PTA Meeting Notes – 2009-10 School Year
PTA Minutes for June 15, 2010
The meeting was called to order at: 7:38
Budget report: Michele Setton went over the budget report. Some of the surplus fund has been used to complete the security camera installation in all areas inside the school. The PTA would like to raise the funds to install security cameras on the outside of the building. The cost for these cameras is approximately $10,000. These cameras will pan the front and back of the building. The direct appeal funds will be earmarked for the purchase of these cameras. The idea of a silent auction to be had in conjunction with one of the evening events may be planned to raise additional funds for the cameras.
We will put that information in the summer mailer. We will meet again in August to go over the school calendar.
Changes were made to the proposed budget to restore funds to the team support fund. The budget will be voted on during back to school night.
All forms for the summer mailer should be sent to Michele before August. Be on the lookout for the specific date.
Dr. Jones report:
There is some work being completed in the school: new tile and carpet in the front hallway, new computers are coming. The school has received a grant which will give 7 teacher net-book carts. They will be trained over the summer to use this technology. There has also been an increase in the funds for the reading 180 intervention program for up to 60 students.
Open house will be August 25th. The school will be open to anyone who wants to come. Dr. Jones and Michele Setton went to Pyle to observe a Spirit diversity program. A survey was given to the students to collect data regarding this topic. The data will be analyzed and evaluated over the summer to decide on next steps.
Meeting adjourned at 8:17
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Rosa Parks Middle School PTA Meeting Minutes for May 10, 2010
In Attendence: Michele Setton, Lori Alperin, Robin Peaser, Tammy King, Aaron Armour, Amy Matathias, Tina Velazquez, Ricardo Velazquez, Roni Septoff, Tea West, Ginger Twombly
- Call to Order by Michele Setton at 7:40 PM
- No minutes from last meeting at this time due to recording secretary’s absence.
- Principal’s Report – Dr. Donna Jones
- Great Career Expo last Friday (May 7); students enjoyed the program and we appreciate the parents support
- 8th grade final activities letter to be sent out soon
- Exam schedule will be sent out soon; exams will be more spread out but there will be some overlap (days with two exams)
- Award ceremonies set for June 1 (8th graders); June 2 (7th graders); June 3 (6th graders); letters to go home soon.
- Outdoor ed went well
- Expecting a smooth close to the year
- Algebra HSAs coming up soon for those 7th and 8th graders taking Algebra. They must pass the HSAs and their final
- MAP-R is in progress this week
- Dolphin Digest newsletter for May has been written and will go on the web in the next few days
- Now that it is getting warmer the dress code will be monitored (no spaghetti straps) and clothes must be appropriate and not distracting to others.
- Treasure’s report not given due to treasurer’s absence.
- Old Business
- PTA ballot discussion: leave the one 6th grade VP position open at this time and hope that someone will step forward at the beginning of next year.
- Voice vote – all in favor of the ballot and no one opposed
The following board for the 2010-2011 school year was elected:
| President: | Michele Setton | msetton@verizon.net |
| 6th Grade VP | Tammy King | |
| 7th Grade VP | Tea West | teasplace@gmail.com |
| 7th Grade VP | Betsy Palmer | palmer3dogs@verizon.net |
| 8th Grade VP | Carol Levy | clevymd@yahoo.com |
| 8th Grade VP | Lori Alperin | lorialperin@verizon.net |
| Secretary | Beth O’Gwin | bcogwim@verizon.net |
| Treasurer | Karen Nakamura. | gktcs@verizon.net |
3. Executive Board meeting in June
4. Calendar Meeting in August
6. New Business
- Roni proposed that we create a program for students to coordinate events and additional activities to give the students something to do. It was suggest to get SGA involved and contact Mrs. Amy Rakowiecki. Roni Septoff and Lori Alperin.
- Michele has gotten two emails from people interested in chairing Membership and Directory; We still need a chair person for staff appreciation.
- Anne Naglevort needs volunteers for the 8th grade dance – to sell tickets; to gather decorations from After Prom May 23 at 5 am; set up decorations before the 8th grade dance.
Meeting adjourned at 8:05 PM
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PTA Minutes for April 13, 2010
The meeting was called to order at 7:35
5th grade parents were welcomed.
Principal comments: The school is preparing for next week’s outdoor education for the 6th grade. The spring musical is later in the week. The drama club is putting on the show. This is not in conjunction with the theater class. The variety show is looking for a sponsor in order to continue this tradition. Science MSA is coming up for the 8th grade class—April 26-27th.
Career Expo is the first week of May. Each class will cycle through different guest speakers to learn about different careers.
Summer school recruitment is occurring. This is for both remediation and enrichment. Letters went out for teacher recommendations. The registration forms are with the recommendations as well as available on line.
Sports Night planning is in the works for the middle of May.
Parent satisfaction forms were sent out randomly and help to inform the school improvement plan. Please fill it out if you have received one.
