September 7, 2022
Meeting called to order at 5:02 pm by Mr. Needleman
Translation available in Spanish and Korean
Meeting is being recorded
Introduction by Raj Raghavan, PTO President
- Tonight will have special guests: Nicole from Share & Care, Daniele Tenner from Nick Melvoin’s office and Coach Manny
- Mr. Needleman introduced Raj Raghavan, PTO President
- Introduction of PTO by Raj including the introduction of PTO Executive Board
How do you keep track of school and PTO events?
- Sign up for the school’s google calendar, which includes PTO events [see https://melrosepto.org]
- Follow us on your favorite social media platform
- Keep in touch with other parents on the Melrose People Website Forums (a replacement for Shutterfly) Please join the forums at https://melrosepeople.org
Upcoming Events
- First Family Fun Night @ Lala’s Restaurant on Tuesday, September 27th from 3-5 PM – The kids can go out to eat and see their friends. There’s outdoor options. Look for more info, we want to see you there!
- We are bringing back Community Coffee Hour – First one is Sept 16th at 8:15 AM on the main playground by the lunch tables. We will be serving the bagels, you bring the conversation – in person at school!
- Spirit Wear sales are happening again! Stop by the parents’ center to buy your swag from Alysen Cho. Cash and Venmo are accepted!
Valet
- Volunteer shout out to Cecilia Medrano for getting valet set up by the second day of school! Amazing!
- We are looking for more volunteers for valet and other areas of PTO. Let us know!
Raj Contact Info
- If you need to get in touch with Raj, his email is president@melrosepto.org
Annual Giving
- Introduction of Jana Meyers, director of Annual Giving, our biggest and most important fundraiser of the year!
- Overview of where contributions go, including garden rangers, filmmaking, visual arts, music, ballroom dance, pe, 1:1 technology, etc
- We are currently looking to raise enough funds to get a play structure for grades 1-5. We need to raise an extra $350,000!
- Annual giving runs through Oct 7.
- Our goal is to raise $150,000!
- We are asking for $995 per child for those who can. Or just give what you can, even if it is $5.
- 100% of your donation is tax deductible
- When we reach $75,000 we will have a popsicle party on campus
- Upon reaching $150,000 we will celebrate with the mad scientist!
Q & A
Raj opened discussion to questions
- Q: Paige Rhodes asked if the district is now paying for technology, can the fundraising money go toward a play structure?
- A: Answered by Mr. Needleman: We are still paying for laptops for 5th grade and we do not know if district will continue to pay for ipads. But any money that we do not need to spend on technology will go to the play structure.
Share & Care
- Raj turned the meeting over to Mr. Needleman
- Introduction of Nicole from Share & Care
- Share & Care is a program to do group work with students for social emotional support, coping skills, listen to other kids hear about their feelings. It is on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and it is an extra support for Melrose students. Nicole will need parent concept. Email her at nicole.sherrod@cshs.org
Nick Melvoin’s office
- Danielle Tenner, Nick Melvoin’s Chief of Staff (and Melrose 1st grade parent) speaking on behalf of Nick Melvoin, on the role of the school board and Melvoin’s office. The best points of contact for parents are Mr. Needleman and Paul Hirsch.
Star Program
- Coach Manny, director of Star and Campus Aid speaking on openings in the Star program. In the heat, we have plenty of water for kids. Looking to add 15 more students to star in the coming weeks. Parents can fill out star applications if their child is not on the waiting list but interested.
Coffee with the Principal
The Cyberattack
- Had very little effect to day to day operations. The understanding right now is that no personal information is at risk.
- Teachers have to have children reset passwords, parent portal not working yet
- By Monday of next week, everything should be working ok. QR codes should still work
Parent Meetings
- Parent meetings will continue on zoom because participation is high. Community coffee hour is now your chance to meet in person.
Dealing with Heat
- The heat: bringing water from home is a good idea but the water at Melrose is safe to drink
Kids are allowed to play at recess but at lunch the kids are staying in the auditorium with AC - Parent question: could we have water filling stations for the kids?
Filming on Campus
- Next week there will be a film company renting a portion of the parking lot for 3 days. The trade-off is that we get $10,000 for the school. There will be a guard for safety.
School updates
- SBAC scores went up and language arts scores are better than they were pre pandemic
- Focusing on more small group work
- For math we just entered a program to get teachers trained in CGI (focused on problem solving vs just learning the algorithm – helping to get to higher level thinking in math)
Attendance
- District is back to tracking attendance
- If you’re sick, stay home but we need to be good about making sure any time a child is out, make sure you send a note to the teacher to let them know why the child was out.
- You may get a letter from the district about an absence. Please respond and give it to the office.
- We are no longer rewarding perfect attendance but there is a clear link between student attendance and student achievement.
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Acceleration Days
There are 4 days planned this year. - The school will invite students that are struggling with school for additional support. Anyone who isn’t invited can come to school and spend the day with Beyond the Bell. Students do not have to come but childcare is available.
- There may be a teacher boycott of the first day, Oct 19.
Q & A
- Q: Can parents donate dvd’s to keep the kids entertained?
- A: Sure! But we can only show g-rated movies
- Q: Will TK come to Melrose?
- A: We don’t really have the space and we would have to open one k classroom to neighborhood families. So It became too complicated to make it happen.
- Q: Weekly assemblies?
- A: Weekly assemblies did not work well on Zoom. So we are doing it again in person. It will be open to parents on the days of student of the month assemblies. We will let you know when that happens.
- Q: Has the buddy program started?
- A: Not yet but it will go on all year. Kindergarteners will get assigned a buddy or two and they will be with the same student the whole year.
- Q: Has the Starr pledge has changed?
- A: There’s a movement to change everything from i to we. And we changed tolerant to teamwork because it is easier to teach and tolerance sounds negative in some context.
- Q: Is there a Harvest Festival this year?
- A: Yes! Big plans for an on-campus event!
- Q: Field trips?
- A: Field trips are back including Catelina. Next week second grade will have an in-person field trip.
Thank you to special guests!
Meeting adjourned 6:06pm
