Minutes from Parents as Partners

Parents as Partners, Thursday March 4, 2010

Attendance:Kelley Charland, Laurie Singer, Gail O’Connell, Lisa Dike, Sharon Sturm, Geoff, Laura Cunningham Firkey

We dispensed with introductions and went straight to the Principal’s report:

• Painting happened in the boys’ locker room over break.
• Lisa Dike headed up an action planning committee meeting related to different learning styles that included contributions from parents, two students, and staff members. The group went through all categories mentioned in the District’s plan to evaluate where we are, where we need to get to, and how to get there. The draft plan will go to faculty on Monday for feedback.
• Met with two locker representatives in the hope of getting new lockers. New lockers if approved will be wider and stacked. New lockers will go in the team areas; old lockers not being replaced will stay where they are for now.
• Parents have started to sign up for conferences on March 31 with an early release at noon.

Financial report: $1229.41 on hand. Box top and Hannaford proceeds will come in soon.

The 40^th annual basketball tournament went well and was well-attended, with good sportsmanship displayed by all. Gail O’Connell and Dave Reister helped host the kids’ night at the teen center the Saturday night after the tournament.

Upcoming Events:

• Fine Arts Night at EHS- 3/12
• Chorus Concert – 3/18
• GASP – 3/19
• Dances - April 9, May 14
• Musical “The Wizard of Oz” – 4/15-4/17
• Teacher/Staff Appreciation – 5/3-5/7
• Spring Concert – 5/27
• 8^th grade sleepover – 6/4

February band concert and Gymnastics Invitational both went very well. Miranda Baker won the spelling bee; Giselle came in second. Miranda will compete at the state competition at St. Mike’s on March 17.

Empty bowls sent $1400 to local charities: $400 to Chittenden County Food Shelf; $600 to Heavenly Pantry Food Shelf; $400 to Spectrum. Speakers came from each organization, and students voted on where to send funds and how much to send to each place.

Gail will start recruiting for teacher appreciation week, which falls the week after April break.

Next month’s Parents as Partners meeting on April 8 will include a presentation by a Media Literacy specialist. The meeting will happen at 6:30 and the presentation will start at 7pm, both in the library. Flyers will go up at Fleming and information will go to EMS, Founders, and in the Reporter. The evening speaker’s partner will address students during school time on the same day geared toward the student level. Cookies and drinks will be provided.

Laurie Singer will give her school report in conjunction with the Parents as Partners meeting on June 3.

Algebra – almost 50 students are still with the new program and have signed up for Geometry for 9th grade. Elementary language learning will start to impact language teaching here and further up the chain.

The pep rally displayed plenty of school spirit. Teachers won the basketball game despite two fouls by the principal. A second annual ADL’s Got Talent show will happen on Friday, April 23 just before vacation, run by the Peer Leaders group.

Fleming students will visit ADL for a transition day at the end of May, and a parent information night for incoming 6^th grade parents will also happen sometime in May.

Staff will solicit feedback from students about how the team concept worked for them this year.

The meeting adjourned at 7:14 pm and was immediately followed by a visit to the boys’ locker room to check out the new paint job.