June 2023 Monthly Meeting Minutes

6/7/2023 12:54 pm

                                                     

Takoma Park Elementary School (TPES)

Piney Branch Elementary School (PBES) 

Parent & Teacher Association Meeting (PTA)

Tuesday, June 6, 2023 from 7-8pm on Zoom 

 

  1.     TPES Wellness Committee Initiative of "Wait Until Eighth" (Amber Rieke from Health and Wellness Committee) 
  • Nationwide family-led initiative to change community norms and delay phone use until 8th grade
  • Responding to a wave of recent research on the youth mental health crises
  • While a lot of the recent research highlights teens, we know that children are getting access to phones earlier and earlier
  • Smartphones are addictive and distracting but they can also impact child brain development, increase risk for mental health conditions, increase risk for exposure to cyberbullying and inappropriate content
  • www.waituntil8th.org for resources
  • Consider signing the pledge on the Wait Until 8th to have strength in numbers (more families signing on to this helps) but no action is requires

For families worried about their child missing out on conversations that take place on social media/phone, can appreciate the idea that we all link arms to change the norms in our school communities. The more families who delay, the easier it is. (The other thing to point to is that it is technically not legal for kids under 13 to use social media anyway, we just know that's not enforced.) There are also always options for flip phones for texting!

 

  1. Membership votes on the 2023-2024 TPES PTA Executive Boards

Nominating Committee Chair, Joyce McDonough, introduced slate and called for vote: 

 

President: Kaitlin Caruso 

Executive Vice President: Claire Dean

Treasurer: Amy Swift

VP Membership: Mercedes Castelo 

VP Equity: Jon Frederick 

Membership Secretary: Lesley Perry and Christine Kahler Smith

VP Communications: Joyce McDonough

VP Fundraising: Diana Hickey van Houwelingen 

MCCPTA Delegate: Christina Davis 

Executive Secretary: Anna Juarez

 

Slate for 2023-24 TPES PTA Executive Board passed unanimously

 

The 2023-2024 PBES PTA Executive Board Nominees 

 

Nominating Commitee Chair, Emma Cheuse, introduced slate and called for vote: 

 

President: Ingrid Gardiner 

Executive VP: Aphra Adkins

Treasurer: Rachael Pierotti 

Secretary: Lis Hooper 

Fundraising VP: Mary Kathryn Lee

Membership VP: Sara Lewis 

Communications VP: Chris Campbell 

Equity VP: Desiree Hernandez

MCCPTA (County) Delegates: Matthew Stark Blumin; Paul Donowitz

 

Slate for 2023-24 PBES PTA Executive Board passed unanimously. 

 

  1. Brief remarks from TPES and PBES principals Dr. Gadsden and Mrs. Oberdorf 

 

  • Dr/ Gadsden: Attempted to return to normal with evening activities and such. Was a difficult year but grateful to teachers and parents and staff who showed up
  • Ms. Oberdorf: PBES welcomed 2nd graders today; 5th graders going to TPMS

This year had many in-person evening events and several exceeded capacity of what was expected. PTA is ready to engage with school and is exciting

  1. Guest Speaker: Margaret Webb to cover her Summer Survival Guide for Parents 

 

Website: www.margaretwebblifecoach.com

PDF Handouts she’ll reference: https://www:.mediafire.com/file_premium/nrzmkdktrm6uju1/Summer_Survival_Skills_Handout.pdf/file

 

Intro: Margaret Webb has been a parent coach for over twelve years. She’s also a Martha Beck certified life coach, nature-based coach, and former teacher of nine years. She wrote a book called "Margaret Webb's Guide to Ease and Joy in Travel" and writing a book called "Parenting the Child You Didn't Expect While You Were Expecting - A Hero's Journey in Parenting." This podcast episode from her is also an excellent resource. 

Summer Survival Skills

  • There’s the child aspect and then there’s the parent aspect - what can parents do as well to set ourselves up for success
  • Can ask: is there anything I can do ahead of time to make stressful times easier for myself? What do I know are the stressful times of our day? If we can do things to check off stressful items we will be calmer and have larger bandwidth to manage kids during stressful periods
    • Do I need to pack a lunchbox for myself?
    • Do I need to have water in my car for pick up?
    • Is there anything that I need to communicate ahead of time to those who are supporting my child? (and who do you feel safe communicating that information to)
  • Taking time to reflect each week - either alone, with you and a partner or you and your kids to ask three questions: 1. What worked? 2. What didn’t work? 3. What’s one thing we can try next week that can get us a different result?
    • How can you be a better friend? How can you take care of yourself better/next week? 
  • These questions creating a learning mindset, curiosity, a reminder that nothing is set in stone
  • Academics during the summer are light and real-life based (math with baking; geography with maps of places they are going; good books, trips to the library; going to museums; tap into what they already like and slip in the academics. Go light on the worksheets. Summer is a time to recharge. Make it authentic to what you’re doing day-to-day and different from what they’re doing at school.
  • Grocery lists from 101planners.com and have the kids plan the grocery list and go shopping with you
  • For summer camps, could sit down with your kids and a spreadsheet where they are engaged with you in filling out which camps they are going to each week, what time they need to walk out of the door each morning, what they need to pack for camp and then have them back up the night before

 

 

7:15 Treasurer’s End of Year Reports

            PBES PTA Budget Vote

 

Stephen Tippett, TPES PTA Treasurer Budget Report. See TPES notes

 

Kate Bauer, PBES PTA Treasurer Budget Report and Budget Vote 

 

Raised about 40K this year. Have a few expenses still left (i.e., pool remaining expense, staff celebration). Propose to amend existing budget to move funds around from line items. Took funds from operating budget and from fundraising to increase staff support and programming. Still leaves PTA with $8K to carry over for next year.

