General Membership Meeting

DRAFT

General Membership Meeting October 29, 2018

PRESENT: K Albrecht, N Antoine, C Boodram, M Brandle, R Bristol, M Burczyk, O Dallemand, C Eckler, V Eckler, O Estevez, S Fisher, R Freed, A Gilroy, R Gutierrez, J Hernandez, L Hernandez, K Hill, B Hyer, C Hyer, M Hyer, X Hyer, G Haynak, K Khan, K Klemme, K Kucharovic, K Lozada, T Mark, M Hilburger, S Khoule, K McEvoy, D McKeon, G Moran, N Morris, M Ricafrente-Biazon, R Simmons, C Ugbala, L VonButtgereit, T Wilder, M Perrin, M Addai, A Addai, L Bolling, R Belizaire, N Belizaire, J Walsh

Plaza Staff: M Gray, J Graham, Mrs. Cassandro, Ms. Lorocca

CALL TO ORDER: Susan Fisher at 7:27

Pledge of Allegiance, Emergency Exits and procedure, no smoking, parking rules (*do not park on the east side of Rockville Dr. when dropping off in the morning or picking up in the afternoon. No one is allowed to pull into the teacher parking lots. Please drive safely and slowly around the school obeying traffic rules. Please remember that if you are late to drop your student off at school, you must go to the front entrance on Seaman Avenue. We are all concerned for the safety of our children.*) We would appreciate if all cell phones are switched to vibrate for the course of this meeting.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Grace Moran Balance of Accounts as of 10/29/18 Balance in General Checking: $12,172.36 Balance in Savings: $5,972.93 Balance in 5th Grade Events Checking: $10,378.40

Minutes for the last PTA meeting, on September 6th were posted to the website. No corrections – Minutes are accepted and posted as is.

CO-PRESIDENTS’ REPORT: In need of chairs for following committees: • Memorial Day Parade • Mother’s Day/Father’s Day Boutique • School Supplies • Supermarket Bingo • Student Contests If you are interested, please see one of the co-presidents for information. Upcoming Dates to Keep in Mind: • Picture Retake Day – Thursday, 11/1/18 • Bus Drill – Thursday, 11/15/18 (volunteers requested to assist) • Holiday Boutique – November 28 • Brunch and Paint for Parents at Muse Paint Bar in Garden City – sign up online Thank you to: • Myrlene Scott for organzing the Chinese Auction tonight and to the parents, Mr. Gray, Mrs. Graham, and faculty who donated to these wonderful baskets. • BJ’s, Applebee’s, and Starbucks for providing refreshments this evening. Please make sure you show our appreciation for supporting Plaza by patronizing these establishments. • Nacole and Troy for another great Fall Festival. All the children and families had a great time! • Lucero for putting out first Plaza Newsletter of the year. It turned out amazing. We look forward to the other issues this year. • Kim Kucharovic and Renee Bercy for their work with Coupon Books again this year. Coupon Books met its goal, so thank you to everyone that participated in this fundraiser. • Lois for running a successful bookfair and the helpers that made it run smoothly • Kelly Hill for first Cultural Arts Assembly – Hispanic Heritage through traditional dances • Nicole Morris for Restaurant Day at Gino’s – raised $150. Thank you to the families and faculty who participated. • Tricia Wilder for attending the BOE and Friends of Music & Arts meetings. • Amy Gilroy for running the New Parent Mentoring Committee and arranging the playdate at Atlantic Nursery for our new Plaza families. • Chimzy for organizing our first Reflections Workshop. Many children attended and we hope to have many great submissions. Remember that all submissions are due 11/9 • 5th Grade Events for a very fun Halloween Dance • Plaza School Custodians. We couldn’t have any of these wonderful events without your help and support.

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT: Monday we will be having first whole school assembly to unveil PTA School of Excellence Banner to students. Banner will be hung in entry leading to gym. Team Orchid has started publishing stories. They will be posted on the school website by date; working on getting them posted to Facebook now that the district has moved to District page rather than individual school pages. ConnectEd was sent home last week re: safety procedures. Please check memo for important details re: late arrivals. Parent-Teacher Conferences and Holiday Concerts are coming up soon after Thanksgiving. New report cards will be implemented this year with different descriptors for content areas to reflect changing standards. These will be discussed at PT Conferences.

