PTO Meeting, January 14, 2025
• LJES PTO Meeting Called to Order at 7:34 am
• Meeting adjourned at 8:06 am
Executive Board Members Present: Dana Hourani, Sarah Topol, Cher Jabbari,
Christal Duimstra, Virginia Price, Stacey Gubernator, Kaitlin Barr, Liz Copperman,
Dorothy Tse, Rebecca Jacob, Dr. Stephanie Hasselbrink, Erin Sullivan
Absent: Carolina Tiller, Amani Bernstein, Georgina Gaerin, Megan Roeske
Approvals:
December 2024 Financials approved at 7:52 am. Kim motioned first, Virginia seconded – all in favor.
December 2024 Meeting Minutes approved at 7:52 am. Liz motioned first, Stacey
seconded – all in favor.
Co-President’s Report: Dana Hourani and Sarah Topol
1. Hospitality Appreciation: Sarah and I want to take a moment to highlight the
incredible efforts of our Hospitality Chairs—Kim, Jacqueline, and Stephanie. They truly outdid themselves by organizing such a warm and thoughtful holiday luncheon for our amazing staff. We also want to extend a special thank-you to one of our talented school moms, the owner of Coconut Girl Kitchen, for providing the delicious catering. The feedback from the staff has been so heartwarming—they felt genuinely appreciated!
On top of this, PTO and Friends came together to show some extra holiday love to our often-overlooked support staff. Each member received a $20 Starbucks gift card, ensuring they also felt the holiday spirit. We’re grateful to our Hospitality budget for making this possible.
2. Dr. Wais Workshops: We are thrilled to welcome back Dr. Wais for another 5-week workshop series. Liz once again created a beautiful and inviting poster for the event. The workshops will be held on Mondays, from 8:30 to 9:30 AM, and we are so grateful to Dr. Hasselbrink for helping spread the word through her weekly emails. These workshops are a wonderful resource for our community, and we’re lucky to have them.
3. Allies in Action: We’re excited to officially launch our new “Allies in Action” program later this month. This anti-bullying initiative includes assemblies and breakout groups designed to foster kindness and empathy among our students. A heartfelt thank-you goes to our chair Abbas, along with Cher, Katie, and Dr. Hasselbrink, for their passion and hard work in making this program a reality. It’s inspiring to see our community coming together to nurture a positive and inclusive environment for our kids.
4. Science Night Update: Science Night is shaping up to be an amazing event this year, thanks to our wonderful co-chairs, Samantha and Zainab. Both of them bring fresh ideas and new energy, and we are so excited to see how they are involving other parents to make this event extra special. We’ll hear more about their plans later in today’s meeting.
Board Votes:
The board was asked to vote on the reinstallation of Dedication to Ms. Allison and Ms. Devine. Motion was approved at 7:40 am. Christal motioned first, Liz seconded – all in favor.
The board was asked to vote to approve Diana Brunmark as VP Room Parent in the
2025-2026 school year. Motion was approved at 7:42 am. Kaitlin motioned first, Kim seconded – all in favor.
The board was asked to vote to approve Ashley Schell as VP Programs in the 2025-2026 school year. Motion was approved at 7:42 am. Dorothy motioned first, Kaitlin seconded – all in favor. There is currently a search for the co-chair for the position.
The board was asked to vote to approve Stacey Gubernator and Anna Mizzell as VP Tidings in the 2025-2026 school year. Motion was approved at 7:43 am. Kim motioned first, Liz seconded – all in favor.
Principal update: Dr. Hasselbrink
New policies for parent volunteer check ins are going well. As a result there are less classroom interruptions.
Fence covering is already in place for Girard, and the goal is to put one around the turf in UTK area. There have not been any issues to prompt this but staff are noticing that kids are talking to parents through the gate and so we want to avoid kids talking to strangers. Derek left on Friday, and everyone was sad to see him go. Two interviews for his replacement will be happening today, and two tomorrow. A choice must be made by tomorrow. One interview has already been completes and he has a really good personality.
Special education is facing a lot of challenges. There are more requests for
assessments than there is time and resources to address them (21 open initial IEPS), so they are behind in meetings. The school psychologist is backlogged and the district has not been able to help. One of ed specialists will be on leave. Dr. H got in touch with a retired ed specialist to cover case management for a month, possibly more. Case managers have 20 kids each plus 6 open cases.
Teacher’s report: Erin Sullivan
Thank you for the winter luncheon
Treasurer’s Report: Christal Duimstra
No updates
Auditor’s Report: Virginia Price
All good
VP Communications (Social Media): Liz Copperman
There is a need for content for social media. If there is knowledge of anything that is coming up, please give advanced notice so Liz can plan.
VP Communications (E-Blasts): Dorothy Tse
If there is knowledge of anything that is coming up, please give advanced notice so
Dorothy can plan. Please send in requests two days before Monday and Thursday.
Loveline for yearbook due Feb 1.
Friends Liaison Report and Co-Chair VP Volunteers Report: Kaitlin Barr
Ms. Hannah has an additional 5 minutes of art per class. The Open Aire Market is doing well, as is the new management. Gardening committee has raised lots of money. Friends will be sending out a survey of priorities for funding, please respond. Gala only has a few tix left. Gala is currently working on underwriting and tix sold.
VP Tidings – Megan Roeske & Rebecca Jacob
They put out the second issue right before break. They are looking for content for third. Will try get the next issues out right before spring break and right before end of the school year. They anticipate especially needing content for the last issue as there is less to write about. Content regarding 5th graders is especially needed.
VP Room Parent: Stacey Gubernator
Diana will start shadowing to prep for taking over the position next year. Sign up genius for anti-bullying program assemblies and science night will be sent out. Room parents to fill gala art positions.
Science Night: Samantha Oblander and Zainab Khan
Next Friday. Repeat vendors and new vendors coming as well. A new feature of science night is that students will be bringing in experiments to present. We have 27 groups showing experiments. Starts at 4:30, ends 6:30. Will need volunteers and Judges for the science fair.