Proposing summer budget so executive committee can spend money in July and August. Took $1500 in programming and $1000 in staff support and proposed summer budget for $2500 - welcome back lunch, early classroom setup, summer school programs for equity access, etc. Doesn’t put us beyond what we proposed to budget for the year. 

 

Vote to amend budget within sub-categories and create summer budget. Seconded and no objections. Budget amendment and summer budget passes. 

 

Kindness Corner from Farzeneh Nabavian: helps all families from Blair, TPMS, TPES and requesting if both PTA’s can consider family coordinator in their budgets for next year. 

 

7:55 PTA Summer Send-Off! (Margaret McDonnell, outgoing TPES PTA President, and Emma Cheuse, outgoing PBES PTA President)

 

Thank you for your support! 

 

List of Upcoming Dates and Announcements

 

Upcoming Dates and Announcements - Refer to MCPS 2022-2023 Calendar

Kaitlin Caruso, TPES PTA VP of Communications

 

 

  • Volunteers Needed for TPES Field Days: June 7 (K), June 8 (1st) and June 9th (2nd) from 9:15-11:30am 

 

  • Success of the event depends greatly on the number of volunteers there are per station! There will be 10 - 12 stations and each station should have at least 2 volunteers to function properly (20-24 volunteers needed per day). The dates and times for Field Day for each grade are listed below. If you are interested in volunteering, please email Ms. Paz (Johanna_A_Paz@mcpsmd.org) with your name, child's name, phone number and the date you plan on volunteering. As a reminder, please come dressed comfortably and equipped with a hat and sunscreen for your personal use, as well as water. Please help us make this a memorable event for all students!

 

  • TPES-PBES NAACP Parent Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 13, 7-8 pm via Zoom. Look out for an email from Sharon Gaskins and Ingrid Gardner with more information. Need volunteers for next year’s NAACP Rep from TPES and PBES. 

 

  • Friday, June 16: last day of school (early release 1:20pm)

 

  • Summer school— Summer school invitations have gone out and summer school is full at PBES and TPES. Please contact your student’s teacher or principal with any questions. 

 

  • Thank you to all TPES and PBES volunteers -- please visit the TPES and PBES PTA 

Volunteer Hall of Fame and help thank all volunteers. 

 

  • PBES - reminder that Fifth Grade Promotion Day is June 15.  The PTA will be providing lunch for the fifth graders that day. 

 

    • If you are a committee or event co-chair or room parent or would like to be one next school year, please contact Sara Lewis or add your name to the Google Document to confirm that you can volunteer - help us get all set up for the fall! serowe@gmail.com. 

Reminder on Upcoming Dates/events: 

 

To request topics for future PTA agendas, please reach out to president@tpespta.net or pbes.pta@gmail.com. 

 

Announcements and Opportunities:

 

 

  • Snack donations for both TPES and PBES to be distributed to teachers and counselors to ensure all kids have access. Nut-free, healthy options requested. Delivery options: please drop off at the main office between 8:30 am-4:30 pm, or order for direct delivery to the school.

 

 

 

  • School Meals Applications due ASAP - free federal meals have ended. All families must either complete the application for Free or Reduced School meals from MCPS or deposit funds to pay for your child’s meals at school.

 

Deposit funds in your child’s “MySchoolBucks” account - link 

Apply for Free and Reduced Meals at School - link

No child will be turned away - PBES and TPES will ensure every child who requests food receives it, but applications are needed so no debt is accrued. The PTA equity teams are also seeking to support families during this time - please donate to the PBES PTA and TPES PTA and to Tommy’s Pantry to help fill gaps and ensure food access for all in our community. 

 

Reminder for all volunteers: MCPS Volunteer Training and support guide - please complete this before you are scheduled to volunteer: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1URJRNYdUyyL0ghVzZ32xLqPmkE7IwUvcRF2qid89ojA/preview

 

We need your help and support:

Become a PTA member, donate, become a sponsor, sign up to volunteer:

Takoma Park Elementary School PTA: https://www.tpespta.net

Piney Branch Elementary School PTA: https://pineybranchpta.membershiptoolkit.com

 

PBES Website: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/pineybranches/

Find out the latest from the Panther Tracks Newsletter for PBES. Sign up for the PTA listserv or send an email to pbespta+subscribe@groups.io to start posting and receiving messages.

 

TPES Website: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/takomaparkes/ 




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