College Gardens PTA Meeting Minutes 2/2/10

College Gardens PTA Meeting Minutes – 2/2/10

I. Introductions – 7:11 PM

 PTA Executive Board Members present: Dr. Dupont, Gegi Leeger,Yusof Henriques, Jen Green, Sylva Kholanian- Faul, Jason Weidenfeld, Jeanette Dexter and Maida Babcock.  Also in attendance were Community Superintendent Dr. Sherry Liebes, Office of School Performance Mr. Pat Abrunzo, Director, Department of Student Services, Office of Special Education and Student Services Mr. Stephen M. Zagami, President , MCCPTA Ms. Kay Romero.  50 parents were in attendance along with CGES Principal Dr. Albert DuPont and Assistant Principal Mrs. Stacey Rogovoy.  PTA President Gegi Leeger called meeting to order .

II. Review and Approval of Minutes from December 1, 2009 PTA Meeting

 Minutes from December 1st were moved and seconded. The motion was passed.

III. Report of Officers

 Treasurer’s Report: Jason briefly discussed January’s report. Noting there was not much change.  President’s Report: Gegi stated that the budget cuts are going to directly affect CGES. She suggested we write the Board Of Education and share our concerns about increasing class size, budget cuts hurting our IB and Chinese immersion programs.  Fundraising Report: Sylva thanked Karen Creel for organizing movie night. Sylva is now the person to contact for the purchase of gift cards for either Giant or Safeway. Family Fun night is scheduled for 2/19 with the snow date of 2/26. We still need parent and teen volunteers. Teens can earn service hours and have the chance to win an iTunes gift card.

IV. Membership Report

 School directories now are complete. Thanks to Maida and all those who helped get the directories to CGES students.

V. Communications Report  Jennifer Green reminded us that the deadline for the newsflash is every Thursday at Noon. Flash goes out early Sunday morning.

VI. MCCPTA Report

 Yusof spoke about the Proposed MOE fine waiver. MC 14-10 can be found at [email protected]. MCPS is subject to a 46 million dollar fine. The cuts will have a direct impact on CGES budget and board of Education members decision making. Could lose transportation, IB cuts and or lose the IB program and important staff. This proposed local bill would be a one time only waiver exemption.

VII. Principals Report

 Dr. Dupont reported that the CI Immersion will be going to Julius West to Hoover Middle School in Potomac. Transportation will no longer be provided. Dr. Dupont reminded us that everyone must apply for the CI program even if their child has a sibling who is currently in the program. Dr. Dupont reiterated the importance of speaking up and fighting for CGES resources with the impending cuts that may harm CGES’s staffing, IB and Immersion programs, class sizes continuing to grow etc.

VIII. Committee Reports

 Family Fun Night Scheduled for 2/19 with a snow date of 2/26. Cultural Heritage Night will be 4/16. Volunteers and MC still needed. The Science Fair will be held Saturday, May 22nd from 3 to 6 p.m. Morrissa said they are taking a different approach this year. The children are to bring an unfinished science project. Scientists are urged to volunteer to help finish the projects. This year’s yearbook is underway. Caroline Conway is the person taking on this project. She would like parents to send photos of children in school related activities on a cd. The Art Fair is in need of a Co- Chair to assist. It will take place April 14th.

VIIII. Unfinished Business

 A few changes were suggested to update the PTA bylaws. A Motion to approve the changes were approved and seconded by the members present. PTA Bylaws are to be renewed every three years. The new bylaws are due to the State of Maryland in February 2010. Bylaws are revised by the addition of hand written addendums.

X. New Business

 Motion to approve and passed Gegi’s PTA Letter to county counsel. See Appendix A

XI. Dr. Duponts Bullying Forum

 20 minute presentation of CGES data for school improvement, school action plan, and current behavior management.

XII. Adjournment

 A motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:29 pm was made and seconded, which was passed by unanimous voice consent.

Respectfully submitted,

Jeanette Dexter, PTA Secretary

Appendix A Montgomery County Council February 3, 2010 100 Maryland Avenue Rockville, MD 20850

Dear County Council members:

The College Gardens Elementary School PTA supports the FY2011 budget as submitted by Montgomery County Public Schools Superintendent Weast and we urge you to support it. Although this is a difficult time for state and county budgets, the education of Montgomery County’s children is critical to the County’s future success. Children with a good education are more likely to attend and graduate from college, increasing their earning power and ability to contribute to the tax base and the vitality of our community.

The proposed budget cuts threaten to harm our schools at a time when Maryland is already falling behind in national rankings. Specifically, Dr. Weast’s suggested cuts would drastically impact successful foreign language programs and other areas that represent a critical investment in the future of our state (Report of the Task Force on the Preservation of Heritage Language Skills in Maryland, submitted to Governor and Maryland General Assembly January 1, 2009).

College Gardens Elementary School has the County’s only International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IBPYP) and hosts the County’s only Chinese Immersion (CI) program that is open to all County residents.

College Gardens’ overall enrollment has skyrocketed in the last several years leading to classes that already exceed the County’s maximum class size guidelines and a need for portable classrooms next year.

