PBES PTA Meeting Minutes - May 4, 2021

5/5/2021 9:52 am

 

Takoma Park Elementary School(TPES)

Piney Branch Elementary School (PBES) 

Parent & Teacher Meeting (PTA)

Tuesday, May 4, 2021 

7:00-8:00pm on Zoom 

 

7:00    Welcome & Introduction of Interpreters and Speaker

7:05     Upcoming Dates and Announcements from the MCPS Calendar

    Chris Campbell, TPES VP Communications 

    May 3 - 7: Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week

    May 1 - 31: Virtual Takoma Park 5k Race

    Thurs, May 13: Professional Day for Teachers & Staff (NO CLASS for students)

    Thurs, May 27th: Town Hall Zoom with Principal Oberdorf @ 7 pm

    Mon, May 31: Memorial Day (schools & offices CLOSED; NO CLASS for students)

    Tue, June 1; June PTA Membership meeting & vote on 2021-2022 slate, 7 pm

Wed, Jun 16: Last Day of School for students

 

Piney Branch Elementary Updates

Mrs. Christine Oberdorf, Principal, Piney Branch Elementary 

  • Thanks for all doing for staff appreciation week - it means a lot
  • 2021 Summer School registration opened Monday and will continue to June 4.  It will focus on reading, math and specials. Students will attend summer school at the school they will attend in the fall. Summer school will be in person, and there will also be a separate virtual school run by MCPS centrally.
  • 5th-grade Promotion will be virtual
  • Articulation process for PBES students.
  • There will be a google and paper form coming in the next week’s message to get parent input for placement next year.

 

7:15    COVID Vaccine Updates & Education

Dr. Kawsar Talaat, Physician and Infectious Disease Expert & PBES PTA Secretary   

  • Vaccines are designed to get your body to develop an immune response to a virus, develop memory for that response so it lasts for a long time and then to protect against disease when exposed to the virus
  • Herd immunity thresholds are different for different diseases.  We think it’s 70-85% for COVID.  It is higher for more contagious diseases.
  • Clinical trials for vaccines have very standard progression. Before any trials on humans, need to have animal data and other data and to apply to the FDA.  Then there are Phases I through III before vaccine can be approved for general use. This often takes many years and trials can be very expensive.
  • In a pandemic, to save time, the phases overlap, and manufacturing begins even before there is approval for widespread use.
  • Pfizer is 2 doses given 3 weeks apart, stored at -70C.  Vaccine was found to be 95% in preventing any symptoms from COVID 7 days after the second dose.  Over 100 million doses given in U.S. to date.
  • In December, Pfizer was approved for use in those 16 and older in December, and is expected to be approved for those aged 12-15 early next week.
  • Moderna is 2 doses given 4 weeks apart, stable at -20C.  It is 94% effective starting 2 weeks after the second dose. Approved for those 18 and older. Over 101 million doses administered in U.S. to date.
  • Side effects are normal after vaccination, especially after the second dose.  Side effects are worse in younger people.  Common side effects are soreness at the injection site, fatigue, muscle aches and fever.
  • CDC put out data recently for 4000 people who were vaccinated and tested weekly for COVID. Those with vaccines were 90% less likely to be infected, so much less likely to be able to transmit the virus to others.
  • Vaccines reduced the rate of hospitalizations from COVID in adults 65 and older by 94%.
  • Johnson & Johnson vaccine works a little differently than the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna). It is a single dose, stable at refrigerator temperatures. It was found to be  72% effective against moderate COVID, 85% effective against severe disease and 100% effective against hospitalization and death.  J&J was briefly halted by CDC and FDA while rare blood clots were investigated (15 cases out of 8 million) but it was determined the vaccine was safe and benefits outweigh the risks.
  • People with previous COVID should still get the vaccine because it should last longer than natural immunity from getting COVID.
  • These are not live, replicating vaccines, so they are safe for those who are immunosuppressed.  However those people may not get as much protection since they have decreased immune response.
  • Trials in children are ongoing.
  • V-SAFE is a new monitoring system to record adverse effects after vaccination. Also VAERS.
  • Allergic reactions happen 1 per 200,000 to 350,000, so there is observation for 15-30 minutes after vaccination.
  • If you have been vaccinated, you can gather indoors with other vaccinated people, don’t need to wear a mask outside and don’t need to get tested after traveling.
  • Vaccines won’t be available to children under 12 until at least the fall
  • We don’t know if booster shots will be needed.  It is likely they will be needed for variants.

 

7:55    Nominating PTA Officers for the 2021-2022 School Year

Lia Salza & Lauren Greenberg, PBES & TPES PTA Nominating Committee Chairs

Proposed nomination slates for each school’s PTA officers for Fall 2021

  • Still looking for a President, Vice President and Treasurer for PBES. It’s great for someone with ideas for where to take the organization. Please do reach out if interested or want to nominate someone.
  • The President position has been a real collaboration between TPES and PBES, and there are a lot of resources to build off from prior years as well as prior Presidents who are around to help. Really encourage folks to think about positions with TPES PTA.

 

Sharing Our Stories

Please join us for Sharing Our Stories, Mondays at 7:00pm on Zoom. SOS with Deepa and her son reading "Ashok by Any Other Name", in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Mo was cancelled last night but will be rescheduled for later this month. Next Monday, May 10, Mona Sahaf will share stories of Ramadan. Spanish interpretation is provided. Zoom details will be posted on the PTA listservs and in messages from the Principal. If you would like to be a guest storyteller or educator, please email Shana at sabbathshana@gmail.com. 

 

Soliciting Parent Input & Questions About Summer School, Fall Recovery, Etc.

Jaime Koppel, PBES Advocacy Representative (MCCPTA Delegate)

  • Starting to compile questions from parents about summer school, recovery of education in 2021-22 and the return to in-person learning next year. Excited that the school has welcome the PTA to partner with school staff in this conversation.  We welcome your questions and ideas, and know others will benefit from hearing each other’s questions.  Add questions here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LMuHbpK0vBY9_cjwrJW7FT3ZlwCtdlsAFFCyclCRSL0/edit

 

Virtual Takoma Park 5k Race

Sasha Johnson, PBES & TPES Race Coordinator and PBES PTA VP

Donate and participate in this year’s race, which will be virtual this year. Sign up here: VIRTUAL TKPK5K 

 

Treasurer’s Reports  

Kelley Skelton, TPES Treasurer & Erin  Kelley, PBES Treasurer

  • TPES exceeded Readathon goal and has raised $27k so far, which is a great year. We have stayed close to or under budget, leaving assets for the new PTA to start off the year right.
  • Food bank has $100k in assets to continue its great work.
  • PBES also has a healthy treasury to start next year well. Thanks to all who have donated.

 

 

Become a PTA member: 

Takoma Park Elementary https://www.tpespta.net
Piney Branch Elementary https://pineybranchpta.membershiptoolkit.com