PTSA Meeting January 25, 2007

Arbor Heights PTSA
General Meeting Agenda
January 25, 2007

Opening Comments / Minutes Approval - Joe Sharp (10 min)
Arbor Heights Principal Report – Dr. Coram (10 min)
Popcorn Party Attendance - Dr. Coram (5 min)
Volunteer/Fundraising – Anna George (5 min)
Treasurers Report / Project List – Curt Knox (15 min)
Schools First - Beth Dwyer (5 min)
New Business (5 min)
Closing

Please complete the on-line parent/guardian survey!

Go here to vote: More info and link to the survey

Schools were closed on five days this school year due to inclement weather. The district's contract with the Seattle Education Association (SEA) calls for make-up days to be added at the end of the school year. This would mean that the last student day would be Wednesday, June 27.

However, the district and SEA are exploring other options, and would like to have input from parents and guardians. An on-line survey will be posted on this page no later than 5 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 18. Due to the need to make decisions quickly, the deadline to submit responses will be midnight on Monday, Jan. 22.

The State has announced the possibility of a waiver for days when school was closed during a Governor-declared state of emergency. (In Seattle's case, Dec. 15). We will explore this option. However, even with a waiver, the 1,000 instructional hour requirement must be met and we expect only minimal relief from this provision.

Seattle Public Schools is considering a number of other options. Please take a few moments to complete this survey and share your opinion of the best way to schedule the five make-up days. Results will be shared and discussed with SEA, and a decision announced by the district as soon as possible. Note that any modification of the existing 2006-2007 school calendar must be bargained with SEA.

We know that the number of make-up days we face this year is challenging for almost everyone - teachers, students, families, and employers. We appreciate your input to our planning.
All employees of Seattle Public Schools received an internal survey via e-mail approximately two weeks ago. We, therefore, ask that you only complete this survey if you are a parent or guardian of student(s) currently attending Seattle Public Schools.

Thank you.

Meeting Minutes September 21, 2006

Arbor Heights PTSA
General Meeting Minutes
September 21, 2006

Opening:
President Joe Sharp called the regular meeting of the Arbor Heights PTSA to order at 7:07 p.m. on September 21, 2006 in the school cafeteria. This is the first PTSA meeting of the school year. He welcomed the Kindergarten parents. He also welcomed the “returning faces”. The turnout was great.

Joe announced that Arbor Heights is not on the Seattle school closure list; followed by a round of applause. Joe reminded everyone to be compassionate to the Roxhill staff and families. Several of the families will be at Arbor Heights next year.

Please consider volunteering for one of the PTSA activities or fundraisers. Also, please review the PTSA packet.

The minutes for the May meeting are approved as written. The minutes can be found on the PTSA blog (http://ahptsa.blogspot.com/).

Arbor Heights Principal Report:

Dr. Coram said the first day was very smooth and it was a great opening at school. She said that the 1st Monday of every month (at 9:15 am) there is an all school assembly. For the first assembly, she went over school regulations, etc. Parents are welcome to attend these assemblies.

The Dads and Donuts event is coming up on Tuesday, October 3rd 7:30 – 8:30 am. Dads are welcome to bring their kids. Please RSVP by Friday, September 29th for food count.

Although there are official parent - teacher conferences in November; if you ever a question regarding how your child is doing, feel free to call or email your child’s teacher at any time. Most problems get resolved at the teacher level.

The WASL scores weren’t great last year. The third, fourth and fifth grade teachers are looking at the scores to see what areas need to be strengthened. We have a part time math coach, working with all teachers. Dr. Coram gets a breakdown which can be reviewed and analyzed. Factors, such as class size will be considered along with correlations. So it is easy to see what areas can be improved. Carol is happy to share the curriculum. They might also be on the Seattle School District website. OSP website also has them. (Addison Wesley and TURK are used in combination.)

Parents will receive a letter with the individual child’s scores. They should be out by next week. If all three sections are passed (4th grade last year), there will be a special certificate from the governor.

The WASL will continue to be discussed in future PTSA meetings.

Treasurer Report / review and approve 2006-2007 PTSA budget:
Curt reviewed the budget, page by page, explaining to the new parents how the information is displayed. We always like to have $15,000 - $20,000 at the end of each school year, for the subsequent PTSA year.

When reviewing page 2 of the budget (Fundraising), Curt reminded us all that we need leaders to take ownership and drive fundraising.

