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MHS PTA Minutes - 4/9/2009
Co-Presidents Yvette Garner-Henley and Jane Cooke welcomed 8 attendees.
Guest Speaker Adrienne Markus of Professional Foster Child Care Agency was unable to attend.
Approval of Minutes from 2/13/2009 - The motion to accept the 2/13 minutes was seconded and approved.
Treasurer's Report - The motion to accept the Treasurer's Report was seconded and approved. The savings and checking account balances are $8165.64 and $71.76 respectively.
Principal's Report
Principal Fontaine was not able to attend. Dean of Students Cheryl Gonzalez responded to questions.
Class dues are $180 spread over four years. The class dues have been held to $180 for the past nine years. Freshmen pay $10. Sophomores pay $25, Juniors $50 and Seniors $95. Dues are paid to the teacher who is class advisor. An envelope addressed to the class advisor with the dues can be dropped off at the office. Opportunities are provided for students with financial hardship to earn the money.
Plant Sale
The plant sale on May 9th is the PTA's only fund raising activity.
Selling plants on Friday, May 8th - VoAg Teacher Rebecca Isaacson has not confirmed if the plant sale will be two days, 5/8 and 5/9. There had been consideration of opening up the sale on Friday to sell to teachers. The group discussed an alternative to opening up the sale on Friday. Teachers could preorder hanging baskets from Pine Ledge. These baskets could be delivered to the teachers on Friday. Possibly Keigwin teachers could be preorder baskets as well.
Posters - Yvette reported on the posters. The place the PTA used in Portland in years past has gone out of business. She contacted Minute Man on Main Street. They will charge $65 for 50 color posters. Last year 100 black and white posters were printed and there were a large number left over. The cost for the 50 color posters is less money than what was paid last year. Some suggestions made were to cut the number of posters to 40 and to place posters on the posts on the school's driveway. The posters were not ready in time for the 4/9 meeting. Yvette will distribute to members once they are ready. Members agreed that the color posters looked much nicer.
Signs - Sue Aronne will place the big signs that advertise the Plant Sale near the school's flagpole, on Newfield Street near the driveway, on the South Green, on Memorial Green near Wesleyan and near the Westfield Fire Department on East Street.
Other Advertising - Jean Monahan will place ads in the Chronicle, Middletown Press, Blue Tube, blogs, etc.
Tag Sale - Last year the school nurse ran a fundraising tag sale at the same time as the plant sale. There will be no tag sale this year.
Flats -Boxes called flats are needed for plant sale customers to place their plants to take home. So far 115 flats have been brought to VoAg and another 50 will be brought in. VoAg would like 400 boxes so members are encouraged to bring flats.
New Officers for 2009/2010
The Hospitality office is vacant now. Co-president, Treasurer and Membership will be open next year. The PTA needs to fill these positions. If these positions are not filled the state PTA could step in to manage for one year along with a president and treasurer but after that additional officer positions would need to be filled or the PTA would be dissolved and all funds would go to the state PTA.
The duties associated with Hospitality were reviewed. In past years Ceba Vestergaard held a teacher's appreciation breakfast in October and an appreciation lunch in the Spring. For the 2008/2009 school year, the PTA merged the two events into one breakfast in February. The other event Hospitality runs is the Freshman Orientation. Hot Dogs, chili and ice cream are provided.
The duties associated with Membership are to log and keep track of the PTA members. Membership dues are collected and given to the Treasurer. The Membership officer also handles email communication to the PTA because she has the distribution list.
The student planner will be sent out on May 15th. If PTA officers are known by then they can be included in the planner. Dates for next year are already set.
Other Business
The 4/9/2009 meeting should have been the last PTA meeting for 2009. Since PTA Officer positions are still open, there will be another meeting on May 14th before the Partnerships meeting.
Respectfully Submitted,
MHS PTA Minutes - 2/13/2009
Co-President Yvette Garner-Henley welcomed 12 attendees.
Approval of Minutes from 11/6/2008 - The motion to accept the 11/6 minutes was seconded and approved.
Treasurer's Report - The motion to accept the Treasurer's Report was seconded and approved. Treasurer Sue Aronne pointed out that membership dues are down $695 from what was projected in the budget. Hospitality expenditures are near budget.
The savings and checking account balances are $8773.63 and $145.63 respectively.
PTA Membership Raffle - The PTA has an annual raffle for all members who join the PTA. Sue Monarca won the $75 Gift Certificate.
Principal's Report
Principal Fontaine was not able to attend. Dean of Students Cheryl Gonzalez responded to questions.
The new building is good. There are some issues that come up but that is normal for a newly built structure.
