ESPO MEETING MINUTES October 8, 2013 Notes from Jerry’s Talk Conferences: 



Sign up online Come with questions that you want Share observations from the first month of school New parent sign up to talk with Jerry on 16 and 17 Current Enrollment:  379 students – addition of one 4th grade student since September  Referrals are already coming in for next year Middle School Admissions Events:  Sunday, 10/27 2-­‐4 pm  Brown bag lunch for perspective parents on 11/5 at 12pm. Welcome Desk:  10-­‐12 Emerson Faculty are currently staffing the welcome desk. Jerry requested parent volunteers to help staff the desk between 8-­‐9 am. and 2-­‐2:45 pm. If interested in helping, please contact Jerry.  Bully Nation by Susan Eva Porter: o There is some great stuff in the book. She uses the acronym – GRIT (Growth mindset, Responding vs. reacting, Interventions, Teach our children) o Adults should be responding and looking at the dynamics between children as to why they aren’t getting along. Explore what adults can do to intervene and support children and teach kids to navigate the ups and downs of relationships. This approach moves away from many current anti-­‐bullying campaigns that appear to be knee jerk reactions. Technology Director Position Posted:  The position is currently posted on the Emerson website, SPARK (locally), Mlive NAIS, ISACS, word of mouth, Linked-­‐in School Communications:  Newsletters and Emails: o All-­‐school eNewsletter every Friday, Lower School classroom updates at least once a month, Lower School Specials update once a month, Middle School updates once a month, Alumni eNewsletter every quarter  Website (www.Emerson-­‐School.org): 


o A new, more useful Emerson website launching this winter, News stories about students, alumni, the school, and more, Always up-­‐to-­‐date calendars that you can subscribe to on phones and home computers Facebook (www.Facebook.com/TheEmersonSchool): o Insight into day-­‐to-­‐day life of Emerson School students, You can visit even if you don’t have a Facebook account ESPO (Emerson School Parent Organization): o Monthly meetings to discuss and plan ways to support students, Head of School update on the status of Emerson School, Parent-­‐to-­‐parent communication during coffee and afterward In-­Person: o Curriculum night at the beginning of each school year, Parent-­‐teacher conferences in October and March, Faculty and staff are available to answer any questions you might have about your child or the school, Head of School conferences available to New Families at October conferences AIMS (Association of Independent Schools) Conference on 10/7:  There were over a thousand participants at the conference held at Roeper and Detroit Country Day schools.  Mike Wilson, Victoria Rondeau, and Debbie Lamson made a Steam Punk presentation  Jennifer Tanau and Connie Weber presented on their Andrew Goldsworthy – Inspired Nature Sculpture experience. New Film:  An American Promise – a film about two 13 year old African American boys and their experience in independent schools. It is a PBS movie to be released in 2014. There will be limited runs in theaters, however, we are seeing if we can get a hold of it to show at the school. Mandarin at Emerson:  We will be surveying Emerson parents to determine interest. In addition, we will take a look at high schools to see how our program would fit in with the current programs at area schools. This will be an ongoing conversation that will be open to parents soon. Stargazing Event:  On 10/25. UM will come out and help. Tim Wilson will announce details soon. Emerson Board of Trustees:  Trustees are the stewards of Emerson. There are 16 members whose profiles are coming soon on the website. Most trustees are current parents and they must wear two hats – parents vs. stewards of the school. They are charged with how to make sure that Emerson is in excellent shape 15 years from now.  ISACS president spoke to the board in September to talk about what it means to be a board member of the school. 
