Sprague PTO Update

Dear Sprague Community,

Notice anything different when you walked into the school? Lindsay Jones, with the aide of Julie Knudson, completely redesigned and updated the teacher and staff picture display in the front lobby. On a separate note, Kate Naughton has volunteered to run Spirit Shop this year (New Sprague Gear!). Thank-you Lindsay, Julie and Kate for adding a little bit more spirit to Sprague!

Back To School Night was a success Thursday night. It was wonderful to see so many of you during the evening. Thank-you Lizzie Murillo for helping at the PTO table, as well as Karyn DeVito and Andrea Scampini for hosting and coordinating. All of you added a warmth to the evening.

We continue to look for volunteers to help with the Ice Cream Social on Thursday night and the first Walk to School on Friday morning. If interested, please reach out to either Karyn DeVito or Andrea Scampini for the social and Lizzie Murillo for Walk to School. Also, Elizabeth Young has started planning the Cookie Walk and will need help in many areas.

The first PTO Board meeting was held this past Tuesday and it was quite productive. Thank-you to everyone who attended and contributed. I wanted to make everyone aware of a few items discussed and approved during the meeting.

We voted in four new board members, who are Elaine Marten as Co-VP (Yeah!), Jill Fischmann as Assistant Treasurer, Betsey Weintraub as Chair of Ways and Means, and Jenn Friedman as Chair of Community Service. Thank-you Elaine, Jill, Betsey and Jenn for raising your hand to fill these positions. The other Co-VP position remains vacant at the moment as we look for someone willing to make a two year commitment. Elaine would very much like to work with someone this year, so please reach out to her or myself with any interest.

An updated 2014-15 PTO budget was approved during the meeting. There were a few minor changes to reflect adjustments in the expectations of operations, as well as over $20,000 in gifts approved for the school. These gifts were a reflection of the needs of the teachers and school. They included funding for after-school programs, in-house specialists, playground supplies, support for our new school psychologist, scholarship funds for Global Child, seed money for a new Art Appreciation program, funding of DreamBox, various teacher-related supplementary teaching tools, hand-held two-way radios for the nurse, and a special project for Ms. Snyder to enhance the playground environment. 

A significant number of requests were also deferred so that additional information could be gathered, including increasing the number of laptops available, an imagination playground, a sound garden, a computer science club, a new smart board, and shade structures on the playground. The board plans to re-visit these requests when appropriate. These gifts are on top of the support for on-going enrichment programs at Sprague.

The Sprague community should feel very proud of the support it has provided to the school over the past few years! Your generosity has enabled these enhancements to your school. Thank-you! Your help makes a big difference.

The PTO board also approved a decision to update the disclaimer in the Sprague PTO directory to mirror the disclaimer in the Wellesley High School directory, which was recently updated. This change largely reflects the migration to an online directory. The directory remains the single most important piece supporting our community. Please be assured that the PTO takes the protection of your personal information very seriously.

If you have any questions about these topics, please contact me. I will be happy to go over the logic behind each decision.

Warm Regards,

Matthew McKay
Sprague PTO President