When reviewing page 3 (Spending Money), Curt explained that the board approves things under $300. Anything over $300 needs a PTSA quorum to approve. The project voting next month will fall in this category.

The question was raised “Why not put the money in a CD?” Curt explained that it adds a level of inflexibility to the budget. Another question was raised “Why do we have so much money currently in the budget?” Curt explained that we budgeted for a few large projects last year, but things like the school district or the Dept of Transportation dept have covered those costs. That is why we have the budget that we have.

The budget has been approved.

Fundraising Chair Report and Upcoming Events:
We have a new bake sale volunteer. Spaghetti dinner has an immediate need for volunteers.

http://www.escrip.com/ is how you can log a percentage of the money you spend at Safeway (using your Safeway card) to the school. The Target “Take Charge of Education” money (http://sites.target.com/site/en/corporate/page.jsp?contentId=PRD03-001825) goes into the Arbor Heights selfhelp fund. Box Tops (http://www.boxtops4education.com) and ink cartridges are also collected. Thriftway also offers a 1% cash back for cash register receipts. It is amazing how the money adds up.

Dads and Donuts is on October 3rd. Darrel is coordinating this event. Fall Cleanup is on September 30th. Bring gardening tools and gloves and work on the landscape around the school. No Pancake breakfast, but perhaps coffee and donuts. Darrel will follow up with the owners of this project (Dave and Rob). Perhaps an additional planting can be done later in the fall.

Regarding other PTSA functions, 2007 School Carnival – Tracy Richards is going to own this. Lost and Found – owner found. Science Fair – we need an owner. Boxtops – Jennifer Beard and Cori will work. A competition could be organized to raise more. Math Conference at the UW Oct 7. Directory for this year. Kirstin Moe (Kirstinmoe@comcast.net) Layne talked about the Bank Day. It is nice to have a number of volunteers. 11:30 – 1 on Wednesdays.

Projects Discussion:
Joe described the project form. We are in a good spot financially. We can do some capital improvements. Regarding pothole fixing etc – phone calls / emails to Richard Staudt (Phone: (206) 252-0710 Email: restaudt@seattleschools.org). Also put information on the website.

School Closures:
We are not on the list. There will not be any additional portables added to the school at this point (and it takes 18 months to get portables added). We could take up to 100 additional students. We have to look at class sizes at all ages. We may have additional classes, depending on numbers. Max class sizes are 28 for younger grades and 32 for higher grades. Public meeting information will be made on the WIKI and the email list.

We should extend an invite to Roxhill Elementary to a PTSA meeting (after the Nov 1 decision) if needed.

New Business:
The sidewalk work will be reversed. The crosswalk on 35th will also be improved. The walking school bus will not happen at this point, due to the fact that we don’t have sidewalks.

The wall, for a punishment, is an issue. Chase games are not allowed, but running should be ok. Are there other punishments that would be more appropriate or not so visible?

Closing:
The regular meeting of the Arbor Heights PTSA wrapped up at 8:35 pm

Meeting Minutes October 19, 2006

Arbor Heights PTSA
General Meeting Minutes
October 19, 2006

Opening:
President Joe Sharp called the regular meeting of the Arbor Heights PTSA to order at 7:07 p.m. on October 19, 2006 in the school cafeteria. We will be voting on the projects we want to fund for the year. We have a packed agenda, so it is important to keep the meeting moving. Thanks for the great turnout.

The minutes for the September meeting are approved as written. The minutes will soon be found on the PTSA blog (http://ahptsa.blogspot.com/).

Arbor Heights Principal Report:
We had a very successful Dads and Donuts (over 70 people). The Arbor Heights Open House was also great. Thanks to everyone who made these events successful.

Math assessment program. Most of the classes went through an assessment, focusing on number sense and problem solving. Dr Coram will provide more information on the assessment later. One parent asked “Will we see the scores for our students?” Dr. Coram replied that the information is used more to identify areas where teachers can improve what they are teaching. Once we have the assessment results, we can give additional information to parents. There is a math workshop at Roosevelt, which is providing information regarding the shift in how the Seattle Schools teach math. Dr. Coram will bring sample math problems to the future PTSA meetings so we can experience what the kids are getting.

DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) The 2nd – 5th graders will take this test in the fall. The 1st graders will take this test in the spring.

Two fund raising food nights are scheduled. There will be a McTeachers night at McDonalds. The date for that event will be posted in the bulletin. Endolyn Joes night will be on election day. More information for that event will be posted in the bulletin.

Book character day is on October 31. There will be an assembly in the afternoon.

