Motion to approve the previous PTO minutes made by Corentin Cras-Meneur, seconded by Sarah Russell, and passed with no objections

Teacher Report: No issues at this time

Principal Report: M-Step and NWEA testing is coming up soon.   NWEA will take up most of the month of May.

Parent feedback forms for next year’s placements will be coming out soon. You can’t request a specific teacher, but you can say some friends your child works well with or doesn’t work well with. You can also describe the learning style that works best for your child.

Information letters about child truancy were sent out to all families as mandated by the State.

Treasurer: A number of field trips are coming up. There are several teachers (twenty-five) who have not sent in reimbursement requests. It is helpful to get the information to the treasurers early rather than all at the end of the year.

Thurston Nature Center: Elizabeth Morehead was introduced as the new Chair of the Thurston Nature Center, taking over from Frank Comiskey. The bridge has been repaired and there are also plans for informational kiosks and benches to be added to the TNC. There will be work days on 4/21 10-4:00 and 4/22 noon-4:00 and many school activities. They will be re-establishing a TNC board, which is a separate entity within the PTO. If you are interested in participating, contact the PTO or attend the next TNC meeting.

PTO Board: Next month we will be posting open board positions. Please consider being part of the PTO in any capacity you are able.

Thanks to the volunteers who signed up for the Disability Awareness Workshop.

Upcoming events:

Spring Break 3/24 to 4/1

Pizza Kits Sale 4/2-4/13

Little Caesar’s Pizza Night

PTO Meeting 4/17

Earth Week 4/23-4/27

Open Forum:

A kindergarten parent mentioned that there was a lot of “assumed knowledge” when it comes to events. Specific details regarding times/places and what grades are involved are sometimes difficult to find. One suggestion was to go to the Room Parent as a first contact. If they don’t know the answers, they could ask the Room Parent Coordinator. The Coordinator can have a meeting letting the Room Parents know that they’re a resource. For information on PTO committees and events, you can email the PTO at ptothurstonelementary@gmail.com     There was also a request for discussion about a social media resource where parents could “crowd-source” information.

It was stated that staff are assigned to monitor the kindergarten doors approximately five minutes before the bell rings. If there are difficulties before this time, please let Ms. York know and we can revisit the timing.

All children arriving after the second bell for any reason should go to the office and pick up a late slip. Please don’t try to enter other doors after second bell.

Parents are continuing to exit their cars in the drop-off/pickup lane and parking lot, blocking traffic while they gather their children. If you plan to exit your vehicle, please park and walk to Thurston.   Staying in your car is an important safety procedure. One suggestion was to hand out a flier with the proper procedure to parents who may not be aware. Thanks to the staff members and parent volunteers who help keep our parking lots safe.

We expect to hear the results of our safety study very soon. There is also a meeting to discuss Bluett calming measures at 5:30PM April 11^th at Clague Middle School. Anyone can attend, but only people living within 100 yards of Bluett can vote on the final plans