PTA Meetings

PTA Meeting Minutes 6.12.18

Campbell PTA Meeting

June 12, 2018

6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Approximate
# of Attendees
: 38

I.     Welcome
and Introduction: Nathan Zee, President 

  • Nathan
    welcomed everyone to final PTA meeting of the year
  • Nathan
    read a “Thank You” note from the 5th grade thanking the PTA for
    helping to fund their trip to the Baltimore Aquarium
  • Nathan
    welcomed new Campbell families to the PTA meeting

 

II.    Year-in-Review:
Nathan Zee, President

  • Nathan
    went over the highlights from the year:
    • PTA Membership

§ 
We had over 210
members join the PTA – the most we’ve ever had!

o  
Advocacy

§ 
Maintained
Campbell as an Option School (carryover from last year)

§ 
Fought to keep
Campbell where it is and preserve our Outdoor Classroom focus, Connection to
the Nature Center, Economic Diversity (with almost no achievement gap) – WELL
DONE EVERYONE

o  
Community
Building

§ 
Family Game Night

§ 
Campbell Spirit
Wear Sales

§ 
School Movie
Night

§ 
100% success rate
in announcing Community Meeting agenda in advance of Community Meeting – never
been done before!

§ 
Wetlands Festival
– most well attended festival ever including the dunk tank return and new rock
climbing wall (never mind the fluke weather pattern that resulted in canceled
soccer games on a beautiful sunny day) – ~40 volunteers to pull this off!

o  
Enrichment
Highlights

§ 
Project Discovery
Fall/Spring – Jenny and Tammy deserve platinum medals for their efforts here

o  
Fundraising
Highlights

§ 
$14,500 –
Wetlands Festival (including expenses)

§ 
$14,100 – Fun Run
(including expenses)

§ 
$2,600 –
Restaurant Nights

§ 
$2,260 – Square 1
Art

§ 
 $1,900 – Amazon Link Money

§ 
$786 – Penny Wars

§ 
$500 – Box Tops

o  
Funding
Highlights

§ 
Outdoor Classroom
Coordinator – We funded over 100 hours of Ms. Christy’s time this year (hours
for May and June still to come!)

§ 
We helped to fund
many of the supplies for the lessons that Ms. Christy gives the kids – when you
see photos on the twitter feed, many of the veggies, fruits, etc. are funded by
the PTA!

§ 
We funded
landscaping crews to come clean up the Campbell grounds twice this year

§ 
All Kindergarteners
got to pick a book from the garden at the start of the year

§ 
Two retirement
gifts for retiring teachers were funded by the PTA

§ 
The following
Teacher Appreciation events were paid for by the PTA:

·        
Staff Breakfast
(September)

·        
Olive Garden
Lunch (October Conferences)

·        
Staff Breakfast
(December)

·        
Teacher
appreciation week which included activities every day!

§ 
T-shirts for the
Math Dice team

§ 
Supported Boys on
the Move and Girls on the Run

§ 
Supported the
Coat Drive/Holiday Drive at Campbell to offer winter wear and presents to those
in need at the school

§ 
Two Wellness
activities for teachers this year.

§ 
Donation to CCPTA
fund: we made a donation to the County Council of PTAs who uses these funds to
help even out the funding between all the schools in the county.

§ 
We paid for the
remaining books on the teachers wish lists after the book fair

§ 
We were able to
provide food, childcare and translation at all of our PTA meetings

§ 
5th Grade
Promotion (coming up!)

§ 
We funded the
following for each grade level:

§ 
Specials: Ukuleles
for the music department, Classroom puppets and training for the Spanish
Department, Supplies for the 5th Grade Musical

§ 
Kindergarten –
Lots of classroom supplies and a field trip to Discovery Theater

§ 
1st Grade – Field
notebooks

§ 
2nd Grade – Field
Trip to the farmers market including fruit and veggie purchases, purchase of
bags and additional veggies for the showcase and some supplies for the Campbell
Olympics

§ 
3rd Grade –
Helped to fund the bus to Harpers Ferry for Field Trip

§ 
4th Grade –
Funding the field trip to Great Falls

§ 
5th Grade –
Helped to fund the bus to the National Aquarium in Baltimore

§ 
Interlude –
Funded many incentives and rewards and a calming herb garden

§ 
And our biggest
funding item of the year was the PA system upgrade!