The month of March will be an Arbor Heights “Dream Dinners” month. Arbor Heights will receive a cut of all profits. (http://www.dreamdinners.com/). The West Seattle Dream Dinners can be found at 4701 41st Ave SW Ste 110 Seattle, WA 98116.

There will be a Veterans Day assembly at 1:45 on November 9th.

There is a West Seattle Academic parade and all the South cluster West Seattle schools are participating. Those who wish to participate can. There will be a flyer in the bulletin.

Mr. Wilkie’s class won the parent attendance popcorn party by a landslide.
Fundraising Chair Report and Upcoming Events:
The Gift Wrap fund raiser was a success; over $10,000 in sales. The Spaghetti dinner that went with the school’s open house netted $1,200 profit. The Cookie Dough sales start on October 26. Arbor Heights will have a fundraising day at Barnes and Noble. Arbor Heights Holiday Bazaar – is there any interest? The bazaar will have a mixture of kids crafts and adult crafts.

Projects Discussion / voting:
The projects are on the wall. Where do we want to focus our money, on beautifying the school or in investing in tutors etc? The School District should be covering the stage curtains and cafeteria curtains. Items that are no cost probably don’t need dots – the focus is on what we will spend our money on.

Scott, Dana’s husband, has agreed to take on the “bird dogging” job of working with the school district to get what the school district has committed to funding.

New Business:
School Budget – Beth Dwyer asked if we have had the opportunity to review the school budget. According to Dr. Coram, Roxanne (leadership team) and Curt (PTSA treasurer) get to opportunity to review the school budget. Beth asked “Why is the PTSA paying for things which were paid for by the school in the past? Why are we not funding things like aids in the school budget?” Dr. Coram said the school goes right down to the penny on their spending. It was agreed to make the budget information available to parents and to discuss at a future PTSA meeting.

Building Leadership team – Dr. Coram said this team is comprised of a couple parents, a couple staff etc. Information from this team is not getting to the PTSA. Perhaps we need to get a newer parent involved on the leadership team so that they can carry us forward for years. We need to have the PTSA liaison at those meetings.

School / Traffic Safety:

We have a deaf kid at the school. We should use his case to our advantage for traffic safety. We need to make the walk to Arbor Heights (especially at 35th and 104th) safer for our children.

Access safety – we have a lot of doors open during school hours. The main door is open. The handicap door is unlocked. The play court is open. Dr. Coram said the safety and security office (Lary Farrar) can do a walkthrough. She will invite some parents to join at the walkthrough.

Closing:
The regular meeting of the Arbor Heights PTSA wrapped up at 8:10 pm

PTSA Meeting November 16, 2006

Arbor Heights PTSA
General Meeting Agenda
November 16, 2006

Opening Comments / Budget Items / Minutes Approval - Joe Sharp (5 min)
Arbor Heights Principal Report / Endolyne & McTeachers Fundraising – Dr. Coram (5 min)
Popcorn Party Attendance - Dr. Coram (5 min)
Schools First Levy Campaign (10 min)
Math Discussion – Dr. Coram (10 min)
PTSA Project Results - Joe Sharp (10 min)
Barnes and Noble Fundraiser (5 min)
Holiday Bazaar (5 min)
New Business (5 min)
Closing

* Everyone – We have a full agenda. Please help to keep the meeting moving.

PTSA Meeting October 19, 2006

Arbor Heights PTSA
General Meeting Agenda
October 19, 2006

Opening Comments / Minutes Approval - Joe Sharp (5 min)
Arbor Heights Principal Report / Popcorn Party Attendance - Dr. Coram (5 min)
Fundraising Chair Report and Upcoming Events – Anna George (5 min)
PTSA Project Review and Voting - Joe Sharp (40 min)
New Business (5 min)
School / Traffic Safety – Dr. Coram (10 min)
Questions / Closing

Note: Everyone – We have a full agenda. Please help to keep the meeting moving.

Arbor Heights Fall Clean up - Saturday, September 30th

The Arbor Heights fall clean up is happening this Saturday from 9:00am-1:00pm! Please bring your own gardening tools, brooms, etc. We will provide garbage bags and gardening gloves and miscellaneous tools. The focus of this event is to clean-up the grounds. Pickup garbage, weeds, sweep, and prune. We need all the help we can get, so please stop by and put some gloves on and dig in! Even if you can only help for an hour! Whatever you can give is always appreciated!

We will provide Coffee and Donuts!