TEACHER’S REPORTS: Kindergarten Reading/Writing: Starting pattern book unit. Be sure to practice reading and writing sight words daily with your child – important when reading and writing simple pattern books. Math: Continuing work with numbers and sets to 10. Science: Classes picked class tree and are focusing on leaves and squirrels. Take a walk around your neighborhood to see what different tree are in our community. Halloween Parade on Wednesday. Families are welcome to come watch at 2:30 on the field. Children may not wear costumes to school and will put costumes over their clothes in the classroom. At home please continue to encourage independence (e.g. opening snacks, putting on and zipping jackets, being responsible for belongings). Please remember to label all personal items that come to school. Grade 1 Math: At the midpoint of Module 1 of Eureka Math. Children are learning to add and count more efficiently. Reading: Learning and applying reading strategies as we decipher unfamiliar text. Writing: Working diligently to edit and revise our personal narratives (small moments) and will soon be publishing finished stories. Science: We are being scientists and experimenting with water. Social Studies: Learning about fire safety and community helpers. Now that the weather is getting colder, please teach your child to button/zip their jackets. Tying shoes is an important skill they should be working on each day. Grade 2 Math: Ending unit on metric measurement and beginning a unit on place value to the thousands. Reading: We are very excited to see all of the wonderful Pumpkin Book Report Projects the children are completing. Social Studies: Learning about people and places. Science: Continuing soil unit. Writing: Publishing small moment writing pieces. Please empty your child’s folder nightly in order to receive important notifications. Grade 1/2 New furniture has arrived. Students are loving the flexible seating options. Working in the spot of their choice makes math tests more fun. Desks and tables are writable – practicing sight words and math facts on our desks. Grade 3 Science: Beginning unit of study on birds and air. We have had members from the Audubon Society visit twice so far this year. Ask us about some of the species we’ve identified! Math: Continuing unit studying multiplication and division concepts. Parents, please review classwork and practice multiplication facts to increase fluency with computation. Writer’s Workshop: Writing and publishing personal narratives. We are learning how to add details, feeling, dialogue, and action to make stories more interesting and use revision strategies to make interesting leads and endings. Grade 4 Reading/Writing: Study of realistic fiction is coming to a close. They have enjoyed the novel The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo. Many strategies they’ve learned can be applied to whatever book they’re reading independently. Science: Learning about the sun and plants. Math: Worked hard learning concepts of place value with larger numbers. Now in the middle of learning the metric system. Please review basic multiplication and division facts. They need to have them memorized. Grade 5 Math: Utilizing multiplication strategies to solve problems. Science: Beginning a unit on space and our solar system. Social Studies: Beginning westward expansion unit. Writing: Sharing first personal narratives with classmates. First fifth grade trip is coming up. Please look for all notices and information coming home with your child. Student Council Off to a great start, with a super group of students who have great ideas for this school year. Congratulations to all candidates who gave speeches for the 18-19 school year elections, and to the new officers.

OFFICERS’ REPORTS: 3rd VP of Health and Safety – Kimberlyn Kucharovic Bus Drill coming up on 11/15/18 from 9-11:45 – need 4 parent volunteers; see Kim to sign-up Coupon book made goal – will need new chair next year; see Kim for details

2nd VP of Membership – Kelly Hill 197 members to date Goal is 250 for the year, so if you know any parents or students who are not members yet, sign up at MemberHub!

Corresponding Secretary – Presented by Susan Fisher for Lucero Ardilles Thank you from Donna Steingruebner for copy of Kidstuff Coupon Book.

1st VP of Legislation - Olgarina Estevez Presented 2018 Proposed Resolutions (Retentions, Updates, Recissions, and New Resolutions) to be voted on at New York State PTA Convention in Saratoga in November 2018.

COMMITTEE REPORTS: Report from Baldwin Council of PTAs – Doris McKeon Council meeting on 10/4 - presented bylaws Legislative forum took place on 10/11 at the High School. Community Input meeting took place last week where Baldwin Council honored the BOE by presenting each trustee with a BE KIND pen to mark the be kind movement that the Baldwin community has been a part of. A representative from each unit quoted words of kindness. Parent Workshop for Reading Strategies for (K-5) Parent Academy Workshop “Kind and Careful Online Communication” tomorrow at the HS at 7 PM Baldwin Then and Now book on sale for $10 November 15, 16, 17 – Baldwin HS Musical: Once On This Island Tomorrow, 10/30, at the HS, Parent Academy on Parenting and Social Media VOTE: Bylaw change to raise membership dues from $315 to $350: 38 in favor, 0 opposed

Restaurant Day: Nicole Morris October 1, 2018 – Restaurant Day at Gino’s Restaurant brought in $987 in sales. 15%+ of the proceeds totaling $150 were raised for Plaza PTA for the month of October. Thank you for supporting! Spread the word about Restaurant Day every month!

KidStuff Coupon Book – Kimberlyn Kucharovic (Co-Chair Renee Bercy) Event/Fundraiser Dates: 9/20-10/2 (still on-going) Goal: $1,300; Raised $1,475 so far Will need a new chair for next year.

Friends of Music and Arts: Tricia Wilder (in place of Doris McKeon) Meeting 9/13 Band Day - Oct 6th Saturday, Nov. 10th - need volunteers to serve pizza Nov 15 - Nov 17th - BHS Musical - Once on This Island -need volunteers to send in baked items or sell the baked items Last Year the Summer Enrichment Program didn’t run however it will be back this summer but a bit different, possibly more opportunities for students - more info will be coming during the year Baldwin Then and Now Coloring Book about the Community - project that was worked on by photography students All State - we had several students in our district selected Funds for FOMA go to …. Grants given to teachers to pay for field trips and in house speakers Pizza for musical rehearsals at Middle School and High School Gently used instruments are awarded to 5th graders (last year 4 were given out) Chalk Day - water and pizza given out to students involved Music Achievement Awards given to 8th grade students Arion Awards given out to High School Students The Baldwin Middle School Band Uniforms are being replaced (7th and 8th grade students only) Membership slips went home to 4th and 5th graders in their backpacks If you would like to join visit the Facebook page, the membership form is there $15 for the year Working on NYSMA library which will hold music so parents can get the 2nd copy needed for students to play Next Meeting - November 1st

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

NEW BUSINESS: Member - MOTION to send delegates (Susan Fisher, Vicmarie Sookdeo, Olgarina Estevez) unbound to convention with a vote of confidence. PASSED. Motion carries.

Meeting adjourned at 9:17

Minutes submitted by Amy Gilroy, PTA Recording Secretary.