Washington-Lee High School PTA Minutes - Monday, November 9, 2009

Washington-Lee High School PTA Minutes - Monday, November 9, 2009

< Final – Approved at January 11 meeting>

Madrigals Choral Performance during Meet and Greet

Meeting called to order at 7:32.

Student Council ReportZoe Bellars, Student Council President

- Freshman officers have been elected

- Thanksgiving Assembly

- Thanksgiving Food Drive

Food for Arlington Food Acceptance Center

IntroductionsNancy Pilchen

Faculty Presentation: Best Practices for Parents when students are experiencing academic Difficulties

- Panel

Anne Verville, Chair Math Department; Senior Class Sponsor
Dawn McCoart, Chair Science Department;
Rosa Reyes, Chair English Department;
Claire Moir, Chair Social Studies Department, Freshman Coordinator;
Pam McClellan, Counseling Department

- If a student needs additional academic help (Clair Moir)

They should come to see their teachers
Nervous to do this but we really want to teach them ASAP that there are a lot of adults out there who have their best interests in mid and are able to give support
Zero periods and Saturday school are good but it’s important to reach out to individual teacher
Come lunch time, before school, after school; teachers are happy to find a time that works for your student

- Parent Contact (Anne Verville)

First you should Email the teacher: “I have some concerns; should we meet? Can we set up some time for my student to get some help?”

- Student Contact (Pam McClellan)

Important for students to be able to talk to their teachers
During the college night at Mary Washington, the counselor said they see over and over that Freshman in college don’t know how to ask for help

- Make Up Work (Dawn McCoart)

If they miss something when they’re out, they need to take initiative to find out what they missed.
In most classrooms, the teacher has a way to let students know what they missed; folder in classroom or something on website;
They should also ask teacher to be sure they have everything
Do it as soon as possible
As parents, please ask your student the day they go back “did you get all of your assignments that you missed yesterday?”
If you miss Monday, don’t wait until the class meets again on Wednesday to find out what you missed.
Some teachers will ask their students to email her when they’re out sick and they’ll send assignments/information electronically to the absent student

- Organizational Skills (Rosa Reyes)

Organizational skills are lacking
Cannot stress enough the importance of getting these kids comfortable with talking to their teachers
School Web Locker – outlines, etc are on their sites
Encourage parents to monitor their work closely so they know when they are slipping so they can help them find help
Take advantage of the resources available here at W-L
Emphasis on the learning
When parents come in for a meeting, come in with “How can I help?” attitude instead of an accusation or being defensive.
When communicating by Email, use the “Two by Two”: send request/question by email and give the teacher 2 days to respond; if they haven’t responded, send 2nd email (“sent you an email on Monday; have you had a chance to think about my question?”) if you don’t get response then, there is a chain of command you can follow.
Taking initiative – being proactive; solve problems ahead of time

- Adapting to High School (Clair Moir)

If all of a sudden there’s a bump in the road, this is normal but it needs to be addressed.
May need to adjust their focus because work has now gotten harder; for instance, don’t just skim; sometimes you need to do something more than just show up in class; take notes while you’re reading. Look at your notes you took in class as you’re doing your reading at night.
If the students want to do well and understand what’s going on in the class, they’ll need to do a little more with the content

- Show Initiative (Rosa Reyes)

Work ahead; students who do very well are the ones who do the homework the night they got it and send me an email and say “take a look at this and tell me if I’m on the right track”
Sometimes, kids will ask “I’m going to send you this tonight; can you take a look at it for me”
Personally, I do not leave for the day until I have cleaned out my electronic inbox so I am able to process these requests daily
Kids who’ve taken advantage of resources like this are the ones who do the best on the writing assignments.
This also alleviates the pressure on the parents as well.

- Tutors: what do teachers think about a private tutor? And can the tutor contact the teachers?

Rosa Reyes: Happy to talk with tutors
Anne Verville:
we get that contact all the time in the Math dept – that communication not a big deal at all; people have no problem with that;
if your child is coming to get help from teacher and has a tutor and is still getting a C then maybe that’s all your kid can do; maybe they’re in a class too advanced for them.
don’t get sucked into the pressure; it’s easy as parents to buy in to that “gotta do A work to get in to college” but my advice is back off and let them enjoy their childhood; keep a realistic perspective

- Effort: what if your child doesn’t try that hard?

Anne Verville: Self-motivation comes from maturity; you have to grow up on your own; everyone reaches that self- motivation when they reach it.

- Communication: how do you help a kid ask the right question?

