Northern Highlands Regional High School Home and School Association, Inc., minutes of the general meeting May 13th 2015

President Christine Ferrarie called the meeting to order at 9:40 am. She shared thank you notes from teachers and students expressing their gratitude for allocations and scholarship monies. She also passed around the flyer for volunteers for the next school year. Christine announced the nominations for the HASA Board: Stacy Paton, President. Andrea Pennington, Secretary. Ariana Delucia, Vice President. Kathy Travers, Treasurer. Jill Webb and Christine Ferrarie, Past President Advisors. Committee Chairs: Allocations, Lisa Tantillo. Directory/Membership, Christine Soell – Michele Madonna-Patty Davis. Emails & Newsletter, Christine Ferrarie. Freshman Parent Breakfast, Louise Basralian. Grocery Cards, Andrea Pennington – Terry Madonna – Cathy Squasoni – Tricia Mast. Hospitality, Nancy Levin. Nominating Committee, Susan Hynes. Staff Appreciation lunch, Louise Basralian. TDBank Affinity Program, Michele Madonna. Webmaster, Susan Hynes. Voting for board positions and announcement of committee chairs will take place at the June 3rd meeting.

Present at meeting: Jennifer Maita, Fran Cagney, Lisa Tantillo, Karen Nowakoski, Michel Madonna-Scherreik, Glee Rogers, Ann Ho, Kathy Travers, Tricia Mast, Tracy Cinelli, Lisa Pensa, Florence Black, Michele Resnick, Kimberly Swinton, Namita Pottluri, Denise LaGalia, Joanne Marino, Andrea Pennington, Ariana DeLucia, Jill Webb, Stacy Paton, Christine Ferrarie and Elaine Urciuoli.

School Counseling Report – Kelly Peterfriend: There are many programs to plug. 5/19 Parent-to-Parent meeting for junior parents to hear first hand from senior parents and students about the college process. All are welcome. Juniors will get the most out of the evening.

5/20 “College Declassified” a wellness program for current seniors as they embark on the passage to college. 5/18 there will be returning high school graduates, that are college students at Ramapo, will speak about their experience. HASA sponsored a wonderful speaker/writer Harlan Cohen. His knowledge and experience will address student wellness. 5/20 a program for parents at 7pm in Hopkins Hall will address the same issues. 5/21 Social Work groups will take place in small group settings. All of these programs will meet during PE no one will miss CORE classes. There is a junior writing program being offered “Essay Boot camp”. 500 words.com partnering with Ramsey High School as well. Information is in the Newsletter. The Master Schedule is in the works and the Appeals process takes place in June. Call the School Counseling office if you have any questions.

Principal’s Report – Mr. Occhino: Thanked Kelly Peterfriend on the upcoming “Wellness Week”. Going to college can be overwhelming and this is a great program for our students. He shared a personal anecdote about his college experience and how different things are today. Why join HASA?! Thank you to all the volunteers for your time and talent. There is a changing of the guard so to speak and volunteers are very important. Thank you for all the allocations to be issued. The contributions are very much appreciated by all. “Safe Homes” pledge – was originally started by Parents Network (a defunct organization). This was intended to be a joint effort with parents and the school to provide safe homes with a party-free environment. This appears to be an antiquated program and other programs have been introduced that will cover the programs original intentions. For that reason, it is no longer in our best interest to continue the program. The minimum day on Tuesday May 12th was the result of the kitchen grill fire suppression malfunction. The system puts out a chemical to suppress grease fires. Once the chemical is released the fire department is called to make sure the school is safe to return to. The Board of Health also becomes involved due to the chemical release and they could not provide lunch until protocol was followed. June 5th, Senior Prom Day, seniors will be dismissed at 11:58 am.

Board of Education – Jill Webb: On behalf of the board, we thank you for your hard work and generous allocations and staff appreciation luncheon. Summer projects include the continuation of the roof project and AC in the science wing. There will be heating and other air-conditioning upgrades. Dr. Beckerman, the new Superintendent, will begin July 1. He was by far the most outstanding candidate with a great work ethic and personality and he is well versed in wellness.

MPAA – Glee Rogers: Jazz Night is 5/13. Please come and enjoy the music. 5/14 is Ladies Night Out at the Ramsey Country Club. A donation will be made to the Sports Association to contribute to the new lights. Marching Band will perform in 3 parades on Memorial Day. The band competition that is to be held in the fall is a US Band competition.

Sports Association – Jennifer Maita: Please come support the golf and tennis outing on May 18th. It is the organizations largest fundraiser that ultimately supports all sports programs. (Wrestling mats, indoor track practice for spring track, championship rings for soccer, etc.)

Project Graduation – Elaine Urciuoli: 5 weeks to graduation! Look for bus sign up and lawn sign fundraiser, email to come. Committee is still looking for chaperones.

Treasurers Report – Lisa Tantillo: Allocations in the amount of $27,520.00 were approved last month. Mrs. Rokozak asked for a microphone system in the amount of $766.00 that was also approved. TV Studio wish list – we purchase 3 cameras for a total of $5,124.00. These were 2 additional allocations not included in last month’s reported total. There is a form with specific guidelines and questions that must be approved before allocations are considered.

Recording Secretary – Jennifer Maita: Note change to Mr. Occhino’s report – he is Principal not President.

Approval of last month’s minutes, Lisa Tantillo motioned for approval and seconded by Karen Nowakoski.

WE STILL HAVE GROCERY CARDS TO SELL. PLEASE SEE KAREN NOWAKOSKI.

CHRISTY SOELL AND MICHELE MADONNA will be working on incoming freshman receiving forms by Friday May 15th. (Prior to meeting)

UPCOMING DATES:

5/14, 5/16 – Freshman Class Play

5/15 – 8th Grade Program for Students and Parents @ 6:30 pm

5/16 - E Waste Collection @ 8 am

5/19 – Parent to Parent meeting @ 7 pm

5/20 – College Declassified - Harlan Cohen -7 pm

5/22 – Minimum Day

5/25 – Memorial Day, School closed

5/30 – Relay for Life

PLEASE JOIN US AT OUR LAST HASA MEETING JUNE 3RD IN THE CULTURAL ARTS CENTER!

Meeting adjourned at 10:55 am.

Respectfully submitted,

Jennifer Maita

Recording Secretary