February PS 372 General Meeting Minutes

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The February meeting was held Feb. 17 via Zoom.

February PS 372 General PTA Meeting

February 17, 2022

Held remotely via Zoom

Meeting Agenda

  1. Welcome & Congratulations on 100 Days of School 
  2. School Updates – Ms. Rosa
  3. Parent Updates
  4. PTA News 
  5. Virtual Book Fair ending soon – buy now!
  6. Readathon – ends Feb. 28th
  7. Pilot Project for Parents who Drive
  8. Treasurer’s Update 
  9. Thanks – we couldn’t do it without you! 

School Updates – Ms. Rosa

  1.  Celebration of 100th day of school!  
    1. Breakfast spread at Adelphi street sponsored by the PTA
  2. Parking 
    1. Lots of construction going on including a big building on 4th ave which is going to make traffic/parking worse
    2. Parking on Con Ed sidewalk is not advised.  I
      1. It is a safety hazard for kids and a nuisance for Con Ed
      2. Working on plan to ease dismissal
  3. Graduation will be in person!  
    1. Committee in place to coordinate Graduation activities
    2. More to come on those types of celebrations
  4. Will be a musical again!
    1. Aladdin put on by 5th Grade
  5. Any extra curricular activities require vaccination
    1. We don’t want to exclude anyone. If one child can’t come then we want to avoid it.
  6. Please be mindful about “Lateness”
    1. Kids coming in late can be disruptive to the classroom
    2. If you need support let the school know.  
  7. Teachers are helping with curriculum 
    1. 3rd Grade Math program (Reflex)
      1. Was used by a 3rd grade teacher as a trial and it was well received by students and teachers
      2. Doing a free 90 day trial
      3. Would be a supplement to current to program
      4. It supports math “fluency”.  Reinforces skills and participation
      5. Will start after February break
    2. 2nd Grade Reading

Parent Updates – Ms. Yvette

  1. Middle School application deadline is March 1, 2022. If you have not submitted your application, please do so. 
  2. 3K and PreK Applications are open. 
    1. Any current families that have a child entering PreK next September must submit an application through their MySchools account. 
  3. 3K application deadline is April 14, 2022 
    1. TCS does not have 3K
  4. Pre-K application deadline is March 18, 2022
  5. Sibling priority is automatic unless sibling is 5th grader
    1. Only 36 seats and 12 are special ed in pre -k
    2. Only 51 Gen Ed seats and 24 IEP seats
    3. Contact Ms. Rosa if you have a 5th grader who has a rising sibling
  6. Mid-Winter Break next week Feb. 21 – Feb. 25 
  7. If you have questions, you can email 
    1. Yvette at yvette.agasbautz@ps372.net

PTA News 

  1. NYC Vaccination/Booster Referral Program – $100/referral for PTA
    1. Program extended to Feb. 28th, max# is 200 so keep sharing the details
  2. LabQ testing van – outside school on March 1st to help families get tested after Mid-Winter Break. You need to pre-register or sign-up at the site to receive your results. We will send out the pre-registration link. 
    1. Both Rapid and PCR tests will be available
    2. As at any NYC testing site, the tests are free, no insurance needed.
    3. For everyone.  Children, parents, neighborhood.
  3. Playground Renovation project in planning process, hope to have             something to share soon!  Things are still happening. 
  4. Looking forward to Spring events like Garden Cleanup and Movie Night
    1. Targeting Movie night for April
  5. Next PTA meeting – March 24th at 6:45pm

Virtual Book Fair

Continues until the end of February!

Order in-person or online at communitybookstore.net 

code 372Fair22

Easy to search for books or browse their recommendations

2 choices for delivery: pickup at stores or ship to home

Check out a recommended list of books by age at https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-lists  

You can share the code with family and friends

The fair includes all books, not just kids books

The PTA will receive 20% of Book Fair purchases.

Read-a-thon is Online

1.  The Readathon Reading Log 

  1.  Parents and NOT students will be creating/signing up for accounts on inclusions. 
  2. Each student will have their own Dashboard where they can view badges, sponsors reading log. 
    1. Reading can be independent or if the child is being read to by adult
  3. During the whole month of February, record what books kids read and number of minutes. 
  4. Two classes already have 100% participation and will get a pizza party
  5. New 2,500 minute badge!

      2.  The Pledge Sheet

  1. All donations are tracked online on your Read-a-thon Dashboard. 
  2. Here families can record the names of their sponsors and how much each sponsor will contribute, either with a lump sum or an amount determined per minutes read. 
  3. There is an option to enter email addresses for potential sponsors, which will automatically generate emails with a pre-written script explaining our Read-a-thon, while requesting a donation for that specific student. 

Pilot Dismissal for Drivers

  1. Working with school to create alternate dismissal plan that works better for parents who drive.
  2. Parents would stay in cars & pick up all kids at one location
  3. No more running around school to multiple doors while hoping your car isn’t getting ticketed
  4. Enrollment will be required to authorize alternate pickup plan
  5. Test of pilot program (10 families?) in early March, with expansion planned by end of March.
  6. Form sent out via Konstella to indicate level of interest in program and number of kids/families affected.
  7. Watch for details and sign-up form via Konstella.

Treasurer’s Report

  1. Fundraisers for PTA
  2. Annual Appeal has raised approx. $22K of $35K target
  3. Readathon sponsors currently signing up; won’t know total raised until March meeting
  4. Increased corporate matching and grants are helping to make up shortfall from missing fundraisers, like Pizza Friday
  5. Expenses steadily arriving
  6. Mini-grants for classrooms and specialists 
  7. Arts Partnerships – Alvin Ailey, Chen Center, Thunderbird 
  8. Please continue to support our PTA!

Thanks!

  1. Thank you to families who used us a their referral organization for getting vaccines or booster shots at NYC sites – the $100/referral is a great bonus for the PTA
  2. Thanks to Julie Lipton for organizing the LabQ testing van for after break
  3. Thank you to Brad Eichmann, Sarah Graham, and Melanie Goldberg for their help organizing Readathon and providing support for families to participate.
  4. Volunteers are needed on the committee for the Auction auction@ps372pta.org. Particularly looking for lower grades families to get involved, but all welcome. 
    1. Solicitation of items already underway!
  5. Thank YOU being part of our great community and supporting our school 
  6. The next PTA Meeting is scheduled for March 24th, 2022 @ 6:45pm 

Chat Notes:

00:30:32 251028: How are the 3k/PreK slots divided up?

00:36:12 Shelli Rottman: We were told at the store that the code Is online only

00:41:11 MT: What is the name of the Math program?

00:41:19 Frank Ammirata: Reflex MAth

00:43:13 MT: When will Reflex Math be available for all students? Asking for a 5th grader that might benefit.

00:43:40 251028: Update: 3 classes have hit 100% for the readathon.

00:43:45 Rosa Amato: The pilot is 3rd grade.

00:44:28 Frank Ammirata: We need to see data before considering a larger scale implementation.

00:44:55 Adrienne Chait (she/her): Have a wonderful break everyone!

00:45:09 MT: Thank you

00:45:10 Raneshia: Is there no school tomorrow?

00:45:25 Bridget Nash: We have school tomorrow

00:45:26 Rosa Amato: Yes.  School is open tomorrow

00:45:31 Raneshia: ok thanks

00:45:40 Raneshia: good night

Meeting Minutes Submitted by Julie Lipton

PTA Recording Secretary