Bates Middle PTA Coffee with the Principal – Final Minutes
December 16, 2016, 8:15 AM
Bates Media Center
Welcome and Introductions-Deirdre Ralph (PTA President) welcomed everyone to the combined PTA meeting and Coffee with the Principal. Thetwenty six participants introduced themselves to the group and included PTA members, interested parents and a number of Bates staff.
Discussion items -
1)Beauty and the Beast program – this event was paid by the PVA program and was open to 7th and 8th grade students throughout the school. The Annapolis Middle Drama Club and teachers helped our production. Some discussion included options to expand inclusivity and a whole school club at Bates in the future since we are an Arts Integration school and have the PVA program here. The event had very positive sales, selling out at least one night and close to complete seating for the other nights. All grades at Bates will have the opportunity to see shortened vignets of the play including song and dance routines.
2)The redo policy was discussed. It is no longer required that teachers reteach material before a redo. Students can still request reteaching but it is optional. Reteaching can be done on help or I&I days. There is only 1 redo allowed per project or test.
3)There was some discussion about how students can get extra help in a given subject. If a parent is concerned whether or not a student has actually attempted to go to help day, parents can email the teacher to verify whether or not the session in question was full. If a session is full, the student can also ask another teacher in that subject or the department head. Some parents stated that it seemed that the classes were getting larger, resulting in a higher student to teacher ratio and leading to difficulty in getting help either in class or in help day. Student body projections govern class size and teacher appointments. Bates science, social studies and encore classes have all increased.
Throughout AA County, the student body has increased without teacher population changes. The diversity of the student body requires smaller class sizes to make students successful but increases in student populations have not resulted in increases in teacher appointments. Mr. DeRoo felt this was a good item for parents to address at school board meetings across the Annapolis school cluster. County Council and Board of Ed meetings are critical areas where parents can get involved. Another opportunity is to attend meetings of the Annapolis Education Commission which meets the first Monday of each month at rotating locations. Parent involvement at Bates could include substitute teaching, AVID tutoring or helping at the food bank.
Bates sees a lot of new students added to the school population throughout the year so our numbers change continually. However, we also have a number of teachers and other extra staff who are not assigned to a class so are available to help.
4)The PTA will be hosting a special guest speaker from the State’s Attorney office to address cyber security issues at the next evening PTA meeting in the Bates Media Center, January 18 at 630PM. This talk is geared toward parents.
5)The Bates Bargain Basement was scheduled for December 21st. Students can use their Bates Bucks.
6)Bates is waiting to receive an update regarding the science grant through Northrup Grumman.
7)PVA Plus will change its schedule beginning in the third quarter with Tuesdays being a full help and club day and Thursdays only being PVA Plus days.
The next PTA meeting will be January 18, 2017 at 6:30 PM in the Bates Cafeteria.