December 2023 PTA Meeting Notes

12/6/2023 7:45 pm

 

Takoma Park Elementary School (TPES)

Piney Branch Elementary School (PBES) 

Parent & Teacher Meeting (PTA)

Tuesday, December 5, 2023 from 7 - 8pm on Zoom 



Agenda: 

(1) Upcoming TPES and PBES dates and announcements 

(2) Presentations by PBES reading specialist (Mr. Bledsoe), Math Coach (Mrs. Faulk), and Staff Development Teacher (Java Robinson) and TPES Principal and Vice Principal (Dr. Gadsden/Ms Hollis) with resources, tools, and activities to help kids at home depending on which areas kids may need help with based on report cards.

(3) Q&A

 

7:00 PM: Meeting Kick-off 

Ingrid Gardiner, PBES PTA President welcome

  • Intro to topics to be discussed
  • Reminder: PBES suggestion/feedback form at this link in chat asking for folks to give feedback regarding upcoming meetings or other PTA suggestions/ideas. Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSffIWOOmTZloAzFJHnvKrJiRaD-hNiRRt-18VfwFjZyZgWTmg/viewform

7:05 PM: Upcoming Dates & Announcements

Chris Campbell, PBES PTA VP Communications

Claire Dean - TPES PTA Vice President

PBES ANNOUNCEMENTS: read by Chris Campbell, PBES VP Communications

    • Winter Break from December 25-January 2
    • Both PBES and TPES and in the process of finalizing Winter Afterschool Programming with Little Scholars.  The programming is expected to start at the end of January. 
    • We will have a Q&A after the Report Card presentation. Please feel free to start adding your questions in chat or in form HERE during the meeting. If we can’t reply today we will follow up.

 

  • PBES- The Swim Unit started this week and will continue through December 22 during students' regularly scheduled PE classes. If your child is in need of a swim suit for the swim unit, please contact Ms. Oberdorf and the PTA will partner with the school to provide support.

 

    • Volunteers Needed to Coordinate PBES Soccer Fundraiser - This spring the PTAs hopes to hold a soccer game fundraising event to bring together our school community and raise money for the various programs that the PTA supports. In the pre-COVID era, this event was a basketball game, but there have been calls for a soccer game instead. If you are interested in helping to make this happen, please reach out to Sara Lewis (serowe@gmail.com). 
    • PBES Holiday Book Drive - the PBES PTA seeks to help families in our school community who need help making ends meet and celebrating with their families. Please volunteer to help a family by donating a gift card and/or a new elementary school book or two. Gift cards are welcomed and needed in the amounts of $25, $50, and $100. Books should be new and unwrapped, so families can choose among them, and should be for grades 3-5 reading levels. Local bookstore People's Book has generously set up an online book drive link: click here. If you shop for the book drive via this link, your donated book can be shipped to the PBES main office, and 10% of the sale will be donated to the PBES PTA. You will also find donation boxes in the PBES main office, and at the People's Book register.  Please give gift cards directly to Ms. Welch in the main office, or coordinate with the PTA by emailing pbes.pta@gmail.com.
    • 4th Grade Chorus Concert scheduled for December 12th
    • Instrumental Music Concerts will be held at TPMS on January 24
    • Readathon and Literacy celebration will take place in mid-January
    • Join the Rainbow Club for a Cookie Party at Heffner Community Center on Sunday, December 17th from 2-5 pm. Bring a batch of your favorite holiday cookies to share/swap, and we will have cookies to decorate! Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1BhkF4lLGjD43MRgm6PF0T19b4NjPke2sXj7SoPuKqmo/viewform?edit_requested=true

 

  • Reminder to PBES caregivers to please sign up for the upcoming PBES staff appreciation milk and cookies event on Dec. 12th https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0C4DA4AC28A4F49-46473688-holiday#/

 

TPES ANNOUNCEMENTS:  read by Claire Dean, TPES PTA Vice President

    • Online Book Fair:  TPES PTA is partnering with Bookworm Central for both an online and on-site Book Fair.  The online book fair is available right now.  Link: https://www.bookwormcentral.com/TakomaPark  You may also purchase books to go directly to the media center - see link on page. If you order books by December 8, they will arrive by December 22.  TPES PTA receives 15% of all proceeds from the online book fair.  
    • TPES Merchandise:  If you would like to purchase some TPES merchandise for the holidays or winter season, please contact TPES PTA VP Claire Dean.  If you are interested in TPES merchandise before the holidays, please send me an email to coordinate at VP@tpespta.net.  You can check out our online book fair at: https://www.bookwormcentral.com/TakomaPark. You can see the full list of available titles by clicking the "Books" tab at the top of the fair page. You can also help Ms. Anderson and the Media get the books they need by purchasing from the Library's Book Fair Drive. Those books will go right to the Media Center's collection. Let's get reading!
    • The Health Room needs change of clothing donations for boys, girls and non-binary clothing sizes 4-10, specifically, underwear (new only), pants and shirts. As a PK-2 school, we have several accidents throughout the week where children need a change of clothes. 

