Thank you to everyone who joined us in making our first ever “Trunk or Treat” event such a success!  It was great to have so many families come together outside of our beautiful new school. Enjoy these pictures from today’s festivities and have a great rest of the evening!

Held on October 19, 2021 at 6:00pm

Welcome

Principal’s Update

● Thank you for everything for the teachers for the teachers’ lounge. It was very much appreciated.
● The school is currently planning grade-level events for parents to enter the school.
● As of right now, field trips are on hold for this year
○ There is a possibility to bring people into school for enrichment
○ Students can go “virtually”
○ The school is looking into planning something for 5th grade in spring. Planning will begin in March. A field trip could be a possibility depending on guidelines at that time
● Next month, Mena would like to hold a meeting with the PTO, school site council and the diversity council.
● Lunch will be moved indoors November 1st, with four at a table and some around the perimeter with lunch trays purchased by the school. Mena will be sending pictures and more information regarding indoor lunch in her next newsletter.
● No positive pools this week

Old Business

● PTO Homeroom Representatives
• We’re able to have a homeroom representative for every classroom.
• We’ll have another update to email to classrooms regarding information for our
next event Trunk or Treat this week or next.
● Purchases and decorations for new Cunniff
• Balloon decorations were at every entrance from Balloon Nation.
• “Welcome Cunniff Cougars” was from Card My Yard.
● Purchased coffee maker and coffee for teacher’s lounge
● Lunch volunteers
• Are helping students as they get used to new routines and schedule
New Business
● Picture Day
• PTO will support, but all arrangements will be done through the school, including the financials.
• PTO will help support and facilitate the outdoor pictures.
• The school is looking into doing composite class photos. Composite class photos will have each individual student's photo arranged together to create one class photo without having students standing close together for the photo.
• The school is working out how to handle composite class photos when there are students in the class whose caregivers did not give consent for photos of their student to be distributed.
• Mena sending more information for picture day in this weekend’s newsletter.
• Mena is checking on a rain date for picture day.
● “Trunk or Treat” event for Sunday, October 31
o We are in need of volunteers to decorate their cars for the event. We have 6 trunks confirmed so far and would like a total of 8-10.
o The PTO will be sending a message to home room reps tomorrow to send out to classes with information about Trunk or Treat and that we are looking for volunteers.
o There is no need for volunteers to buy treats, all treats will be non-food items bought by PTO.
● Spirit Days
• Teachers do not want to do a whole spirit week right now, with students still getting into their new routines.
• A few individual spirit days would be better.
• Mena is asking teachers during faculty meeting next week if they have any ideas, or if there are any days they think can help the students with new school rules or routines
• Spirit Day Ideas
• “Cougar day”
• Crazy hat day
• Crazy sock day
• Sports day
● Meadow Farms or Charleston Wrap
• PTO will not be doing either this year for the holidays.

Treasurer’s Report

● There was no income this month.
● PTO received a check from Stop and Shop this month
● Expenses this month: decor for the first day at the new Cunniff, items for the teacher’s lounge (coffee maker, coffee etc.)
● The PTO still plans to support all enrichment opportunities for students, even if field trips are on hold right now.

5th Grade Update

● Jen reported on behalf of Jackie and Lee. The 5th grade is working on releasing swag to buy with the logo of the new building of the school. They will have another update at our next meeting Nov. 9th.
● There will be an election day bake sale at the police station. They are looking for volunteers from all grade levels to help work the table and to bake treats for the sale.
● There is no update on the Wilson Farm pie fundraiser. They are currently waiting to hear back from Wilson Farm, and plan to hold the fundraiser around the winter holidays.
● The 5th grade gift (from last year’s 5th graders) will be a contribution to a pottery display case; the school will pay for the rest of the cost. 

PTO Storage

● There is no additional storage at the Cunniff for PTO supplies, besides the PTO room.
● The PTO and Mena will look into moving the shed purchased last year by the PTO to the new school for storage. There are some concerns that the shed is not weathered proof and may cause issues with storage items due to the extremes of New England weather.
● We may need to look into off-site storage for the PTO supplies. 

Brick Ceremony

● We still need to gift bricks to Mrs. Munger and Mrs. Gallagher.
● Different celebration ideas include; inviting them for a tour of the new school, inviting the last two 5th grade classes for a kickball tournament; during a possible spring Fun Run; before or after the Memorial day ceremony.
● We will continue to brainstorm ideas for a brick ceremony, but have decided to not hold anything until the spring.

