Minutes and Action Items for September 2017 Meeting

Hi Families and Friends!

We had our first monthly meeting of the school year last night (9/27/2017), and it was very productive. If you didn’t make it to the meeting last night, never fear! The minutes are below, in such vivid detail that you will feel like you were there! (Okay, maybe I just drank my fourth cup of coffee.)

Action Items:

• We need people to sign up for committees, more details about which can be found in the Minutes. Being on a committee does not need to be a huge time commitment. Many hands make light work, as the cliche goes. We are looking for people to help out with the following: Jog-A-Thon; Toyland Parade, Winter Holiday Program, Home-brew Fest, After-school Clubs, Social Media/website upkeep. If you are interested in joining one of these committees, or helping in other ways, please email us at friendsofjeffersonnp@gmail.com
• Please sign up for Amazon Smile, and designate “Friends of Thomas Jefferson Elementary” as the organization you want a portion of your purchases on Amazon to go to. Follow this link to learn more and sign up: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_se_rspo_laas_aas
• Please leave reviews at Great Schools.com. Positive reviews help the overall score go up and also influence families’ decisions on whether to enroll or not. Unfortunately, the numbers on this popular website do not reflect how wonderful our school is. Here’s a link: https://www.greatschools.org/california/san-diego/6166-Jefferson-Elementary-School/

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FOJ Meeting Minutes – September 27, 2017

• Welcome, Introduction, and FAQs – The Foundation helps fund school projects and extracurricular activities for the kids.

• We have two major fundraisers for the year – the Jog-A-Thon and the Homebrew Festival. In the past, we have done both the Jog-A-Thon and the Homebrew Festival in the spring. For the 2017-2018 school year, we would like to transition to one big event per semester so we are moving the Jog-A-Thon to the late fall and will continue with the Homebrew Festival in the spring. For the calendar year of 2017, this does mean we will have the Jog-A-Thon twice, although it will still only occur once per school year.

• The Foundation sponsors the Winter Holiday Program which is held at the North Park Observatory Theater. While children perform, the Foundation sells concessions and does a raffle.

• Important Dates for the 2017-2018 School Year:
  • December 6^th – Jog-A-Thon
  • Mid-December – Winter Holiday Program
  • March 10^th – Homebrew Festival

• One additional event which we participate in but do not raise money for, is the North Park Toyland Parade to be held on December 2^nd. We would like to welcome volunteers to help us decorate some wagons or create costumes for parade participants (all Jefferson kids and parents are welcome to be in the parade).

• Volunteer Bank – The Foundation will coordinate with Jefferson administration and the PTA to create a volunteer bank. We will look into online programs to coordinate volunteer duties and shifts.

• What do we need from parents?
  • Joining committees for the following events:
    • Jog-A-Thon
    • Toyland Parade
    • Winter Holiday Program
    • Homebrew Festival
  • After School Clubs – Principal Morga and the teachers are working on a process for parents to create new clubs and volunteer for existing clubs. The Foundation is available to help fund the clubs.
  • Social Media/Website Upkeep – We’d like to strengthen our online presence to help keep families informed, advertise for our school, and promote community bonds. Please let us know if you are interested in contributing to content for the website. All parents are also encouraged to leave positive reviews at greatschools.org and yelp.
  • AmazonSmile – We recommend all Amazon users purchase from the AmazonSmile page. If you designate “Friends of Thomas Jefferson Elementary” as the charity to support, proceeds will automatically go to the Foundation.

• Projects the Foundation is funding for 2017-2018 – Gardening Program and Art Reach

• Additional projects under consideration for funding:
  • Teachers’ supplies (parents can make a tax-deductible donation to help with classroom needs)
  • Field Trips
  • After School Clubs

• Community Partner Events:
  • Monthly movie night at Waypoint Public
  • Chipotle fundraiser
  • Snooze

• Yearly elections for the Board Members – Plan to vote at October meeting

• Next meeting October 25, 2017

Meetings are held on the last Wednesday of the month from 5:30-6:30 pm in the school library. Childcare is provided by SAY.