 

  • Thank you - the TPES Holiday drive was fulfilled. All spots were taken for the holiday toy drive. The PTA encourages donations to STM toy drive and City of Takoma Park’s 2023 Toy Drive:

 

Small Things Matter's Holiday Toy Drive:  https://smallthingsmatter.org/

City of Takoma Park's 2023 Toy Drive:  https://takomaparkmd.gov/government/police/services-and-programs/2021-toy-drive/

  • Reminder to make sure your child has a change of seasonal-appropriate clothing kept in the classroom (top, pants, underwear, and socks). 

7:10 PM:  Dolphin Drive Update

Diana Hickey van Houwelingen, VP of Fundraising

Exceeded goal: $11,077; including Thanksgiving match partners = $14,077 total

 

7:12 PM:  Budget Updates

Amy Swift, TPES PTA Treasurer

Most of the income this month was from Dolphin Drive.

 

 

Rachael Pierotti, PBES PTA Treasurer

PBES also surpassed the goal for Panther Appeal.

 7:20 PM:  Report Cards - Tools, Resources, and Activities Presentation

TPES - Dr. Gadsden and Ms. Hollis

Resources for supporting math and reading at home

Link to presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1x632rIFm-coLytxlrAWhGshv3LLAWvCMwJ43GSqfxes/edit?usp=sharing

 

Families can print reading resources information at home. If you don’t have print capabilities at home, you can email reading specialist Ms. Jennifer Fahrenthold: Jennifer_Fahrenthold@mcpsmd.org.

 

Math coach: Samikia East: Samikia_East@mcpsmd.org.

 

Questions during presentation: 

Q: Did tests happen?

A: Dr Gadsden: DIBELS testing happened in late September, early October, and will happen again in January.

 

Q: If we have questions about scores, should we start with Ms. Farenthold, or with our classroom teacher?

A: Start with the classroom teacher first. If your teacher is new you can reach out to coaches.

 

 

PBES - Reading Specialist- Mr. Bledsoe, Math Coach-Mrs. Faulk, Staff Development Teacher-Java Robinson

 

Ms. Faulk, Math Coach: presentation on how you can support your child at home:

 

Mr. Bledsoe, reading specialist: presentation on helping your child with reading at home

Email: Robert_Bledsoe@mcpsmd.org

 

Java Robinson, Staff Development Teacher:

Presentation on Restorative Justice & Minority Scholars Program

 

Link to presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1se8TuxMn-Zc1LsexjtT7kYDTOjIcZHGfZE6VuWduTEE/edit?usp=sharing

 

7:45 PM:  Q&A

Facilitated by Chris Campbell, PBES VP of Communications and Aphra Adkins, PBES PTA VP 

Questions and Answers were submitted via the online form for TPES and PBES:

 

Questions for TPES

 

Q: Dr Gadsden showed an online portal for Dibles. How do we access that? We only got a printout at our parent-teacher conference. 

A: The Home Connect website is listed at the bottom of the second page of the DIBELS report, and is also available at https://mclass.amplify.com/homeconnect/.  If you have any additional questions, please email Jennifer_Fahrenthold@mcpsmd.org.

 

Q: Math question: For students who complain about having to make drawings when they can solve problems in their head, how can parents explain to them why these strategies are important? 

A: Please let students know it is great that you know how to answer problems in their head, however, there are many ways to solve a problem and the teacher wants to see what strategies you used to solve your work that is why it is important to show your work.  The teacher might have a question about your work but you left for the day and if you show your work they can look at your work to get their question answered.

 

Q: When we observed during the open house, the teacher was using leveled readers typical of a balanced literacy approach, which surprised me given the move by MCPS to the science of reading.  Do classrooms need more decodable texts?  And could the PTA support this? Or, is the goal to use a mix of leveled readers and decodable books?  

A: Thank you for your kind offer, but we have an excellent selection of decodable books.  Teachers have access to both decodable readers and books that are not designed as decodable readers so that they can select the type of book that is most appropriate for the task the teacher is envisioning. If you have any additional questions, please email Jennifer_Fahrenthold@mcpsmd.org.

 

Q: Does TPES also have access to restorative justice training? 

A: We have a Restorative Justice Coach who trains staff.

 

Questions for PBES

 

Q: Is math homework mandatory for 3rd graders?  There seems to be some inconsistency among third grade classes about whether they are receiving homework.  We want to be sure our child is staying up-to-date with the material. A: The best step is to clarify homework practices with the teacher. Homework may be given 3-5 times per week. Students can also complete work in the Eureka Succeed book and are always encouraged to read each evening.

 

Q: I missed the presentation on Dreambox. How do I access the software? My student is in 3rd grade at Piney Branch, I believe her class group is included. 

A: All third grade students have an account. Please contact Soosan Faulk at Soosan_C_Faulk@mcpsmd.org and she will be able to assist with access and any questions.

 

 

7:59 PM: THANK YOU

Ingrid Gardiner,  PBES PTA President

  • Reminder that next meeting will be on January 8 at 7 PM 



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