Students did their class selection on 2/12. Guidance is busy processing the forms. Students will get their schedules on the first day of school. If there is a scheduling problem, guidance will work it out with the student before school begins. Usually conflicts occur more with electives. Guidance tries to fit the seniors in first to electives.
Class dues are $180 spread over four years. Freshmen pay $10. Sophomores pay $25, Juniors $50 and Seniors $95. Dues are paid to the teacher who is class advisor. Opportunities are provided for students with financial hardship to earn the money.
The sports fields are on schedule. Graduation will be on the front lawn this year.
Plant Sale
The plant sale on May 9th is the PTA's only fundraising activity. Planning and making contacts begins in February/March. Yvette has contacted Rebecca Isaacson, VoAg Director, about selling on Friday May 8th. This would give students a chance to buy plants for their parents and possibly add more traffic from outside the school. For each VoAg plant sold, 60% goes to VoAg and 40% goes to the PTA. The PTA also purchases plants from Pine Ledge Nursery in Portland and keeps 100% of the profits from those plants.
Interested members can contact Yvette to volunteer for any of the following items that must be done prior to the sale. Help with even one small item is doing a lot.
Volunteers are also needed the day of the sale to work the register and count money. Members with trucks or minivans are needed after the sale when the unsold plants are returned to Pine Ledge.
Yvette will send an email to membership looking for volunteers. Since the next PTA meeting is not until April, one month before the sale, we may have to schedule an emergency meeting if there is not a good response.
New Officers for 2009/2010
The Hospitality office is vacant now. Co-president, Treasurer and Membership will be open next year. The PTA needs to fill these positions. Contact Yvette in case you know of any member who might be interested.
If these positions were not filled the state PTA could step in to manage for one year but a president and treasurer would be needed after that.
A member suggested contacting the Middle School PTA to involve parents of incoming students.
It was felt that the drop in PTA membership is due to less advertising. For example, the Principal's newsletter is not being produced regularly and only in electronic format. It was a good way to inform parents of PTA activities.
It was also felt that alternating monthly meetings with Partnerships has made members more disconnected from the PTA. The last meeting was three months ago and members feel out of touch.
A member suggested supplying parents with a magnet with PTA meeting dates or some other small item when parents sign up that will help them keep dates in mind.
Mini-Grants
The PTA decided how to disburse $1200 among the faculty who applied for mini-grants. Last year the requests were fewer and for less money. The PTA was able to give something towards almost all the requests. This year is there were more requests for more money and not all requests could be granted.
Mini-Grant Disbursements:
Miscellaneous
Next Meeting
There next meeting will be on 4/9/2009.
Respectfully Submitted,
MHS PTA Minutes - 11/6/2008 Co-President Yvette Henley
introduced officers and welcomed approximately 20 attendees. The
meeting began with the guest speakers. John Hennelly,
Marco Gaylord - Middletown Public Schools Cultural Council John Hennelly and Marco Gaylord
are on the Executive Committee of the Middletown Public Schools Cultural
Council. They are attending PTA meetings in Middletown to make
parents aware of the activities and accomplishments of the Cultural
Council. While the Cultural Council has accomplished much, it
is not well known. The Cultural Council has existed
since 1978 and is active in all Middletown schools, elementary through
high school. Some elementary schools in particular have a desperate
need for arts funding. The Cultural Council makes sure that all
Middletown children receive the same services and it is the only organization
of its kind in Connecticut in terms of providing cultural equity. The Cultural Council provides
the opportunities for students to participate in artistic experiences
such as dance, drama, music, visual arts and literary arts. Some
of the activities it provides are: The Cultural Council would
like parental and community support at budget time. Their normal
budget is $16000 which they can then leverage to $48000 with grants
and gifts. Last spring their entire annual budget of $16000 was
cut from the Board of Education budget. They were able to get
funding through other sources and are in good shape now. However,
they want to get the word out on what they do so that they can receive
more support at future budget hearings. More detailed information about
the Cultural Council can be found in their flier located at http://www.mps1.org/ Erica White
– MHS College and Career Resource Center Erica White works in Guidance
at the MHS College and Career Resource Center. The center is used
by students looking for college or career information. It is open
all day and has 20 computers. Students can do college searches,
scholarship research, write their applications and have them critiqued.
There is SAT preparation and resume writing. The Center is mostly
used by upperclassmen but all grades are welcome. For example,
sophomores and freshmen might want to take the interest inventories.
Students can check in at a study hall and then get permission to come
down to the Center. The Center opened the second
week of September and college reps have been coming to speak to students
since then until now. The highest turnout has been for schools
with local name recognition and sometimes the meetings have been held
in the Lecture Hall. While the focus right now is on colleges,
later in the year there will be more of an interest among students on
career information. The Center also works a little with Upward
Bound. Juniors are beginning to come
in more now. Junior Planning Night will be in February.
