This meeting was held remotely via Zoom.

Updates from Ms. Rosa Amato, Principal

• Miss Rosa is home for 4 weeks because her husband tested positive today for covid. Please contact Ms. Bridget or Mr. Frank if you need something on site.
• Rosa Perez-Leonetti is retiring so we will be without a D15 site AP for a while and will start our search soon.
• Susan Bagarozza (guidance counselor) retired before break. New counselor is Sophya Rosen. Welcome Ms. Sophya!
• 6:1:1 site is closed until at least January 25 due to six confirmed positive cases among students and staff since winter break.
• Carroll Street site will be closed tomorrow Friday Jan. 22 due to two cases in 7-day period. Contract tracing is being performed now to find the link between these cases which will inform future school closures.
• If there is no clear link between cases, the school has to shut down for 10 days. 
• Most of these cases are being traced to outside of school contact between students.
• Random testing of 20% of our building is still happening, and is working well.
• Rosa still working with D75 superintendent on 5 day instruction option for three target groups: ELL, children in temporary housing, students with IEPs
• 5th grade graduation: we are beginning to think about what we are going to do for our 5th graders. If you wish to participate in these talks and planning, reach out to 5th grade teachers to form a graduation committee.
• Please remain positive and supportive of the teaching staff and children at this time. Please get tested, wear your masks, and if you have any concerns please reach out to administration
• Rosa P-L retirement farewell:
  • Thank you to everyone, especially Miss Rosa for her leadership.
  • Thank you to the PTA for all of their support, I have never seen a PTA like this one in all of my 30 years in schools.
  • I will miss the kids most of all. I’ll always be in and out and will come visit.

Updates from Ms. Yvette Agas-Bautz, Parent Coordinator

• Thank you to last year’s fifth grade families who participated in the parent panel for current 5th grade parents this morning. There was a lot of very useful information shared!
• MS applications deadline is Feb. 9
• All information and forms for Middle School admissions process – is on MySchools
• NYC Schools Account for every student at https://mystudent.nyc/
• You can email Yvette at yvette.agasbautz@ps372.net with any questions or if you still need an activation code. Most parents should have received this in the mail but if you didn’t please let us know.
• On Thursday 1/28/21 at 9:00 a.m. there will be a workshop for parents of kids entering middle schools with IEPs. Ms. Clark will be speaking at that meeting in her capacity as Related Services Coordinator.
• PreK families – tomorrow Jan. 22 is the Kindergarten application deadline. All PreK families have to do this application.

Virtual Book Fair – Liza Gouger

• The virtual book fair begins today and will continue through the end of February
• We are teaming up again with Community Bookstore.
• Order online at communitybookstore.net and use code PS372; put in the code and our school gets credit and we get a donation for 20% of all sales.
• The book fair is all virtual this year.
• Easy to search for books or browse their recommendations
• 3 choices for delivery: pickup at store, ship to home, or deliver to school (for groups A & B and Adelphi St. only)
• Check out our recommended list of books for each grade & the Adelphi St. site, as well as books from the bookstore’s own newsletter on inclusions.org
• Post your books or your readers on social media with #PS372reads, link to our Facebook page or @ps372pta, or email them to info@ps372pta.org, and we’ll share them for you (permission to post granted by emailing us the photo).

PS 372 Fifth Annual Readathon – Merideth Finn Beers & Brad Eichmann

• The Readathon will be fully virtual this year
• Fun school-wide community event that celebrates reading 
• Empowers students to participate in fundraising 
• All money raised helps fund school activities and 10% will go to new books for libraries at both sites 
• All prizes are based on participation, not donation amounts raised

• Students record the minutes read outside of the classroom every day in their online Read-a-thon logs in their Read-a-thon accounts. 
• Books count! Reading on a computer or tablet counts! Magazines count! Comics count! Newspapers count! Homework reading counts! 
• Students who are not reading on their own should record the minutes they are read to by an adult or other independent reader. 
• Students & families can invite family, friends, and co-workers to sponsor students either for an amount per minute of reading or as a lump sum donation. 

What do I need to participate in the Read-a-thon?

• The Readathon Reading Log 
  • This year Read-a-thon logs are part of each students’ Read-a-thon Dashboard, all online, accessible via our Inclusions website. Go to the inclusions website to create your Read-a-thon account and see your personal Read-a-thon Dashboard! During the whole month of February, each night after they read (or are read to), students / caregivers should record both what they read and for how many minutes they read. 
• The Pledge Sheet
  • This year all donations are tracked online on your Read-a-thon Dashboard. Here students 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. 
  • 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. 
• Cool Stuff about Ready, Set, Read!
  • Every participant in our Readathon will receive a certificate, at least one virtual badge, and be entered into a drawing(s) to win a gift certificate(s) to Community Bookstore
  • Students will be awarded virtual badges to showcase milestone minutes read (1 minute, 125 minutes, 250 minutes, 500 minutes, 1000 minutes)
  • Students reaching milestone minutes are entered into drawings to win gift certificates to Community Bookstore 
  • Students participating in blended learning may borrow more than one book at a time from our school libraries during the month of February
  • The class with the most participation in each grade will help Ms. Jackie choose book titles for our school library
  • Classes with 100% participation will receive a prize (we are working on it!)

Treasurer’s Report – Tania Ahmed

Direct Appeal 2020-2021

• We have raised over $20,000 in donations to support school so far. Please keep it going! Other major fundraisers have been impacted by COVID19, and so direct giving will be the best way to support the PTA.
• Please buy more school gear!
• Check to see if your employer has a matching program for corporate donations!
• We are working on getting a PTA Venmo account. You can always send donations via Paypal, credit card or check.

Gifts that GIVE-BACK

• You SHOP & They give to PS 372 at no extra cost to you! 
• Participating vendors include Amazon Smile, Shutterfly, Goodsearch, Primary, Mabel’s Labels

General Announcements

• When the weather gets better, we hope to organize some outside events for families.
• Details on School Picture dates coming soon!
• The next PTA Meeting is scheduled for February 25th, 2021. 

Thank You from the PTA to…

• Thanks to our community for supporting each other. 
• Thanks to those families who bought trees from Foley Firs and everyone supporting our “Gifts that Give Back” program.
• Thanks to our community for supporting the Holiday Gift Drives – PJs for Pals and CHIPS Soup Kitchen & Shelter, especially Yvette & Dina Daleo for spearheading those donations.
• Thanks to Merideth Finn-Beers & Brad Eichmann for co-chairing the Readathon Committee and bringing it online!

Number of attendees: 35

Submitted by Mimi Stauber-Levy, PTA of PS 372 Recording Secretary, 1/21/21