§ 
Even though it
was last year – one more shout out for the pond upgrade from two years ago

 

III.   Treasurer’s
Report: Jenny Morris, Treasurer

·        
Highlights from
May include:

    • Collected
      about $8,000 this month from Wetlands Festival receipts
    • $143 from Box Tops
    • $121 from Amazon rewards
    • $150 from Kona Ice (from
      Wetlands Festival)
    • $275 from Silver Diner
      Restaurant Night
    • $140 from Brick’s Pizza Night
    • Main expenses were: Outdoor
      Classroom hours, Teacher Appreciation week activities, two Field Trips,
      some additional Wetlands Festival expenses, paid Project Discovery
      instructors, Interlude classroom supplies

·        
Funding request:

o  
$343 for 6 ft. recycled
plastic bench to replace the broken bench

§ 
Motion to
approve; seconded; approved unanimously

·        
Summer
budget/spending plan (from the time after the audit until the first PTA meeting
of the year in September:

o  
In accordance
with the draft budget, there will be money available to spend on Ms. Christy’s
summer planning hours and some grounds maintenance/work (about $1680 for
Outdoor Classroom hours and $800 for grounds maintenance)

·        
Q: Will there be
any money available for a Welcome Back breakfast for staff? That usually
happens before our next meeting.  A: We didn’t
have that in the summer budget last year, but we can add it in so that whoever
is coordinating the breakfast doesn’t have to wait two weeks for reimbursement.
Do we have a motion?

o  
Motion to
approve; seconded; approved unanimously

 

IV.  Campbell
Changes for Next Year: Maureen Nesselrode, Principal

·        
School Siting
discussion has been tabled for now, but will resume in the fall; there is a
broader conversation around the EL model, and confusion within the community
about whether ours is a well-defined model for an option program

·        
As these
conversations continue, remember to attempt to educate others in the community
about the EL model, which is nationally recognized and clearly defined

·        
Test scores are
solid

·        
We had many
engaging showcases and expeditions this year, including some new ones that
really focused on social justice, community, and sustainability

·        
Changes for next
year include:

o  
Four Kindergarten
classes, three at every other level, including 5th

§ 
These two
additional classes necessitate the SpEd Pre-K relocating to Carlin Springs
Elementary school

o  
If we hit 500
student enrollment, we will receive additional funding

o  
Other grade
levels will have to be located on what is now the K-1 hallway because we’re out
of space on the other side of the building and we are not getting an additional
trailer for next year

§ 
Likely a 2nd
grade class will move to K-1 hallway

o  
Parking will be a
challenge next year, so please keep that in mind and don’t have the expectation
that there will parking available on-site for every event

·        
Q: Did you mean
we should be engaging with APS about the EL model, or just with the broader
community during more informal discussion? A: The broader community; more
people need to understand what EL is and why our model is distinct.

·        
Q: Do you know
where this pressure to change or take away our option status is coming from? A:
Pressure to find seats.

·        
Q: Any way to
engage more fully with ACPD about those who continue to turn left out of the
parking lot despite the signage? A: Ideas are welcome, but I’m not sure there’s
much more we can do to encourage compliance; it’s a known issue and there
really aren’t any tools that we have not yet employed.

·        
Next year we will
be advocating for a 4-top “cottage” relocatable; it’s likely that all of Pre-K
will be placed in that relocatable cottage

·        
We did get more
staffing allocations for next year already; we will have two art teachers (one
who is full time and one who is almost full time, with 0.9 allocation)

o  
That means we
will look at providing gifted art groups for identified 4th and 5th
graders

·        
Open House will
be held on Thursday, 8/30 at 2 pm

·        
Q: Will there be
any summer library events this year? A: No, but I can check to see whether the
school library may be open for some limited hours for children to check-out
books over the summer

·        
Q: Where are the
Summer School students who will be at Campbell coming from? A: They are all
Campbell or Carlin Springs students

·        
Q: Did the budget
reduction in FLES affect Campbell? A: No, it did not. However, Ms. Valdez will
be returning to Bolivia. We have already hired her replacement (from Tuckahoe).
However, there could be further cuts in next year’s budget and Campbell could
be affected.

·        
Q: When will we
get teacher assignments for next year? A: Letters will be mailed in August.
Some other staff changes are that Mr. Schoenherr is relocating to his home town
and Ms. Sim will replace him as a 2/3 teacher. We will be hiring a new K-1
teacher to replace Ms. Sim.

