Petrova Parents’ Club Meeting Minutes
October 3, 2011 7:00 pm
Elementary School Library
Attendees: Sunita Halasz, Cecily Dramm, Kass Mariano, Norma Woodruff, Erin Farley, Christy Nier, Zoe Smith, Josh Dann, Lori Mouranie, Jen Duffy, Amy Wenske, Jenn Small, Debi Yando, Kathleen Silvius, Joey Diehl, Bob Laba, Brandee Reiley
Next Meeting: November 7, 2011 at 7pm in Elementary Library.
Treasurer’s Report
Bob reported that changes to the budget from last month include revenue from one blanket sale and some expenses related to Halloween Party and Movie Night. Christy mentioned that a number of people have expressed interest in buying blankets and she doesn’t know what to tell them. Sunita said we should put a note on the website about where and from whom they are available. (see more on this topic in the Activities section below)
Ironman Grant
We applied for an Ironman-Uihlein Sports Fund grant through the Adirondack Community Trust (ACT) to support the afterschool basketball program for grades 3-5. This was awarded at $1000. Josh looks forward to reporting back to ACT with pictures and information about how important this program is to the school. A small discussion about afterschool activities ensued. While grades 3-5 will have an opportunity to do basketball 1 day a week, there will be a simultaneous activity offered for K-2. Another activity for a different day of the week might be a knitting club offered by Joan Tyler. Kathleen mentioned that she had been asked by a homeschool (hs) family if our afterschool programs were open to hs families? Josh said that in NYS, school districts aren’t obligated to provide programming to hs-ers , but a decision can be made by the Superintendent, so hs-ing families should feel free to talk to Mr. Goldman.
Principal’s Update
Josh discussed Meet the Teacher Night and the upcoming Family Fun Night and said how important he feels it is to create an environment where families feel comfortable and welcome at school. Some meeting attendees gave feedback about Meet the Teacher Night: it’s hard for families with more than two children at Petrova to visit all their children’s classrooms; the event should begin earlier in the evening. Kass Mariano had suggestions from how this is done in the Lake Placid school district. They offer a meet-the-teacher picnic, do a rotation where the parents experience the child’s day, and other suggestions.
Another place where Josh was interested in receiving feedback was on how to communicate with Petrova families with less paper. He noted some things already in place such as the Alert Now “robo-calls,” the website, the on-line newsletters. Lori Mouranie said that at her children’s previous school only the oldest child received handouts from the school so that multiple copies didn’t come home to a single family.
Mini-Grant Committee Update
Sunita said that the Mini-Grant committee met prior to the PPC meeting, and she reminded the group that anyone was welcome to join the committee. The next meeting will be in the end of January when the next round of applications is received. Sunita said that 7 proposals were received for this first round and 3 of them were for iPads. The committee felt it was important to discuss the iPad proposals carefully because they are a big-ticket item that is clearly becoming more popular for educators, and PPC should have a policy in place for how they would like to approach supporting them. The committee will discuss the proposals and come to a decision this week on Friday and announce the awards to the applicants and the Parents’ Club on that day.
Reason2Smile proposal – Sister School Jambo Jipya
Zoe discussed a presentation she attended at Paul Smiths College by Keela Dates who heads the organization, Reason2Smile (http://www.reason2smile.org/), which supports children at Jambo Jipya School in Kenya. Zoe wondered if Ms. Dates might be able to come to Petrova to give a presentation to the kids. Josh said is sounded appropriate for K-5 and welcomed Ms. Dates to get in touch with him. Zoe noted that it was $180/yr for a child to attend Jambo Jipya and she offered the possibility that kids might want to fundraise for that or PPC might like to support the program. Kathleen noted that the new Holiday Giving program could perhaps be tied to this.
Grade Liaison’s Update
Sunita noted that a number of forms that were distributed to parents by Liaisons have been returned with lots of “I would like to volunteer during the year” checkboxes filled in. We have a strong volunteer base this year.
