Home and School Meeting: September 8, 2015
Meeting started at 7:06.
Della introduced herself. Called meeting to order.
Mrs. Mohr: background in special education. Has taught 2nd grade, 5th and 6th. Loves
sports and reading. It’s her 2nd year that she has 6th graders she didn’t teach in 2nd.
Noted that there’s more writing in science now that the kids aren’t use to yet.
Starting brand new language art program, and took classes this summer on it. Any
questions, please feel free to ask.
Joanne Wiernusz: District Coordinator for Odyssey of the Mind. It’s a competitive
problem-solving program with emphasis on the students doing the work
themselves. They write scripts, make the costumes, etc. “They do it all.” Any kind of
adult assistance is considered outside assistance and discouraged.
-North Penn had 19 teams that went to regionals, 2 that went to states. High school
team took 2nd worldwide.
-Odyssey of the Mind encourages creativity and independence.
-Information on website.
-Juan Whalen is the NW building coordinator for OM and will want to know who is
interested to do it and try to form a team of 7.
-Can form team with students from other schools.
-2nd handout is a list of problem synopsis that get published to find out what
program is about. Technical, straight drama (for the dramatic children), every
problem has an element of skit to it, but 4th and 5th are more drama intense.
-There are 2 Meetings: one at Englewood and one at Bridle Path.
-Please email with questions.
Della: Agenda is to approve the Home & School budget tonight and need to vote in
Sarah Keller as 1st VP of Social.
Kim Morse made motion, 2nd by Alison Pluck. Room ‘ayes’. No ‘nays’.
Mr. Covone: Welcome back.
Few new staff members: Mrs. Burns-Lacey retired and the school has a new reading
specialist, Mrs. McKenzie.
Also new to North Wales is Jessica Fluck to Kindergarten. She is at Knapp in the
morning, here at NW in the pm.
Mrs. Sock retired and Sean Goldberg is the new Cares program coordinator.
What’s new in 2015-2016?
-All school buses are equipped with cameras and audio.
To align with PA Core Standards K-6 has a new reading series called Journeys that
aligns to the PA core to analyze text, Non-fiction pieces, etc. This program is the next
in the series and the teachers have participated and worked over summer in
programs to learn and familiarize themselves with it.
More technology is accessible to more students this year:
K- continue to share school resources
1st and 5th- share one laptop cart of 30.
2nd- iPads 1:1
3rd, 4th and 6th- have mini computers 1:1.
New 5th grade experience:
Departmentalized system to align with Pa Core Standards. Worked out a schedule
the teachers and school are comfortable with and will have additional support as
needed. Mr. Covone requests that 5th grade parents give feedback throughout year
as it’s the 1st year and looking to find out what changes will need to be made. Right
now happy with it and it’s purpose so moving forward.
Child Abuse Clearances:
-Act 15 was just revised.
-They are no longer clearances, just certifications.
-Extensions until July 2016 to get certifications.
-Good for every 60 months.
-Volunteers are redefined. Routine vs. Regular Role/contact- … Chaperone for a field
trip is not a regular thing so because it’s not regular and routine, they don’t need it.
Also don’t need to pay if for a volunteer position. Fee waived. If FBI fingerprinting, it
does still require a fee until you’ve been a PA resident for 10+ years in which case
you just sign an affidavit.
Kim Morse: Class party, you don’t need clearances?
Mr. Covone: Correct.
Christie Mendez: So it does not prevent or exclude from doing one event a year.
Melanie Catanese: As of this afternoon, the district website has not been updated.
Please have them define the roles (like what you just did) so there’s no confusion on
the parent end.
Mr. Covone: Absolutely, I’ll tell HR.
Alison Pluck: Volunteering for classroom aide- do they need clearances?
Mr. Covone: We should probably define out roles and responsibilities. Are you
asking if they’re home coordinating or in the classroom?
Alison Pluck: Both because it changes depending on teacher and what their needs
are.
Mr. Covone: Ok, yes, absolutely. We need to define the roles and make that clear.
Della: We previously were told all our parents needed to be cleared for events
before this new, updated policy. Do we still need to do that and go through Mrs.
Busch?
Mr. Covone: If volunteered last year, you are good until July 1, 2016. If new to the
school, yes, you do need to obtain clearances.
Alison Pluck: Vendors need clearances, too. If you already have them for a different
organization, it’s good here so long as the dates are still valid.
