May 2025 Monthly PTA Meeting Notes

5/7/2025 9:45 pm

 

Takoma Park Elementary School (TPES)

Piney Branch Elementary School (PBES) 

Parent & Teacher Meeting (PTA)

Tuesday, May 6, 2025: 7 - 8pm on Zoom 

 

Agenda will include: 

(1) Upcoming TPES and PBES dates and announcements

(2) Treasurer’s Reports

(3) Breakout rooms for rising 3rd and 6th grade parents

 

Spanish Translator: N/A

Amharic Translator: N/A

 

7:00 PM: Meeting Kick-off 

Ingrid Gardiner, PBES PTA President

  • Intro to topics to be discussed
  • Plea for Executive officers (for both TPES and PBES) for upcoming school year

 

7:05 PM: Upcoming Dates & Announcements

Chris Campbell, PBES VP Communications 

Ken Scudder, TPES VP Communications

 

JOINT TPES/PBES ANNOUNCEMENTS: Read by Chris Campbell, PBES VP Communications

 

  • We're looking forward to Friday’s 2nd annual TPES vs PBES parent/staff soccer game, where parents and staff from TPES play a friendly 11 v 11 game against parents and staff from PBES for the whole community to watch. The game will be 6:30 pm on Friday, May 9 at the Washington Adventist University soccer field. 

 

    • Attendance is FREE and Pizza will be served! We hope to see as many of you as possible out there for this wonderful community-building event! Donations at the event are optional, but any donations will go toward funding the fifth grade graduation and other end of year activities for PBES students.

 

PBES Upcoming Dates & Announcements: Read by Chris Campbell, PBES VP Communications

    • Appeal to donate blood at Children’s National to support Nate and other kids in need:  One of the children in our PBES community is currently facing the incredibly difficult journey of fighting cancer. For those looking for a way to support Nate, his family has shared that donating blood—specifically at Children’s National Hospital—would be especially meaningful and helpful.
      • There is a critical blood shortage nationwide. Donating directly at Children’s National helps ensure that life-saving blood products are available not only for Nate but also for other children receiving care. Nate’s treatment will last at least 12 months and will include chemotherapy, surgery, and/or radiation. Throughout this time, he will require regular transfusions of both whole blood and platelets.
      • If you are able, we encourage you to consider donating. You can find more information about how to give blood at Children’s National Hospital here:
         https://www.childrensnational.org/get-care/departments/blood-donor-center

 

  • Call for New  PBES PTA Board Members for 2025-26 School Year: As we soon hit the home stretch of this school year, the PTA needs to refresh its ranks for next year. The current board is term-limited out of our positions and many have children headed to TPMS so we need new volunteers to take our places and lead the PTA into next year. If you are interested in a position please reach out to board@pbespta.groups.io. The roles remaining to be filled are:

 

    • President 
    • Executive Vice President 
    • Vice President of Membership 
    • Vice President of Equity
    • NAACP Representative
    • Advocacy Representatives (MCCPTA Delegates)
    • Webmaster
  • This week is Teacher Appreciation Week! Our appreciation of PBES teachers continues with a breakfast at PBES tomorrow morning at 8:30am!
  • MCPS FEASIBILITY STUDY of PBES : MCPS is conducting a feasibility study for an approved major capital facility project for Piney Branch ES. MCPS invites you to participate in the process. This is an evolving process where input from previous meetings is incorporated into the ongoing proposed design. The dates of the work sessions will be:
    • 5/1/25 –Thursday - Community meeting #1 @ 7:00 pm - This meeting will be used to explain the Feasibility Study process and answer community questions.
    • 5/15/25 – Thursday - Community meeting #2 @ 7:00pm - We will dive into some design options and get feedback from the community. 
    • 5/29/25 – Thursday – Community meeting #3 @ 7:00 pm - This meeting will review the previous options and show how we addressed the community comments. 
    • 6/4/25 – Wednesday – Community Meeting #4 @ 7:00 pm – This is intended to be the final meeting. Addresses comments from Meeting #3.
  • MCAP and MAP Testing Continues All Month:
  • PBES 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony and Clap-Out: The Fifth Grade Promotion Ceremony will be Thursday, June 12, 2025 at 2:00 p.m. in the PBES Gym. Following the ceremony, we will Clap-Out the rising 6th grade students beginning at 3:15 p.m.

  • PBES Spring Instrumental Music Concert: The Spring Concert will be Wednesday, May 21st at Takoma Park Middle School. Beginning Band & Strings will perform at 5:30 p.m. and the Advanced Band & Strings performance will be at 7:00 p.m.