 

V.    2018-2019
Committee Positions/Speaker Topics/Big Budget Ideas: Barbara Martinez, Incoming
President

  • Barbara Martinez introduced herself and led us through
    an exercise where we identified what we were most proud of from 2017-18
    and what we want to see in 2018-19
    • Highlights of what we’re most proud:
      • Engaging with APS
      • Outdoor classroom/Ms. Christy
      • Support for EL
      • Increased PTA participation
      • Support for Field Trips
      • Grade-level funding

    • Highlights of what we’d like to
      see next year:
      • Increasing teacher funding
      • Food other than pizza at PTA
        meetings (we’ve tried this in the past, and it was not very successful)
      • Keeping Campbell an option
        school on this site
      • Outdoor white board/chalk board
      • More Ms. Christy
      • More diversity at PTA meetings
        (we have the Thursday morning parent group; working on ways to better
        engage the Ethiopian community; Claudia is our PTA Ambassador)
      • More arts groups (NSO, Ballet,
        theater trips or visits to school)
      • English classes for parents?
        Pairing up with parents who want to learn Spanish?

  • Barbara summarized the
    status of key PTA positions for next year and encouraged folks to
    volunteer where they are able
    • Looking
      for new individuals who want to be more involved in the PTA
    • We have a number of open
      positions on various committees (see handout)
      • New committee this year: Garden
        and Wetlands Maintenance Committee; will take over some of the
        coordination of this activity from Ms. Christy so she can focus on her
        lesson plans
      • Wellness Committee will be
        changing and become broader in its scope
      • We have a position for anyone
        who’s interested, and positions that fit with every level of time
        commitment and skill set/interest

    • Q: Room Parent Coordinator, what
      is this position? A: In the past, we’ve used Room Parents for
      communication; the Coordinator would contact the individual Room Parents
      with messages that the PTA felt were important to push out (such as a reminder
      about a fundraiser or an event); we’re open to thinking about how this
      position might be leveraged in the future

 

 

VI.  Closing
and Celebration : Nathan Zee, President

·        
Wanted to take a moment to recognize Claudia
Cuellar, who was selected to receive the APS Honored Citizen award for all her
years of service to our community; let’s hear it for Claudia! Well done and
well deserved!

·        
I can't thank you
enough for the opportunity to lead our PTA the last two years and I feel quite
privileged to be part of such a fantastic community! Rock and roll!

PTA Meeting Minutes 5.8.18

Campbell PTA Meeting

May 8, 2018

6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Approximate
# of Attendees
: 27

I.     Welcome
and Introduction: Nathan Zee, President 

  • Nathan
    welcomed everyone to second-to-last PTA meeting
  • Wetlands
    Festival results:
    • Successful
      event by every measure
    • Raised
      around $16,000, with about $2,000 in expenses
    • Huge
      turn-out/attendance
    • Events
      and activities were very popular
    • Raised
      more money than we spent on food (donations vs. fee worked well)
    • We
      have a series of lessons-learned to turn over to next year’s planning
      team
    • Thank
      you to all volunteers!

  • Teacher
    Appreciation this week events/activities:
  • Reminders:
    • Final
      Restaurant Night is coming up on 5/22 at Chipotle at the Columbia Pike
      location, between 4-8 pm
      • Informal
        Picnic at the Campbell playground to follow, weather contingent

    • Looking
      for a Restaurant Night coordinator to take over for next year
    • This
      Friday is the last Community Meeting until 6/8 because of SOL testing
    • Rising
      Kindergarten Orientation will be held on Wednesday, 6/6, at 4 pm at
      Campbell

 

II.    Officer
Election, Beth Cavey, Nominating Committee Chair

  • Proposed
    slate was introduced at our last meeting
  • We
    are taking nominations from the floor, if anyone else would like to be
    considered for a position
    • No
      additional nominations were offered from the floor

  • The proposed PTA Officer Slate will be voted on as a whole.
    The nominees are:
    • President – Barbara Martinez
    • VP
      Programming – Paige Hamrick
    • VP
      Fundraising – split between Julia Ahumada
      (General Fundraising) and Christy Hiers (Wetlands Festival Chair)
    • VP
      Communications and Outreach – Kathy Evans
      Cordon
    • Treasurer– Amanda Lowenberger
    • Secretary – Shana Brown

  • Do we have a motion to adopt the proposed slate?
    • Motion
      to adopt; seconded; approved unanimously