Jermaine Richter: When the link is up and active, can we provide a link?
Mr. Covone and Della: absolutely!
Alison Pluck: Perhaps we should have a chairperson dedicated to just this.
Della: Problem is we can’t have the names. Mrs. Busch is the only one allowed to
have the list with people’s names.
Mr. Covone: List put into shared document to ensure everyone is cleared. Trying to
make sure the people who aren’t cleared or not is kept out of everyone’s hands.
Della: Right, for confidentiality.
Mr. Covone: Typically what happened last year is a chair would give them a list of
people volunteering for an event, they would give to Mrs. Busch and she would let
Della know if they were cleared or not.
It was noted by some in attendance that obtaining the clearances didn’t take long.
Even without giving your social security #, the results come relatively quickly.
New Report Cards:
Mr. Covone: Now standard based. PA core changed things for this year. Instead of
ABCD, each subject area is listed with standards beneath it. (How they’re
performing at that standard at that point of time.) Help show the student moving
from a beginning standard (meeting or exceeding) to exceeding. Shows and allows
for growth and focus over time for each subject area. Evaluating the standards,
taking out the non-academic standards (like neatness, behavior). Will talk more
about it during Back to school night. Has 7-8 slides talking about the new report
cards and showing samples and what the achievement key indicators are and what
they mean. There will still be tests and things coming home. For example, Math- this
is the standard and he/she got ¾ right, etc. What you won’t see this year is a 15
correct out of 20 is 80%. There’s no point. We’re judging the standard and not
taking an average. …. It’s in the video parents will see at Back to School night.
Christie Mendez: It would have been nice to have more information about this new
program before this started- coming from the district.
Mr. Covone: There will be 2 parent overview nights. One is schedule for Oct 5th at
Gwyn-Nor and the second on Oct 6th at Walton Farm. This will be posted online, too,
but I am also available for any and all questions.
Christie Mendez: Between that and 5th grade rotations, it’s disappointing that we
didn’t receive more information prior to starting the school year.
Alison Pluck: -asked a question about PSSA scores
Mr. Covone: we have the individual scores.
Pluck: Why haven’t we been told our scores because it is used for Challenge Math,
for example. You want us to believe in the standards and the screenings but we
don’t have or are given the facts.
Mr. Covone: What we have is our scores at this point. Cut scores were changed at the
state level. We’re still waiting for finalized information and should receive it by the
end of the month. It’s a bookmarking process using statistical analysis. They go
through the different assessment anchors and what should proficient look like at
that score. With the PSSA scores, they not only changed the level of rigor, but the cut
score. Basketball analogy: If I shoot free throws and make 8/10, it’s 80%. But then
they raise the hoop, you’re still a good free throw shooter, it’s just the goal was
raised. … No decisions are based on one test. PSSA scores, assessment, teacher
assessment
Alison Pluck: You’re safe if you have an IEP but our core kids aren’t getting enough
attention.
Mr. Covone: I don’t agree with that. Averages are down 35% in math and 9% in
Language Arts across the state. Not only did they change the standards and make
the test harder, but also they changed the cut scores. If you take the district scores a
year prior and compare them to the new cut scores, the kids that were advanced,
those scores are going to shift down. There’s new accountability and new measures.
For years we’re playing Soccer, but now we’re playing Quidditch. The game has
changed and we have to adjust. We’ll see some hits but we have more levels of
support in place through our scheduling. We haven’t received our grant money yet
and if that money comes through, we’ll have another support person coming in.
Treasurer Report: (It’s now 7:55pm)
Kimberley Smith goes over the new budget and passes around copies.
Kim: Angela Min was the outgoing treasurer and she did an incredible job. Asked
people to email her with any questions or reimbursement requests.
(Continues going over what the current balance is.)
-Will have less fundraisers this year. Some is due to decrease of volunteers signing
up to chair and creating new events, like the 5K or adult eat-out event at Iron Hill
Brewery. Because we are doing fewer events, people can be more mindful of what
events they sign up for and participate in. In the first week of school, we had 20
families do a direct donation totaling $810. Amazing. Willing to take any
domination.
-H&S dues are $20. 18 families contributed at this point for $360.
Donations add up, any amounts. Can pass on direct donation forms to relatives if
they want to donate as well.
(Continues going over budget)
Subtotal Projected Income is $25,775
Subtotal Projected Expenses is $23,048.
