UMS PTSA Business Meeting for February 15, 2006

Business Meeting Minutes

Present: Ann Chan, Nancy Clinton, Eve Hargrave, Barb Hughes, Sue Keller, Lisa Sechler, Jamie Peterson, Cindy Loui, Kris Solberg

Guest Speaker: Frances Jacobson Harris, Librarian at Uni High, Author of I Found It on the Internet: Coming of Age Online
Ms. Harris discussed the role of information-communication technology in the lives of teenagers, and defined and explained common jargon as well as roles the Internet plays in lives of young people. She explained the functions of such things as IM (instant messaging), Face Books, web sites, etc.

1. Principal's Report (Nancy Clinton)
   
   • ISATs will be given March 6-17. Scheduling of the tests has been an extraordinary challenge. There are guidelines that need to be followed (tests have to be done in a certain order) as well as trying to follow good testing practices. Lunch schedules will be adjusted to maximize morning testing hours.
   • The tensions between Hispanic and African American students that were addressed at our last meeting have calmed down. Ms. Fitzgerald is heading a committee to address issues of diversity at the school. The district has hired a new Latino Parent Liaison (Lucia Maldonado) who has her office at UMS. The parent liaison is someone to help new families negotiate an unfamiliar environment.
   • Second quarter exams went even better than the first quarter. Curriculum alignment is going very well. This is what the early release on Wednesdays is allowing teachers to do -- to work together on grade level so they are all on the same page about what they are teaching.
   • Next year will see a new math curriculum being used, "Connected Math" for those in the regular math classes in grades 6, 7, 8.

2. Principal's Report (Jamie Peterson)
   
   • NAAPID had a good turnout, 7th grade having the most parents attend. Our goodie bags were a nice touch and a relatively easy contribution for us to make.
   • Jamie plans to send a second shipment of cell phones for recycling later in the Spring. She hopes to put up posters in the community room to help publicize it.
   • PTA tax-exempt status was renewed.
   • Urbana PTA Council -- there is another attempt to get this off the ground. Jamie agreed to attend a meeting to find out more. While we all agreed there is much benefit from getting all the district PTAs' together to share information, there is some hesitancy to commit to the PTA Council.

3. Treasurer's Report (Sue Keller)
   
   • Alice McGinty had offered to share unused funds from the Reflections budget to pay for NAAPID items, but Sue reports there was enough money in the line for Special Events to cover the costs for the goodie bags. She suggests that we plan to make that a new line item for next year's budget so we can plan for it.
   • In general, budget is in good shape and we are on target for expenses/income.

4. Committees
   
   • Newsletter - deadline for next issue is March 1. We agreed it makes sense to combine the April/May issue.
   • Membership - New membership is slowing down. Patricia Hswe has set up an account for us with a free wiki web service, where we can log in and discuss things electronically.
   • Spiritwear - Sue will check on t-shirt inventory. We would like to have inventory for the April Open House for 5th graders. Kris has suggested we investigate ordering from a catalog that may be cheaper than ordering locally. She will give the catalog to Sue so we can compare prices.
   • 8th Grade Promotion Celebration - We will try to launch a committee next month. The school organizes the actual promotion ceremony, while PTSA helps put on the reception afterwards.

Next UMS PTSA Meeting: Wednesday, March 15, 7:00 p.m.

Back to PTSA main page.