  • Congratulations
    to our new Executive Board!
  • Everyone, please consider a more active role in the PTA. It
    will pay-off for you in a lot of ways. There are leadership positions
    beyond the Executive Board, such as Restaurant Night Coordinator, so
    please consider taking on such a role
  • Nathan:
    Official transition of Officers is June 12th, except for
    Treasurer, which happens after the PTA audit
    • We
      need at least one at-large PTA member to volunteer to be part of the
      Audit Committee; the audit will be held in early July, exact time and
      date TBD. Please consider if you are available.
    • New
      Treasurer will become official once the audit is completed, after which
      point we will visit the bank to change over signatories to the account

 

III.   Counseling
Advisory Committee, Kate Sullivan, School Counselor

·        
Another way that
you could become involved at Campbell would be to join the newly forming
Counseling Advisory Committee

·        
We are forming a
Counseling Advisory Committee to help align Campbell’s counselling program with
the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) model

·        
ASCA model for a
comprehensive school counselling program includes:

o  
Foundation:

§ 
Beliefs, vision, and
mission statement

§ 
Domains that are
covered by the counseling program are: academic, social-emotional, and career,
with a heavy focus on social-emotional, in alignment with the whole-child
philosophy

§ 
Ensure that
everything is aligned with the ASCA standards and competencies (like Standards
of Learning for counseling lesson plans)

o  
Management
System:

§ 
Use of data:
collected data early in the year through a survey to better inform counselling offerings

§ 
Use of time: track
activities throughout the year with reports and

§ 
Creation of an
Advisory Committee (for next year), to help make sure that all of these things
I’m doing align with best practices and community needs

o  
Delivery System:

§ 
Preventative Classroom
curriculum for K-5 (Second Step and Mind-Up lessons)

§ 
Individual
student planning (mostly Middle School transition)

§ 
Responsive
Services, as needed

§ 
Indirect Student
Services (referrals to outside community resources, consultation with parents
and teachers, collaboration with all staff)

o  
Accountability:

§ 
Action Plans and
Results Report

§ 
Counselor
Performance Evaluation

§ 
Program Audit

·        
The Counseling
Advisory Committee will:

o  
Be a
representative group of stakeholders that reviews and advises the
implementation of the school counseling program

o  
Be diverse in membership
to accurately reflect Campbell’s values, concerns, and interests

o  
Be 8-14 members and
will include counseling staff, parents, administrators, and teachers (lead,
assistant, and specialist teachers), and possibly (older) students

o  
Attend 3 meetings
held throughout the first year of committee formation

§ 
Introductory
meeting,

§ 
Early-year
meeting to set goals

§ 
End-of-year
meeting to review and evaluate program’s success and challenges

o  
 Subsequently, there will be only two committee
meetings each year

·        
If interested in
joining the Counseling Advisory Committee:

o  
Email: kate.sullivan@apsva.us

o  
Phone: (703)
228-8444

o  
Twitter:
@MsSullivan_APS

 

IV.  Treasurer’s
Report: Jenny Morris, Treasurer

·        
Highlights include:

    • Operating
      expenses so far this year were $37,000 and we took in $55,000 in income,
      not including the Wetlands Festival
    • We’ve hit
      our income goals and are looking pretty good
    • In April
      we:
      • Took in $7,400
        in Project Discovery Payments; Instructor payments will go out this week
      • Received $61 from Square 1 art
      • Received $83 from Amazon rewards
      • Received $7,671 from Wetlands
        Online Auction payments; more to come in May
      • Made the $785 deposit from the Penny
        Wars fundraiser
      • Spent $400 for Odyssey of the
        Mind registration reimbursement
      • Spent $216 for Musical
        Reimbursement
      • Spent $262 – Outdoor
        Coordinator hours
      • Spent $366 on purchases for
        Expedition Support
      • Spent $173 on Outdoor Classroom
        supplies
      • Spent $98 for Math Dice
        T-Shirts

    • In May look forward to:
      • Additional Project Discovery
        payments
      • Wetlands Festival income
      • Expense to subsidize 3rd
        and 5th grade Field Trip charter buses from grade level line
        items

  • Q: Have any of the grade levels
    not used their allocation of the grade-level funding? A: 1st
    and 2nd Grades have not used their line item funding;
    Expedition Support line item money also remains available

·        
Funding request
from Ms. Ammons for gifts for two retiring Staff members:

o  
$400 to cover
items for Ms. McMahon and Ms. Sananikone, which are TBD

o  
Ms. Ammons will
coordinate purchase

o  
If approved, the
money must be spent, and receipts sent to PTA, prior to 6/30 in order to be
reimbursed

o  
Motion to
approve; seconded; approved unanimously

·        
Q: I can’t figure
out from the budget exactly how much cash we have on hand. Can you clarify? A:
We have a few significant expenses pending, but current bank balance is about
$74,000. We’ll be around $60,000 once those expenses clear.