Claire Moir:
Some kids don’t want to go in alone; they should get 2 – 3 kids to come in together to make it more comfortable
Peer study groups are super helpful
Hearing it from their peers is sometimes clearer to them
Taking initiative – being proactive; solve problems ahead of time
Anne Verville:
Kids are taking advanced classes because they want to be there with their friends so the peer pressure for academics can be very helpful
Sunday night study groups are great
Pam McClellan:
Students can email each other
There’s a chain of command you can follow if not satisfied with initial result (teacher, counselor, administration)
Within your family, you must decide how much do you say, how much do you do; if you do too much, they are not going to be taking enough initiative. The benefit to having struggled those last few years of high school is that they learn how to get through it
Sometimes just a prompt: “Did you think about doing English H/W tonight?” even though it’s a couple nights early and then leave the room
““Why don’t you just do it for 5 minutes?” that usually turns in to more than 5 minutes
Eat the big frog first: What’s the beast? What’s the big project you have this week? Do the hard work first.

- Zero Period: Why does he hesitate to go?

Not necessarily the child’s classroom teacher so it’s important that your student develop a relationship with the Zero Period teacher
Early in the morning
Anne Verville:
Make sure your teacher knows you have been or are planning to go to Zero Period
Taking initiative – being proactive; solve problems ahead of time
Dawn McCoart:
Teachers manning zero period really wants the kids to come to zero period so they’re going to be very welcoming
If they don’t know the answer, they’ll find someone who does
Parents should feel free to email the zero period teachers and say “my kid’s coming in for zero period; please make them feel welcome”

President’s Report Nancy Pilchen

- Year is going very well, thanks to all of you.

- Ribbon Cutting: Late last month, we had our official Ribbon Cutting ceremony marking the completion of W-L. We had folks from the original planning committee, teachers, staff, school and county board members here on one of the awful October days. To commemorate the day, there is a General’s plaque on the outside wall in the courtyard garden.

- Arlington Teacher of the Year - Applications forms are out. Here's your chance to recognize a special teacher in your student's life. Contact me if you'd like to submit a name so it can be coordinated school-wide. The application packet is available electronically from Claudia Mercado at . Applications are due Friday, Dec 18, 2009.

- Speaking of teacher of the year: Julie Cantor, our instructional lead teacher in Social Studies who coordinates the remedial SOL program was honored by the Virginia Staff Development Council with their Teacher Leader Award.

- Creative Volunteer needed –

The PTA is working with W-L staff to foster the relationship between students and teachers. We’ve asked teachers to provide us w/the names of the colleges that they’ve attended and we’re putting together individual notices outside of each teacher’s classroom with that information and inviting students to come in and talk to the teacher about the college in question.
So we’ve got about 100 teachers who have signed up to participate and now we’re working to get the mini-posters made for each teacher. Great opportunity for someone with limited daytime hours. Please contact Nancy Pilchen at or 703/867-2908 if interested.
Suggestion from audience: teachers could contact admissions offices at their alma mater

- The PTA presidents from all 3 high schools and HB are getting together this month to discuss issues of commonality between all of us. If you have anything you’d like to see considered, please drop me a line or see me afterward.

- The Arlington Education Fund is looking for donations.

This is the organization that has provided grants to educators, and non profit organizations.
W-L teachers have been successful in receiving grants from the Fund for books, bicycles, and math resources. Please let me know if you’d like more information.
However parenthetically I should tell you that our PTA also runs a grants program and we obviously limit it to W-L teachers.
So if you’re interested in donating to this kind of a program, you could choose either of us depending upon how broadly you’d like your money to be spread.

- October 5 PTA Meeting Minutes approved

Treasurer’s ReportLisa Knox

- Second mailing for contributions to the senior class; no sweat fundraiser; $7400 received so far and we’re looking for another $1100.

- Haven’t spent much; $8500 spent year-to-date; big expense will be grants

Principal Report Margarita Cruz

- Requesting 3 trailers for next year

- Transfer policy

There will be a cap on IB transfers for first time due to overcrowding;
Cap will be same number that came in last year (about 80-90)
We’ll hold a double blind lottery
Current policy states that as long as a transfer student is taking at least two IB classes, they can stay here as IB Transfer student; they are considering changing the policy so the IB class requirement is higher because we’ve seen an increase in people getting in to Washington Lee from out of district using the IB Transfer policy but then not pursuing IB courses
There are 58 Seniors this year pursuing Full IB diploma
Last year we had 85 full IB candidates graduate
We are no longer maintaining a waiting list because regular transfers will not be allowed for 2 years

- Arlington-Reims Exchange

Looking for host families for 2 weeks February 13 – 27
A few of those days, they take out of town trips so they won’t be with you the whole time

- 9th Grade Parent conferences

Tomorrow
No conferences after 9th grade
Washington Lee is only school in county who does conferences

- Wednesday November 11 is Veteran’s day holiday

- Athletics

Winter Sports start November 16
Cheerleaders are District Champions for first time ever
Q: Freshman team is triggered by what? A: if enough kids show up, they’ll start a freshman team.

