PS 3 PTA Meeting Minutes

PS 3 PTA – Meeting Minutes Meeting Date: September 24, 2012 Minutes Issued Date September 28, 2012

Start of the Meeting: 6:23pm

Welcome to the first PTA meeting of the 2012-2013 school year.

 Introduction by PTA Co-Presidents (Nick Gottlieb & Susan Stover).  Introduction of the Executive Board Co-VP’s (Claudia Bellini & Yin Ho), Co- Treasure’s (Liz Craig & Anne Rice-Yaffee), Co-Secretary’s (Samantha Rifkin & Kate Brady), Member’s at Large (Marion Rosenfeld, Nancy Fey, Sue Unkenholz, Kirk Arrowood & Denise Pizzini).

PRESIDENTS WELCOME (Nick Gottlieb & Susan Stover)  The PTA generally meets on the 2nd Tuesday of the month on the 3rd floor in room 310.  We would like to thank the parents at this school. From the ‘Fund’raising to the ‘FUN’draising. Thank you to those who’ve been so hard at work over the summer (putting together the welcome packet) and getting the school year up and running. Let’s applaud ourselves (round of applause).  This is our 42nd year. We are proud of our history and of our arts program. We are going to show you a brief video called PADIM (video made at/about ps3 by Nicole Ansari Cox).

Approval of Agenda: Agenda Approved.

Approval of Minutes from 6/12/12 PTA meeting: Minutes Approved, 1 abstention.

Question: Can you please explain why we approve the agenda & the minutes? Principal Lisa Answers: The agenda gets voted for approval to give the opportunity for the community at large to gather and keep the meeting on track. It keeps the proceedings more peaceful and orderly and allows for having discussion with out conflict. The minutes are approved to allow for the community an opportunity to read what’s happened at the previous meeting if they could not attend. It’s a way to have information generalized.

PRINCIPALS REPORT (Lisa Siegman)  Regina (the assistant principal) cannot be here tonight because she has to be at an off-site training so, on behalf of us both, I would like to give gratitude for all those who have done so much and who have brought us so far, especially those on the executive board.  I want to welcome the new parents. There are so many opportunities to get involved. This is part of the fabric of the continuity of your children’s lives.  This school year is off to an amazing start. So much is already going on. A lot of programs got picked up from where they left off last year. One word about going forward, if you see a problem, please look to see if you can find a solution. We welcome that. (Round of applause).

Nick comments: We are very fortunate to have Lisa and Regina and all the staff here. Also, the parent partnerships here are real. We are an open administration. Most of us will be cycling off the PTA after this school year and we are interested in working with new families or families that have more time. We want to bring in new leadership.

PARENT COORDINATOR (Terry Spring-Robinson)  Hi. I’m your parent coordinator (If your child had lice you know that). As Lisa said, when there is a problem see if you can find a solution. Ex: a couple of parents put together a detailed list of how to rid your child of lice and it’s now posted on our website.  The latest art exhibit is going up in the halls, it’s graffiti and I was listening to some of the kids discussing it for over an hour (about graffiti and the art) and it shows how this is a fabulous school that brings this out in our community.  I’m located in room 408. Which is also our parent room, a place where we can gather informally.

Nick comments: Could the teachers in the room please raise their hands, stand up and announce what you do. (Applause). We are incredibly grateful to all our teachers.

TEACHERS REPORT: (Susan Soler)  I’m Susan, room 205. I report monthly on questions that get asked of the teachers and students. I also bring teachers questions and/or concerns to the PTA meetings.