·        
Q: Any
big/expensive projects we’re taking on? A: We intentionally have not solicited
ideas for a large project this year given the uncertainty around the Elementary
Planning/Boundary Initiative.

 

V.    Elementary
Boundary Initiative Update: Nathan Zee, President

  • Campbell was first to realize the
    implications of this initiative back in December

o  
We lobbied School
Board members, spoke at School Board meetings, sent in 52 letters, had members
on walkability task force, FAC, etc., all providing their input

o  
We’ve had several
surveys that we’ve shared via Announcements including Campbell walk zone
survey, and a survey asking what criteria should be considered in school siting

  • Other PTAs began doing the same
    and there has been significant pushback as to how APS has handled this
    process, resulting in delayed timelines
  • Arguably,
    the message that resonated the most with the School Board and Staff
    appears to be related to diversity. Staff appears to have heard our very
    real concerns about what happens to diversity at the current Campbell site
    if the building becomes a neighborhood school filled to 101% capacity with
    kids in the walk zone; most students from this theoretical walk zone would
    be economically disadvantaged. In their latest document, Staff has
    acknowledged that student outcomes are negatively affected by the
    diminished resources available to an economically disadvantaged community.
    They have acknowledged that their stated focus on student success and achievement
    is placed at risk by creating situations in which economically
    disadvantaged students are concentrated in any given school.
  • Our
    formal PTA stance is that we are not advocating for or against any other
    schools or communities to be changed; we are strictly speaking about why maintaining
    Campbell in its current location is imperative to the program, and serves
    the overall APS goals
  • Late-breaking news is that the
    community feedback session has been moved back from 5/9 until 5/30 (7-9pm
    at Swanson Middle School)
  • Please
    send me any questions you think APS staff should answer at the 5/30
    meeting. I will compile the questions and submit them
  • We
    will look at what (if any) PTA letter to send in after the 5/30 meeting
  • Nathan
    opened the floor
    to questions and comments. A robust discussion ensued.

 

VI.  New
Business: Nathan Zee, President

·        
Any New Business?

o  
Jenny Morris, Project
Discovery Coordinator:

§ 
This is the last
week of Project Discovery for classes that meet on Thursdays and Fridays

§ 
Next week is the
last week of Project Discovery for classes that meet on Wednesdays

 

VII. Closing:
Nathan Zee, President

  • Final
    PTA meeting of the year will be on Tuesday, 6/12. We'll have a recap,
    celebration, and transition discussion (plus any updates on the Elementary
    Planning Initiative).
  • We’re
    looking to schedule our annual audit the weekend after the July 4th
    holiday. This will allow us to change signatories on our bank account and
    formally complete transition. Let Jenny Morris know if you would like to
    participate as part of the Audit Committee.
  • We've
    begun work on developing our 2018-19 PTA budget. If you have feedback or input,
    please send it to Barbara Martinez or Amanda Lowenberger.

PTA Meeting Minutes 4.10.18

Campbell PTA Meeting

April 10, 2018

6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Approximate
# of Attendees
: 32

I.     Welcome
and Introduction: Nathan Zee, President 

  • Nathan
    welcomed everyone to the PTA meeting and read a Thank You letter from Ms.
    Berg’s 2nd grade class, thanking the PTA for purchasing books
    from the Teacher’s Wish lists during the Book Fair
  • Reminders:
    • Brick’s
      Pizza Night tomorrow night, 4/11, order between 4-8 pm; a reminder email
      will be sent out over Announcements with the flyer attached
    • Garden
      Work Day is coming up on 4/21, 9 am -12 pm
    • Wetlands Festival is coming up
      on Saturday, 4/28, from 4-7pm
      • Please volunteer to help with
        the festival using Sign-Up Genius:
        http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f084aada723a5fe3-2018
      • Please consider a parent
        donation to the auction (dinner, item, event, etc.; contact Sean Doyle
        for ideas)
      • Please consider donating an
        item to the class basket(s), any grade

    • Spirit Days will be held leading
      up to the Wetlands Festival on 4/25-27; W – Superhero Day, Th – Crazy
      Hat/Hair Day, F – Class Color Day:
      • Pre-K – Purple
      • Kindergarten – Orange
      • 1st Grade – White
      • 2nd Grade – Yellow
      • 3rd Grade – Blue
      • 4th Grade – Red
      • 5th Grade – Green

  • The Outdoor Lab Trip previously
    scheduled for Sunday, 4/22, is postponed until next
    year
  • Julia
    Ahumada will take the lead for Teacher Appreciation week (May 7-11) since
    Mecca Keller will be unavailable. Thank you, Julia!
  • Elementary
    Boundary information will be updated this Thursday evening during the School
    Board Work Session – stay tuned!

