Parents as Partners, 21 February 2008
In attendance: Mary Lou Lord, Julie Mueller, Linda Fortin-Mitiguy, Laura Seman, Lynn Braceras, Sharon Sturm, Laurie Lavallee, Laurie Singer, Laura Cunningham Firkey, Jackie Redmond, Connie Thoma, Lisa Cray, PJ Neverett, Sandy Pinto, Woody Martel.
The meeting opened at 6pm. After introductions, Principal Singer gave the following report:
At our May meeting she will do the school report night to discuss data collected over the course of the year. This will be a Power Point presentation that includes our NECAP scores, and will also include possible strategy changes to improve scoring in the future.
A survey will appear shortly on Survey Monkey related to current satisfaction with ADL and opinions about future plans related to teaming, etc. If there are areas in which people would like to be able to offer feedback, Principal Singer would like to know about them so she can include them on the survey
Principal Singer requested feedback on the following: Mr. Zeneker expects to retire from the PE department, leaving two female PE teachers with a part-time teacher who may or may not be male. Typically in the health classes male and female teachers will work with both groups. When genders are separated for this instruction, is it important to parents that a man teach the male group? Discussion indicated that parents present wouldn’t object to all-female instruction teams for this course. A suggestion was that if boys have a question they would like answered by a male in particular they could indicate that when they write it down for the question box. Another suggestion was to have a male on those days on the periphery in case there was a question that came up in the classes.
Principal Singer checked on the vending machine issue from last meeting, when that option was brought up as a possible replacement for the Snack Shack. The machine will cost $4500, not including filling and servicing it. Discussion ensued about other alternatives to staffing the Snack Shack, since staffing difficulties were the main issue driving the request for information about the vending machine.
The painting project went very well in the cafeteria. The murals look great.
Parent Rep Updates:
GASP (Games and Sports Party): March 7, 7-9pm. Two inflatables, a DJ in the gym plus one in the cafeteria with Guitar Hero. Henna tattoos, pie-eating contest, B&J ice cream donated, 30-cake raffle. Ten parents per grade will be asked to make or buy a creative cake. Posters will go up tomorrow (Friday 2/22). Grade reps will contact volunteers for cakes.
beCause craft show: PJ Neverett is running a craft show here on 4/12. This is a charity event, so the "Cause" is emphasized. This is the third year for this event. Every vendor represents a charity, from local to world causes. There is no fee for participation, but every vendor must donate 50-100% of their profits from the event to their charity of choice. The goal for this year is to raise $10,000. The questions is whether the school wants to do something at this event to raise money for the school. Anybody interested in participating in this event should contact PJ for more information. Lisa Cray will ask Mr. G to see if the DC group has an interest in raising more trip money this way.
Staff appreciation: First week of May. Linda Fortin and PJ Neverett will help with that. Lisa Cray said that two years ago they tried to do things on multiple days. Bagels/coffee one day, bouquet of flowers in the teacher’s lounge, afternoon tea/coffee, luncheon, potluck, etc. Short massages in the empty classroom from Marjie Sheppard. Other ideas – harpist, sprucing up the teacher’s lounge with new paint/furniture/bulletin boards/whatever. We will revisit this issue next month – ideas can go to Mary Lou or Julie.
Ann Malle has volunteered to be Box Top Queen.
Book Sale: Week of March 20th, Charlie Day will head it up. Three days, staffed by volunteers.
Book collection for Fleming: Karyn Roberts from Fleming is looking for age-appropriate books you don’t need in your home that would be interesting to 4th and 5th graders. The Fleming swap is the Friday before April Break – 4/18? A collection box will happen here at ADL during the first two weeks in April. We will have this information on the announcements and ask the reading teachers to mention it in classes. Leftover books in the past have been donated to willing organizations.
Julie will start e-mailing Betty Martin at Fleming to ask her to invite 5th grade parents to future Parents as Partners meetings. Principal Singer will also send a letter to all 5th grade parents and will mention Parents as Partners.
The meeting adjourned at 6:55pm.