NOVEMBER 2025

Written By Tavelli PTO

Approved on 1/7/26


Tavelli PTO Meeting 11.5.25 – 8:30 am – Tavelli Science Room


ATTENDANCE

Melissa Adams, Ben Irwin, Amand Lager Gleason, Brittany Ferrans, Kate Walker, Heather Nydahl, Pete Gronewoller, Mike Ochs, Caty Ochs, Anna Wright, Monica Smith, Christine Hendricks, Heather Reider


MINUTES

  • Welcome 

  • Approval of October Minutes

    • Approved unanimously 

  • School Updates (Christine)

    • DPS Visit

      • As a high achieving school, they visited us to get ideas from us on how to improve

    • School of Choice + Kindergarten Registration

      • Now open! Please spread the word

    • MacBus Fundraiser

      • Painting night was great; 60 people attended 

      • Jan 30 - Bingo and Puzzle Night

      • Purpose is to bring the Bus back to life; utilize it throughout the school year also 

    • Food Drive

      • Around 30 families have asked for additional help, so we are going to provide food to them first and then overflow will go to the food bank

        • Want additional food to last them throughout break


  • Will run Nov 10-18 - kind of like Cans Around the Oval

  • McBackPack is going out twice per week, and we are trying to support with extra bags

  • Encourage at Book Fair Family Night

    • Do a drawing for people who donate; one entry per non-perishable item, $25 gift certificate to the book fair

  • Need PTO support - bags, volunteers to fill bags and possibly deliver

  • Melissa will reach out to Heather Sowden-Lovato to see if she has any anonymous info on the families so we can potentially tailor the bags

  • Kindness Night in February - date TBD


  • Upcoming Activities 

    • Past Events - Spirit Gear - $326 and Music City - $291

    • $20 for 20 (Nov 1-30)

      • Consider donating some of this to the Food Bank or our food drive as a way to support families given the significant impact to SNAP benefits

        • Decided to use a portion of money raised for the food drive (bread or other needed things)

        • $1164 raised as of today

        • Call out on Sunday for book fair family shopping night and drawing for people who donate canned food

    • Fall Book Fair:  11/7 (setup); 11/10 (Shopping Night w/ add’l items) 

      • Need more volunteers to sign up for shifts

      • Scholarship coupons will be given to the kids who asked 

      • Teacher e-wallets created; they can send along to their families so classrooms can get new books 

    • Culver’s Dining Night - 11/1, 5-8 pm

      • Need volunteers to sign up for one-hour shifts to deliver food to dine-in customers

      • Christine and Shirley will be there from 5-6 pm

    • PTO Social - TBD; want to organize one in December 

    • Elevated Sandwiches is another option for Dining Night in the spring


  • PTO supported In-School activities

    • Teacher Conferences 

      • loved Panera boxes with sandwiches and salads (42 ordered and only a few left over)

      • Halloween Parties - each class got $25

    • Pumpkin decorating contest (staff), we provided $50 to support 

    • Fence decorating

      • Will add Tigers + Paws in the coming weeks


  • Corporate Sponsorship Updates

    • Corporate Match for $20 for 20 - 1 corporate match! ($TBD)

    • Yearbook ($500 for advertisement):  3 sponsors so far! ($1500)

    • Walk-a-thon: 4 sponsors ($1750)


  • Staff Holiday gifts (Corinne)

    • Committee: Heather N., Katelyn, Corinne, Caty

    • Gift cards (Target + Jax) + coffee/tea (Happy Lucky’s tea)

    • Assemble gifts in early December and deliver week of Dec.15

  • School Supply Kits

    • Company works with other PSD schools - Bacon, Riffenburgh, etc. 

    • Kit pricing based on this last year’s school supply list

    • Range from $55-70

    • All supplies will be in box with child’s name/grade on it and delivered to school (first week of August)

    • Additional items like backpack/water bottle/lunchbox are available for purchase (those items delivered to your home)

    • This can just be a service OR can be a fundraiser (by adding a few dollars to the box prices)

    • Donate extra boxes to the school

    • If we say yes, get lists from teachers in early March for 26-27

    • We decided to try this! 

    • Send lists home in May with a link to the company

    • PTO needs to pass out in August


  • Walk-a-thon Fundraising Priorities

    • Ideas: 

      • Final Phase of Media Center (8 tables with chairs to replace the old ones; New laminate for the existing shelving and circulation station)

        • Waiting on pricing estimate 

      • Update Teacher Lounge

        • New ice maker, soda stream, comfy couch and nice lamps, massage chair, etc. 

        • Could be used for meeting spaces; things like Parent Coffee 

      • Other priorities

        • Classroom projects/ mini grants

        • Consider more than $600 per grade level

      • Thought is that students are #1 priority, but having dedicated, happy staff members provides a great learning environment for the students  


  • Yearbook

    • Working with Stephanie Merril

    • Skillman to handle all pre-orders

    • Pre-order info coming soon


  • PTO Pop up store (Brittany)

    • Timeline - 3 one-day events in December, choose a variety of times and days of the week 

    • Items - tshirts, yard signs, tumblers, etc. 

      • If it goes well, we could have a little table at all community events in the future 


  • Marketing/Communications

    • Committee has formed a mission to support PTO and the school, ie: enrollment, fundraising 

      • Long-term commitment 

      • Creating comprehensive and coordinated outreach

        • Anticipate timelines, etc

    • Channels - PTO website update, social media optimization 

    • Want to gather community feedback 

    • Find parents who have different expertise and utilize those 

    • School very grateful for marketing help because educating students is their specialty/area of knowledge, not marketing 


Tavelli PTO
Next

October 2025