Paradise Canyon Elementary School
PTA Meeting
November 10, 2015 Minutes
Multipurpose Room
1. Call to Order and Welcome
a) PTA President Amber Franklin called the meeting to order of the Paradise Canyon Elementary School PTA at 8:15am in the multipurpose room
2. Opening Ceremonies
a) Pledge of Allegiance was conducted by Christa Evans
3. Staff Presentation
a) Mrs. Jenn Mora – First Grade Presentation
b) Mrs. Mora presented first graders work entitled “What I Am Thankful For” which showed the writing process with the goal of writing complete paragraphs
4. Principal’s Report
a) Dr. Cradduck thanked those that signed up for Social Media Night
i) PCY had the most parents sign up
b) In December there is a Common Core math night which will discuss the changes at the District and Site Level
5. President’s Report
a) Country Fair made about $80,000 in profit and therefore PTA is meeting its budget
b) Book Fair is scheduled for November 30 – December 4
i) Muffins with Mom December 3 from 7 to 8:10am
ii) Donuts with Dads December 2 from 7 to 8:10am
iii) November 20 online sales will begin and there will be teacher classroom dedications
c) Gift Wrap Distribution November 18 (same day as jog-a-thon)
i) Gift wrap made $15,000
d) Jennifer Ringo reported on Plaza Nights
i) Habit, Panera and Blaze make $200-$300 each night
ii) Chipotle gives back 50% of profit if we do fundraising there
iii) First grade teachers scheduled to be at Habit area Tuesday, November 17
e) Nina Ries provided an update on STEAM events
i) Speaker from crime lab coming
(1) Kids can collect DNA evidence themselves
ii) November 15 USC musical presentation
iii) December 12 Endeavor tour
f) PTA minutes are available online and were approved by a committee of three
6. Superintendent’s Report
a) Ms. Wendy Sinnette provided an update on the status of her goals for the year
i) There is more parent education planned including 7/8 anti-bullying, social media outreach, math nights to invite parents to come to a common core math session
ii) Developmental assets – research demonstrates thriving vs. risk-taking behaviors
iii) Build student engagement opportunities
iv) Reviewing electives for 7 – 12 grades
v) Introduce zero period PE at 7/8 to provide option of 7 periods so that children may take one additional class that is considered “down time”
vi) Increase student engagement
vii) Utilize technology
viii) District calendar is stream ready for content and phones
ix) Task forces coming: TK-K programs, why are families choosing private Kindergarten?, can District expand the day?
x) There was a question regarding why the language program at the high school is so intense
xi) There was a question regarding the adoption of Common Core textbooks
xii) Ms. Sinnette thanked families for donations
7. Technology Presentation
a) There was a technology presentation given by Jennifer Zine, Lindsay Staley and Carey Atkins
b) Lindsay Staley is the Technology TOSA in charge of helping integrate high school
c) Carey Atkins works with Common Core strategies, teacher tracking and professional development
d) Jennifer Zine works with teachers to help them integrate technology in their lesson plans at the elementary schools
e) TOSAs working with 6th and 8th grade teachers making sure they are ready for the 5th and 7th grade students that already have chromebooks
f) TOSAs working on digital citizenship supported by Common Sense Media teaching children on how to find “good” websites (accurate)
g) Upstandinet talk to children about how much screen time they have at home
h) ipad apps were chosen by Emily Blaney when she was on the TOSA team
i) culled the apps down to approximately 20 apps from 130 which were proven to be the most useful
ii) had to identify a purpose for each app
i) Current thinking is that the following grades would use the following technology
i) K-2 ipad
ii) 3 – 6 chromebooks
iii) 7 – 9 chromebooks
iv) 10 – 12 Mac/PC
j) Need to upgrade infrastructure to accommodate the students since the average student has 3.2 digital devices
k) Team is trying to make teachers comfortable with technology and using it when it makes sense
l) Parents are supposed to buy chromebooks in 5th grade – district needed 70% parent buy-in in order to create program
m) Grades 5 – 8 will have chromebooks next year
n) English and history classes seem to use chromebooks more than math and science classes
o) Q: Are teachers watching what kids are doing on screen in 7th grade classes?
i) A: Hard time keeping up with the kids, but teachers do have software where they can view what kids have up on screen
p) Q: How do parents keep up with 5th grade children using chromebooks at home?
i) A: Need more parent nights to educate parents
q) Q: What software is available with parental controls?
i) A: This would be a great workshop to offer.
r) Q: Can we have a parent forum to share info?
i) A: Good idea.
s) Q: Will chromebooks be integrated into robotics?
i) A: Many of the STEAM programs don’t work on chromebooks
t) Q: Do you still get ads if you add parent controls?
i) A: Not necessarily.
u) Q: When do children start to type?
i) A: Children need to be able to type a paragraph by 5/6th grade. It starts in 3rd grade, but it’s up to the teacher. Half way through second grade the kids start on Type to Learn program.
v) Team is looking at physical spaces as well as technologies.
w) In a 3-year plan, they like the idea of chairs and desks that move so that they can be placed in flexible groupings. The team also likes chairs that look like hippity hops. For the high school, the team likes standing and stool options with swinging bars. There is also a high-end option that is appealing with a pod like group and a monitor screen.
8. Treasurer’s Report
a) The financial report for August was given
i) Cash balance at the beginning of August was $116,479.45. At the end of August it was $116,927.08 representing a net gain of $447.63. The savings account had $41,407.54 as of August 31, 2015 with a gain in interest of $2.11.
b) Mikki Weightman motioned to approve
c) Christa Evans seconded
d) The financial report for September was given
i) Cash balance at the beginning of September was $116,927.08. At the end of September it was $177,339.72 representing a net gain of $60,412.64. The savings account had $41,409.59 as of September 30, 2015 with a gain in interest of $2.05.
e) Sharon Grey motioned to approve
f) Mikki Weightman seconded
9. PTA meeting adjourned at 9:36 am
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