Meeting Minutes
4/2/12
Present: Jim, Patti, Bob, Jenny, Joyce, Kim, Frank, Lisa, Alessa, Carla, LisaMissing: Steve, Alyssa, Ali
Next meeting is 5/7/12 @6:00-7:30
Agenda:
Updates and sharing 6-7:10:Bob:
Kindergarten registration 46 students enrolled, probably 3-4 more so we are looking at a class in the low 50’s. 43 eight graders graduating, this will keep enrollment stable.
The Ayres family got volunteers to set up a fund in Ray’s memory, they organized fixing the drainage for the ball field and paid for more fill, the embankments have been seeded.
The new playground equipment that is coming includes two new benches for the field as well.
Patti suggested that we publicly thank the Ayres and all their helpers. Bob said school would organize a thank-you card and get kids to sign it.
**Frank raised the issue of when the field will be habitable. Bob will call Tom and find out if the field itself has been seeded.
Pre-school through grade 1 literacy night was on March 2nd, about 35 families attended. School personnel attended, Bob reported it went well.
Bob was asked to give a timeline for when information about placement will go out to families. The question was asked specifically, when current kindergartners will know/find out which 1st grade classroom they will be placed in. Bob said he is still waiting for information about retirements, funding opportunities etc…
Bob said they are working on the schedule right now, looking at staffing patterns to add in supports for literacy and math instruction for example. Patti asked if Bob would be able to report out to PIE at the next meeting the specifics of staffing patterns. Patti suggested that we publicize that our next meeting will include info about the placement process, staffing as he knows it, what grade groupings will be getting for music, PE, art. There was a brief discussion of when music stopped being offered at the 7/8th grade level. Bob described the school day and how much is being packed into that time as a reason why music is not a part of the 7/8 curricula.
Frank added a comment about having a discussion about, or acknowledging the role families have to play in picking up with slack. When school has to cut programming, parents will have to fill in the gaps.
Kim (K-2):
Kindergarten classes working on a census unit. They all attended a Flynn performance.
Carla has been working with a group of 2nd graders and literacy skill building. She wanted to know who to go to in order to get student work into the Record. **She will check in with Jen Bradford.
Joyce (3-5):
3rd grade working on an ecology unit
4th grade working on science fair preparation
5th grade-social studies fair, report research and writing=Paul and Joyce, stressing a variety of related skills, are addressing this big project.
Joyce shared a gardening catalogue she wanted to make sure the Garden Initiative had information about this resource.
She went on to ask if the group might be willing to consider funding the purchase of picnic tables so teachers can more easily bring classes to the garden for related instruction. She is looking at this as a way of creating an “outdoor classroom” so more teachers might use the garden as a learning environment. This should be a topic of discussion for the working group to take up. Kate will check in with Kelli about funds and what might already be in the works.
Joyce asked about the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Kate will touch on this in her fund-raising report.
Trent Smith came in 3rd at the state geo-bee.
There is going to be a 5-6 dance, 4/18/12 right after school (3-5). The student council is in charge of this event.
Patti (6-8):
The play preparation is ongoing.
Science update-there is dissection of cow hearts going on. This is new for the classes. Lots of work going on focused on current events; preparing countries for an ongoing world culture fair.
Nutrition Committee Update:
There will be Dietician from UVM is coming for an educational event in the fall. The focus is going to be on federal funding of nutrition.
Junior Iron Chef happened and there was a 2nd grade field trip to Red Wagon.
4/17/12 is the seed-planting event for the garden. The multi-purpose room will serve as the green house for the plants.
Fund-raising Committee:
Box tops continue, trying to streamline the process. The deadline is 4/16/12. There may be one final round if there are willing participants. Kim reported efforts to develop this as a “habit”. Kim has lined up prizes for the fall in hopes of continuing this work.
Playground: Friday April 20th is the date for the next equipment installation. Kate doesn’t think that many volunteers will be needed this time, maybe 5 people for a few hours. If anyone is willing to help, contact Kate Dodge. There is also equipment coming for pre-school equipment and originally the 18th was picked for that installation as well. There is siding work to be done on the white building so this is on hold. When Bob has a new date an email will go out in hopes of having it ready for the fall.
The playground sign is being replaced with a new one! Kate has been working on what has to be on the sign. **It was suggested that Kate contact Rocky Martin about what has to be on the sign based on old agreements.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony: Kate asked for a discussion about a good date. **Bob proposed talking to Deb Bissonette about a date that could include lunch outside and get back to Kate.
Joyce asked about what would happen during the ceremony, Kate said she planned on Bob making formal thank-you presentations to the big donors and hadn’t really gotten past that. Joyce has been working on the students organizing a thank-you. She will coordinate with Kate.
