In attendance: Jim Goldsmith, Carla Wuthrich, Kim
Gordon, Jen Prue, Frank Tworg, Brent Bordeaux, Erin Murray, Chrysanna Burke,
Heidi Bouchard, Kate Dodge, Allen Monniere, Greg Glade, Sarah Murphy, Rachel
Kring, Jeff Volzer, Mike Hopwood, Gary Miller, Robin Miller, Aimee Babbott,
Alecia Vint, Miranda Johnson, Alyssa Lasher, Bob Goudreau, Tracy, Alicia Depot.
1.
Welcome
and Introductions
2.
What
is PIE?
·
Kate spoke about PiE
o A
way to stay connected to the school and share information in a more meaningful
way
o PIE
is Partners In Education (parents, educators, administration, and staff)
o Fundraising
is not the only purpose of PIE (although it is something we do). There are
several initiatives for enrichment of students and volunteer opportunities for
various projects.
o PIE
meetings are the first Monday of the month. The first hour is an informational
session and conversation about a specific topic (see website for listing of
topics). The second hour is more specific “work” and planning for projects
happening this school year.
3.
Kindergarten
101
·
All Kindergarten teachers have Blogs (see links
on HCS website). Weekly newsletters, e-mails, and notes are all great ways that
teachers use to keep in touch.
·
Kindergarten is the “Early Explorers” Team on
the website
·
Alyssa gave a demonstration of the Smart Board
that is used in each kindergarten classroom.
·
A large backpack is recommended (especially in
the winter to hold winter clothing and boots). PLEASE LABEL ALL WINTER
CLOTHING!
·
UFO bag (unidentified fantastic object) is
something each student does. This allows a student to bring in something from
home for classmates to guess and share. Toys are okay for this, but otherwise,
kids are asked to keep their toys at home.
·
A folder goes home nightly. Announcements, class
work, and notes go home (or to school) in these and should be checked daily.
Folders are used in grades K-5; so it is a good habit as a family to create in
checking the folders daily.
·
Classes are trying to get more paperless; please
let your child’s teacher know if you can’t get information via email.
·
On Phys Ed days kids are asked to wear sneakers.
·
Kindergarten has lunch at noon. A morning snack
time is made in each classroom. Snack milk or juice can be purchased from the
cafeteria for $.50. You can pay using cash or using the online system.
o Some
kids are confused whether they are supposed to get milk (some think it’s free).
Parents, feel free to share your preferences for your child with their teacher.
·
Top (unintentional) secrets of HCS:
o Folders
and e-mail are checked everyday to receive notes from parents. E-mails are
checked daily, but not necessarily throughout the day. Folders are the best way
to share information for things happening THAT DAY.
§
Notes are required for bus changes. Call the
office if the change needs be to made that day.
o You
can leave a phone message for the teacher; however, it’s helpful to re-call the
office to let them know you left a message for the teacher if it’s an urgent
message.
o If
a parent/guardian is not there to meet the child at the bus stop, the child
will continue to ride the bus and come back to school. The bus will radio the
message to the office who will send out a call to the parents at the numbers
listed at the office. The school and the buses keep in communication throughout
the route and can address problems immediately if they arise.
o Children’s
birthdays are celebrated. There are no peanut allergies in kindergarten this
year. Cupcakes, fruit-kabobs, fruit, muffins are all options for snack treats.
Contact your teacher for numbers and setting up details.
o All
kindergarten parents are welcome to volunteer in the classroom. If you
volunteer you need to fill out a form, sign in and get a nametag so that staff
know that you’re supposed to be in the building.
o If
you need to bring your child in late or sign them out early do so at the
office. The office will call your child out of the classroom.
o Parking
for drop off/pick up is available on the side and lower parking lots. The front
is for the buses only. Some parents park at St Jude’s or by Papa Nicks and walk
across the street with their kids.
·
Posted Questions (and those asked) were
answered:
o Does
someone help my child in the lunch line? Yes. Teachers are more hands on for
the first 2 weeks in navigating the lunch line. Teachers can always be made
available to help for the first time they try it (even if it’s later in the
year).
o Are
kindergartners able to do sports? There are no formal sports at HCS for
kindergarten. The Rec Dept has sports for kids in kindergarten. School
sponsored sports start in the 6th grade.
o Where
do the kids go when there is a fire drill? Teachers will try to prepare
kindergartners ahead of time. Kids line up and go to St. Jude’s church. They
line up in the parking lot, but during bad weather they go inside.
§
There are also occasional “lock down” drills. In
this case, it is announced over the loudspeaker. Children gather in one spot in
the classroom, doors are locked, police come through to make sure people are
where they are supposed to be, then the end of drill is announced over the
loudspeaker. Kindergartners are pre-taught what will happen and time is allowed
afterwards to briefly talk about what’s happening in these drills. E-mails are
often sent home afterwards to share that a lock down drill happened and to
share what language is used with the children.
o ALERT
NOW is used to notify parents of urgent/timely news (snow days, early
dismissals, closing of the buses to “the hills”, etc).
o What
do I do if my child is sick? If they are sick at home, call the office AND the
classroom teacher to share the information.