Josh noted that Zoe was scheduled to talk at the faculty meeting today but the agenda became too full and so in November he wants to be sure she’s able to come and talk about the Liaisons (and other things like the changes teachers can expect from the new Holiday Giving program). Erin Farley, the faculty liaison present at the PPC meeting, said that Grade Liaisons are welcome to attend the common planning time meetings of their grade.
Some Liaisons mentioned that they still feel unsure of their roles. Sunita suggested making a monthly calendar of action items for Liaisons to talk to teachers about. For instance in Sept/Oct: “Do you need parent volunteers for fall field trips; Do you need parent volunteers for taking your students around on Halloween Fun Day?”
A discussion ensued of other things Liaisons can discuss with their grade teachers:
· Field trips mention that PPC has a mini-grant application for field trips (this is especially important now that the field trip budget is so small).
· Talk to their teachers about the changes in the Holiday Giving program (and how to help make sure donated items get removed from classrooms ASAP)
· How Box Tops collections are going to be simplified to be a school-wide collection (with competition against B-dale)
Activity Chairs’ Reports
Family Nights
· Movie Night, Oct 6 - Zoe talked about the items needed: Popcorn machine and popcorn, Raffle Basket and tickets (donated by Marianne Burdeau!)
· Jan 26 - Josh discussed the next Family Night which will be arts and crafts and math rotations. He’s working with Amy Webb, math coach, to come up with activities for rotations.
· Literacy-oriented Family Night suggested by Jen Yousey - In spring/March (Dr. Suess’s bday - Brandee noted she has Thing 1 and Thing 2 and Cat In The Hat costumes). Sunita suggested it could be timed with the spring book fair is and said she will ask Mrs. Haney if they have a date yet. Other ideas were discussed like a book donation from Delta Kappa or doing a book exchange.
Points Programs – Price Chopper, Box Tops, Campbell’s Soup Labels
· Box Tops – Lori Mouranie said that she has secured DeChantal Apartments and Rice Furniture as drop locations for Box Tops. She wants to have word of this get in the Enterprise. Her husband’s workplace (AMA) has also agreed to have a collection box in the break room. This year we will not have class-by-class competitions for Box Tops, but instead do a schoolwide collection to compete against and Bloomingdale Elementary. We will adjust our numbers on a per student basis. Josh said he and Mrs. Lindsay will come up with a prize idea for the winning school.
· Price Chopper – Lori waiting to hear from Katie F. about how to submit PC numbers.
Holiday Raffle
Bob Laba thanked everyone for getting enough donations for 2 prizes a day for drawings between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. Bob had tickets ready to pass out after the meeting for people to start selling. Mrs. Moody will also sell tickets from the elementary office. Our goal is to sell 1000 tickets at $5 apiece. The winners are announced on WNBZ and school website. All tickets should be sold and the money back by the Friday before Thanksgiving.
Halloween Party
Jenn Small needs volunteers to help with preparations for the Halloween party such as making spaghetti (Brandee), donate pumpkin guts, make 10 gallons of Jello, donate toilet paper, etc. Eye Peek is donating pingpong balls as eyeballs for decorating. She’s planning a new event, a skeleton relay, where each team member has a bone and works together to build a skeleton.
Holiday Giving
A description of this event was provided – students will be able to buy gently used items for families members for $0.25 each. All money will be donated to a charity of the kids’ choice. To make this event a success, Lori stressed the importance of getting enough donations. Josh said that the former Lake Clear Elementary and B-dale Elem. have similar events and some things we can use for our own event, such as a list of acceptable items for donation, and a worksheet for students to list the immediate family members they are buying gifts for. Donated items are already being accepted in the main office.
Recess and Lunchroom Volunteers
Brandee said that she has volunteers for each day during the whole month of October! And she is working on filling in the rest of the year.
Blanket Sales
Norma informed the group that blankets can be sold at our Homecoming concession stand (on Oct 22). We also decided we would put something on PPC website about how they can be bought. We can have a table by the auditorium at pick up time on Fridays before the holidays, and send home a flyer around the holidays letting parents know they are available.