Golf Tournament 5/12/12 at Cedar Knoll. Alyssa Lasher is working on prizes. So far the big-ticket item is: green fees at Vermont National. Kate asked that anyone who can help line up prizes please contact her. Forms to register teams are up on the web site. There is a form for sponsoring a hole as well. PIE needs help “postering the community”. The forms are also on the fund-raising section of the PIE web site.
Communications/PR Committee:
Kate, Jeff O’Hara, Kitty Fraiser and Jess met. Kitty volunteered to be the PIE posting person. There is work being done on a new coordinated calendar, a GOOGLE calendar that can be worked on by PIE (Kitty).
We have a new email address: HCSPIE@cssu.org, this email goes directly to Kitty and Kate (who has access) thinks she can email out to the entire the school community via this email. Kate started a new Google Group; hopefully we can use this to more directly communicate with one another. Bob wants to check with Jess about which “HCS all school” listserv we have access to.
Working Group: 7:10-7:30
Jim Goldsmith is our new treasurer officially. Heather Way is now no longer the treasurer. Kate and Jim are going to set up a new checking account using our TIN.
There was a hefty over-draft charge on the existing account. Kate and Jim are going to work on negotiating this down with the bank.
Kate suggested we have a Treasurer’s Report every meeting. Everyone agreed to this.
Fundraising Update: There was a March deadline for grants. There was funding set aside. There were two applicants: Barb Spaulding requested $600.00 for academic field trips to local colleges and universities. The money would help design a program that allows for academic activities and team building. Money would be used for: bussing, admission to museum’s (Fleming etc), and related learning opportunities that can be planned. Paul Lasher requested $470.00 for 3 LCD monitor microscopes for science units. The 6th grade does not own any microscopes.
There was an ensuing conversation about the science lab that is either being used or not used. It sounds like the cow heart unit is utilizing the science lab. Bob says the main issue is time management of the space and curricula. For example, the space is used for other things that then make it difficult to set-up the lab for science use. This year there is one 7/8 teacher overseeing the science curricula which is making it easier to use the lab efficiently. There were a lot of questions about how to promote more use of the lab for science purposes. Several questions that were generated were: how can parents support the science curricula, are there different ways to look at the scheduling of the science lab space? What would be the next step? Joyce suggested Carla go look at the lab space. Jen suggested Carla contact Stephanie about her curricula and what she could do to support her instruction.
There was discussion about the merits of both grant requests prior to voting. Both funding requests were approved. One recommendation was that the grant request forms be worked on to specify that applicants provide details about proposed activities and expenditures. We also discussed that once money has been granted we need to define expectations around reporting back to PIE once funds have been used. The issue that arises with less fleshed out proposals is: how do we track expenditures. Once a proposal is approved, how/who actually does the purchasing? Jim suggested that the school lays out the funds, and then PIE reimburses HCS. Bob asked to think through this process. Bob then suggested that a check from PIE goes into the team account. Teachers could then draw down the amount in the account.
Joyce suggested we use a standard requisition form that teachers complete prior to disbursement. This is the proposed updated process: the initial grant request (we need a more detailed form), which has to also include the completed requisition, gets submitted to the Fund-Raising/Grant Committee. To further flesh out the process, Bob will talk to Tina, then talk to Jim about fine-tuning this process. Jim and Kate will then talk. In the meantime, Kate will let both Barb and Paul know their requests have been funded.
We need to flesh out what we want in return for payments out: pictures, reporting out at future meetings…
Golf Tournament To-do’s: (the fund-raising group is: Kate, Alessa, Alyssa L, Kim, Kaylin and Bob).
- We need a PR person
- We need someone to keep track of online PR
- We need someone to track registrations (a registrar)-Patti volunteered.
- We need help getting more sponsorship (let the committee know if you have anyone in mind)
- We need a golf pro/consultant-**Alessa will talk to Jane at Cedar Knoll
Any checks from now on must be made out to HCS PIE.
**Jen will contact Karen Cornish about what PIE can do to help with the play.- Carla asked if IBM interfaces with HCS, she is interested in helping promote the connection (E-week which includes presentations, projects etc). Bob says IBM does send out an email that announces opportunities). Carla wanted to know how to make this connection to HCS work. Joyce suggested Carla contact Paul and Angela directly about working with the 6th grade team.
- Carla also brought up the IBM EXCITE camp that is specifically for girls. Campers go to IBM and attend classes, tour the facility and participate in hands-on activities. Info about this opportunity has to be disseminated to teachers so they could plan ahead.
Next meeting agenda:
- Bob will present information about the placement process, staffing configurations etc.
- Joyce suggested that at the next meeting having as much information available as possible, including the number of students slated for each class, who we are losing, the shift in space and the reduced number of para-educators for next year would be important. The community needs to have accurate information about the real state of affairs. The thrust of the conversation should be “how can we all pitch in to make this work for all kids”.
To be included in PIE notes:
- Wizard of Oz announcement.
**To be done items…PIE
