Attendees:

Sandra Adams, Linda Clifford, Yumiko Cook, Kathy Fenton, Kim Joshi, Loretta Kafer, Karen Kiger, Jean Kornegay, Lesley Lindell, Dale Mann, Courtney Nicholson, Katie Polk, Lynda Wood (13)

I. Call to Order 7:04PM

II. Review and approve the agenda

It was requested that we discuss  the status of International Night.  Kim stated that we could add this under New Business. The  meeting agenda was approved with this one addition.

III. Review Meeting Minutes

The minutes from the November 20, 2007 general meeting were reviewed and approved with no changes.

IV.  Treasurer's Report

Sandra Adams, Treasurer, distributed the treasurer's monthly report and summarized the highlights.

            a.  Book Fair:  This event took place the first week of December and went very smoothly.

            The numbers will be reflected in the December report.  We were able to buy many books for the           library.  Mrs. Mims picked out about $700 of library materials which we received at a 40%       discount through Bedford Books.  Mrs. Mims was very excited about the new audio books that    were purchased and Sandra passed around a brochure on these books.  In addition, we had a       remaining profit of about $370 which we contributed to the library for future book purchases. 

b.  Fall Fundraiser:  The Original Artworks fund raiser went well, we made a profit of  $980 which was about $200 less than last year.  Thanks to Courtney Nicholson for making it run smoothly!

c.  School Directories:  A huge thank you to Elizabeth Cooper for all her hard work on gathering ads for the directory.  We made $1,150!  We will have the directory printed soon and it should cost about $300.

d.  Merchandise:  Beth had the polo shirts made.  Unfortunately, we only received 10 orders so we just broke even on these shirts.

V.  Prinicipal's Report

Dale Mann thanked the PTA for all the assistance with the book fair and the money contributed to buy more books. 

a.  Christy Partlow will be leaving as she got a great promotion to work at Montgomery College.  Her last day will be Friday.  We will miss her and all her contributions.  Mr. Mann has already hired her replacement, Janette Bucheit.  She will be a great addition, everyone will enjoy her.  She starts back the first day after break.

b.  This Friday is the singalong.  The seating has been changed so that there will be more room for parents. 

c.  There was a meeting at Eagleview to discuss the possibility of implementing the Foreign Language in Elementary Schools Program (FLES).   Mr. Mann handed out the slides from the presentation.  Please see the website (there is a link) to see about the application process.  Mr. Mann will be submitting the Villa's application.  He has gotten the faculty's feedback and the staff are excited about the program.  There will be a survey in January for the parents to fill out to pick first choice of languages.  The three to choose from are Spanish, Chinese and French.  (Yumiko Cook pointed out that Chinese would be a very useful language to consider due to its relevance to the economy).  Fairfax High School and Lanier offer six languages (those are three of them).  Most schools offer 2.  They offer six because they are in Fairfax City.  Greenbriar Elementary offers Spanish and they receive 30 min instruction twice a week.  The Villa is trying to share a FLES teacher with Eagleview (if we select the same language) and the instruction would be offered to 1st and 2nd graders since we are a small school.  There is a possibility that we are not selected.  They only select 2 schools from cluster 7.  Last year there were only 17 schools chosen out of 45.  Our application would stay on file from year to year.  Mr. Mann hopes that we are selected this year as the budget cuts (due to the Real Estate market) in the future may make this program extremely difficult to be implemented.

d.  Due to the severe budget cuts for next year, the class sizes may go up.  Please be aware of the school board budget.

VI.  Teachers Report

            Mrs. Lindell just wanted to remind everyone that the Singalong is Friday and she hopes everyone has Happy Holidays!

VII.  Committee Reports

Movie Night:  Katie Polk, Catherine Smith and Loretta Kafer are working together on this Committee.  Movie night will be January 11th .  The flier went out in the Tuesday folder.  The committee is suggesting one of three movies: High School Musical 2 (rated G; 1 hr.  44 min); Charlotte's Web (rated G; 1 hr. 53 min); and Lion King (rated G; 1 hr. 29min – coming soon to the Kennedy Center).  Mrs. Mims has the projector to use.  We need a screen; they are looking into renting one (a 10x10 is $70 or a 8x8 is $35; plus a $35 delivery fee from Total AV).  Courtney Nicholson suggested we borrow equipment from Juan Lopez for free.  Movie will be shown in the cafeteria.  They tables will need to be moved to the back of the room and everyone should bring a beach towel.  They need a clean up crew.  Lisa Duncan (Volunteer coordinator) will send out a request.  The refreshments will be free – popcorn and drinks.  It was suggested to get little bottles of water.  The school has a popcorn machine.  They will look for popcorn bags (online).  A flier will go out in the next 2 Tuesday packets; they will put up posters and advertise on the morning news.  Instead of the PTA deciding on the movie, it was suggested that the kids vote on the three selections (which the PTA approved) so that they are more excited about the event.  Mr. Mann said that he would have the teachers tally the votes this week.  There is money in the budget to cover the movie license and popcorn and water.  Thanks to the Movie Committee; sounds like they are doing a great job!

VIII.  New Business

The possibility of having International Night was discussed.  It was scheduled for February 7th.  Unfortunately, no one has stepped up to chair this committee, so it looks like we will not be able to have it this year.  It will be considered again for next year.

The Spring Event will be on April 11th.  We still need a Chairman and committee for this event!!

IX.  Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 7:57pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Sandra Adams