- Drama:

Fall play “You Can’t Take it With You”
November 19-21

- Thanksgiving 11/25 Wednesday is holiday as well as

- Two early release dates December 3 and December 23; 12:29pm

- Holiday bazaar December 5

- Student physicals

$35
Sign up and pay at activities office
This Thursday
Convenient and cheap way to get physical

- Winter Concert (Band/Orchestra)

December 17
Choral not participating

- LEED Certification

Leadership in Energy and Environmental design
School board set goal for Silver Cert which is next to the top and we obtained gold certificate
Arlington’s first school buildings and one of the first in the state

- Counseling updates

We’re establishing a Counseling Parent Advisory Board
Made up of representatives from Counseling department as well as volunteer parents
Parents are being selected and contacted by the counseling department
Board chartered with determining what are counseling needs and how can they be better met by Washington Lee Counseling Department?
Volunteers are welcome to put their name forth
Counseling Student Advisory Board
Gregg’s advisory board
Two students from each grade
Get feedback from students
What is working and what is not
What is going to be beneficial
Class meetings
Juniors: December 2; Sophomores: December 16; Freshman: January 27; Seniors: March 12
Whole class with whole counseling department, administration, teachers
Answer questions; give directions to kids about rest of school year
Reconfiguring counselors for 9th and 10th graders
Freshman connection had it’s very own counselors but there may have been a disconnect because they had to switch to a different counselor in 10th grade
We have decided for a variety of reasons that we cannot have dedicated counselors for 9th graders
Kids will have same counselor 9-12 grade; very large advantage; by alphabet so families will have same counselor
9th and 10th grade parents will get letter tomorrow about this
Junior information night in January
Pam McClellan
Started a program with her 10th graders that’s been very successful and we will carry it forward to all 10th graders
Pizza for lunch; groups of 10 kids; meet and greet; just to get to know the kids that they are counseling

Committee Reports

- Holiday Bazaar

Saturday December 5 10am – 4pm
Reservations for 80 tables
Last year we had 100
Expect in next week or so we’ll get more
Senior fundraiser so if you’re a parent of a Senior, please help out
Also, please ask your student to help out; Friday night or Saturday during the day
Washington Lee Student Clubs are in the hallway
Outside vendors bring in the real money
Posting on Website
Very fun; festive; great community event

- SCRIP, Kathleen Reeder

Churches or other community organizations ask for donations of gift cards; buy them from us and help us and them at the same time
Secret Santa through Arlington County; we’ll take your information and give them to the SS and get your tax credit
Call or email Kathy and she can arrange delivery of cards

- GREGG’S LIST, Tish Jenkins

Teachers need something for their classroom, solicit parents for things

- FAMILY NETWORK, Bill Browning

Tuesday November 16 “Your Teen and Sexuality” Central Library 7pm
Wednesday December 2 at Washington Lee “Gap Year” 7pm

Freshman Chat Bill Browning

Wednesday night, 7pm in the library
Two parents Jessica Turner and Mary Yuhas talking about being the parent of a freshman
Claire Moir, Freshman Connection
Parent plug: I had freshman last year and this program was very helpful

Presentation – Choral Program at Washington Lee Fieke Janson

- We’re looking for ways to make us more visible; if you have any ideas, please let us know

- January 14, pyramid concert with feeder middle and elementary schools

- Singers will be visiting middle schools to pique interest of incoming 8th graders

APS Budget Shortfall Nancy Pilchen and Gregg Robertson

- Shortfall in tax revenues so Arlington Public Schools is holding forums at Ed Center

Thursday November 12th 8am
Saturday November 14th 9am

- Trying to figure out how to save $47M

- Create potential list of ways to achieve savings; forums are to solicit additional ideas

- Important for you to show up to vote for ideas that have been put forth

- Budget survey will be online later this week if you can’t attend forum

Adjourn 9:14

Anita Blackman

Bob Moffett

Carol Schadelbauer

Celia Slater

Dale Proctor

Ellen Kollalea

Fieke Janson

Jennifer Dunlap

Jody Conway

Joyce Klein

Kathy Reeder

Larry Shearin

Laura Brothers

Lisa Jenx

Lisa Knox

Luann Moy

Marie McElderry

Nancy Pilchen

Patty Gibson

Peg Willingham

Peter Vogel

Robin Talmack

Robin Whitmore

Rosa Shearin

Sara Uzel

Shelley Goode

Theresa Gibson

Tish Jenkins