PRESIDENTS REPORT (Nick Gottlieb & Susan Stover)  Coffee Catch (Lucy Sexton): They are on the first Monday’s of each month after drop off in the gym. I love PS3 and the community it provides so we offer free coffee and a chance to chat. This requires some help, please spread the word to parents to come to the gym after drop off and please sign up to help bring coffee and milk. Even if you can only help out once, I’m happy to have the help.  Picture Day (Nancy Fey): It is on Thursday Oct 4th. We’re using a new photography company and we need a lot of volunteers this year. My email and Karen Wong’s email are on the board out front. Please sign up to help. We need 8-10 people at any time during the day.  Breakfast with Lisa: This will be a week from Friday on October 5th after drop- off. Room is TBD. This provides an opportunity to get more in depth information from Lisa. Please submit questions ahead of time via class parents so that the answers can be researched prior to the breakfast.  Parent/Teacher Potluck: Is on Friday October 12th in the auditorium. This is an adult only event. There is no childcare provided. We don’t have kids attend mainly because the teachers are present and they like to feel relaxed, themselves and that is not always possible when their students are present.  PS3 Benefit, Performance by Louise C.K. (current PS3 Parent): This will either be on October 29th or October 30th. PS3 parents will have the opportunity to purchase tickets first and teachers’ tickets will be complementary. It is extremely generous of Louise to offer this to our community. He won many Emmy’s last night and has been very generous in providing this for us.  Construction update: We are in the process of changing the art room into a brand new, natural light filled cafeteria. Next fall we will move the cafeteria into the back of the gym. The gym will still be the gym with rolling tables in and out for lunch. The current cafeteria will then become a fabulous new art studio. If you’d like to get involved please talk with the arts committee. This construction takes places after school hours. Lisa comments: They are installing an updated fire alarm system. Also, Lenny is still here he is not doing clay this year (because the kilns had to be moved during construction) but is helping with art. Clay will be back next fall.  Lunch clubs: We are getting funding courtesy of Speaker Quinn. We are working with the PS3 ‘til 6 staff to get the lunch club program(s) in place.

TREASURE’s REPORT (Liz Craig & Anna Rice-Yaffee):  Financial statement – shows what we made last year vs. the budget. (There is applause).  The 3Fund did incredibly well, more so than we thought possible.  The Beyond Therapy Fundraiser raised over $21,000 and the pop up shop made over $11,000 both were not planned from the budget.  We pay for lice checking. We approved LiceEnders last year and we are continuing that program this year.  Expenses - came in more or less than expected. We had extraordinary expenses last year that are continuing this year. We gave money to Lisa mainly for teacher’s aides. Last year we donated $85,000 and this year we’ve pledged another $120,000. I wrote a check for $45,000 for the first half of the money needed for the 4 teachers’ aides. I will be writing another $45,000 for the second half of the money needed for the teachers’ aides. Lisa will then have $30,000 left to use. This money makes up for the DOE budget cuts. Lisa comments: It’s not so publicized but each year for the last 5 year there has been budget cuts, which has lead to increased class sizes. As a result we have brought in assistant teachers because of these cuts. We had 3 assistant teachers last year and will have 4 this year. The PTA has also been very supportive of professional learning for teachers. This money is to insure your children are getting as much attention as possible and that your children’s teachers are up on the best teaching skills for teaching your children.  We have over $250,000 in the bank to start the year.  We are in the process of changing banks because HSBC did not have Saturday hours and we needed that for the spring fling. Question: We didn’t spend the money on some of the line items listed (ex: swimming). Answer: Last year only 1 teacher used the funds to swim. Therefore the money was not all spent. This year we hope more teachers will be swimming. Nick comments: Any line items that come in under budget (for example the library) is really an opportunity to get involved. The library committee is one of our less active committees. This is a great example of an opportunity for a parent to get involved. Step up and spend some money that is already available.

SCHOOL LEADERSHIP TEAM (Patricia Laraia)  This is my 2nd year in a 2 year position.  The SLT is made up of an equal number of staff members and elected parent members including the principal, guidance counselor, UFT chapter leader, classroom teachers and a PTA co-president.  We develop the annual Comprehensive Education Plan, which determines the educational goals, programs and initiatives to be implemented during the school year.  We also collaborate on immediate and long-range solutions to programs and issues that create or affect the day-to-day culture and learning environment at PS3.  You get a lot of insight about the DOE and you see from a different prospective how much our teachers and administrators care and how incredibly hard they work to make sure our kids get the best education and the most positive experience at PS3.  Meetings generally take place on the 3rd Friday of each month at 7:30am in the parent room (408).