 

II.    Anxiety
in Children: Cassie Class and Dr. Meg Michel, School Psychologists

·        
Ms. Nesselrode
introduced the Student Services team

o  
Kate Sullivan,
School Counselor: Tier 1 topics and schoolwide preventative interventions that
are part of Mind-Up/Second Step curriculum, facilitates small groups and
occasionally sees individual students as need arises

o  
Cory Bradley,
School Social Worker: helps families access community resources

o  
Cassandra Class,
School Psychologist: does all student evaluations, facilitates social skills
groups, and provides primarily Tier 2 support

o  
Dr. Meg Michel,
School Psychologist, Interlude: primarily interacts with Interlude students and
provides Tier 3 support

·        
Ms. Class began
the presentation on Anxiety in Children and provided hand-outs with detailed list
of resources and strategies for dealing with anxiety

o  
What is anxiety?

§ 
Anxiety is
something we’ve all experienced. It is a normal reaction to situations that we
perceive to be dangerous.

§ 
It is an adaptive
response that increases our arousal and alertness that allows us to prepare to
combat danger.

o  
When is anxiety a
concern?

§ 
When it is
experienced to a level that interferes with daily functioning and well-being

o  
Anxiety in
childhood:

§ 
Anxiety is most prevalent
psychiatric disorder in children and adolescents (3-25% of all children
experience anxiety to a diagnostic level)

§ 
Median age of
onset is 6 years old, peaking between 8-10 years old

§ 
Frequency of
disorder is equal between genders during elementary years, adolescent females
have an increased frequency (2 to 3 x more likely than male adolescents)

§ 
80% of youth with
a diagnosable anxiety disorder do not receive mental health treatment (includes
both counselling and Special Education identification or educational accommodations)

§ 
Childhood anxiety
is correlated with a variety of mental health disorders in adulthood, including
depression (children with anxiety are 8 to 10 x more likely to have depressive
disorder as an adult)

§ 
Important to
identify anxiety early because there are very effective treatments; if children
receive those treatments, the prognosis is very good

o  
In terms of how children
with anxiety present, they tend to:

§ 
Fear that future
events will have negative outcomes

§ 
View minor events
as potentially threatening

§ 
Engage in a
variety of avoidance behaviors to reduce exposure to perceived threat
(tantrums, for example)

§ 
Have worry that
is either unrealistic (e.g., an imagined threat) or out of proportion to the
situation

§ 
Anxiety in
children younger than 8 tends to be very specific, such as fear of the dark,
fear of dogs, fear of separation

§ 
Anxiety in
children aged 8 and older tends to be more abstract and more social, such as
fear of rejection, fear of poor school performance

o  
Signs of anxiety:

§ 
Elementary-aged
children often report somatic complaints (upset stomach, headaches, sleeping
problems, nausea, rapid heart rate)

§ 
They may request
to see the nurse on a frequent basis

§ 
May also display
thinking or learning challenges, such as attention or memory problems

§ 
Might display
restlessness, fidgetiness, rapid speech, withdrawal, perfectionism, and/or
failure to complete tasks

·        
The different
types of childhood anxiety disorders are described in detail on the hand-out;
in the interest of time I will not go into them all

·        
The types of
anxiety we see most frequently at school are generalized anxiety disorder,
which is a pervasive worry covering many broad areas of one’s life, lasting for
a prolonged time and interfering with daily activities, and social anxiety disorder,
which is an intense fear of social and performance situations and can present
as selective mutism

·        
Lately there has
been more attention given to anxiety resulting from trauma, PTSD

·        
We also see some
school-refusal behavior, which is usually a result of separation anxiety or
fear of an aversive situation at school

·        
When should you
seek professional help?

o  
Every child will
experience some level of anxiety, so it’s really looking at when it’s
interfering with daily functioning, when it’s excessive, and when the worry is
about something that is not developmentally appropriate

o  
Q: What about
phobias? I know adults who are still afraid of heights. Should they be seeking
help? A: Well, you must look at whether it’s impacting their daily life. For
example, if a veterinarian is afraid of animals, that would be a problem. If
your fear is being in public places, that could certainly interfere with
functioning. But if it’s a fear of heights, you can probably find ways to get
around that fear and still lead a typical life. If it was something an
individual wanted to work on, there are treatments available if someone felt it
was necessary to take those additional steps

