General PTA Meeting March 10th, 2009 6:45 p.m. in Cafeteria Welcome: PTA President Felicia Eve welcomed all of us, and then got right to business. Scholastic Book Fair: The books arrived today, and on Monday, March 16th will be the fair. The book fair will be all week, especially during Parent / Teacher Conference. There will be some childcare during that time( i.e.: arts, crafts, reading, etc.), so parents can have their meetings with the teachers alone. An email blast will be going out this week with more details. There was a discussion and vote tonight on whether or not to continue using Scholastic as our book fair supplier. Aviva Shapiro presented "Book Smart" as our alternative source. Here is a brief list of the pros and cons as discussed during the meeting. Pros: Huge selection of excellent, high quality children's literature 20 years of experience in the private school sector Will custom design fair to suit our schools needs and desires There are no toys nor computer games, just books Will complete teachers book list of whatever they are teaching in class Warehouse in Chelsea, NYC. Easy access and accommodating Flexible with delivery options, can do it ourselves Closeout process based on honorsystem, not like Scholastics Author visits and signings at fair Huge selection of diverse cultural & language books Old time booksellers, based on quality not marketing Cons: Prices may not be as cheap as Scholastics There are no toys nor computer games, children need to be informed 25% of sales to school, where as Scholastics is 30% There will be a "Book Smart" fair on April 28th at the Nightingale School and one on May 4th at the Packard School. If anyone is interested in checking it out let Aviva or Felicia know. Vote was taken and the result was a unanimous yea. We will be sending in a check for $250 to reserve our dates.
Arts Day: Felicia introduced the organizer for the event, Ms. Linda Schmidt. It will be held on Saturday, March 28th from 12 4 p.m.. There will be weaving, arts & crafts, music, dance, cookies, costume building, and Trash to Treasure to name a few. The art auction will include the silent auction this year, and "Day of a 1000 Drawings" is still happening. Please send in something that can fit in an 8" x 11" sleeve,it can be jewelry, a chachkee, a drawing, a pot holder, anything arts & crafts like for "1000 Drawings". All items will be sold for $10, (you can buy your child's item before its posted) so come and show off your child's design. A flyer will be distributed soon with more details. We still need volunteers, shifts are from 12 2 & 2 4, but fillins are very much welcomed. Field Day: Will be May 14 & 15 at The Parade Grounds at Prospect Park. K 2nd will be on the 14th. 3rd5th will be on the 15th. All parents are encouraged to come. 4th Grade Philadelphia Trip: Will be 2 weeks after Field Day, on May 29th. Proposal from Mr. Michael: We need housing for our xylophones. 2 Stands will hold 4 each, for a total cost of $1600. Parents asked our president if we had enough money, and we were assured that we did. The vote was taken and it was an unanimous yea.
REPORTS Parent Coordinator, Roxanna Velandria: Please fill out the learning survey that is being sent out soon to all parents city wide. Lookout for the GREEN ENVELOPE that went home in back packs.You also can fill it out on line at www.nyc.gov/schools/Surveys These surveys have a direct impact here, not just citywide. Mr. Arty and the S.L.T. use these surveys to make changes and improvements in our school, hard data to get the support we need. “The Learning Environment Survey invites parents, teachers, and middle and high school students to evaluate four key aspects of their school environments: 1. Academic Expectations
2. Communication 3. Parent, Teacher, and Student Engagement 4. Safety and Respect Over 800,000 parents, teachers and students—one in every ten New Yorkers—filled out the survey in 2008. Of those eligible, 55% responded. This amounts to the highest response for any survey on record other than the US Census”. On March 19th applications will be accepted for CEC representatives of District 15 and District 75. Two of our 5th grade parents were the reps, but now their term is up. PLEASE toss your name in the hat to represent our school. It's hard work, but incredibly important to represent and support us. To read 20072008 learning survey results: http://schools.nyc.gov/SchoolPortals/15/K372/AboutUs/Statistics/default.htm Middle school principals in districts of choice (like D15) have been asked to interview more students than ever before. Parents are advised to investigate all the schools in their district of residence and attendance. Changes to the process and information will be shared at a Middle School Meeting led by guidance counselors, Gillian Williams and Stephanie Scheiner Friday March19 at 8:30.There will only be one round in the selection process this year. General Ed, nonsibling PreK students must reapply for a Kindergarden spot next year. No waivers has been granted by the D.O.E. Principal Artie has spoken to those affected, and he is working with OSEPO officials to resolve the situation. The lottery date has not been set,... yet. Information will be posted as received. UFT, Steve Quester: A UFT campaign for IEP compliance will be rolled out, citywide, later this month. The campaign is a response to the special education review that Chancellor Klein has appointed Garth Harries to undertake. The UFT President believes the point of the review is to cut costs in special education. The chancellor's office said "of course not, but if we can save a few bucks, why not?". Why not? First of all, special ed. compliance must be fulfilled by the DOE for every child with an IEP. If the DOE says there is no money for that service, the UFT says no excuse, you must provide it. Steve will provide the web address and telephone hotline to place a complaint with the UFT if your child is not getting the service s/he needs at the April PTA meeting. If the DOE does not provide the service within 10 days of receiving the complaint from the UFT, the union goes to the State Ed. Dep't with the problem. The Children's School needs a liaison between the UFT chapter and the parent body
for the purposes of political action. No parents from our school (other than those who are also UFT members) showed up for the March 5 City Hall Rally for New York. Budget cuts being contemplated by New York City and State will affect all city workers and their services, i.e.; schools, hospitals, police, human services, etc. Tuesday March 17th is Lobby Day in Albany by the UFT, CPAC, and other NYC parents, teachers and community members to urge our legislative leaders to support a progressive state income tax, also called Fair Share Reform; parent empowerment; and Special Education & ESL services. If you can go, email Betty Zohar at
[email protected] busses leave from the Brooklyn Marriott early on Tuesday morning, and return by dinnertime. If you cannot make the trip, PLEASE go online to www.uft.org, go to Action Alert and fill out the form letter to your representative in Albany. THIS WORKS! There have been many times when state legislators have called the UFT and begged us to make the faxes stop. This is the democratic, citizen, grassroots action.
