PTA Meeting Minutes 3.13.18
Campbell PTA Meeting
March 13, 2018
6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Approximate
# of Attendees: 25
I. Welcome
and Introduction: Nathan Zee, President
- Nathan
welcomed everyone to the PTA meeting - Reminders:
- No
Community Meeting on Friday because of Parent/Teacher conference make-up
events; next Community Meeting will be on 3/23 - Meeting
this Friday at 8:45 am at Campbell (in the Conference Room) for Wetlands
Planning finalization - Meeting
this Sunday at 1 pm for Auction planning at Sean Doyle’s house; contact
Sean if you’re interested in helping out (doylesm@gmail.com) - Project
Discovery registration closes on Friday, 3/16 - We
had a successful Restaurant Night at Silver Diner - APS
will be paying for the new Library furniture, so we have a surplus of
funds that can be reserved and put towards other uses next year or in the future
- Quick
thank you on a successful Penny Wars event, which raised around $800; we’ll
announce the winner at the next Community Meeting
II. Beth
Cavey, Nominating Committee Chair
- We
will be presenting an official slate at our next meeting and voting in May - Actively
seeking nominations for all six PTA Officers (President, Treasurer, VP
Comms, VP Programs, VP Fundraising, Secretary); we need a nearly full
slate of new officers; Paige Hamrick has agreed to run for a second term
as VP Programs - If
you are interested, please let me know - There
are two-year term limits, so Nathan, Jenny, Barbara, and Katherine cannot
keep their current positions - Come
be part of what makes our community so special - We
will send out official position descriptions after tonight’s meeting so
that anyone interested has them
III. Youth
Culture Survey, Maureen Nesselrode, Principal
·
Questionnaire/survey
about student risk behaviors, given to 6th, 8th, 10th,
and 12th grade students by APS in partnership with DHS (Arlington Partnership
for Children, Youth and Families)
o
Look at trends in
risk-taking behavior among students in Arlington schools
o
Questions ask
about: sex, drugs and alcohol, smoking, relationships, stress, mental health,
domestic violence, abuse, etc.
o
Elementary-High School
students receive age-appropriate questions
·
Q: Has the questionnaire
been updated to ask about juuling/vaping? A: Not yet.
·
Ms. Nesselrode
then explained what those terms mean:
o
Juuls are devices
that allow for vaporized/smokeless delivery of tobacco and/or marijuana; they
look like USB flash drives and can be charged by plugging them into a laptop, so
they can be easily concealed at schools; “juuling” is using a Juul brand vaporizer
o
“Vaping” is inhaling
tobacco or marijuana vapor through a device such as a Juul or an e-cigarette
·
The presenter
from the Arlington County Partnership for Youth and Families was unable to
attend this evening as previously scheduled, but the results from their survey
can be accessed online at: https://apcyf.arlingtonva.us/youth-risk-behavior-survey-2017-results/
·
One of the outcomes
from this survey is the newly adopted Child Protection Unit, which Ms. Sullivan
will now describe
IV. Child
Protection Unit Initiative, Kate Sullivan, School Counselor
·
Produced by
Second Step (this is the social-emotional curriculum that APS already uses for
Tier 1 classroom lessons, in combination with Mind-Up curriculum)
·
After Spring
Break, I will deliver one lesson per class at every grade level for the Child Protection
Unit
·
Being delivered
countywide in age-appropriate ways for kids K-5
·
Why the need for
CPU?
o
National statistics
about abuse and risk factors are very concerning
o
APS-specific data:
§
Nearly 50% of female
students in grades 8-12 report being harassed at school
§
20% of those female
students indicated a dating partner made unwanted sexual contact
·
Learning
objectives:
o
Every grade level
will be expected to distinguish between safe, unsafe, and unwanted touches
o
Grades 1-2 will
be able to identify the Touching Rule:
§
Touching Rule: A
bigger person should never touch a child’s private body parts, except to keep
him or her healthy
o
Grades 3-5 will
be able to identify the Private Body Parts Rule:)
§
Private Body
Parts Rule: private body parts are private. No one should ever touch yours (except
a doctor or a nurse), ask to see yours (except a doctor or a nurse), or make
you look at his/her/or anyone else’s private body parts. And never touch anyone
else’s private body parts.