There will be a career expo at Wesleyan in the future. SAT results
do not come out until mid December. Guidance will bring in Juniors
a group at a time to explain the results. Approval of Minutes from
9/11/2008 – The motion to accept the 9/11 minutes was seconded
and approved. Budget and
Treasurer’s Report The July 2008 to June 2009
Budget was presented. There was a new line item for Savings which
will present a more accurate view of PTA money. There was a new
line item allocating $1000 for Partnerships. There were also line
items for Blue Unity School Spirit Club and Reflections State Winners
at $100 each. The PTA discussed donating
money to the Booster Club towards purchasing a digital marquee.
The Booster Club is donating $10000 but the marquee cost is $30000.
Principal Fontaine advised that the PTA should not act on this.
He suggested waiting to see how the money falls out from the recent
release of Phase II Funds for the new high school. A motion to accept the budget
was seconded and approved. The Treasurer’s Report informed
membership of some expenses that had been paid for Hospitality and Insurance.
The savings and checking account balances are $10175.13 and $95.08 respectively. Reflections Program Reflections is an arts contest
sponsored by the National PTA where students submit dance, visual art,
photography, music, essay or poetry entries based on a theme.
This year’s theme is WOW. MHS has been poorly represented in
past Reflections contests. Last year there was only one entry.
The deadline for this year is 1/7/2009. Co-president Jane Cooke spoke
to Marco Gaylord who will pass the information along to the students.
Principal Fontaine will put information about Reflections in his upcoming
newsletter and also on the school web site. PTA would also like
to submit an announcement for the Blue Tube morning announcements.
It was felt that students looking to beef up their college applications
might be interested if they were aware of it. Cara Williamson is the district
PTA rep for Reflections. Caren Vajda is the contact for MHS.
The PTA agreed to Caren’s request for an email about Reflections to
be sent to PTA distribution. Membership Concerns Darlene Przekopski reported
that there are now 58 paid members. This time last year the number
was about 100. Membership is down and dues will not make budget
projections. Darlene will complete a Membership drive mailing
in December. The membership drive letter is being revised and
updated. PTA will try to recruit members at upcoming events such
as the Sports Banquet on 12/5, the Project Graduation Auction on 12/6
and the Financial Aid night on 11/13. There is no teacher rep so
far this year. Principal’s Report Principal’s Newsletter –
The Principal’s Newsletter costs $800 to print and $600 to mail per
edition. To cut costs, the newsletter will be posted on the website.
An automated phone message will let parents know when it is available.
Parents who wish to receive a paper copy will have to call and leave
their child’s name. Update on the New Building
– The work on the building is coming along. There are weekly
meetings with the Builder and Architect. The auditorium is almost
finished. It seats 700 and could go up to 900. There is
filler for the orchestra pit that can be used for more seating when
it is placed at floor level. The filler can also be placed at
stage level to extend the stage. In June rigging and an acoustical
shell will be purchased. The media center is almost
ready to open. Amodio went out of business before the books were
unpacked. This forced postponement of the media center opening. The pool will be ready for
the next competitive season. The girls were not able to use the
pool and competed the entire season as an away team. There may
be a pool party for them once the pool is ready. Sleeves in the
starting deck were pointed in the wrong direction and had to be jack
hammered out and redone. The pool room is dark and light will
be added. The diving boards are Olympic quality. The facility
is gorgeous. There should be seating for
700 or 800 by the time the basketball season starts. The
gym was redesigned from the original plan due to budget restraints.
It uses steel beams which extend into the gym space. As a box
the new gym is bigger than the old gym but beam to beam there is not
as much space. They are trying to come up with solutions.
While no eating is allowed in the large gym, it may be allowed in the
smaller gym which has a different type of floor and also a protective
surface on top. There were problems with the
P.A. System. Sound that was supposed to be broadcast in the cafeteria
was sent to the 2nd and 3rd floors and the gym.