Concession stand at Homecoming
9:30 – noon for JV game, and 1:30-5pm for Varsity. Norma and Josh will be there all day, Sunita for the morning, Bob will come for afternoon. Cecily will send out an email to high school students asking if they can help (esp. selling blankets) and Lori will ask Confirmation kids.
Afterschool program
· Zoe discussed an idea for an Arts Council of the N. Adirondacks “Decentralization” grant written in cooperation with Johnna MacDougal for offering an afterschool program for drumming. Money wouldn’t be available til March 2012. Money could be used in May/June of this school year, or it could be used next fall 2012. This would probably be most appropriate for for grades 3-5.
· Other afterschool program ideas: Kass and Chris Mariano would be interested in offering indoor soccer. A discussion ensued about downhill and x-c skiing. Though Brandee was no longer at the meeting, Sunita noted that she was trying to get something going at Pisah, and Erin Farley wondered about the whereabouts of the school’s x-c ski collection. Sunita noted that Heidi Krester mentioned a Cornell Cooperative Extension person who runs the 4-H program and gives educational programs for free and might be interested in coming to school for afterschool programs. Norma knows this person and said she would talk to her.
· With all the great ideas and suggestions and interest in volunteering, Zoe suggesting having a 6pm meeting prior to the next PPC meeting to talk about coordinating afterschool activities.
Open Discussion
Cecily discussed the importance of healthy snacks in the classroom and wondered if there was a way to encourage more families to pack healthy choices. Sunita mentioned the “snack clubs” that Mr. Wilson does throughout the week where kids have to bring a fruit on Mondays, vegetable snack on Tuesday, etc. The group liked this idea and wondered if there was a way to make it more of a school-wide thing. Jenn Small remembered that when her kids were in K, each child would be “in charge” of bringing the snack for the day, which made it so that the kids were eating the same things as each other each day. The group wondered if a family was unable to afford the added expense of healthy snacks, how would this work with Mr. Wilson’s system, or the one Jenn Small mentioned. The discussion ended without any solutions, but the general feeling of the group was a desire for healthier choices being brought to school.
October 3, 2011 7:00 pm
Elementary School Library
Attendees: Sunita Halasz, Cecily Dramm, Kass Mariano, Norma Woodruff, Erin Farley, Christy Nier, Zoe Smith, Josh Dann, Lori Mouranie, Jen Duffy, Amy Wenske, Jenn Small, Debi Yando, Kathleen Silvius, Joey Diehl, Bob Laba, Brandee Reiley
Next Meeting: November 7, 2011 at 7pm in Elementary Library.
Treasurer’s Report
Bob reported that changes to the budget from last month include revenue from one blanket sale and some expenses related to Halloween Party and Movie Night. Christy mentioned that a number of people have expressed interest in buying blankets and she doesn’t know what to tell them. Sunita said we should put a note on the website about where and from whom they are available. (see more on this topic in the Activities section below)
Ironman Grant
We applied for an Ironman-Uihlein Sports Fund grant through the Adirondack Community Trust (ACT) to support the afterschool basketball program for grades 3-5. This was awarded at $1000. Josh looks forward to reporting back to ACT with pictures and information about how important this program is to the school. A small discussion about afterschool activities ensued. While grades 3-5 will have an opportunity to do basketball 1 day a week, there will be a simultaneous activity offered for K-2. Another activity for a different day of the week might be a knitting club offered by Joan Tyler. Kathleen mentioned that she had been asked by a homeschool (hs) family if our afterschool programs were open to hs families? Josh said that in NYS, school districts aren’t obligated to provide programming to hs-ers , but a decision can be made by the Superintendent, so hs-ing families should feel free to talk to Mr. Goldman.
Principal’s Update
Josh discussed Meet the Teacher Night and the upcoming Family Fun Night and said how important he feels it is to create an environment where families feel comfortable and welcome at school. Some meeting attendees gave feedback about Meet the Teacher Night: it’s hard for families with more than two children at Petrova to visit all their children’s classrooms; the event should begin earlier in the evening. Kass Mariano had suggestions from how this is done in the Lake Placid school district. They offer a meet-the-teacher picnic, do a rotation where the parents experience the child’s day, and other suggestions.
