school and report back at the next meeting. 

If you have any questions or comments regarding the PTO meeting, please feel free to reach out via email, or Facebook Messenger.