UNFINISHED BUSINESS  Open SLT position: There is one open position for the SLT. We will vote on filling that position at the October meeting. If interested talk to Lisa.  Open New Parent Member-at-Large: There is also a slot for a new parent to be a member-at-large on the executive board. We will also vote on that at the October PTA meeting. If interested please speak with anyone on the executive board.

NEW BUSINESS:  Shino Tanikawa speaks: I’m on the school board for school district 2. We were able to purchase the building at 75 Morton because of parental pressure from this school and the community. We are working to make sure that school meats the needs of the community. We will have a forum where you’ll be invited to share your ideas of what that school should be. I will keep you posted as to the time and place of when that meeting will be. Nick comments: Getting this building purchased is an example of how effective parental pressures and direct involvement from the schools in the community can be. It really shows the power that we can have in the community.

COMMITTEE CHAIR PRESENTATIONS: Each chair is given 2 minutes per presentation. Following the presentation, please join us at the Committee Tables to learn more about the committees, meet other parents and enjoy bites from Il Cantuccio & beverages.

Financial Planning Committee & Charrette Results (Yin & Claudia)  Charrette Results: (A charrette is when you pull together and number of people to provide a solution). Last year we instituted the charrette to find what matters most to us here at PS3 and what we should be spending our money on. We already use money for the arts, dance and music programs. We also use the money fill in budget gaps. We had over 200 ideas through idea boxes all from parents, teachers and students. We filtered those ideas and walked through each one. We had a brainstorming session to translate those ideas into proposals. We created more than 30 proposals to be used in the questionnaire. We sent the questionnaires to get feedback from the community then translated the highest rated ideas into actionable and budgetable proposals. o Top 4 priorities – more teachers aides, increase science in the school, integrate foreign language and acoustic control treatment for the new cafeteria to diminish the noise level of 200 children eating. . The teachers’ top priorities are more teacher’s aides (1 for every 2 classes), bathrooms facilities and counseling services. The parents/students top priorities are more teachers’ aides, science programs, foreign language programs and fixing the noise level in the cafeteria.

Fundraising Committee (Bob Osborne & Sandra Schwartz & Kirk Arrowood)  We’ve now heard what you want (as a result of the charrette) and now it’s time to fundraise. We are excited to know what the community wants and now we have to work on getting it.  Get involved: There are annual events, initiator events, un-planned events. We really need parental help and involvement. We like to put the fun in fundraising. We have a lot of fun. We have an amazing community here with many talented parents. If you have ideas, please share. For example: this year I want to do a PS3 signature cocktail contest.  Fundraising is so important to PS3. It’s going to make what you want possible. It makes what you value at PS3 possible. It’s money in classroom, gardening, the cooking room, teachers’ aides, etc. The 3Fund had 52% participation last year and this year we want 100%. You can volunteer, you can be an initiator and you can give to the 3Fund. Let’s make this school the best school that we can possibly make it.  Our first meeting is the first Tuesday of every month in room 408.

Class Parent Committee (Allison)  Class parents support the classroom teachers, help organize class events (including the class projects for the auction), and communicate relevant information to the parent body.  If you want to be a class parent please introduce yourself to your teacher. They choose who will be their class parents. Communications (Dan O’Sullivan).  We build the infrastructure in getting the information out. Most of the communication comes from Terry. If you have information that should be added please email [email protected]. The information goes out through the web and from there through Terry’s email. It also goes to facebook and twitter and there is a lobby display.  If you have web skills we’d love to see you.  Our first meeting on October 19th in room 408.

Question: Do I have to sign up to get Terry’s emails? Answer: If you are not receiving the emails from Terry, you can subscribe to receive them on the PS3nyc.org website.

