• LJES PTO Meeting Called to Order at 7:36 am
• Meeting adjourned at 8:30 am
Executive Board Members Present: Dana Hourani, Sarah Topol, Cher Jabbari,
Christal Duimstra, Virginia Price, Diana Brunmark, Kaitlin Barr, Liz Copperman, Dorothy
Tse, Stacey Gubernator, Anna McDivit, Erin Sullivan, Dr. Stephanie Hasselbrink
Absent: Amani Bernstein, Ashley Schell
Approvals:
September 2025 Financials approved at 8:07 am. Liz motioned first, Anna seconded –
all in favor.
Co-President’s Report: Dana Hourani and Sarah Topol
Happy Birthday, Dr. Hasselbrink! From all of us at the PTO — we wish you a very happy
birthday! Back to School Family Picnic Recap: The Back to School Family Picnic was an
incredible success! Staff, parents, students, grandparents, and siblings — everyone
came together for a fun and lively evening. A huge thank you to Sarah for doing such an
amazing job organizing the event! She also came up with the thoughtful idea to provide
dinner for all staff members, which was so appreciated. And her creative “Tat the
Teacher” activity raised $230, fully covering the cost of those staff dinners — incredible
work! The 5th Grade Committee absolutely rocked it. Logowear Update: Logowear had
its most successful night yet at the picnic! Sales from the event totaled $390. The Wheel
Spin Game brought in an additional $50–$75 Plus, over $900 in T-shirt sales That
brings the total to well over $1,300 — fantastic work! Family Science Night: Wednesday,
October 15 | 4:00–6:30 PM. Chairs Samantha, Zainab, and Jennifer are going all out for
Family Science Night, which will feature a Halloween theme this year. This event has
reached an all-time high number of student participants, with more experiments and
projects than ever before! We’re still looking for volunteers to help with setup, crowd
flow, and clean-up — if you’re available, please consider signing up to support this fun
and educational evening. It’s sure to be a highlight of the fall season! Sip & Swap:
Thursday, October 17 | 5:30–8:30 PM at Oasis Under the Sun. Admission: $10 (goes
directly back to PTO). Phannie is hosting her third social event of the year, and this one
brings a creative twist — a Sip & Swap! Guests are invited to bring gently used items to
exchange while enjoying drinks, music, and great company. It’s a perfect chance to
connect, refresh your wardrobe, and support the PTO at the same time. Every $10 entry
fee goes directly back to PTO programs. Mrs. Nicolaidis Mural Update: The Mrs.
Nicolaidis memorial mural is coming along beautifully. If you haven’t had the chance
yet, we highly encourage board members to stop by and see it in progress — the Greek islands and whale tail are already up. Special Meeting Recap: A huge thank you to our
board members for attending the recent special meeting. The focus was on streamlining
our after-school offerings to ensure all vendors follow the same set of clear, consistent
guidelines. We also concluded that after-school programs will now be limited to LJES
students only, with no outside school participation. These updates strengthen our
commitment to student safety, accountability, and consistency across all programs —
ensuring every child’s after-school experience is both enriching and secure. Leadership
Transition: Lastly, Sarah and Dana shared that their two-year term as PTO Co-
Presidents will come to an end at the conclusion of this school year. They are beginning the search for a dedicated member of our community to step into the President role —
or to co-chair the position alongside someone else. It’s a big undertaking, but an
incredibly rewarding one — filled with opportunities to connect, make a difference, and
help shape our wonderful school community. They’d love to identify someone sooner
rather than later so they can shadow them throughout this year and feel fully
prepared to take the lead next year.
Principal Report: Dr. Stephanie Hasselbrink
We have a great new cause to celebrate our school/community. We are among the top
schools in the district with regard to our testing which is a testament to our
community/small class sizes/ teachers/parent volunteers. HR at the district has been
slow to finalize hiring processes. Officially hired a part time teacher for the enrichment
wheel and the hiring of a support teacher for 5th grade is in process.
Recently the District called meeting with principals to discuss security of campus after a
few safety incidences occurred at local area schools. Last year there were some
changes to improve safety, i.e., changing sign in procedures. Last week, at the SGT
meeting, there was a discussion about there being a lot of entry points into school. SGT
is now considering a vote on if parents can continue to enter campus at drop off. The
meeting was opened to all parents and discussion and ideas are welcome.
Teacher’s report: Erin Sullivan
A request has been made by teachers to have new pads for the Ellison board.
Treasurer’s Report: Christal Duimstra
Nothing new to report.
Auditor’s Report: Virginia Price
No issues. With regard to the LJAWF, LJES is underrepresented at the Festival (2 slots
Saturday morning are open) if you sign up put LJES in the sign up. We get profit from
the event so we want to represent. Emails sent out to PTO and friends, maybe send to
room parents.
VP Communications (Social Media & E-Blasts): Liz Cooperman & Dorothy Tse
All is going well.
VP Room Parent: Diana Brunmark
New business: working on creating a new master calendar for volunteers and sign up
genius to connect events and volunteers, suggested to connect with group already
creating a calendar. Started a Room Parents mentor group for new room parents to be
mentored by experienced room parents.
Friends Liaison Report and Co-Chair VP Volunteers Report: Kaitlin Barr
LJAWF this weekend. AGC is going great. OAM’s 27th year anniversary is coming up.
They will be open during art and wine. They will do a petting zoo on October 26th.
VP Tidings – Stacey Gubernator and Anna Mcdivit
First issue to come out next week. Thanks to everyone contributing and helping with
photo clearance..
Allies in Action – Abbas Hasan and James Carter
The goal of AiA is to create a safe and inclusive school with hope to decrease bullying.
Doing that by creating a common language that is being used by teachers, students and
admin. Last year, they ran a survey and 2 workshops. This year there will be three
workshops, and launched playground allies, which is a program where 4th and 5th
graders will be trained to help resolve conflicts in lower grade recesses. They are also
considering training for teachers and resources for parents and maybe in the future
influence policy. An idea was given that parent volunteers also get trained on language
(ie lit or video/ maybe scenarios); posters for rules; maybe send rules and language to
parents. Kinder was suggested to potentially need playground allies.
Garden Committee – Kira Higgins
Garden Committee will need someone to take over/ shadow. Facebook page is in
development. Whatsapp group for gardening classroom reps. They are giving lessons
to volunteers. Working on composting, planting and building healthy soil. Trying for 2
grants. Working to evolve program.
PTO email addresses – Kim Custard (update provided by Dana Hourani)
The PTO emails are all up and running. Please use them going forward so people who
take over your role have access to paperwork.