The
Gordon Parks School for Inquisitive Minds
P.S.
/I.S. 270Q PTA
233-15
Merrick Boulevard, Rosedale, NY
11422
(718)-341-8280
|
PTA Minutes
November
15, 2012
·
Meeting was
called to order by President Kelli Coke at 7: 10pm. She welcomed everyone for
coming out to the rescheduled meeting. The
membership recited the Pledge of Allegiance and was led in prayer by
Corresponding Secretary Florence Duggins.
Mrs. Coke also asked the membership to keep all those deeply affected by
Hurricane Sandy in their prayers and be able to lend a hand to those in need.
- Reading of minutes: Silent
reading of minutes was done by the
parent body; motion to accept minutes as read by Beverly Austin and
seconded by Lileith Smith
- Financial Report: Financial
report was presented by Treasurer JoAnn Bute; motion to accept financial
report by Michele May and seconded by Natalie Darby.
- Membership Drive: Membership
drive is still on going. Our 1st
Vice President, Nicole Hammond reported that remittances of membership
dues continue to be a challenge for some parents. So far, those parents that have remitted,
most of them have paid their $100 membership in full; there have been a
few who paid in installments. Some
parents have raised their concern on how the money was being applied and
how their children were to benefit from these dues. Mrs. Hammond urged the membership to read
the PTA’s End of Year Financial Report which is on the PTA blog and lists
all our financial accomplishments for the school year 2011/2012. If we want to continue to help provide
for our school community, then the effort we put into the Membership Drive
will ensure we accomplish our goals for this school year. In addition, the Membership Drive letter
is also posted for those who need clarification as to why this Membership
Drive is vital to our school. Parents can also remit their dues through
PayPal on the blog. Mrs. Hammond
encouraged the parents to provide their thoughts and comments. Mrs. Owens stated that $100 is a small contribution
for your child’s future and we as parents should plan to set aside the
money to honor these contributions on behalf of our children. Dr. Barracks stated that there will
always be that group of parents, “the choir” who understand the importance
and will contribute nonetheless.
She emphasized that the PTA’s work should speak for itself and we
should continue to keep up the good work.
Mrs. Grant emphasized that we celebrate our accomplishments, move
forward and strive to achieve what we set out to do. When we send home our meeting flyers, we
should also highlight the items that the PTA has paid for so parents can
see how their money is being spent.
Mrs. Coke thanked all the parents for all their input and led the
membership in acknowledging Mrs. Hammond for all her hard work.
- Presentation by Mr. Mosera, Music Teacher: Presently, the music program is short of musical
supplies for the students. Middle
school students have been playing guitars and the lower grades have been
playing recorders. He then
introduced to the membership an online program, DonorsChoose.org, which
enables anyone to contribute to a school’s specific request. Mr. Mosera requested the membership to donate any amount to the purchase of
specific instruments requested by the school . Our school’s goal is to raise $1700.00
and once that goal is reached, the instruments will be delivered to the
school. Mr. Mosera encouraged the
membership to share the website information with all family and friends so
that they can contribute as well.
He also asked that the PTA include the information on any flyers we
send home with students.
- School Leadership Team (SLT) Report: President Coke explained the purpose of
the SLT; which is made up of equal number of staff and parents who work
together to ensure the school is meeting its educational goals and those
goals are aligned with the school’s Comprehensive Educational Plan
(CEP). There were (2) parent member
vacancies which needed to be filled so that the SLT could fully
function. She also stated that
students will have to make up the days school was closed due to Hurricane
Sandy, however those dates were still pending from DOE. As soon as the school is notified, the
information will be passed onto the parents. Lunch forms are still being accepted and
parents still have time to complete them. Unfortunately, our school lost its Title
I status because lunch forms were not submitted for the entire
school. Mrs. Coke explained that if
our school achieved a certain number of students eligible for free/reduced
lunch, our school would have been eligible to receive additional federal
funding. The Common Core Learning Standards
Workshop has been rescheduled for December 6. Parents should help their child attain a higher
level of learning. One parent
stated that she is not seeing the increased level of rigor for her child
in the third grade. Ms. Allen
stated that the first thing to do is sit and talk to their child’s
teacher. Then Ms. Allen addressed
the parent’s concerns individually.
Mrs. Coke stated that administration and staff would like to
continue to provide both the Earth Science and Integrated Algebra Regents
for the middle school students. In
addition, the school would like to implement preparation for the Specialized
High Admission School Test starting with students in the sixth grade. Zumba Classes will be held at the school
starting December 13 at 9:00am. The cost is $6.00.
- Nominations for SLT Parent Member vacancies: Mrs. Coke opened the floor for
nominations of the (2) parent member vacancies. The membership was instructed that
candidates could self-nominate or nominate someone. The nominees were as follows: (1) Paulette Diggs; (2) Carolyn Johnson;
(3) Nicole Hammond; (4) Maureen Renwick. Each of the nominees introduced
themselves and briefly explained why they would like to be a part of the
SLT. Ballots were prepared by Ms.
Bute and Mrs. Duggins. Ballots were
collected by Mr. Credle. Mrs.
Hilton read aloud each ballot while Mr. Griffith tallied the votes. The (2) parent members elected to the
vacancies were Nicole Hammond and Carolyn Johnson.
- Mrs. Coke acknowledged Mr. Sydney Johnson and those parents (including
Mrs. Hilton and Mr. Griffith) who have been doing a great job to alleviate
the traffic flow during arrival of students in the morning. The membership gave a heartfelt round of
applause to Mr. Johnson. He thanked
the volunteers who come out to help with traffic flow in the mornings. He
stated that they’re there from 7:30am to 8:15am. When the parents drop off
their child(ren), the volunteers escort them to the school. Mr. Johnson still encouraged more parents
to volunteer.
- Parent Suggestions: Mrs.
Coke opened the floor to parents to express any more ideas and
concerns. We especially need suggestions
on how we can assist our child(ren) as well as stress the importance of
education. Our child(ren) need to
understand that they have to be able to compete with those from other
schools and district wide and on even when they attend high school. Mrs. Grant suggested we can do our own
version of “math Jeopardy” for each grade and host it during the evening
when parents and students can participate.
Questions can be tailored from the Common Core Learning Standards. Incentives
can be given to the students to pick prizes from a treasure chest. We can generate interest and participation
from the teachers. This will enable
the children to learn and retain the information more effectively
especially for the upcoming state tests. Ms. Allen informed the membership of the dance
enrichment program presently going on in the school. Interested students from grades 5 - 8 were
asked to participate and it runs for 10 weeks. At the end of the program, there will be
a show. Permission slips were given out to students who showed interest
and if a child did not bring one home that is because the child did not
want to participate. A parent
inquired why class representatives were not assigned per the PTA earlier
requests. Mrs. Coke responded that
we received little to no response for parents interested in becoming class
reps.
- Upcoming Events: School
wide Picture Day is Wednesday, November 21, 2012. Daddy Cook-off is Saturday December 1,
2012. Next PTA meeting is scheduled
for December 6, 2012.
- Meeting adjourned at 8:40pm.
The Gordon Parks
School for Inquisitive Minds
PTA Executive Board
2011-2012
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