The pep rally blew out the speakers in the gym and they were only set
at half volume. The track and football fields
are back on schedule. The old WWMS came down faster than expected
(less asbestos). Locker rooms can’t be built until a special
piece of state legislature is passed in June that will let us off the
hook for adding space. The concession stand is being built with
amenities. The locker rooms will be placed on each side of the
concession stand. Because the amenities will exist it should be
easy to throw down a foundation and build the locker rooms. We
should be able to play football there in the fall. MHS will go before the board
to hire a consultant firm to make sure that track and football are installed
correctly. Track won’t be ready for spring but should be the
following year. The front two fields will not
be ready for spring except possibly for softball. Three big floodlights
have been added to the back of the building. Graduation will be at the new
high school. The only place that will be available for an outdoor
graduation would be the softball/baseball fields. Seats could
be placed and tickets issued for the seats. Additional attendees
could stand. If the graduation is indoors then it might be held
in the auditorium. Cool Schools – MHS has been
selected as a Channel 3 Cool School. The school will be shown
live on Channel 3 news between 5 am and 7 am on 11/14. There will
also be previously taped highlights shown on the news. The students
will be fed a continental breakfast and the PTA will assist with providing
the food. Cafeteria – The cashiers
are adjusting to the software. There are plans to open two more registers.
More students would use the cafeteria if they could get through the
registers more quickly. The food is good and reasonably priced. Equipment - $350000 worth of
equipment has not gone out to bid yet. There is still no shop
equipment. Swimming is being taught with no pool. Aquatics
doesn’t have fish tanks. Clocks and blinds just recently came
in. Student Achievement Center
(SAC) - This is located on the 2nd floor at the front of
the building. It is not numbered but is between 220 and 222.
It has eight computers and a certified teacher. It can be used
for projects or papers. Students can go to their assigned study
halls and then get permission to go to the SAC. BluePrints – BluePrints was
$900 in the red this year. They are now out of the red and will
do one less edition. Concerns, Questions and
Answers CSOs - A member asked for clarification
of the roles of the three Campus Security Officers (CSOs). The
Dean of Students and Principal responded that the CSOs receive the same
in-service training relating to relationships that the staff does.
They are given restraint training. They do a good job of diffusing
tense students and are the first responders in a medical emergency.
The member expressed concern that the CSOs may be too friendly with
students thus blurring a boundary. Students may become too free
with relaxed boundaries and get into trouble. There was concern
that CSOs were physically jostling with students. The dean and
principal were aware of verbal bantering but had not been aware of anything
physical. They were going to look into this. Teachers Response to Emails
– A member mentioned that some teachers were not responding to emails.
Principal Fontaine mentioned that sometimes emails get caught in a new
spam filter. He suggested that when sending an email, place the
word “Student” in the subject line, i.e. Student Concern or Student
Inquiry. The teachers can then use that to extract the emails
from the filter. Emails from AOL have a higher percentage of falling
into the spam filter. The spam filter is only available to faculty
once a day for retrieving notes. Two teachers present at the meeting
also noted that teachers are inundated with emails from the district
and other sources, not just parents. Teachers with door duty try
to check emails twice a day and often have a time conflict. Another
problem might be typos in the teacher’s name. If a parent doesn’t
receive a response after a reasonable time, contact Guidance - Stephanie
Campbell (Student Last names A - CO), Kathleen Polaske (CR - HA), Kaitlin
Impelluso (HE – MC), Nate Briggs (ME – SA), Ralph D’Amato (SC
- Z) - or the principal. New Schedule – One parent
expressed support for the new schedule. She felt that there was
less pressure on students because of not having to have homework ready
in all subjects each night. She felt her freshman child is under
less pressure that her senior child was as a freshman. Project Grad Cookie Sale –
A member reminded parents about the project grad cookie sale on 12/6.
She asked PTA members to consider contributing cookies to the cookie
sale. Next Meeting There next meeting will be
on 2/12/2009. Traditionally there is no meeting in December.
PTA is alternating meetings with Partnerships and they are scheduled
for 1/15/2009. Respectfully Submitted, Mary Abong’o
MHS PTA Minutes - 9/11/2008
Welcome
Co-President Yvette Henley welcomed approximately 25 PTA members to a new year. This year's officers were introduced.
Overview for the Year
This year the PTA will meet every other month and alternate monthly meetings with Partnerships. There will be no PTA meeting in October. Instead, members can attend the Partnerships meeting on 10/16/2008 at MHS at 6:30 PM. The alternating meetings are meant to make it easier for parents to attend meetings for different organizations. The next PTA meeting will be 11/6/2008.
This year PTA will be more committee focused to help with transition of expertise from experienced members to newer members. PTA members are encouraged to sign up for the committees.
The available committees:
Treasurer's Report
Treasurer Sue Aronne remarked that, for 2007 - 2008, the PTA had a net income of $204.50 as compared to a net income from 2006 - 2007 of $430. Last year's income was down in both fundraising and membership. Some expenses were less which is why we came out about even.
Sue presented a draft of the budget and had questions for the membership concerning three line items. These items did not incur any expense last year so Sue asked if they should be dropped from the budget. Sue will use the feedback to complete a final draft of the budget that will be presented for a vote at the 11/6/2008 PTA meeting.