Another place where Josh was interested in receiving feedback was on how to communicate with Petrova families with less paper. He noted some things already in place such as the Alert Now “robo-calls,” the website, the on-line newsletters. Lori Mouranie said that at her children’s previous school only the oldest child received handouts from the school so that multiple copies didn’t come home to a single family.
Mini-Grant Committee Update
Sunita said that the Mini-Grant committee met prior to the PPC meeting, and she reminded the group that anyone was welcome to join the committee. The next meeting will be in the end of January when the next round of applications is received. Sunita said that 7 proposals were received for this first round and 3 of them were for iPads. The committee felt it was important to discuss the iPad proposals carefully because they are a big-ticket item that is clearly becoming more popular for educators, and PPC should have a policy in place for how they would like to approach supporting them. The committee will discuss the proposals and come to a decision this week on Friday and announce the awards to the applicants and the Parents’ Club on that day.
Reason2Smile proposal – Sister School Jambo Jipya
Zoe discussed a presentation she attended at Paul Smiths College by Keela Dates who heads the organization, Reason2Smile (http://www.reason2smile.org/), which supports children at Jambo Jipya School in Kenya. Zoe wondered if Ms. Dates might be able to come to Petrova to give a presentation to the kids. Josh said is sounded appropriate for K-5 and welcomed Ms. Dates to get in touch with him. Zoe noted that it was $180/yr for a child to attend Jambo Jipya and she offered the possibility that kids might want to fundraise for that or PPC might like to support the program. Kathleen noted that the new Holiday Giving program could perhaps be tied to this.
Grade Liaison’s Update
Sunita noted that a number of forms that were distributed to parents by Liaisons have been returned with lots of “I would like to volunteer during the year” checkboxes filled in. We have a strong volunteer base this year.
Josh noted that Zoe was scheduled to talk at the faculty meeting today but the agenda became too full and so in November he wants to be sure she’s able to come and talk about the Liaisons (and other things like the changes teachers can expect from the new Holiday Giving program). Erin Farley, the faculty liaison present at the PPC meeting, said that Grade Liaisons are welcome to attend the common planning time meetings of their grade.
Some Liaisons mentioned that they still feel unsure of their roles. Sunita suggested making a monthly calendar of action items for Liaisons to talk to teachers about. For instance in Sept/Oct: “Do you need parent volunteers for fall field trips; Do you need parent volunteers for taking your students around on Halloween Fun Day?”
A discussion ensued of other things Liaisons can discuss with their grade teachers:
· Field trips mention that PPC has a mini-grant application for field trips (this is especially important now that the field trip budget is so small).
· Talk to their teachers about the changes in the Holiday Giving program (and how to help make sure donated items get removed from classrooms ASAP)
· How Box Tops collections are going to be simplified to be a school-wide collection (with competition against B-dale)
Activity Chairs’ Reports
Family Nights
· Movie Night, Oct 6 - Zoe talked about the items needed: Popcorn machine and popcorn, Raffle Basket and tickets (donated by Marianne Burdeau!)
· Jan 26 - Josh discussed the next Family Night which will be arts and crafts and math rotations. He’s working with Amy Webb, math coach, to come up with activities for rotations.
· Literacy-oriented Family Night suggested by Jen Yousey - In spring/March (Dr. Suess’s bday - Brandee noted she has Thing 1 and Thing 2 and Cat In The Hat costumes). Sunita suggested it could be timed with the spring book fair is and said she will ask Mrs. Haney if they have a date yet. Other ideas were discussed like a book donation from Delta Kappa or doing a book exchange.
Points Programs – Price Chopper, Box Tops, Campbell’s Soup Labels
· Box Tops – Lori Mouranie said that she has secured DeChantal Apartments and Rice Furniture as drop locations for Box Tops. She wants to have word of this get in the Enterprise. Her husband’s workplace (AMA) has also agreed to have a collection box in the break room. This year we will not have class-by-class competitions for Box Tops, but instead do a schoolwide collection to compete against and Bloomingdale Elementary. We will adjust our numbers on a per student basis. Josh said he and Mrs. Lindsay will come up with a prize idea for the winning school.