Grounds Beautification Report: A group went to the Creek Clean up. They are still looking for help for the Earth day Rosa Parks clean up on April 24th.
Elections are next month: The only position needed is another 6th grade VP. Committee Chairs needed include: Directory/membership—this job starts in August and finishes in October. There is help available for data entry and selling advertising. SSL Coordinator, Staff Appreciation and Listserv are also available.
Book Fair: It’s buy one/get one free. It will be in the Chorus room on April 28-30.
End of year celebration: A new company will be hosting the end of year celebration. Last year’s company no longer provides this service. Lots of parent help will be needed in order to serve food and help rotate the students through the different activities.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:10.
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PTA Minutes March 9, 2010
The meeting was called to order at 7:30
Dr. Jones:
Dr. Jones handed out calendars for the month of March. The Friday pep rally was a success. The MSA tests have begun and will continue through next week. The snow took away instructional time, but the quarter will still end at the same time. The students of the month were recognized and celebrated in the newsletter. Character counts is done every month, the most recent character trait was kindness. The Shakespeare club went to the Folger Theater. The school is very proud of their participation.
Staffing is tight this year. The first estimates are conservative. Next year’s student projection is 891 so RPMS has similar staffing, but class size may increase due to increased enrollment.
The dolphin dollar program is in place to facilitate relationships between staff and students. The students redeem the dollars given to them by staff members for trinkets.
Summer school is dependent on budget. However, plans are in place to help focus students who are struggling in reading and math. This summer the school will get their computers refreshed with flat screen monitors and computers.
Career Day is May 7th. The school is still looking for volunteers. The time commitment is up to the volunteer. The counselors will accept the volunteer forms.
Old Business
Michelle Setton:
End-of-year celebrations: There was a giant party outside on the last half day of school. There is a plan to do the same type of celebration. There was pizza, cotton candy, and moon bounces. Parent volunteers will be needed to help serve food.
8th grade trip, Friday June 4th - The buses are reserved and contracts have been signed. There are many parents who donated money for students who are unable to pay. The trip appears to be in good shape financially.
Cultural Arts paid for a dance troop to come May 20th. It will be a history of dance presentation. We would like to increase the budget in this area for diversity training. There is a program at Pyle Middle School. The multicultural committee will go to observe to see if Rosa Parks would like to bring the program to the school.
Sports Night: We are looking for someone to chair this event. A late April date has been set aside.
Volunteer Hours: All hours need to be captured. The county compiles the hours and uses it to evaluate parent participation at the school. There is a volunteer appreciation event at the end of the year and the school is looking to change the timing of it in order to have more volunteers come.
Increasing 6th grade parent participation: We would like to invite the parents to get involved early. Any ideas send to Michele. They will be invited to the PTA meeting on April 13th. Michele will have cookies. We may try to open the gym for the incoming kids and have older students who will act as ambassadors.
PTA needs: We need membership and directory coordinators. This year’s directory coordinator will help train next year’s chair. We already have incoming 6th grade VP’s.
Beautification: Mark Glaudemans is the coordinator. The front area will be spruced up. Earth day is on April 22nd and Mark will have a beautification event. There is money for mulch and plants. Vendors have not been determined yet. Any extra money can be used to beautify other areas. Dr. Jones would like benches in the after lunch ‘recess’ area would be nice, but expensive. This is a goal for next year to begin to plan for benches in this area.
April 10th 9-12pm is the Potomac River cleanup day. Our area is off of Muncaster Mill Road near Lake Frank. Mark is looking for a volunteer to lead the day for him as he is unable to attend.
Olney Mill community is having a clean up day on March 20th. SSL hours are available for this event too.
Budget: Karen explained the Accu Cut item was bought as the team item. The staff is very excited about having this die cut machine.
Ginger Twombly PTA cluster coordinator: Farquhar is on schedule to be modernized by 2015. The students will be bused to Tilden during this time. The county operating budget has many shortfalls. They are looking at cuts of 20%. Maintenance of effort fines will most likely be eliminated. However, Staffing is the biggest cut at this point. In order to give the schools more money, other services will be cut or eliminated. Ginger is testifying again on April 5th regarding the operating budget. There is a foreign language committee to discuss and study and improve the MCPS foreign language program. The committee continues to work on the recommendations to the county. There is a May 19th PTA presidents and principals dinner. Jim Vance is the speaker.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 pm.
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November PTA Meeting – November 10, 2009
Meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m.
• Principal’s comments
The school has been studying the traffic backups in the neighborhood. Dr. Jones attended the Olney Mill HOA meeting in order to collaborate with the neighborhood. A redesign of the entrance/exits to the school is not possible. However, the expansion of some of the parking spaces in the circle has made improvements to the flow of traffic in the morning. The traffic study is still being analyzed to further improve the flow of traffic. The administration is continuing to call attention to the problem and to get the community to adhere to the no left turn rule as well as getting people to pull as far forward as possible. A four-way stop is an option that the community would like, however, the county would need to approve this change. Parents who can wait a bit to pick their child up after school (before 3:00) will find no traffic at that time. The school will continue to try to solve this problem.