o
Q: What vocabulary
will you be using to describe private body parts? A: We will be discussing it
in general terms, not naming every specific body parts. We will call “private
body parts” any part your body that would be covered by a bathing suit. I will show
them a picture of a child wearing a bathing suit so that they understand what
area is being indicated when I say “bathing suit area” or “private parts”; the
lesson is highly scripted and does include the terms, “breasts,” “penis,” and “buttocks”
when I initially introduce the picture of the areas that will henceforward be called
the “bathing suit” area or “private parts.”
o
Grades 3-5 will
be:
§
Identifying the “Never
Keep Secrets” Rule: Never keep secrets about someone breaking the private body
parts (or touching) rule
§
Learning how to
apply assertive reporting skills in response to scenarios when someone has broken
the private body parts (or touching) rule
·
Q: Do you talk
about who are the safe/appropriate people to report to? A: Yes, we do.
·
Timeline:
o
February: School
counselor presented CPU to Campbell staff at staff meeting
o
March: CPU letter
sent home to parents. Ms. Sullivan is available to meet with any parent who’s
interested in learning more about this lesson
o
April: Ms.
Sullivan delivers CPU lessons to K-5 classrooms; home links sent home with
students following lesson delivery. K-2nd lessons will happen during
first week of April; 3-5th will be given the lesson during the
second week of April; each lesson is approximately 30 minutes
·
Classroom
teachers and the school psychologist will be present during the lessons. I will
follow-up with any students who have difficulty with the lesson or who didn’t
meet learning objectives
V. Elementary
Boundary Initiative Update: Nathan Zee, President
·
Latest news:
o
We lobbied School
Board members, spoke at School Board meetings, sent in 52 letters, have 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
(open until 3/16), and survey asking what criteria should be considered in
school siting
o
Other schools
have been lobbying their positions as well
o
It is unclear
what specific transportation changes may be coming as APS looks to reduce transportation
costs, but there is a possibility that “Courtesy” busing to Campbell could be
lost
o
Campbell will
likely be receiving an additional (fourth) Kindergarten next year, and two
additional trailer classrooms to accommodate expected growth as APS moves
towards expanding/maximizing all Option Schools’ enrollment
o
In April, Staff
will make recommendations about what schools are being considered to move, but
will not indicate what program will move where; that decision will be made next
fall in conjunction with the Elementary School boundary process
o
Depending on the recommendation
in April, we will be ready to continue to engage
VI. Treasurer’s
Report: Jenny Morris, Treasurer
·
Highlight this month
include:
o
$77.65 from Game Night
concessions; $507 in expenses
o
$458 in Outdoor
Classroom expenses, coordinator hours total $507
o
$515 in Project
Discovery income
o
$210 in Amazon rewards
income
o
$250 from Girl Scout
Troop Donation to update recess supplies
o
Two Funding
Requests, which do not require votes because they’re within grade level budgets:
§
5th
Grade Field Trip assistance, $1,000
§
Kindergarten:
$129.99 for Magna-Tiles for Ms. Sim’s class choice time
o
With these
requests, all line-item funding for K and 5th grade has been exhausted
VII. New
Business: Nathan Zee, President
·
Any New Business?
·
Ms. Christy,
Outdoor Learning Coordinator:
o
The proposed APS budget
includes proposed cuts to the Assistant-to-Teacher program
o
This program enables current APS Paraprofessionals who qualify to participate in a
partially funded program to obtain a Virginia teacher license.
o
The loss
of this program would have a significant negative impact on Campbell, as there
are current Campbell Assistant Teachers in this program who would not be able
to continue in their programs without this continued financial assistance
o
Nathan: talking points will be shared for those who would like to
express support for the program to the School Board. Miss Christy will be
speaking at the March 22nd School Board meeting
VIII. Closing:
Nathan Zee, President
- Teacher
Appreciation Week coming up during second week of May - Our
Committee Chair will be out-of-town during that week, so we need a
volunteer to step-in to coordinate/plan the events and we also need help/volunteers
to execute those plans; let me know if you’re interested and available to
help - Next
Restaurant Night will be Brick’s Pizza Night on April 11th (4-8
pm) - Thanks
for coming and that’s a wrap!