April 7th Meeting Notes

Attendees:

Kate Dodge, Allegra Miller, Jeff O’Hara, Jessica Wilson, Jim Goldsmith, Aimee Frost, Tanya Jones, Ali Douglas, Kristin Miskavage, Carla Wuthrich, Heidi Bouchard, Alyssa Lasher, Paul Rocheleau.

Digital Literacy

Presented by Jessica Wilson

Click HERE to download Jessica’s PowerPoint presentation

• Next year (2014-2015), the 7^th and 8^th graders will use ChromeBooks; 6^th grade will use iPads in the classroom.  HCS is working to transition from desktop computers to ChromeBooks as they are much cheaper than iPads.  The SBAC will be administered by ChromeBook in 2015.
• HCS is a Google school; documents are all done using Google Docs and e-mail is supported by Google.

PIE Updates

Principal’s Report:

• Kindergarten registration was at the end of March; currently 51 students will be coming to HCS next year. PIE presentation and 8^th grade discussions were highlights to each parent orientation.
• The Viking is now LIVE (you can click on links directly now!)
• Newton’s Laws of Motion Toy Fair just completed in 5^th grade and was a success.
• Bernie Sanders wrote letters to the Essential Skills middle school students who helped build the shelves for the new police station.
• Girls on the Run began; there are about 30 girls ages 3-5 practicing this spring. Way to go! 

Spring Grant Application Review and Discussion:

• Paul Rocheleau gave us a demonstration of a Crankie (combines music with art work by cranking long pieces of paper through a viewing machine).  He is looking for a grant to hire Pete Sutherland to teach/write songs to go along with music and to build a Crankie for this year’s presentation. ($650)
• Corinna Stanley asked for $759 to help pay for the annual subscription for BookFlix. This is an online resource through Scholastic Books that offers students the opportunity to read books on screen with illustrations – both fiction and nonfiction. All books have an audio component so students can hear the book read to them as they read aloud. This is something used by pre-K through 3^rd grades, but can be used by older students who benefit from additional reading support.
• Kelsey Dahlin (HCS social worker) requested $1,000 for scholarships to summer camps for families of limited financial means. This sparked a larger conversation about Shelburne’s Angel Fund and our desire to help fund this type of thing more often and more regularly through PiE.  More to come on this topic.
• Stephanie Konowitz requested $500+ to update the school’s thermometer probes for middle school science classes. In order for our current probes to work with the new chrome books (or anything other than our old laptops) she will need to buy 8 new devices (called the Labquest 2) to attach to the old devices. This will cost $330 per device. PiE decided to follow up to get more information because we’re not sure these purchases are the smartest route to take considering plans for new technology upgrades next year.
• Jess Wilson requested $325 for new headphones for the computer lab. This request was originally funneled through HCS to be covered by next year’s budget, but the group decided to fund it through PiE.

Spring Grant Decisions

• As a group, it was decided to fully fund the grants as proposed by Paul, Corinna, Kelsey, and Jessica.  PIE will talk with Stephanie to ask more questions.  In total $2,734 was agreed upon, with a contingency amount leftover for Stephanie’s request.

Committee Reports

• Staff Appreciation week is the week of May 5^th. A preliminary note went out to gather ideas and work connections for treats are still being sought.
• Here’s one Sign Up Genius for one of the projects, with more information and ways to participate coming!  www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0A48A5AE292-mayteacher/861388.

GARDEN UPDATE

• Thanks to Dan Opton and the Shelburne/Charlotte Rotary Club we’ll be building a garden shed this spring, mostly with donated materials from NRG and RK Miles, among others
• Beginning this week, with the support of the garden program the second grade will be using planting and growing to accentuate their curriculum. They are looking forward to bringing the bridges math program alive while growing comparison plants to measure. They will also be referring to the garden beds to learn more about fractions - imagine dividing the beds into certain fraction to accommodate different types of vegetables and make the best use of space. We all need these planning skills!
• The Essential Ed. students in the middle school are very excited about working in the gardens. Their initial brainstorms included growing seedlings in the great window in their classroom, planting the grown plants in the garden, planting pumpkins, helping with garden set up, and helping in the blueberry beds. This is the first year of middle school involvement!
• We will have roughly 200 kids planting seeds and sampling garden related foods on April 18th 8:30-2:00 in the flex space. We need help to make this run smoothly and not exhaust the coordinators!
• We are working with the café to grow fresh food for the students when they return in the fall.
• We will be working with the Part2 program to grow nourishing foods to enhance their lunches and snacks. They will have a special guest for about 2 weeks who will be working with them in the garden to teach them how to make delicious and nutritious foods from harvest to table!
• Want to be involved? There is always a need for help from Seed and Sample day forward. Our helpers DO NOT have to have gardening experience! We want your enthusiasm, willingness to learn, and the extra hands available to help the students learn the many life-long skills that garden brings.
• Can you help plant seedlings on April 18th (8:00-1:30).  Please sign up here: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/9040A4AADAA2C7-seed2

Fundraising

• Lake Monsters tickets on sale!  Watch your child’s homework folder/backpack.  HCS Night at the Ball Park is Saturday, June 21^st but if that date doesn’t work for you, you can easily exchange your tickets for another home game.
• Tuesday, May 6th, mark your calendar to Dine Out at the Hinesburg Public House. Money raised through this Community Meal will go toward adding some natural playground elements to our school playground [maybe a big sandbox?  Who knows!]
• Box Tops and Labels for Education - keep clipping and sending in - but please take a moment and clip on the dotted line, it saves us a ton of time (thanks)
• Were you the winning bidder on one of our baskets at the Basket Auction in March? If you are willing, please hang onto your basket and send it in next year, we can save money and use it again.  THANKS.
• SAVE THE DATE - Sunday, June 1 - beginning at 10:00am - Hike for HCS!  Come walk on the Russell Trails and enjoy festivities afterward.  Details to come.

Leadership of PIE next year

• Kate Dodge and Alyssa Lasher will both step down as Co-Chairs of PiE next year, and Ali Douglas will step down as Secretary - so there are lots of opportunities to get involved and help steer the PiE ship into the future!  Email Kate for more info.

Next PIE Meeting is May 5, 2014 at 6 pm.
Presenters will be Jeff O’Hara and Allegra Miller talking about School Safety and the Placement Process.