Next Meeting
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● Tuesday, November 9 at 6pm (moved forward by one week due to Election Day)

The PTO was able to stock the teachers’ room with a new coffee maker, paper goods, silverware and other useful supplies! Be on the look out around the building for four stuffed animal cougars that we also purchased for display! We provided over 330 extra large zip top bags for teachers to prepare each student’s individual supplies for the big move as well as rolls of red ribbon for every classroom to have their own ribbon cutting ceremony on the 12th! There will also be some fun outdoor decorations for everyone to enjoy and celebrate moving into our beautiful new school! We can’t wait to see you all there! ​

Our October meeting will be held on the 19th at 6:00pm.  We postponed from our usually first Tuesday of the month this evening due to the ribbon cutting ceremony at the new Cunniff on Warren Street taking place at 4:00pm.  A tour of the building will be open to the public following the ceremony through 7:00pm.  Masks are required for the tour.  The much anticipated first day of the school at the new building is Tuesday, October 12!  There is no school this Friday, October 8 or Monday, October 11.  We are looking forward to welcoming our students and staff next Tuesday!

Here are the meeting notes from our meeting on September 14. Thank you to our PTO Secretary, Jenae Van Orden, for preparing them! There were nearly 30 participants and we were so appreciative for all of the ideas and thoughts that were shared. After introductions, Ms. Ciarlone gave an update including possible plans for lunch at the new Cunniff (nothing has been decided yet, but parents will be informed and indoor lunch with 6 feet of spacing between children will likely be available for parents who would like that option). She is meeting with police and fire officials this week to firm up safety plans for the new building as well. Furniture is being delivered and ribbon cutting ceremonies are in the works.  

We reviewed last year's Read-a-thon event, which was a huge success! We also had volunteers sign up to be PTO homeroom representatives to help communicate with families and organize class gifts for teachers.  We are still in need of a someone to sign up for Ms. Downey's class. If anyone is interested, please let us know!

Much of the rest of the meeting was spent discussing possible fundraisers and community building events. There was a consensus to bring back our Custom Ink Cunniff paw print sweatshirts and t-shirts for purchase. We may need to get creative with holding another book fair and other events virtually again this year, but we hope to be able to host a Fun Run as well as Field Days by the spring, even if they need to be modified or staggered by grade level.

Our next meeting was tentatively planned for October 5, but it has since been announced that the School Committee is planning a community ribbon cutting event for the new Cunniff on this day. We will update families with a new date as soon as it is confirmed.  Thank you!

UPDATE: This evening's PTO meeting will be held only on Zoom with no in-person component at the library. We originally planned for a live-streaming model prior to the indoor mask mandate being reinstated. After receiving feedback and discussing the options, we have opted to all participate remotely. 

The meeting link is below.  We look forward to seeing everyone who can join us!

Sept.14 PTO Mtg. Zoom Link
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Click the link below to view the recent mailing about our upcoming first meeting of the school year!  Be sure to join our email list (the image of a green envelope with the subscribe button) to receive our news and updates!  Looking forward to our first meeting of the school year on September 14 at 6:00pm.  Hope to see you there in person or on Zoom!

https://mailchi.mp/42b0aceab191/welcome-from-the-cunniff-pto

We are less than a week away from the first day of school at Cunniff West!  This will be an exciting year for the Cunniff community as we plan to move back to Warren Street in mid-October.  The links to Ms. Ciarlone's recent newsletters are included below.  If you are available tomorrow (September 3) from 5-7pm, please stop by the park behind the police station to connect with Cunniff families, enjoy a cold treat, and meet this year's PTO officers:

Below are two maps that show the parking restrictions at Cunniff West.  Please note that the parking lot is off limits to parking.  It will be used for drop & go, school buses and P.E. classes during the school day.

Parking Restrictions at Cunniff West, effective September 8

PTO officers and members of our Diversity Council and School Site Council had the opportunity to tour the new Cunniff on August 31.  Below are some pictures of the amazing new facility!  

Click on each date to view Ms. Ciarlone's recent newsletters.
August 29 
September 2 

Visit www.32auctions.com/cunniffbricks for more information about our Silent Auction beginning on April 26!

Cunniff West welcomed back many of its students and staff for full days of in-person learning earlier this month.  The PTO sponsored balloon displays by Balloon Nation to celebrate the occasion and also distributed treat bags for the nearly 60 staff members.

We held our virtual Scholastic book fair last month and were happy to be able to purchase over $475 in Scholastic books for the Cunniff classrooms.  We also sponsored the purchase of an outdoor 6'x5' shed to store the stadium cushions being used by students for lunch in the tents at Cunniff West.  

Stay tuned for some exciting events and fundraising opportunities currently in the planning stages to be announced in the coming weeks!  For now, take a sneak peak at our prestigious, one-of-a-kind brick #01 in a custom case available for bidding in our upcoming silent auction!