Susquehanna Township Middle School PTSO Meeting Minutes

Susquehanna Township Middle School PTSO Meeting Minutes October 21, 2014

In Attendance: Amy Bobb, Joy Bechtel, Laura Daniels, Terry Pepper, Jillian Fletcher, Angela Regrut, Becca Weisberg, Fong Ho, and Darlene Irving

Call to Order: The regular meeting of the Susquehanna Township Middle School PTSO was called to order at 7:00 PM on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 in the Middle School Library by Co-President Amy Bobb.

Introductions were done for the benefit of those who do not know everyone by name

Officer/Administration Reports

Secretary’s Report – Darlene Irving had sent electronic copies of the minutes prior to the meeting; a motion to approve the minutes from the September 16, 2014, meeting was made by Joy Bechtel, seconded by Becca Weisberg.

Treasurer’s Report – Laura Daniels provided a handout for the group with income and expense details for September, 2014; our income is primarily from the dances, Hershey Park ticket sales, and membership; expenses are essentially due to the school store; a motion to approve the financial report for September, 2014 was made by Darlene Irving, seconded by Joy Bechtel.

Principal’s Report – The principal was unable to attend.

Assistant Principal’s Report – Mrs. Regrut reported that Jenna Sloan, previously a learning support and language arts teacher, is replacing Ralph Lovelidge as assistant principal; first round interviews are taking place for the principal position; sixth grade students have assigned tables for lunch – the teachers drop them off and pick them back up.

Teacher’s Report – Ms. Fletcher reported that Response to intervention (RTI), a way to identify struggling learners in any grade is now MTSS (Multi-tiered Systems of Support), which involves a layering of the curriculum and differentiation in the classroom to better meet the needs of the students. The program involves choosing students with common gap areas to work on, in no more than 6 to 8 students per group. The support is in place to validate whether or not the students really need to be placed in special education. ELA = English/Language Arts – all students will take the benchmark. Letters and telephone calls will take place. There will be 6 teachers (who don’t have advisory classes) involved in reviewing the data – it is all researched based interventions. Students with IEPs will be included. STSD has adopted a 3 tiered approach; some schools use 4 tiers. Tier 1 = one on one; Tier 2 = 6 to 8 students in groups; Tier 3 = IEP/GIEP students (their gap areas are met through this).

Ms. Ho reported that Mr. Royer’s last day was Friday, October 17, 2014. Hanna, a long term substitute teacher, is replacing him. Friday, October 24, 2014 the eighth grade students are going to Dauphin County Technical School.

Student’s Report – N/A

School Board Report – The school board meeting was held on Monday, October 20, 2014. No one in attendance at this meeting was able to attend.

of 4 Committee Reports

Clothing Sale – Orders will be delivered the middle of November during lunch; altogether 109 items were sold.

Dance – Wendy Feaser sent an email for her report: Our Back To School Dance was a huge success! A large number of students attended (see below for breakdown per grade). DJ Howie did a great job and he is looking forward to this weekend's Halloween Dance. We had a great group of parents chaperone and no major issues to report. Mr. Lovelidge was in attendance. A parent suggested we block off the circle in front of the school during the pick-up. She felt that some parents are parking in the circle and blocking traffic into the parking lot area. I told her I would pass it along and work on a solution. Any suggestions would be helpful. Otherwise I felt the pick-up was successful and feel we should continue to have parents park and come in to pick up their students inside the gym. Viva Pizzeria again supplied our pizza and it was very good. We will need to replenish some paper supplies for the next dance.

6th grade - 90 7th grade - 93 8th grade - 69

Total Students in attendance: 252

The Halloween Dance is scheduled for this Saturday, October 25 from 7-9pm. DJ Howie will again be providing our musical entertainment. He is also looking at some lights that he can bring along to add to the atmosphere. Our Chaperone/donation Sign-Up is filling up. The pizza order has been secured through Viva Pizzeria. 5 Gift cards will be purchased at 5 Below (or other suggestions welcome) for our winning costumes. Ms. Hepner is the teacher that will be in attendance and I will ask her to also be our costume judge. Ms. Regrut will be in attendance as well. We are all looking forward to another successful event.

