OTA Parent Foundation Council Report - Board Updates for 11/16
Our November meeting had 28 attendees between in person and zoom. Down slightly from last month. As a reminder, Foundation meetings have been moved to the first Tuesdays of the month.
Following up on the offer relayed at the Oct Board Meeting, the Old Town Planning Board did offer to write letters on our behalf to aid in our building search, a template was provided to the Board Search team (Zack/Michael/Walker/Devon), letters were generated and sent out to multiple Old Town leaders. The letter from the Old Town San Diego Chamber of Commerce
has been provided to the Board. We are still expecting at least one additional letter.
Joint Communications - We are currently evaluating the various applications utilized within OTA to compare to the Edlio app. There is a request from parents to reinstate texting, the functionality is available within Edlio. Parents are requesting text updates for calendar reminders like half days, etc. The Foundation Webmaster is meeting with the OTA staff to help them work through implementation. In addition, the App is now also available for download. The Foundation Council has tested it and we are able to make this available to the full school community. We are excited to hear more about the Google analytics discussed at last month’s Board meeting and plan to incorporate that feedback into our prioritization planning as soon as it's received.
Grants and Awards - the Capital Project Grant check has been received and a copy of that grant letter is provided here.
Two additional grants have been submitted. Both are for $20,000 and will be announced in April. The first, from the Henry L. Guenther Foundation, was for Lego Robotics equipment for age specific kits and the second, from Nordstrom, was for music lab equipment, instruments, and music books for all ages.
Highlights of the Capital Project grant are that it will be used to support OTA’s transition from its current site, to a permanent, new, site including purchasing a new building. The grant can be used to fund the lease and needed facility upgrades of OTA’s temporary school facilities throughout the 2022-2023 academic year and can be used to fund the costs of the search and acquisition of a permanent property to house OTA.
Our first deliverable will be in April 2023, we will need to share progress towards the goal and anticipated dates of project completion, updates on current activities, campus enrollment, current campus climate, etc. We should also provide supporting documentation in terms of images, testimonials and updates on the progress of the project over the course of the grant period. “We” will also need to establish who will be responsible for gathering the stated deliverables.
Fundraising Updates
- JAT was a huge success and we broke the $50k goal, raising over $52k! After expenses we were able to net out approximately $47k for the school, this fully covers our first installment of the annual $90k commitment to the OTA General Budget.
Future planning
- the Gala venue of the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Old Town and date of May 20 has been approved. The theme will be the Grand Ole’ Osprey! We will be seeking additional support to help plan the Gala and to chair a variety of committees to pull off this event. More to come on that soon, but we hope to open up sponsorship opportunities for both tables and services at the event shortly.
An Open letter to the Board was submitted from the OTAPF on behalf of the Council and concerned parents on Nov 3. That item was submitted for a separate agenda item under Community Member requested items.
A gap in Robotics was uncovered at the 4th/5th grade levels related to lack of access to the website supporting the robots that were purchased. That access is being investigated and a summary of the robotics platforms and tools (robots, kits, etc.) at each grade level has been requested so that the Foundation can prioritize funding of additional program support needs for our Robotics curriculum. Once we have a picture of what is needed at each level, we can plan our funding and potential other grant applications to help ensure we are providing adequate support here.
Multiple parents have inquired about a return of Spanish and Art Programs. While the Foundation also supports a return of these programs, we believe focusing on a potential return of these programs following this year is more realistic and should be considered in terms of an annual plan. If there is a way for the Foundation to support any of these programs, we would be happy to work with the Board and School to understand how we can work together to move those programs forward.
Andresa Beco donated soccer goals to the PE program. Additional cones for PE and Pick Up Drop Off have been ordered and purchased by the OTAPF for $272. There has been an additional request for flex seating options that is currently underway.
We are working with the Staff Reps and our treasurer to streamline the process for getting teachers funding for the wishlist items and to ensure the teachers and school are able to make the best decision and use of the funds available while also being able to track the use of donated funds and provide clear feedback to the parents about where their funds are being used.
Staff Lunches continue and seem to be going well. This month was Crack Shack hosted by our Kinder families and last month was Rubicon Deli hosted by our 1st Grade families. We have gotten positive feedback from all parties, but if the teachers or staff have any feedback, we are working hard to document lessons learned so we can keep improving, so please share!
As always, you are always welcome to attend the Foundation meetings which are now held on the first Tuesday of the month. We are continuing to evolve and welcome input and new voices and ideas!