Arts Committee (Stephanie Basch)  We work to make arts as rich as possible in the school on a daily basis. We believe that nothing is impossible for what we dream for our kids. We work as a collective of individuals.  We employ 3 arts teachers.  We facilitate the SAIR program, which is a brainchild of a parent from about 4 years ago built to enhance the teachers curriculum.  Our first meeting is on October 3rd and is the first Wednesday of every month in room 408.

Cooking Room (Marion Rosenfeld and Claudia Bellini)  The cooking room was founded two years ago. It was a science lab that we along with chef Zak Pelaccio took over. Last year we piloted a curriculum with several classes. This we are having more classes.  We will let you know when we will have our first meeting.  We need help. Let’s have our kids eat well. It’s fun. Please sign up.

Garden Committee (Cristina Latici)  I co-chair along with Bob Klein & Denise Pizzini).  We need lots of volunteers for watering.  On October 16th we are going to plan for our first harvest event. We get food from our urban farm down at the battery and from the garden to café program.  Our first meeting will be on October 2nd in the cafeteria.

Green Committee (Anna Rice-Yaffee & Nancy Fey)  We started last year because we wanted to let kids know to bring their water bottles to lunch.  We need a new project. Talking about composting.  We usually meet with the gardening & wellness committees.  Our first meeting is TBD. Wellness Committee (Shino speaks for Susan Buttenwieser)  Wellness in the Schools (WITS) is a non-profit community based organization found in 2005 in order to improve the environment, nutrition and fitness in NYC public schools. In an effort to combat childhood obesity and create healthier environments in which to learn WITS developed Cook for Kids where local chefs work alongside kitchen staff to create healthier meals for all NYC public school children.  We no longer serve chocolate milk, french fries, etc., and we now serve vegetables and herbs grown from our garden to café program.  Nutrition lessons are also given. We want healthy meals for all kids in all schools.  Our first meeting schedule is TBD. Please sign up.

Lunch/Recess Committee (Kate Brady & Giorgiana Biazzo)  We need parents to help in the lunchroom. Helping to deal with spills, opening milk cartoons for the K/1’s, etc.  New parent orientation for lunch/recess volunteers is on October 1st or October 15th. Please come to one of those meetings. We will provide all the information needed to help out in the lunchroom.  We help maintain the play yard. We’re going to paint in the spring.  Please sign up.

Parent Action Committee (David Rosenberg)  It’s parent action that got us a new district school building purchased.  Pick up a pamphlet. Learn what we’re about.  Our first meeting is on Friday September 28th after drop off in room 408. Nick comments: Lisa always points out that it’s parent action that’s the most effective voice and makes the change. Please join David for moving that committee forward.

Media Strategy Committee  I have 3 words. Community. Innovation. Independence.  This is a new committee. We are here to not only react to what is going on in our community but rather to spread the message about what makes PS3 such a special place. We are coming up with different ideas, going to launch a facebook page and are pulling together an alumni database to help support this school. Join us. Spread the word. Help spread our message as to what makes PS3 so impressive.  We meet every other Tuesday.

Library (Dana Abraham via Susan Stover)  We need help. Maintenance of the library – parents need to reshelve books, maintain organization of the library and delete books from the main system.  The Library Writing Festival: We would like help in organizing this event. Authors, editors and journalists are invited by parents to speak to our children and staff about the writing and editing processes.  PS3 ‘til 6 (Maria Leao) We are in essence an extension of the school day. Some teachers are also after- school teachers and some parents are volunteering.  Please volunteer if you’re interested in helping. We are always open to ideas. We like to do new, different things and we like the kids to learn in the process. Please sign up.

Nick comments: There is a lot of committees that become active in the spring, the talent show, yearbook, spring fling (sue speaks…if you like to party w/your community join me in the spring).

Please sign the attendance sheet. Please sign up for Committees. Our next meeting is on Tuesday October 16th in room 310.

Motion to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 7:57pm