Key Results College Gardens’ students have been increasingly successful. Students have consistently improved across all races and gender. This has resulted in a higher percentage of students reaching the advanced benchmark on the Maryland State Assessments (MSA) and a lower percentage of students at the basic level across all grade levels.

Prior Cuts to the IB and Chinese Immersion The PYPIB coordinator’s responsibilities have increased due to the increased enrollment and high class size. The coordinator not only prepares and introduces all units associated with the IBPYP but also plugs into classes as support for students at risk. The PYPIB coordinator also coordinates the articulation of College Gardens students into the Middle Years Programme at Julius West Middle School and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at Richard Montgomery high School. Both of these programs will be enhanced by the careful development of life-long learning skills at the elementary level.

The Chinese Immersion (CI) program is a model program for preparing our children to excel in this global economy, yet the reduction in hours for the CI Coordinator has made it difficult for the CI coordinator to actively enrich the CI Program due to increased enrollment from a kindergarten through grade 2 program (with a full time coordinator) to a program now consisting of students in grades kindergarten through grade 5 (with a half time coordinator). The CI Coordinator’s responsibilities include:  providing professional development opportunities for CI staff  teacher and student support  collaboration between county offices, DCCAPS, and Potomac ES  sharing best practices with other immersion schools  community outreach eg. Chinese New Year celebrations  City of Rockville sister city programs  Middle school articulation

Impact of FY 2010 Cuts and Student Population Growth During the 2009-2010 school year, College Gardens lost critical staff support for the IBPYP and CI programs. College Gardens currently has 1.5 FTE coordinators devoted to supporting the PYPIB/CI programs.

Specifically, the PYPIB coordinator not only works to carefully integrate the PYPIB standards with MCPS expectations for rigor and relevance, she supports implementation with direct service in the classroom. Students are identified for extra support based on academic achievement data. The PYPIB coordinator also coordinates the articulation of College Gardens students into the Middle Years Programme at Julius West Middle School and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at Richard Montgomery High School. Both of these programs will be enhanced by the careful development of life-long learning skills at the elementary level.

Similarly, the CI coordinator current works a .5 FTE to maintain and enhance the success of this highly demanded, model program. The program has expanded over the last five years to the full K-5 program, yet the CI coordinator’s position has been halved. The waiting list for CI has grown exponentially as the staff, students, and parents have actively worked to build an academically successful language program. This has included broad parent involvement in advocacy for curricular enhancements, teacher training, and cultural programming for the entire school. The CI coordinator is responsible for providing professional development for CI faculty, articulation, and collaboration with the Potomac ES CI program, DCCAPS, and related MCPS offices. The CI coordinator is also responsible for cultural experiences for the CI and other College Gardens students.

The interdependence of these programs relies upon the maintenance of current staff allocations. The IBPYP has a language component required for grades 2-5. Due to IBPYP staff cuts and the generous partnership with Hanban, College Gardens was able to meet this language requirement by switching the school’s world language from Spanish to Chinese. If this partnership is not renewed next year it will create a deficit in this programming and potentially requiring College Gardens to address the language and cultural aspect with yet another language. Changing language at this point would waste the progress already achieved through school/community effort.

In addition, the increase in student population has caused increasing stress on the College Gardens staff. At this time 8 regular education classes are above maximum class size according to MCPS guidelines.

Impact of Suggested Cuts If Dr. Weast’s budget is not fully funded, several of the cuts he proposes would negatively affect our students. We risk losing further IBPYP and CI program coordinator and language teacher hours through cuts to special program teachers. As previously discussed, the IBPYP and CI coordinators are crucial to meeting the unique challenges CI and IBPYP which includes classroom-based staffing aligned with IBPYP requirements for self-contained classroom. These coordinators train staff and ensure the school’s compliance with IBPYP and CI program requirements. The IBPYP program has a world component, requiring a 1.3 FTE language teacher (equivalent to fine arts allocations). A cut in the language staff, even with a renewal of the Hanban partnership, would make it difficult for College Gardens to fulfill the IBPYP world language component. Paraeducators, reading initiative staff, and academic intervention staff would also be at risk.

Furthermore, a cut in transportation for the CI students would undercut and severely narrow access to the program. College Gardens’ CI program is open county-wide and draws students from all corners of the county regardless of income. Cutting transportation will limit participation to those whose parents have the means to provide transportation to the school.

There is a unique synergy between the IBPYP and CI programs allowing students to explore issues from a global perspective and while learning one of the key global cultural and commercial languages. Furthermore, MCPS and other studies show that immersion students in grades 4-8 perform on state tests at higher levels across demographic groups. The staff has been creative in dealing with change and reductions thus far, but the proposed cuts threaten to damage the capacity of our school to serve our students effectively. Absorbing any further increases in class size throughout the school would be extremely difficult. We ask you, our elected officials, to fully support the Superintendent’s budget. This will enable Montgomery County Public Schools to fulfill its obligation to county citizens and continue providing a high-quality education to our children.

Sincerely,

Gegi Leeger PTA President College Gardens Elementary School cc: State legislators Board of Education members Superintendent Jerry Weast Ms. Bronda Mills