  • Parent/Caregiver Input Form 2025-2026 - Current 3rd and 4th Grade Parents/Caregivers: This form is an opportunity to provide information about your student's learning profile. This spring and throughout the summer, our staff will thoughtfully engage in the process of developing classes for next year.  Our goal is to make the best-fit class assignment for all students using your feedback and the data we have available. Our planning and commitment is aligned to the success for all students. Your input is welcome.
  • PBES Yearbooks For Sale through May 5th! See linked flyer for details: Piney Branch Yearbook
  • Piney Branch is a collection site for Project Happy Feet! Please drop off any athletic shoes or athletic equipment. The collection box is inside the main entrance. Learn more at projecthappyfeet.com.

TPES Upcoming Dates & Announcements: Read by Ken Scudder, TPES VP Communications

 

  • Open Board Positions: Many of us on the TPES Board have been involved for some time and have hit term limits and will be moving on from our positions on the PTA Board.  We are reaching out to encourage you to get involved!  The PTA simply does not exist without caregiver volunteers.

 

    • Below are the open positions for 2025-2026.  We are all happy to discuss position descriptions and time commitment
    • Many of the positions can be done as a partnership, with co-Board members serving in the role to split up the effort.  Recruit a buddy!  Those positions are marked as an asterisk below.
      • Executive Treasurer
      • Executive Secretary (*)
      • Membership Secretary (*)
      • Vice President Fundraising (*)
      • MCCPTA Delegate (*)

Appointed, not elected:

  • Equity Committee Chair (*)
  • Room Parent Coordinator (*)
  • After School Programs (Little Scholars) Coordinator (*)
  • Food Forest/Garden Committee (*)

 

 

    • NEXT THURSDAY – Meeting on the Feasibility Plan for PBES: Montgomery County Public Schools are reviewing plans for the future of Pine Branch Elementary School. Since many of these plans would continue through the next three years, at least, they have the potential to affect every current TPES student. The county is having three more meetings about this at PBES. The next is Thursday, May 15, at 7p, in the PBES all-purpose room. Any and all interested caregivers are encouraged to attend, hear what the county is saying, and add their opinions to the discussion.
    • This week is Teacher Appreciation Week! Thank you to everyone who signed up to donate food and gift cards for our TPES teachers this week! They are very appreciative! Please remember to have your child make a card to bring into their teacher this week to share their love and appreciation! 

 

  • WEDNESDAY - Bike, Walk & Roll to School Day: Bring out your bicycle, roller skates, scooter or just walk to school on Wednesday, May 7. The City of Takoma Park will provide small token reinforcements to encourage the students to use wheels or to walk to school. They’ll be bike lights, bags, bells and sticker books. Each student will receive something, but those who bike, walk, or roll to school will choose first.

 

  • FRIDAY – TPES Word Parade: On Friday, May 9th at 10:00am, students will dress up as an interesting word of their choice. Families are invited to watch the parade OUTSIDE at TPES at 10:00am. Look at the flyer for ideas on how to dress up. If you would like to volunteer between 9:15-10:00 a.m., please let your teacher know. If it is raining then, sadly, we will need to cancel the families watching from outside.
  • NEXT FRIDAY (May 16th) – Deadline for Career Day Volunteers: TPES will be holding Career Day on Wednesday, June 11. If you are interested in being a Career Day speaker, and telling our scholars what you do for a living, please complete the interest form online or the paper version, no later than Friday, May 16th. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Althofer or Mrs. Ampofo. The form can be found at: https://forms.gle/Zro4AGgRqzwrQmdM7
  • THANK YOUS (Kaitlin read)
    • Thank you to Leslie Hamilton for doing such an amazing job organizing the TPES Read-a-thon. We raised over $11,000 that will go toward the work of the PTA and she helped get students reading throughout March and April! Thank you to Amy Swift, our treasurer, for working closely with Leslie to organize and deposit all of the donated money. You are AMAZING!!
    • Thank you to Sharon Garner, Betsy Garcete, Katie Garber and Melissa Heyeck for all of their hard work to prepare for Teacher Appreciation Week this week! The teachers are having a great time and so grateful for all the work you put into the meals, programs, raffle and beautiful posters around the school! 
    • Thank you to Claire Dean who organized two assemblies for TPES students, a science-focused program in April and a South Indian dancing assembly in May that will help the students celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. 
    • Thank you to Becca Jones-Albertus, Aphra Adkins, Sharon Garner and Claire and Nick Dean for your efforts on the TPES side to make this year’s TPES vs. PBES soccer game a reality! It should be another great event! 
    • Thank you to Amy Swift, Claire Dean and Christina Davis who have been doing an amazing job recruiting volunteers for next year’s PTA Executive Board! 