Red Ribbon Week was wonderful. There was a speaker who was a former NFL super bowl player. The message to the students was positive. The students participated in crazy hair day, backwards day and wear red day.
The play this past weekend was funny and suspenseful. Ms. Hershler and the students put in a great deal of time and the results showed.
Principal Advisory Committee will meet 3-4 times per year. November 11th is the first meeting.
Conferences will also take place tomorrow by invitation only. If you want a conference, contact your child’s counselor or team leader to make arrangements. Early dismissal time is 12:10 for both November 11th and 12th.
Report cards are going home tomorrow. The quarter has been interesting due to increased absences. The school measures eligibility for extra-curricular activities. This quarter the percentage of ineligible students is very low.
The question was asked regarding school closings due to flu epidemic. The county hasn’t issued guidelines as of yet.
If your child is going to be out for an extended period of time, contact the counselor to get missed class work. The school will need 24 hours in order to prepare the materials.
Maryland School Assessment preparation is beginning. There is special time during the morning for students who need additional practice in the skills the test assesses. There are also resource classes for students in need. An extended day will be given to other students who show a need for it in both math and reading. The MSA’s are earlier than usual this year. There is concern regarding attendance for this year. It will be the first couple of weeks in March.
NAACP will have a community fair on November 18th. There will be many representatives from a variety of sources to help support parents of all children. A flyer should come home with report cards with further information.
Sherwood cluster PTA meeting is November 19th at Rosa Parks.
Ginger Twombly will go to the board of education meeting on November 12th at 6:00 pm to testify on behalf of capital improvements for the cluster. Farquhar is supposed to be modernized in 2012, safety issues for both RPMS (cameras), and Sherwood (traffic) will be addressed, as well as technology modernization for elementary schools. All are welcome to attend to support capital improvement issues for the cluster. The BOA will pay attention to the clusters that are more visible and vocal. Signs are allowed, but are limited to 8×11”.
Seventh graders will be taking the Maryland Measure of Technology literacy test. They will perform certain skills on the computer. Last year’s students enjoyed taking the test. There is no accountability for the school. The state is collecting data. This will occur the week of November 30th.
The Principal’s Newsletter was given out. The parent survey indicated a need for more communication from the school. The Dolphin Digest is due to the feedback. Printed copies will not be given out, but the entire newsletter is sent out via the Yahoo group as well as on the website.
• Back to school night feedback: Michele Setton received a lot of positive feedback regarding Dr. Jones, school atmosphere, communication, etc.
• Survey Data: Midnight Madness and Sports Games: teachers/parents vs. students received the most votes as a community activity. Michele is looking for someone to organize these types of events.
• Membership/Directory update: membership is at about 300. This is about 50% of all families. This is a good percentage compared to other schools within the county. However, if we could get it higher that would be great. Michele is looking for ideas on how to increase this number through incentives. There is a high number of staff that has joined due to incentives from Dr. Jones. The 6th grade team won the incentive of a new copier for their area. The directories are at the printers now and may be back by Friday. Distribution will begin after that.
• Budget review: $7500 in membership fees. This is $1700 less than projected. Advertising was off a bit too. We have enough in the bank to cover expected expenses however.
• Book Fair: Classes will go through during the week of November 30th and, on December 3rd, the fair will be open in the evening. Vendors will be available on that evening too. There are still openings for vendors—contact Amy Wert for information. There will be a bake sale to help fund the Hershey Park trip for 8th graders. SSL hours will be given to students who volunteer. Bakers are needed. Items should be individually wrapped for easy sale and to cut down on germs. Donations from businesses are being solicited to help raise funds too.
• Spirit Wear: A $580 deposit was made. The extra old spirit wear will be donated to the counselors and to elementary schools. New spirit wear will be rolled out next week. Samples will be on view at the book fair—Thursday, December 3rd. There will not be a large pre-order of spirit wear. There was a loss on the spirit wear order last year. Order forms will be on the website, samples and order forms will be available at the school store too. The committee will also bring them to the lunch room to show the students. The turnaround time for the orders is about 2 weeks. Delivery of spirit wear will be similar to Sally Foster. There will be a pick up night for families to come and get the orders.
• 8th grade Hershey Park update The date is June 4th. The price may be $75 this year due to an increase in the park’s admission. Information will come out in the next week or two regarding the trip.
• Diversity Training Money has been set aside for cultural arts. This money can be used for diversity training for both students and staff. Details are being worked out.
• Volunteers are needed for the first Friday in May for a career expo.
• Yesterday a staff member became ill while at work. An ambulance was called. She was released from the hospital that afternoon and she is doing fine.
Meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.