This meeting was held remotely on Zoom. There were 55 attendees.

• Welcome to our virtual PTA meeting – Michelle Dobson & Liza Gouger, PTA Co-Presidents
  • Thank you for joining us tonight. As a reminder this meeting will be recorded and made available to the school community.

• Parent Connections & Wellness – Madeline Solomon
  • When I found out we were in fully remote mode again, I reached out to Ms. Rosa to ask if we could offer space for parents to support one another.
  • The Wellness Committee will be offering a space for parents/adult caregivers to be together, talk about feelings, concerns, questions, and share ideas and offer support to one another. No children allowed!
  • If you are interested please contact Madeline at madeline_sol@hotmail.com.
  • Stay tuned for more information coming on Konstella.
• Updates from Ms. Rosa Amato, Principal
  • As you know we are in remote learning mode again. We found out at 2:30 pm the afternoon that school was closing the next day. Please know that we are not holding back information when we receive it. 
  • The Chancellor said that Nov. 15 was the deadline for the hybrid opt-in date for fully remote students, and that those that opted in for hybrid would return either Nov. 30 or Dec. 7.  We do not yet know if we will reopen by then. If this does indeed happen, PK-2 will start back 11/30 and Grades 3-5 on 12/7. 
  • The Chancellor has not communicated any more information about when schools will reopen for hybrid learning.
  • If you do travel for the holidays, please consult the NY State Travel Advisory for quarantine protocols.
  • Switching cohorts: You will find out from us whether you are in Group A or Group B when you return to hybrid. We will try our best to honor class section requests but safely distancing students in rooms is the first priority. Please reach out to us if there is a major problem with the group to which your child is assigned.
  • Ventilation in building: we know that it is rather cold inside when we are in the building due to open windows for proper ventilation. We will try opening windows right before teachers arrive to maintain as much heat as possible, and we are heating the building before staff arrival.
  • Please make sure to send children to school with hats, jackets, gloves.
  • We have had three positive COVID cases since we opened for hybrid in October, one on the Adelphi campus and two in the Carroll Street building.
  • The identity of the infected individual(s) is private information and the school is not permitted to disclose it.
  • We will not be re-balancing or shifting any classes until we are back in brick and mortar.
  • School-created pods have been a question some parents have been asking about. PS 372 staff may not be hired by any parent in the school or be paid outside school to teach or care for your child. Some parents have asked if the school can assist parents in creating pods outside of school. That is something families are encouraged to work on together. The school will not be creating pods for families. Please use Konstella to contact one another.
  • If D75 goes back before others, then the students in our Adelphi building will return first, but all students regardless of their district designation in the Carroll Street location will start back following the general education (D15) guidelines.
  • At this point if you have not opted back in for hybrid, you are to stay remote for the rest of the year. If there is a change we will let you know, but we do not expect this to change.
  • Our November Parent-to-Parent Meeting was held today at 11:50 a.m. Attendance was rather low but we encourage parents to attend these meetings and listen to the presentation by the school psychologist and counselors and talk about any concerns you may have at this time. Ms. Yvette and Ms. Perez-Leonetti will be sending out an invite for the next meeting.
  • There will be office hours the first Wednesday of every month for parents with administration from 12:00-1:00 p.m. Teachers have office hours every day at 2pm.

• Updates from Ms. Yvette
  • Middle School admissions process (MySchools)
  • We have not heard anything yet about when middle school applications will open
  • I am communicating as much info as I have about virtual open houses. Many middle schools have not updated their sites or information about middle school process.
  • There is an NYC Schools Account for every student at https://mystudent.nyc/. Please email Yvette if your student does not have an account. This account is a way for you to keep track of report cards, attendance, all information related to your child. This account stays active through high school.

• School-wide Thanksgiving & Holiday Gift Drives
  • PJ’s for Pals – Donating *new* pajamas to a women’s shelter. We learned about this from PS372 teacher Dina Daleo. Collecting through Dec. 15th.  
  • You can shop on your own & ship PJs to staff member Dina Daleo (Dina Daleo, 4 Kelvin Ave, Staten Island NY 10306)
• CHiPS Soup Kitchen and Shelter – This is a local organization that we have worked with for many years. They need small toothpastes, toothbrushes, soap, and men’s scarves, gloves, hats.
  • We will provide a safe no contact drop-off box outside of school, week of December 14-18th from 10am-2pm.    

• We will also be setting up an Amazon Wish List – shop online and ship to PS372 families in need – watch for details.

• PTA News – Michelle & Liza
  • PS372 Moves! – Special Event
  • Scheduled for this Friday, Nov. 27th, after feasting on Thanksgiving
  • School-wide, every family is invited to get moving and send us photos!
  • Anywhere! Go to your favorite playground, head to the park or stay inside…as long as you’re moving! Pick a fun activity of your choice (running, hula hooping, dancing, scooting, soccer, jump rope, etc) to do with your family!
  • If you’re on social media, post with #PS372moves, link to our Fb or @ps372pta
  • If you don’t have Facebook or Instagram, but you want to share your photos, email them to info@ps372pta.org and we’ll share them for you. 
  • (permission to post granted by emailing us the photo)

• Gifts That Give Back
  • You SHOP & They give to PS 372 at no extra cost to you!
  • Easy links on inclusions.org
  • Partners: Amazon Smile, Shutterfly, Primary, Mabel’s Labels, Goodsearch
  • Foley Firs

www.foleyfirs.com

foleyfirs@gmail.com

FoleyFirs on Facebook

• Order tree online & tell them you’re from PS 372!
  • $10 Donation to our school for every tree sold
  • Free Delivery!
  • They are not able to do indoor setup this year

• Treasurers’ Report 

Fundraisers for PTA

• Gear Sales for Spirit Week
  • Raised over $700 and delivered hats, t-shirts, and sweats
  • Some deliveries are delayed due to the unexpected school shutdown.
  • Can contact Yvette to arrange pickups when someone will be at school.

• Direct Appeal 2020-2021
  • Other major fundraisers are impacted by COVID19
  • Direct giving will be the best way to support PTA
  • We have received over $10K in donations to support our school so far!
  • We are aiming for $40,000 for our annual goal since this is really the only major fundraising effort we are able to do this year.

• Thanks and Upcoming Events
  • Thank you to our school community for supporting each other. 
  • Thanks to Brad Eichmann for figuring out how to add the fundraising feedback widget to our website so we can all see Direct Appeal progress!
  • Thank you to Merideth Finn-Beers for her efforts in the social media world to keep our community informed and updated on PTA news. 
  • Big thank you to Kathleen Conner and Yvette Agaz-Bautz for their efforts to coordinate the gear sales and deliveries in time for Spirit Week.
  • Coming soon, Konstella email with details of giving while shopping.
  • Watch for announcements about a December Virtual Dance Party!
  • The next PTA Meeting is scheduled for January 14th, 2021.