SLT, Ira Yankwitt: Ira highlighted the work of three committees: ∙ The PreK8 Expansion Committee, chaired by Mary Beth Carroll and Carey Johnson, which held an hourlong meeting just prior to the PTA meeting to update parents on our efforts. ∙ The Liaison Committee, chaired by James Lola and Joe Sultana, which is working on how to improve the experience of everyone in the cafeteria. ∙ The Diversity Committee, chaired by Steve Quester and Ira Yankwitt, which has been working through our twozone lottery system to increase the racial, ethnic and economic diversity of children in our school. Roxanna has been invaluable in our efforts to increase the diversity of our applicant pool and increase the number of applicants from the Southwest lottery zone (Red Hook and Sunset Park). She has led our outreach initiatives, visiting schools, head start programs, and community centers. Staff member Douglas Dugan has also provided invaluable assistance. Because of these and other peoples’ commitment, our kindergarten classes this year are more diverse than in the past, with no majority racial or ethnic group. In addition, it appears that we have more applicants from the southwest
zone this year than in the past two years
Principle, Arthur Mattia: Thanked Ira Yankwitt, SLT leader, for being an excellent coordinator and voice for our school. Thanked Roxanna for being an incredible listener and source of information between parents and teachers. A job that is inherently difficult, yet she dances the dance beautifully. Thanked Ms. Ina for coming to every single PTA meeting and representing staff. The math tests are now over, only a few makeups left. The Gifted & Talented testing will be done tomorrow. ELA and Math results should come sometime in June. He honored the Basketball raffle ten days ago, and got whooped 37 to 12. He will be honoring the 1/2 day principle raffle in June on a instructional ½ day. He may have the students wear hats or ties, but will definitely be dressed for the occasion. Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held next week, March 19th. 12:10 p.m. will be early dismissal and conferences will be from 1:10 3:10 then 5:30 8 p.m. If you want more time with the teachers, please email them for a later date and time after the conference. Report cards are handed out on the day of the conference to prevent the report cards from being the focus of the meeting. 5th Grade Science Fair will be next week in the Science room. Budget cuts Last year we lost $50,000, next year we may lose twice that. Mr. Artie is not sure how accurate that is and is confident the school can absorb the cuts without losing any positions. The DoE provides schools with a funding rollover provision which allows them to carry finding over into the following school year. Due to this option, the program will hopefully remain unchanged. The Quality Review will soon be taking place. Selfevaluation forms have been given to staff, teachers, and the SLT. Since District 75 schools didn't receive a report card they must be part of this process again. He is very confident we will do great.
Doug Dugan, technology teacher, has reformatted our web site and it looks fantastic! Please check out the newsletters every month. They will be posted monthly for all grade levels and specialists. The school is also looking to develop writing rubrics to be sent home after each unit of study. This will give you an idea of how your child is progressing and we welcome all feedback. This is a very time consuming process for the teachers and staff developers. This will generate a better communication between parents and teachers and the school at large. The teachers have been working after school on many different reports. This has been very time consuming for the staff, so please take this into consideration when and if you book extra time with them. Cafeteria staff and aides have been doing a very difficult and hard job patiently and tirelessly. He recognizes their work and appreciates them greatly. James Lola and Joe Sultana of the SLT liaison committee are working with staff and parents on some immediate suggestions to be implemented for the rest of the year in an effort to develop a cafeteria behavior that is honored by all children and adults. A long term plan will be developed with the intention of implementing it when school begins for the 200910 school year. James Lola is hosting a Positive Behavior seminar Tuesday, March 24th at 10 a.m. at Grand Army Plaza Library in the Trustee Room. Please attend, you will walk away with some valuable tips and too; to help deal positively with your child's behavior.
Meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.