UMS PTSA Business Meeting for January 18, 2006

Business Meeting Minutes

Present: Lisa Sechler, Nancy Clinton, Patti Pattison, Patricia Hswe, Nancy Harmon, Sandy Helregel, Kristin Solberg, Barb Hughes, Alice McGinty, Isabel Velazquez, Sue Keller, Jamie Peterson, Eve Hargrave, Cindy Loui

The PTSA meeting moved to the Community Center and began at approximately 6:40 p.m., allowing others to gather in the cafetorium for the 7 p.m. meeting for 8th grade parents.

1. Newsletter (Patricia Hswe)
   Deadline is Feb 1. Teams are encouraged to submit information and team news. We discussed soliciting ideas for publication with forms distributed to teacher mailboxes and in the teachers' lounge. Along with this we discussed better publicizing of the extracurricular activities available, particularly to incoming 6th graders and at Registration in August. It would be wonderfully helpful to learn early what kinds of activities UMS has to offer, such as Lego Robotics, ecybermission, jazz band, SPLASH, etc. Ms. Clinton requests that we remind her closer to the time of registration, so that information can be put together in time.
2. Membership (Patti Pattison)
   Directories are in. Patti will distribute them to team teachers for distribution to the students. PTSA members are encouraged to check your children's backpacks for the orange member directory.
3. Treasurer's Report (Sue Keller)
   The PTA liability insurance statement arrived in the mail and the coverage was discussed. We agreed to purchase the larger amount of liability. We are now getting money from County Market. Those checks had previously not been going directly to PTSA but that has been corrected. So far we have received approximately $200 from County Market and also $200 from Motorola for the cell phone recycling (which is still going on). Overall the budget is on track given our anticipated printing costs.
4. Principal's Report (Nancy Clinton)
   
   • ISATs will be given March 6-17. This is the first year that all three grades will be testing, and the administration has been working very hard to:
     1. Get teachers comfortable with procedures so they can help students be comfortable.
     2. Create a testing schedule that fits with good testing practices.
     Because during the week of March 6, we have only four days of school (due to parent teacher conferences), we will have to continue testing the following week. Policy is to give only two tests a day. We also want kids to test math in math classrooms. This is how they did it with ITBS in an effort to keep kids comfortable with testing. There are new rules that allow you to give students an extra 10 minutes if they are effectively working on their test so in effect all students get more time now. 6th grade will be tested on Reading and Math, 7th grade on Reading, Math and Science and 8th grade on Reading and Math. Each subject has three tests each.
   • A question about when 8th grade promotion will be cannot be answered until we know how many snow days are used.
   • Ms. Clinton has just hired a new half-time Spanish teacher as well as a new math teacher for 6th grade (Venture Team).
   • Ms. Clinton addressed a question about recent reports of racially motivated fights. UMS staff are aware of the problems and are working to diffuse the situation. The group shared concerns and suggestions. Ms. Clinton encouraged all parents to talk to their students about sensitivity to others.
5. Teacher Appreciation (Eve Hargrave):
   We are thinking of doing something for teachers in early February. Eve and Okiema will brainstorm ideas and ask for help as needed. Will also be doing something for teachers during parent teacher conferences in early March. Parents may want to check with their child's team about helping to provide snacks for classrooms during ISAT testing in March.
6. Announcement:
   Feb 15 at 5:30 p.m., at Central Office, the Board of Education will have a Health Curriculum Study Session. This will include looking at a comprehensive health curriculum, including sex ed and PE. The Board wants to align Urbana schools curriculum with state standards, which would include having PE teachers for elementary schools. Eve will ask the Board to make a copy available to parents either at the Urbana Free Library or at individual schools. The public is invited.

Next UMS PTSA Meeting: Wednesday, Feb 15

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