·        
We have many
supports available at Campbell for students experiencing anxiety

o  
Classroom lessons
with Ms. Sullivan (Mind Up curriculum, steps for calming down, emotional
regulation) available to all students

o  
Anxiety groups
facilitated by a member of the Student Services team for students with
school-performance anxiety

o  
“Take a break”
spots in every classroom

o  
Counselling staff
available for check-ins with students as-needed

o  
We have some
students who require additional support than what is available to the general
population, so there are students who have IEPs or 504s with accommodations for
their anxiety

·        
Ms. Cass turned
over the floor to Dr. Michel to discuss strategies for dealing with anxiety

·        
Dr. Michel
discussed anxiety from the parents’ perspective

·        
Things for
parents to keep in mind:

o  
The goal isn’t to
eliminate anxiety, but to make it manageable

o  
Don’t avoid
things that make your child anxious (can become a learned coping mechanism;
exposure in some gradual fashion is a part of treatment for most anxiety)

o  
Avoid minimizing
or magnifying fears

o  
Model coping
skills

o  
Limits and
structure are important and serve to reduce anxiety

o  
Advance
preparation can help, perhaps keep period of anticipation short enough that
it’s manageable for your child

o  
Ask, “What’s the
worst-case scenario?” to talk through situations that are causing anxiety

·        
General
strategies for managing a child’s anxiety include:

o  
Give them a job
to do or put them in a “helper” role

o  
Make sure they
have activities where they can feel confident and competent, even chores

o  
Give them
creative outlets to experience mastery over their fears (e.g., writing,
drawing, drama, play)

o  
Use bibliotherapy

o  
Don’t forget
about the anxiety-reducing benefits of exercise

·        
Specific
strategies and mindfulness:

o  
Help children
judge the “size” of their worries (small, medium, large, or on a scale of 1-10)

o  
Worry tree:
worries are the leaves, bigger ones to the top, smaller to the bottom; can use
sticky notes so that as worries change over time they can be moved around on
the tree or maybe removed all together

o  
 “Mind in a jar” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2SqvqcQ__o)

o  
Meditation or
body scans

o  
Deep breathing
(“take 5” and box breathing)

o  
Yoga, progressive
muscle relaxation

o  
Aromatherapy

o  
Teach children to
use sensory details in their environments to ground themselves in the present
moment (e.g., looking for a specific color or shape, identifying 3 things they
can see, hear, or feel around them)

o  
Teach awareness
of how their bodies feel when they’re anxious vs. calm

·        
Q: Is the worry
tree a good technique to use to see if there’s an issue that’s causing anxiety
that you may not be aware of? Or is it better to wait until you know there’s
something worrying your child, because could this make them worry about
something that they weren’t worried about before?

o  
A: It’s a good
strategy for any kid, because they all have worries, even mundane ones, so you
aren’t doing harm with this technique. This may be a way to get at kids who
don’t express their worry/anxiety in more apparent ways.

·        
Q: Anger and
oppositional behavior, you mentioned those as possible signs of anxiety?

o  
A: Yes, these
behaviors, and irritability, are often signs of anxiety. It’s important to try
to understand what’s causing the behavior and sometimes the reason is that they
are feeling out of control and are trying to exert some control or gain some
control back, that’s fairly common for children who have trouble verbalizing
their anxiety. There’s an article here that talks about why disruptive behavior
can be a sign of anxiety: https://childmind.org/article/how-anxiety-leads-to-disruptive-behavior/

·        
Q: What kind of
professional development is APS offering to teachers to help them deal with
anxious students in the classroom? How is APS addressing this?

o  
A: There’s been a
recent focus on the idea of the “whole child” and a lot of attention is being
paid in that sense to the social/emotional aspect of a child’s education. The
new strategic plan that’s just been released includes an increase in
social/emotional curriculum opportunities, so I believe that aspect is going to
be developed within curriculum. We have some of those pieces now, but this
would be a broader curriculum. They have increased staff allocations for our
department (counsellors, psychologists, etc.) over the past couple of years to
provide more support in the schools, so that we can be supporting teachers. The
lessons we provide in the classroom are done with the teachers present, so they
are benefitting from the lessons, too. Occasionally there are presentations at
Staff Meetings. If teachers have a concern about a particular student, there is
a referral process and then the team meets to talk about case management.