Current issues being addressed by the board include space challenges, bylaws and school policies. New Emerson Website Update:  Update given by Mike Shaw  The new Emerson website will come in late November/early December. o The goal is to make the website user friendly, and a resource for the parents – both current and prospective. o The school calendar will be shown on the homepage so that parents will be able to see what is going on each month. o The homepage will include a Facebook stream. Parents will also be able to subscribe to different calendars. o More intuitive website navigation for current parents, alumni, students and prospective parents so that they can find relevant information easily and in one place. Website Questions from the floor:  What communication sent out by Jerry will be available on the website? o Click on newsletter and a drop down list of newsletters will appear.  Will the new website link to individual teacher sites? – e.g. drama site for musical? o Yes, teachers create great websites (e.g. band and orchestra, Andy Zimmer has one for his class). and the new website will link to them.  Security -­‐ posting know what’s going on at school could be a tool for everyone to know that there is an assembly? o The website will not show which classrooms are going off campus and RenWeb will still be behind the login. We want current and prospective parents to be able to get information, but it is a balance as we do not want to make too much information available and put students at rist.  What Sign Up Genius links have been posted on the ESPO page? o Halloween o Conference Dinner o Stay posted as new sign-­‐ups are added frequently. ESPO MEETING PRESENT: Jerry Loewen, Beth Anderson, Maureen Kachman, Jennifer Ratliff-­‐Moss, Michelle Crumm, Jen Barba, Lesli Ballard, Sarah Ginsburg, Jamie Sinha, Caroline Begola, Elizabeth Caswell, Melissa Knauth, Michelle Weaver, Amy Woodruff, Diana Rooks, Amy Longcore, Stephanie Zabinko, Jennifer Pinto, Allison Hong, Jeanne Cooper, and others who did not sign in. Jennifer Ratliff-­‐Moss called the meeting to order at 9:01 AM September 11, 2013 ESPO meeting minutes were approved. Motion made by Elizabeth Caswell, seconded by Jennifer Pinto. Committee Updates: • Fall Conference Potluck Dinner: update given by Elizabeth Caswell o On the 1st day of conferences teachers get here at 7:30-­‐8:00 AM and do not leave until 8:00 PM at night o There are times that are blocked off to give them some time to eat, we are going to have a potluck dinner on Wednesday night o Sign up is on the website – ESPO webpage and in the newsletter o Need volunteers for the following:  Near 2:30 – 3 PM, help set up – make sure everything is there, make sure to leave note as to what is in fridge  First thing Thursday, or wed night – make sure dishes get washed up o Things to note:  Make sure to label all your dishes, if including allergens, put a note on it – e.g. if making a salad with pecans, please be sure to make a note that it contains nuts (and what type of nuts)  If you are making something to accommodate gluten free – make sure to note o This is a small easy thing to do to show our teachers our appreciation since they take such good care of our kids, so please talk to Elisabeth Caswell if you are interested in signing up to help or make food. Also check the sign-­‐up page on the ESPO webpage (accessible from the Emerson School website homepage). • Halloween Carnival: update given by Stephanie Zabinko o Michelle Weaver has graciously offered to take charge of haunted house o Everything is in final stages, now just execution  There will be the haunted house, orange café – as was offered last year o looking for volunteers to help set up on Sunday and Wednesday o Sign up genius in newsletter o A volunteer (same as last year) will sponsor the assembly and will work with the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum to provide a Halloween presentation to kids, o Question from the floor:  Food allergies: There are kids in school who have health needs around food. There should be good communication for the parents of kids to know what food choices there are so they can make other arrangements for their children so they do not feel left out. • This year to accommodate food allergies, the Orange café will offer oranges as opposed to Doritos. • It was recommended that a list be made of all the food that will be offered and that list be given to Mrs. G so that she can pass it out to the parents. Last year the business office did an activity (gummy worms and dirt), but they slipped through the cracks in terms of planning – and some children who had food •
•