TPES and PBES Upcoming Dates: 

  • MAY 26: Memorial Day, school closed
  • JUNE 13: Early dismissal
  • JUNE 16: Early dismissal
  • JUNE 17: Last Day of School, early dismissal

 

7:15PM:   Discussion Regarding PBES Feasibility Study - Dr Gadsden and Mrs Oberdorf

Initial comments:

Mrs Oberdorf: Montgomery County engaging in feasibility study for capital improvement for PBES. Original feasibility study was done in 2017 re addition, now feasibility study is about the entire building - either to modernize or rebuild. The PBES building  is a much smaller size than what is typically done but the current plan is to keep this site. Studies are just gathering feedback at this point. At the next meeting, the team will start sharing ideas re architectural concepts. About 25 folks attended the initial meeting - most questions were around the pool. Long term goal of feasibility study is to come up with a plan for the superintendent to present in early fall. If approved, this will  commence a 2 yr planning process.

  • Main concerns highlighted thus far - space for students during construction and pool

All meetings will be at PBES in the all purpose room. The next meeting will include designs.

Dr Gadsden: She just learned of the feasibility study. TPES went through a feasibility study in 2006 - Moved out of building 2009, returned 2010. Seems daunting but it was ok! The year being offsite was totally worth it.

 

Q & A:

Q: What do PBES leadership, teachers, and staff want to see for the school? Trying to understand what we should advocate for. And do they have an opinion on building on the park site vs leaving the park as is?

A: Staff has not seen any plans yet. When they met with staff, the team noticed the split level design has a lot of wasted space. A big priority is that every classroom space needs windows to outside. Building on current space is new, had previously proposed land swap (building on field behind school), then removal of original building to make a field space. This proposal was denied. Request has been made to bring it up again and have Montgomery County parks and recs at table.

 

Q: Is this potentially the 2027-2028 or 2028-2029 school year

A: I think currently 2027-2028 if it doesn't slip further

 

Q: Process-wise, what kind of input can the community provide?  

A: Everyone comes to table together, making decisions to benefit the community as well as school. School sites belong to the county, not the city.

 

Q: What is the confidence that there will be funding for this?

A: Mrs Oberdorf- that is something I can’t even try to respond to

 

Q: Has there been significant staff turnover (within the school) when schools have moved for construction?

A: A lot of folks were anxious initially, but it worked out. Did not have huge staff turnover as result and staff was elated upon returning to building

 

Q: Did the buses leave from TPES or pick up on routes?

A: Picked up on routes, added stops for kids that would usually walk.

 

Additional Q & A from Google Doc:

Q: Was there any discussion regarding where students would be moved when construction starts?

A: MCPS has holding schools which are used in these instances. Transportation is provided to designated locations for the duration of construction.

 

Q: There is such a great set of clubs and aftercare opportunities and clubs in Takoma park, can I ask if you would fear those adjusting during renovation/ construction?  The enrichment is great and also helpful. 

A: When Takoma Park moved out for the addition to the school, we did not have after school activities that year. The school day was lengthened by the buses and it was not in the best interest of the children to have after school activities that would have put them home around 6 p.m. In winter it is dark at that time.

 

Q: What happens for after care and activities buses?

A: Buses dropped off at aftercare programs. Most kids didn’t need them though because school let out at 3:50, buses usually left school around 4:05 and kids would get home at around 5:00. But this would depend on where PBES is housed.



OTHER:

Questions on different topics: Can we please hear more about the shelter in place yesterday, and teacher protocols? I heard that one TPES classroom didn’t have a teacher present in the classroom during the shelter in place and kids/parents  found that scary 

A: Shelter in place -the principals still know nothing about reason. It included TPES, PBES, TPMS. No classrooms were without a grown-up. Had to pull kids off the playground because it was recess. Shelter in place is not a lockdown. If they were alone it was when they were entering the classroom after coming off the playground with adult supervision.

 

Q: Also when is the TPES art show? Our daughter mentioned teachers told her if you submit art you may not get it back, is that true?

A: Children don’t submit for the art show. Teacher gathers artwork over the course of the year, then hangs it.




7:20 PM: PTA Business

  • Treasurer’s Reports 
    • Amy Swift, TPES PTA Treasurer

 

  • Rachael Pierotti, PBES PTA Treasurer

 

7: 25 PM:  Breakout Rooms for Rising 3rd and 6th grade parents - Discussing the transition to PBES/TPMS

 

  • Third Grade Breakout Rooms:
  1. April Cockerham
  2. Kuna Tavalin
  •  Sixth Grade Breakout Rooms:
  1. Becca Jones-Albertus
  2. Rachael Pierotti

 

7:50 Return from Breakouts / Final Questions/Comments

 

8:00 PM: THANK YOU (Ingrid Gardiner, PBES PTA President) 




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