·        
Q: What about a
scenario when one child in your family has anxiety and the other does not? What
are the best strategies for dealing with that?

o  
A: Well, you
probably don’t want to do a lot of comparing between your children and pointing
out differences in the responses to stressors between an anxious and a typical
child. As a parent, you can employ modelling, but with siblings, because of sibling
rivalry, this strategy might not work as well. As a parent, the things you can
do to help your anxious child are the same strategies that your less anxious
child can use when they do encounter the inevitable worry, even if it’s not as
frequent or as intense an experience for them as it is for your anxious child.
Any of the strategies we’ve listed on the handout are great for every child. The
mindfulness techniques could be done as a family. Incorporating these techniques
into your routine could benefit all of you. For instance, doing relaxation breathing
techniques before bedtime, or guided meditation. I would approach it as
something you’re going to do as a family because the mindfulness and
self-soothing strategies can be used by every child to calm down, whether they’re
anxious, angry upset, or winding down for bedtime.

·        
Q: Over the course
of your careers, have you noticed a change in the types of anxiety or the
incidences of anxiety?

o  
A: Yes, the
incidence seems higher over time. As for the types of anxiety, I’ve noticed
more anxiety related to school performance. Also, the prevalence of anxiety in
females ages 8-12 has increased and something we’ve noticed.

·        
Ms. Nesselrode: The
roll-out of additional mental health experts is a budget item that’s discussed nearly
every year during the budget proposal season. After Parkland, it was one of the
things discussed a great deal at the national level. One of the recommendations
discussed nationally is for all schools to have the type of support we
currently have, so that school psychologists aren’t spread too thin and don’t
have to spend all their time testing and going to meetings. By having more staff,
the psychologists can serve more kids, even those who don’t have an IEP or 504
or other formal plan. And sometimes they are even able to help a student avoid
needing those plans, because they’re able to intervene and extinguish a behavior
earlier on. We’ve noticed that the increased staff has been a tremendous improvement.
We’re also able to tell students that if they are in distress, they can go down
to the counselling suite and, because there are four staff members there, they
will be very likely to find someone who can see them right away.

·        
Ms. Sullivan: We
mentioned the staff referral form earlier, but I’d like to remind everyone that
there is also a parent referral form available online if you feel that you need.
The form comes straight to me and if it’s not suited to me, I would then refer
it to the appropriate staff member. You can access the form here: https://campbell.apsva.us/counseling-referral-form/.
Students in 3rd-5th grade can also refer themselves by submitting
a form and putting it in the locked mailbox on our door. Students have been availing
themselves of this opportunity and that’s a good thing, because the more we
normalize reaching out for help, the better.

 

III.   Treasurer’s
Report: Jenny Morris, Treasurer

·        
Highlights for this
month include:

o  
Paid
$305 for the K Field Trip to Discovery Theater

    • Spent $855
      to purchase remaining items on teacher book wish lists
    • Paid $735 for the Outdoor
      Coordinator February hours
    • $200+ for PTA meeting expenses
    • Spent $130 for the Online
      Auction website fees
    • Spent $150 for Magna Tiles for
      Ms. Sim's classroom
    • Spent $16 for Bunny supplies
    • Spent $100 for journals for the
      1st graders

o  
$2,080 in Project
Discovery income

o  
$175 in Amazon
rewards income

·        
No questions

·        
No new funding requests
this month

IV.  PTA
Officer Nominations: Beth Cavey, Nominating Committee Chair

  • The proposed PTA Officer Slate is:
    • President – Barbara Martinez
    • Treasurer– Amanda Lowenberger
    • Secretary – Shana Brown
    • VP
      Programming – Paige Hamrick
    • VP
      Fundraising – split between Julia Ahumada
      (General Fundraising) and Danielle Quist (Wetlands Festival Chair)
    • VP
      Communications and Outreach – Kathy Evans

  • We
    are taking nominations from the floor, if anyone else would like to be
    considered for a position
    • No
      additional nominations were offered

  • Do we have a motion to adopt the proposed slate?
    • Motion;
      seconded; approved unanimously

  • Nathan: To confirm, that was not the vote to elect officers.
    The vote will be held at next month’s meeting (May 8th), so if
    folks are still interested, we will take nominations from the floor as
    part of the voting process during the May PTA meeting.

 

V.    Closing:
Nathan Zee, President