allergies were able to play, but then the worms had to be thrown away. • Stephanie will touch base with business office to see if they will do activities this year and she will touch base to Mrs. G. Either Joan or Diane should be the point person for food. • If any food labels are collected, it could be added as an attachment in an email to parents. November Book Fair: update given by Jeanne Cooper o Date: November 10 from 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM at Nicola’s o The theme for this year is: “Fall for Books” o Some cider and doughnuts will be offered o Unlike last year, book boxes for teachers will be optional. However, Linda will have a box of books that she needs for library. o We are trying to encourage people to buy gift cards. o 25% of all proceeds made from the book fair will go back to the Emerson Library. o There will be small group performances in the back of the store o After the book fair, people will still be able to buy books online for up to a week and still obtain the 25% donation to Emerson. o Volunteer/help opportunities  Need some volunteers to help with marketing, small amount of set up and clean up, and help with directing flow  There will be a sign up genius to work with Linda to help with some of the groups that are performing  Sign up genius will go up closer to date o Question from the floor  Why are we going to Nicola’s and not another area book store? • Linda has a strong relationship with Nicola. Authors that come to Nicola’s have come to Emerson free of charge because of the relationship with Nicola. • We are getting a greater return by moving the venue to Nicola’s. • It is important for us to support the library and Linda and also to support a small independent bookstore. • Product availability: If a book is not at Nicola’s, she will order it and get it into your child’s backpack – Nicola is doing everything she can to be accommodating. • Nicola is a great parent resource. If you go in and tell them what your child is reading – and your child’s reading level, and interest, she will help to provide a reading list. • Linda is a wonderful resource who helps to keep our kids reading and ESPO needs to support her and the library. Pizza lunch: update given by Maureen Kachman o Thank you to returning and new volunteers. So far, everything has gone very smoothly and even the teachers are helping by checking their list to make sure that students are getting what is ordered for them. o The volunteer sign up email only went to people who checked off on enrollment that they wanted to participate. Maureen will put the sign up genius on the ESPO website this week so that anyone can volunteer. o Volunteer shifts: there are 2 two hour shifts – an early and a late shift. If you are not sure which shift you want to do, talk with Maureen and she can tell you which shift to sign up for based on which grades your kids are in. o Questions from the floor:  Do we know if the number of pizzas ordered is consistent from year to year? Yes, it is pretty consistent. We are serving about 330 students each week. There were cost increases in the past (pizza went from $5 to $6) because Dominos changed their prices, however, ESPO did not.  Communication this year for pizza orders was great! New middle schoolers were able to get their orders in timely. Jen sent an email out on Monday morning reminding parents to get their order changes in.  Jen will talk with Joan about how best to communicate ordering to new families next year for pizza lunch.  How much does pizza lunch raise? • About $20,000 per year. This money is used to fund large school projects.  Why does lower school not have a pepperoni option? • it is difficult to do the counting and separating of pizzas and slices. It would be chaotic for the teachers to make sure that each student gets what they ordered. In addition, it is a big perk for 5th graders becoming 6th graders – they get a choice of pepperoni!  More choices offered for pizza which has allowed for more student participation – added gluten-­‐free and no cheese. Auction: Auction volunteer kick off and planning meeting next Tuesday (October 15) at 1 PM at the Fishbowl. Please let Beth know if you are interested. Box Tops for Education & Labels for Education: Dana DeBord gave an update -­‐ so far, we have collected 2,580 Box Tops ($258), however, this does not include last week’s collection. Collection occurs every Friday. New Meijer bonus coupon to comes out on the 14th – you can get extra Box Tops by doing bonus Box Tops. All money collected from Box Tops for Education and Labels for Education goes to the general fund. SCRIP Program: Hillers has changed their program so that you can load money onto the card. Passport to the World: The date is April 25th, 2014. Please contact Jennifer if you are interested in being on the planning committee A Sign Up Genius will be created after the committee is formed. Emerson School Anti-­Idling Campaign: A small committee (2-­‐3 people) around anti-­‐idling will be created and will work closely with Susan Hutton. The committee will address what actions Emerson School can take – a sign to remind parents to turn off their engines while waiting? Jennifer Ratliff-­‐Moss adjourned the meeting at 9:34 AM. Approved November 13, 2013