Projected Net is $2,727.
Question about Science Night.
Kim Smith: We left it in the budget in the hope it will continue because we want the
educational opportunities.
Della- we are mindful and hopeful it will come back, so included in budget in good
faith and in the hope we will do it.
(Consensus in room is that people liked it and want it.)
Alison Pluck: Expressed surprise that Inline 309 made so much money with minimal
amount of effort.
Christie Mendez: what fundraisers were dropped?
Melanie Catanese: Bounce U, Jumping Jacks. Applebees, and Wawa. We’re replacing
with Iron Hill Brewery. Taking out Yankee Candle and Mixed Bags but keeping Gifts
and Things. Spring Fest is a little different. Doing something different but it’s being
developed.
Della: General idea is to make things more accessible and family friendly and not so
much buying a bunch of products, like candles. No plans yet to spend our savings. As
far as what/how to spend the savings, we’re looking for people to come forward
with their ideas and should be presented to the board.
(It was noted that district has a plan in place for iPads and tech so we don’t need to
use our budget for that.)
Kim Smith: Open to mini-grants, too.
Alison Pluck: for assemblies, I’m looking to cut down to 2 instead of 5. So can cut my
budget in half to $1,500.
(Question about Mrs. Burke’s account. Asked about Scholastic money. Told it goes to
the Scholastic magazines.)
Kim Smith: Teachers don’t use all the money in the mini-grants. (But some do, like
the chicks)
Della: We will be sending out surveys asking for feedback. We are reaching out to
teachers so they know but only 50% of the budgeted money for that was actually
used. Our goal is to give more back, especially with the surplus.
Melanie Catanese: In voting for the budget- Christie Mendez made the motion to
pass the budget. 2nd by Allie Hyson. All in attendance ‘ayed’ and passed. No ‘nays’.
(Also noted that ideas are being presented to make clubs more accessible to the
entire school population.)
President Report:
Della taking the “acting” off President title.
Kim Morse officially nominates Della Mead at 8:16pm.
Sarah Keller 2nd the motion.
All in favor, no nays.
Della: Goal this year is to get more parents involved. Want it to be an easy-going
year, trying to make money, but everything is for the kids, and being able to give the
money back to the kids. Actively looking for ideas to get others involved. Very
appreciative of people already signed up.
-Gave brief summary on Health Council. There was some confusion with 1st gr lunch.
It’s this Wednesday and Thursday, not Friday. Health Council is looking to expand
and want more people to give more input. There are 4 events: 1st grade lunch, Walk
to School, Go for the Greens, and Whale Walk. All are popular programs and looking
to keep the kids active. Please contact to offer help because right now we just have
Laura Durkin and Alayne Bianco.
Social:
Kindergarten social is September 17th at 6pm. It’s a great event that allows the kids
to get to know the school and parents to get to know each other and their way
around the school.
Welcome Back Movie: is September 18th at 7pm. It will be the Lego Movie. There will
be popcorn and a dessert bar.
Trunk or Treat: There is an amendment to the budget to help provide a bag of treats
or small prizes to each participating family that signs up and decorates a car. This is
to help alleviate the cost for people to participate.
Fundraising:
-The new mantra is less is more.
-Cut out dead weight, added new ones like the Color Fun Run instead of Spring Fest.
Allie Hyson and Danielle Cherry are co-chairing the Color Run.
-New club will be Lego Club. While under the tier of fundraising, it’s actually going to
be a free one to be more accessible to all the students but will have space
limitations.
-If we do not have chairs, the events will be cancelled. (Like Science club that starts
end of September. Do not have a parent volunteer so it will be cut. If you parent
volunteer, you can have one child do the session for free. It’s 5 weeks. 3:50—4:50,
on Tuesdays. (Noted that Sept. 29th is a 3 wk. session though.) It was a popular club
last year and made $900.
-Engineering club but no chair, so it was cancelled.
-Winter Celebration needs a chair and in danger of being cancelled.
-Volunteers are needed for almost all the fundraising events.
-School Directory ads, have 10 businesses committed. Looking for additional help
and or ads. Can include ads for your own small business like Pampered Chef, etc.
-Can do Lifetouch Pictures online.
-Need volunteers for school store.
-Box top challenge
-Oct 14th will be the Iron Hill Brewery fundraiser
-Sign up sheets are out for all events- social and fundraising- are out in front of
library.
Meeting ended at 8:35.