PINE GLEN PTO MEETING MINUTES

OCTOBER 2, 2014
Ginelle Davidson, PTO President, welcomed everyone in attendance to the first Pine Glen PTO meeting of
the 2014-2015 year. All in attendance introduced themselves to the group.
Principal's Report
John Lyons, Co Vice-President, reported the following:
-We were fortunate this summer to have undergone a major renovation of the main office. This change has
made our school an even safer safe place to learn as well as enhance our building. I would like to thank
everyone in Burlington for their support. This renovation has helped us continue to make safety the
number one priority at Pine Glen Elementary School.
-We were very excited to introduce more iPads to our current supply at Pine Glen Elementary School. The
1:1 iPad Initiative is expanded this year to include second and third grade. This has allowed Pine Glen to be
a 1:1 iPad school from first to fifth grade. These instructional tools provide for opportunities to enhance
student engagement, higher order learning, and employ critical thinking skills.
-We are pleased to welcome new staff members to our Pine Glen Community. We enthusiastically
welcomed many staff to new roles and positions at the school too. Although not new to Pine Glen, Nicole
Sunderland, who was our permanent substitute, became special education instructional assistant. Likewise,
Elizabeth Merlino, who was a substitute last Spring, became a Response to Intervention Tutor (RtI Tutor).
In addition, Cassandra Apruzzese, Kristen OMeara, and Alysse Janes are also joining our staff as special
needs instructional assistants. Elizabeth Normandin, Kristen Popma, Sean Wittbold, and Jessica McCarthy
are also joined our staff as RtI Tutors. Amanda Lane took became a fulltime fifth grade teacher. In
addition, Michele Mills, who was a special education instructional assistant, became our new first grade
teacher. Michelle Ardizzoni joined us as our Technology Integration Teacher along with Martha Ogren as
our Library Media Specialist in the Library and Technology Center (LTC). Denise Calvino joined us as a
new secretary joining Mrs. Gosselin in the main office. Ms. Lormand, our school psychologist, was
married this summer and will be Mrs. Perry this Fall. Complementing our new hires will be Sarah Brothers
as our permanent substitute. Alexis Dwyer our guidance counselor has resigned to spend more time with
her family. Lauren Zonetti will be our new guidance counselor and joining us on October 20th.
Our Annual Heroes Assembly took place on Thursday September 11, 2014 at 1:30 in the afternoon on the
grassy area behind the school. We said thank you to all those who serve our community and country, as
well as remember the tragic events of September 11, 2001.
We had great turnout and a very successful Pine Glen Back to School Night on September 23rd.
The fifth graders along with myself had a great time at Camp Bournedale. We learned a lot about marine
life and did some great problem solving/team building activities.
Burlington Public Schools' Music Department has been recognized by the National Association of Music
Merchants (NAMM). Burlington has been designated as one of "The Best Communities for Music
Education." Governor Deval Patrick gave Burlington an official citation in recognition of this honor. In
addition, we were selected to host a webcast forum on the topic of Supporting Music on September 26.
There will be various music performances from Memorial Elementary School, Pine Glen Elementary
School, Marshall Simond's Middle School and Burlington High School music students.
Google Software Engineers visited Pine Glen on September 30th.. They were doing research on technology
integration by observing classrooms and talking with teachers. The engineers visited Mrs. Parnell's
kindergarten classroom, Mrs. Beaulieu's fifth grade classroom, and Mrs. Keough-Lane's second grade
classroom.

When the engineers left, they wanted me to know and the Pine Glen Community that "Pine Glen is
incredible and we have incredible teachers." They told me they loved seeing the technology, high quality
instruction and talking to us about ideas we have that could make software and products even better for
teachers and students.
Museum educators from the Concord Museum visited the fifth grade classrooms this week. The students
learned about early settlers and Native American interactions. Students also learned about the culture and
geography of Concord at that time.
Guest Speaker
Carrie Fortunato, District Math Coach, attended the meeting and did a wonderful presentation on the math
curriculum in Burlington Public Schools, highlighting updates to the curriculum and new changes.
Highlights/changes include:
Math tiers are now being done in Grade 6 which is new
Pine Glen is no longer a Title 1 school. Title 1 schools are based on percentage of students at poverty
level attending school. Pine Glen has lost 1 1/2 RTI tutors because it is no longer a Title 1 school.
Memorial and Francis Wyman remain Title 1 schools.
Envision Math is now in its second year and is in line with the Common Core Curriculum. This
program continues to help enrich students education.
Students in Grades 1-5 are screened in math three times a year using the Symphony Test. These results
are being sent home with students on October 3, 2014. Teachers are looking for growth scores to
evaluate student's progress.
Kindergarten students will be screened in late October/early November
All screening done is targeting early intervention to help assist students in need.
First Grade Students are using a supplemental math program called ST Math. This teaches students
with visuals alone and is Common Core aligned.
Reflex Math is being used in Grades 2-5 to help enrich math facts.
President's Report- Ginelle Davidson

Halloween dance: The Pine Glen Halloween dance is scheduled for Saturday October 25, 2014 from
6-8pm. It was decided to change the pricing this year. The price will remain $5 per family for current
PTO members and $10 per family for Non-PTO members. Adult volunteers are still needed.
Very long discussion held among members present on how to increase communication in regards to the
PTO mission and fundraising. Beth Baglio, current PTO member, has graciously volunteered to help
communicate all important PTO news and events via a monthly PTO newsletter to help facilitate
communication. Thank you Beth!
Deb Murphy and Michelle Grossman, Co-Chairs of the annual PTO Carnival, were present at the
meeting and discussed the changes to the Pine Glen front office and how this will effect the carnival
this year. In years past, the front lobby has been heavily used for carnival events and will no longer be
able to be used due to re-construction. With limited space, more events will need to be outside.
Everyone in attendance agreed to change the PTO Carnival to April 11, 2015. PTO member Sheila
Estes agreed to spearhead Corporate Sponsorships for the Carnival to try to decrease overhead costs
and increase fundraising.
Membership update: 67 families/staff out of 258 currently joined the PTO which is about 26%.
Members discussed incentives to increase membership. Idea discussed of trying to award a prize to
each classroom, in each grade, with the highest PTO membership. PTO electronic directories to go
home soon to all PTO members.
Town Wide Flatbread Fundraiser will be held on November 18, 2014. PTO member Denise Desmond
will chair this event. All elementary schools and Marshall Simonds Middle School will be
participating in this with all proceeds split equally among the schools.
November 26, 2014 Walk-a-Thon discussed. Committee to be established and will meet soon to
continue planning for this day. More details to follow.

Yearbook discussion- The cost of the 5th grade yearbook is getting quite costly. Fundraising ideas
discussed to help defray costs. Principal Lyons discussed idea of setting up Amazon.com link where a
percentage of all sales is donated back to PTO. If this is possible, this will be applied to yearbook
expenses.
Target stores issued a $280 check to the PTO. Anyone one who opens a Target Card and links their
card with Pine Glen will have a percentage of their sales donated back to the school.

Treasurer's Report
Adrienne Mattson, PTO Treasurer, distributed a printed a current PTO budget report. A budget overview
was discussed with all those in attendance.
Attendance:
Ginelle Davidson, Caroline Taitelbaum, John Lyons, Adrienne Mattson, Joanne Shortell, Michelle O'Hare,
Carrie Fortunato, Ranjeeta Khetan, Patti Heldenbergh, Jill Giles, Jill McCabe, Beth Baglio, Sheila Estes,
Heather Peckham