· Price Chopper – Lori waiting to hear from Katie F. about how to submit PC numbers.
Holiday Raffle
Bob Laba thanked everyone for getting enough donations for 2 prizes a day for drawings between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. Bob had tickets ready to pass out after the meeting for people to start selling. Mrs. Moody will also sell tickets from the elementary office. Our goal is to sell 1000 tickets at $5 apiece. The winners are announced on WNBZ and school website. All tickets should be sold and the money back by the Friday before Thanksgiving.
Halloween Party
Jenn Small needs volunteers to help with preparations for the Halloween party such as making spaghetti (Brandee), donate pumpkin guts, make 10 gallons of Jello, donate toilet paper, etc. Eye Peek is donating pingpong balls as eyeballs for decorating. She’s planning a new event, a skeleton relay, where each team member has a bone and works together to build a skeleton.
Holiday Giving
A description of this event was provided – students will be able to buy gently used items for families members for $0.25 each. All money will be donated to a charity of the kids’ choice. To make this event a success, Lori stressed the importance of getting enough donations. Josh said that the former Lake Clear Elementary and B-dale Elem. have similar events and some things we can use for our own event, such as a list of acceptable items for donation, and a worksheet for students to list the immediate family members they are buying gifts for. Donated items are already being accepted in the main office.
Recess and Lunchroom Volunteers
Brandee said that she has volunteers for each day during the whole month of October! And she is working on filling in the rest of the year.
Blanket Sales
Norma informed the group that blankets can be sold at our Homecoming concession stand (on Oct 22). We also decided we would put something on PPC website about how they can be bought. We can have a table by the auditorium at pick up time on Fridays before the holidays, and send home a flyer around the holidays letting parents know they are available.
Concession stand at Homecoming
9:30 – noon for JV game, and 1:30-5pm for Varsity. Norma and Josh will be there all day, Sunita for the morning, Bob will come for afternoon. Cecily will send out an email to high school students asking if they can help (esp. selling blankets) and Lori will ask Confirmation kids.
Afterschool program
· Zoe discussed an idea for an Arts Council of the N. Adirondacks “Decentralization” grant written in cooperation with Johnna MacDougal for offering an afterschool program for drumming. Money wouldn’t be available til March 2012. Money could be used in May/June of this school year, or it could be used next fall 2012. This would probably be most appropriate for for grades 3-5.
· Other afterschool program ideas: Kass and Chris Mariano would be interested in offering indoor soccer. A discussion ensued about downhill and x-c skiing. Though Brandee was no longer at the meeting, Sunita noted that she was trying to get something going at Pisah, and Erin Farley wondered about the whereabouts of the school’s x-c ski collection. Sunita noted that Heidi Krester mentioned a Cornell Cooperative Extension person who runs the 4-H program and gives educational programs for free and might be interested in coming to school for afterschool programs. Norma knows this person and said she would talk to her.
· With all the great ideas and suggestions and interest in volunteering, Zoe suggesting having a 6pm meeting prior to the next PPC meeting to talk about coordinating afterschool activities.
Open Discussion
Cecily discussed the importance of healthy snacks in the classroom and wondered if there was a way to encourage more families to pack healthy choices. Sunita mentioned the “snack clubs” that Mr. Wilson does throughout the week where kids have to bring a fruit on Mondays, vegetable snack on Tuesday, etc. The group liked this idea and wondered if there was a way to make it more of a school-wide thing. Jenn Small remembered that when her kids were in K, each child would be “in charge” of bringing the snack for the day, which made it so that the kids were eating the same things as each other each day. The group wondered if a family was unable to afford the added expense of healthy snacks, how would this work with Mr. Wilson’s system, or the one Jenn Small mentioned. The discussion ended without any solutions, but the general feeling of the group was a desire for healthier choices being brought to school.
