April 2013 PTO Minutes April 4, 2013 Carol McDonald, PTO President, welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Principal's Report Mr. Lyons welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked everyone for coming. Pine Glen School continues to have many school districts coming to visit to see the Library and Technology Center, the use of the iPads, particularly the 1:1 pilots in first, fourth, and fifth grades. The School Connect App has been established and they will be using it more in the future. Pine Glen School had the Harlem Superstars visit on April 4, 2013 and communicated to the students the importance of education and other positive messages. The assembly also did a Harlem Shake. Pine Glen School recently had students from the high school visit and do some parts of their performance of the play Hairspray. This was enjoyed by all in attendance. Recently Pine Glen had Favorite Book Character Day as part of Bookaplooza. Mr. Lyons stated that it was a blast seeing staff and students dressed up as their favorite story characters. Dr. Chris Hartman has been hired by the district as an outside evaluator to examine the math program in the district. He was very impressed by the level of instruction he saw in classrooms, student work and principal involvement. The district is looking to potentially adopt a new math program called Envision. Investigations is the current math curriculum and is ten years old. The district is looking at a new math program more aligned to the Common Core Curriculum. Mr. Lyons had the opportunity to attend the MSLA (Massachusetts School Library Association) Conference. He watched Pine Glen's own Instructional Technology Specialist, Dan Callahan and Library Media Specialist, Laura D'Elia do a presentation talking about our Library and Technology Center, the 1:1 4th and 5th Grade IPad initiative, and student progress at Pine Glen Elementary School. Dennis Villano, Burlington Director of Technology Integration and Mr. Lyons were asked to be on a panel discussion for the conference titled "Why Invest in Your School Library." Mr. Lyons stated Pine Glen School is so fortunate to have a full time librarian. A library media specialist is key to matching nonfiction books for students to read to the Common Core Curriculum. Also, with so many digital sources to gather information a library media specialist is vital to help guide students in doing research and being good digital citizens in our community. The 3rd Grade recently held The Massachusetts Biography Wax Museum. Mr. Lyons was very proud of all the 3rd graders and the great job they did researching famous people from Massachusetts. Mr. Lyons had fantastic conversations with many famous people. Mr. Lyons thanked Ms. Govoni for again organizing and running a great Ice Skating Program for the fifth graders. He also thanked the Burlington Ice Palace for their continued support of the program and the parent volunteers who helped out too. This program builds self esteem and confidence in students. In addition, it introduces many students to a great sport they can do throughout their lives. Likewise, the program further strengthens the 5th grade community. It was a lot of fun! Updates The Pine Glen Carnival will be held Saturday April 6, 2013 from 9am-2pm. Everyone encouraged to attend.

Teacher Appreciation Day will be held Tuesday May 7, 2013. An email will be coming out with a wish list of donations. Pine Glen's 50th Anniversary Celebration will be combined with the Pine Glen BBQ to be held on Wednesday June 12, 2013 from 6pm-8pm. More details to follow. The final PTO meeting of the year will be Thursday May 16, 2013. Anyone interested in a PTO board position is encouraged to apply. Budget Overview Adrienne Mattson, PTO Treasurer, was unable to attend the meeting but an updated printed financial report was circulated. Vote on Requests A request for a $500 donation was voted on and approved for the 2013 BHS Scholarship. A request for $400 was voted on and approved for two partial summer reading scholarships. Attendance Carol McDonald, Catherine Gillespie, John Lyons, Joanne Shortell, Kim Daly, Ginelle Davidson, Beth Reith, Denise Desmond