Subsequent school dances are scheduled as follows: Valentine's Day Dance – Saturday, February 14, 2015, 7-9 pm End-of-Year Dance – Friday, May 29, 2015, 7-9 pm

Dodgeball – There is a conflict with the date of Friday, March 27, 2015. Saturday, March 28, 2015 is available. It was stated that there would be more staff participation if the dances are on Friday. It was also stated that dances are immediately after school at some schools.

Donate a Book – We have a volunteer parent/PTSO member to chair this – Erin Weiner.

Eighth Grade Party – A committee will be formed to coordinate this event to be held at the end of the year.

Hersheypark Ticket Sale – The tickets sales will begin March, 2015.

Membership – Up to 113 = 60 families and 53 staff members (last year, there were only 28 faculty members)

School Store – This is going well.

of 4 Staff Appreciation – October 30 – trick or treat day; we will give candy; Monday, November 17, 2014 – pumpkin goodies; December – our gift to the staff will be t-shirts; the design was discussed – ‘I’m a Superhero at STMS’ or ‘I Teach at STMS’; it was decided that the colors will be red shirts with black lettering/type, since that is the school colors. One hundred t-shirts will be ordered at a cost of $5.00 each and $20.00 for the screen print. Joy Bechtel made a motion to approve the payment for this and Laura Daniels seconded it.

Old Business

Fundraiser (Jamberry Nails) – Some designs were taken off, but others were added on; the school spirit designs are still an option. There are 50 forms that will be printed – double sided. The orders are due by November 19, 2014. On December 8, 2014 the products go home with the students who ordered them. Approval was given for the products to be advertised during student lunch periods the week of November 10, 2014. Two students from each grade will demonstrate how to apply the product and let the students see how it looks. In addition, advertising will consist of the Wave, Friday Flash, and the Middle School web site.

Turkey Trot – The event scheduled for November 8 will consist of a 1 mile run around the school; 4 legs; a minimum of 2 team members, a maximum of 4; the top 3 teams will receive a turkey. The PTSO will provide the turkeys.

New Business

2015 Mini Thon Events – These will be held at the High School and we are asked to support them; more details will be provided.

Chocolate Fest at Faculty Talent Show – This will be held on March 18, 2015 at 6 PM in the cafeteria; we are asked to provide the chocolate; more details will be provided.

Super Kids Incentive Program – Ms. Fletcher discussed how the teachers are now providing the rewards by grade level, Hanna Bucks for the 7th and 8th grade students; Stamped Cards for the 6th grade students that they must keep in their assignment books. There are twelve 6th grade teachers and they need stamp pads sets with their initials on them. Many local businesses donate the prizes. The prizes will also be used for the auction at the end of the year. For the 8th grade, the auctions are several times a year; the big auction is at the end of the year. Details are still being worked on, but Laura has begun working with Ms. Fletcher on this project and has checked some of the prices for the stamp pad sets; for 10, they are $12.50 each. Darlene Irving made a motion to approve the funding for the stamp pad sets. Joy Bechtel seconded the motion.

Other – The STMS PTSO provides support for the students and faculty at the Middle School and it is best to use the PTSO resources mostly for the benefit of the Middle School students. Although the scholarships that the PTSO provides are awarded to High School seniors, it was decided that the PTSO should continue to award the scholarships. The eligible students include those who remained enrolled in the district from the time that they attended the Susquehanna Township Middle School and all through Susquehanna Township High School.

The next STMS PTSO meeting will be on Tuesday, November 18, 2014, at 7 pm in the Middle School library.

Meeting schedule: ***No meeting in December

of 4 January 20, 2015 February 17, 2015 March 17, 2015 April 21, 2015 May 19, 2015

Adjournment – Motion to adjourn was made by Joy Bechtel and Laura Daniels seconded the motion.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Darlene Irving, Secretary.