Skyview Home & School Association

Condensed Minutes

November 10, 2011

The meeting was called to order by Cathleen Barone at 9:36 AM. In attendance were: Shawna Rondeau, Linda Valle, Cathleen Barone, Laurie Radomski, Christine Capece, Sheri Martin, Kim Woodring, Dana Leahan, Pauline Rasinski, Beth VanBuren, LoriAnn Verna, Kate, McShane, Melissa Gorla, and John Smink.

A motion to approve the minutes from the October meeting was made by Dana Leahan and seconded by Pauleen Rasinski.

Treasurer’s Report:

Linda Valle reported that there is $29,418.33in the TD Bank Account as of October 31,2011 which includes Home and School funds, outdoor education payments, principal's fund, Entertainment Book funds, Family in need donations, library funds and the music department account. Families that make donations for "Families in Need" will keep their donation in their own account until their account is paid in full and then money will be transferred to the "Families in Need" account.

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The Walk-A-Thon raised $7729, just short of our goal of $8,000.

Outdoor Education payments can be made in full at anytime up until about a month prior to the trip.

President's Report:

Election Day updates – Mark O'Neill, Joyce Petrauskas, Kim Woodring, Cathleen Barone and Maria Shackelford were all elected to the School Board. Cathleen will be inducted next Tuesday because Mike Simeone has resigned. The rest of the school board will be inducted in December.

Conference forms were distributed.

There will be an up-close for the Skyview at the November School Board meeting on November 22nd.

There will not be a December Home and School meeting.

The winter break begins Friday, December 23rd with students returning to school on Monday, January 2nd.

Committee Reports

Kate McShane spoke about the LanguageAcademy. The challenge is finding instructors. An excellent French teacher has been found. The program is open to 5th and 6th graders and is after school for a nominal fee. Mrs. Gorla thinks we will get a good response. We are looking to get an intern to teach Spanish, which saves money but is still an excellent opportunity for the kids. Introductory level French and Spanish will be offered. The dates have not been confirmed, but will probably be on Tuesdays and will start some time after the holidays. It was mentioned that after school sports is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The LanguageAcademy program typically runs 8 weeks and in the past have been 1 hour sessions. We are looking at the possibility of having the sessions run until 5 PM. Shawna mentioned how well the program ran at Worcester. The program will be offered one day a week but could expand based on enrollment. A comment was made as to the possibility of mentioning a second day on the enrollment form. Honor students from the High School are a possibility but will not be able to happen this year. A comment was made to use High School students for their senior projects.

Kate discussed the Global Voyagers program which is separate from LanguageAcademy. This program is still being planned. This program is filled with discussions about different countries and their cultures. We are looking for anyone who would like to talk about a country they have either visited or know about.

Walk-A-thon was a great day and the kids had fun.

Fall Festival had a great turn out. The kids were in costumes and some were very creative. The kids loved the music. The DJ was great and kept the kids involved. Shawna mentioned that this was a great way to involve the parents. The event made $1600 in profit. Next year they are looking at having a parent lounge. There was a discussion regarding the sound level of the music.

Vice President's Report

Cathleen gave the update for Aliza. There is a flyer for the Five Below fundraiser and this year we can shop at either the Collegeville or Montgomeryville store. These fundraisers are totally optional. The gold fundraiser made $330 and the Chik-Fil-A and clothing drive were also successful.

Principal’s Report:

National Visitation week is the week of November 14th. A schedule for visitation times will be distributed.

Miss Purnell is organizing a student council. Elections in the homerooms will be soon and the meetings are going to be held after school. Elections will be for a representative and an alternate. There will be no officers this year. In the spring, the fifth graders will elect officers for the following school year.

The December pillar is Responsibility. On Thursday, December 22nd the students will participate in a charity event. The teams will vote for one of 5 charities. A speaker for each charity will talk to the students. There will be parent volunteers needed for this event. The students will also enjoy an assembly by Prismatic Magic. More information will be sent home regarding the event.

Guidance Counselor/Teacher Rep Report:

It was mentioned that flyers are sent home on Thursdays. This is the day to check backpacks.

Guiding Good Choices has started.

Homework Headaches was held on November 10th.

Mrs. VanBuren mentioned that the next book club meeting is in February.

The door decorating contest for Character Counts was a huge success. There was a 5th grade and a 6th grade winner. The winners had their choice of either open gym or working with clay in the art room.

The Home and School Association and Counseling department are partnering for charitable contributions. There was a candy drive in November.

There will be a career day on May 23rd. This is a first for Skyview. There will be a keynote speaker for the entire student body and then presenters in the classrooms who will discuss their career and how they got there.

District Report

Cathleen talked about the changes for the School Board with 5 new representatives. The big thing under discussion is the facility upgrades at the high school. The District Council meeting is November 14th at Audubon Elementary. Kim Woodring and Cathleen explained what council meetings are and the agendas can be found online. The Home and School presidents attend the meetings. This is a great place to discuss how different schools handle different programs. A question was asked if the sunshine committee was on the agenda. The focus of these meetings is for district administration to tell the school's what is happening. Most meetings are open to the public, only the executive board meetings are private.

New Business

No New Business.

Cathleen thanked Mrs. Gorla for a great first part of the year. Kim asked if hard copies of report cards are distributed – Yes they will be distributed Monday, November 21st. The parent portal is a great resource for grades. Cathleen commented that communication has improved this year. A question was asked regarding conferences. Mrs. Gorla said that you may request a conference but that scheduling is difficult so the children who need conferences are handled first. The students are allowed to come to the conference.

Shawna commented that Home and School does not have an Outdoor Education committee. This is a school sponsored event. Home and School does not choose the chaperones. Mrs. Gorla discussed the chaperone selection process. Shawna also asked that as a courtesy we do not spread rumors. Please clarify information that does not seem accurate with either Mrs. Gorla or the Executive Board.

A motion to adjourn the meeting was made at 10:41 AM by Dana Leahan and seconded by Linda Valle. Next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 12th at 7:00 PM in the library.

Respectfully submitted,

Laurie Radomski