§
If kids are sick at school, they go to the
nurses and she will help determine if a call needs to go to a parent or not. As
the teachers get to know the child better, they can help figure out when they
need to go to the nurse as well.
o Is
there a better time than another if my child needs to go to appointments? If
they miss the beginning of school they will be marked “tardy” (even if it’s an
excused absence). In kindergarten, work is more easily caught up; this gets
harder as children gets older. If more than 5 tardy’s are accrued, a letter
will be sent home (as mandated by the Dept of Education).
§
Official start time for the day is 8:05 am. The
cafeteria is open to receive students before school starts. Going to the
classroom earlier than 7:50 is at the discretion of the teacher.
Adjourned to
Flex Space for next segment of the PIE meeting.
Welcoming of
people coming for 2nd session: Kelli Brown, Elizabeth Garvey and Doug Stewart were
introduced.
PIE Committee
Updates:
·
Fundraising Committee: Kim Gordon and Alicia
Depot are co-chairs.
o Working
on increasing structure and predictability around fund raising
o Money
raised is shared with teachers through our Funds Distribution Plan (posted on
web). HCS teachers/staff can also
apply to PiE for grants twice a year.
o Box
Tops, Meadow Farms, Scholastic Book Fair,Golf Tournament and Open House dinner
have been traditional fundraisers.
o You
can go to the PIE section of the HCS website to see all planned fundraisers,
how the money is distributed, and other useful info.
o The
Fundraising Committee needs volunteers to help with events and projects.
·
Staff Appreciation: Ali Douglas is the chair.
This year this group intends to provide small offerings of appreciation to
teachers/staff and to help coordinate the needs of teachers with volunteers.
o Recent
project is to create the staff introduction bulletin board.
o Looking
to gather opportunities for volunteers who can help within the school day and
volunteers to help with “take home” projects (cutting out items, organizing
binders, etc)
·
Wellness Iniative Team:
o Previously
called the Nutrition Committee
o Handout
shared with mission statement, past projects, and ongoing areas of interest
(cafeteria, garden, health)
o Garden
News:
§
Garden harvests have been incorporated into food
used in the cafeteria. Part Two helps maintain the garden and harvest.
§
Temporary green house donated by Gardeners
Supply; 2nd grade will be exploring and helping to maintain this
this year.
§
Worm composter also now in Mrs. Stanton’s room.
§
Things coming up this year: 2 composters will be
gained (with hopes of this project growing over the years); picnic tables will
be bought for the garden for kids to eat/teach outside, blueberry garden.
o Cafeteria
Updates:
§
Vermont Education Institute is participating
with HCS for a one-year partnership focusing on nutrition education and phys.
Ed. At the end of the year, we will apply for a national program.
§
Deb Bissonette is very open for questions,
suggestions, and input about the cafeteria program.
§
Family surveys were done last spring, student
surveys will come up this year.
§
Parents are volunteering in the cafeteria
(chopping fruit and vegetables) and being cafeteria coaches.
o Maureen
Locker will be coming to each classroom this year to teach about nutrition and
to offer “new foods” for children to try.
o Harvest
dinner will be at Open House, with volunteers from upper grades asked to help.
o First
Annual Wellness Fair will be held this year. Each class will have a project to
share/offer around health and nutrition. This will be open to parents,
partnering businesses, and the community.
o Cooking
for Life program will be offered for students in 5-8th grades. They
will learn how to make meals, and be given the ingredients to make it at home.
o King
Arthur Bread is doing a program here on how to make bread.
·
Communication/PR Committee
o Kate
Dodge is the committee at the moment. She would love help with PIE updates for
the Viking, sharing information between grades/teachers and website updates.
·
Grade Level Reps:
o Roles
available for immediate filling. Grade reps usually share information at PIE
meetings from a “chunk” of 1-2 grades. This can be shared in a variety of ways
and is usually done in a way that makes the most sense for the person being the
rep. (lots of flexibility hre). Chunks are K-2, 3-5 and 6-8.
Celebrations, Did
You Knows, and Help Wanted:
o K-4
performance is in the works for this fall. Anyone interested in helping, please contact Kate.
We hope to do a theatre performance (a play) in the fall of
2013.
o One
student had cherry tomatoes in the garden and loved them…asked for them at
home!
o Jen
shared that 6th graders are receiving iPads, which will be
incorporated into classroom for enriched learning. Teachers have been working
on learning apps.
o 5th
graders got band instruments today!
o School
Information tab on HCS web site can help you navigate to information.
o Calendar
tab on the HCS homepage has school-wide calendar on Google Calendars…check it out!
o HCS
will be included in engineering week this year. This will happen in late winter
for 7/8 grades (possibly grades 5/6). Engineers from the community will come to
the school to do prepared lessons/projects with the kids.
o Sign
Up Genius is a common way that committees seek and organize volunteers. Setting
up an account is free and you won’t get more e-mail from them!
PIE Meetings to be held on
the first Monday of the month at 6 pm (Next meeting October 1st)