The following line items were considered for dropping.
Advocacy/Youth Services - Reason for dropping: No money was spent on this line item in the 2007 - 2008 school year.
Blue Unity School Spirit Club - Reason for dropping: No money was spent on this line item in the 2007 - 2008 school year. There were no requests made.
Senior Honors Reception - Reason for dropping: The school has taken over the responsibility for this reception.
Principal's Report
Dean of Students Cheryl Gonzalez presented the Principal's report.
School Opening:
September 23 Referendum to Release Phase II Funds
High School Building Committee Chairman Lee Osbourne, Mayor Sebastian Guilliano and Councilman Tom Serra spoke to PTA members about an upcoming referendum on September 23, 2008. The referendum is a bookkeeping exercise that authorizes them to use existing funds already allocated for the high school. They urged all members to vote yes so that the money could be used. No new taxes will result.
A yes vote will allow Phase II of the Middletown High School Building Project to go forward. This comprises the razing of the old Middle School, development of the track and the football and soccer fields, and payment for the Generator and Hydrogen Powered Fuel Cell.
A no vote means the Board of Education will not make its commitments to the State to provide a place of assembly for an emergency. If the commitments are not met then the State will not reimburse the City for some expenses, and other money given as a grant to Middletown for the high school would be returned to its sources. In summary a no vote would cost the taxpayers money and a yes vote will not cost any money.
A motion was made to send postcards to MHS PTA members urging support for the referendum. The motion was seconded. The ensuing discussion considered an email blast instead as a cheaper and timely consideration. There was further discussion about whether such an email would means the PTA getting involved with Politics. Yvette took the responsibility of contacting the State Election Commission to find out how this note could be worded.
A motion was made to use email instead of post cards to contact MHS PTA members about the referendum. The motion was accepted and unanimously passed.
Partnerships
Lisa Schuerholz-Winters spoke about Partnerships which is a two year old school, family and community partnership. Membership includes students, parents, teachers and community members. Partnerships works with teachers to help students achieve and it focuses on the climate in then schools and on the community. For example, Partnerships ran the recent student orientations which were successful. Partnerships also organized the dedication for the new high school which will be held on September 28th.
The first Partnerships meeting is on 10/16. For the first 30 minutes, all parents groups will take a few minutes to speak. The PTA members are encouraged to attend and can leave after that segment or stay for the Partnerships meeting.
Partnerships has hired an artist-in-residence to work with students to decorate the high school with murals and banners. T-shirts will be sold at the dedication to help fund this activity. Partnerships is requesting a $1000 donation to assist with this endeavor.
A motion was made to add a line item to the budget for Partnerships for $1000. The motion was seconded and unanimously voted on.
Membership Raffle Update
Darlene Prezekopski announced there would be a $75 Gift Certificate raffle for all members who sign up by February. This gift certificate would be to any business of the winner's choice.
Boosters
Tess Dagenais described the MHS Booster Club Scrip program. The Booster Club will be selling $25 gift cards to a wide variety of groceries, restaurants and retail stores. The club will receive 9% of each card sold. There are order forms on the MHS web site and orders should be made by November 7th. The money will go to the general Booster Club fund so all teams will benefit.
If this program is successful, cards will be sold at the games. There would also be bonus cards at the holidays where some businesses might double the percentage going to boosters.
Purchases of the cards must be made through Boosters. Contact Tess at MHSScrips@gmail.com or call her at 346-8145 for more information.
Other Business
Youth Services - A member expressed concern that Justin Carbonella from Youth Services does not have an office in the new high school. Mr. Carbonella counsels students involved with the courts and he was more effective at the old high school because his office was in the building. Middletown United Fathers also provides mentoring to youths. The Partnerships representative mentioned that on 10/15/2008 there would be a District Wide Partnerships meeting. She suggested that this topic be brought up at that meeting.
Latin - A freshman parent mentioned that her daughter planned to take Latin. Guidance indicated that the school cannot guarantee that Latin will be offered for the next three years. The current Latin teacher is a retired teacher working part time. Members suggested that the family look into Middlesex Community College and Wesleyan since students can take classes at those institutions. Another suggestion was to look into virtual high school. The children of other members have tried virtual high school and found it to be worthwhile.
Project Graduation Insurance - A member who also participates in Project Graduation (PG) asked for clarification on whether or not PTA Insurance covers PG activities. The answer was that PTA insurance does not cover PG which is a separate organization. The PTA makes donations but doesn't sponsor PG. PG is a school organization with a faculty advisor and may be covered by the school insurance policy.
Respectfully Submitted, |