September Minutes

FOW MEETING MINUTES 9/1/09

 

Officer Reports

 

Presidents Update:  – Welcome to new school year.

Introductions Joe Falazarno, President, Michelle Dean, VP, Mark Simm Treasurer, Alan Blomquist, and Secretary –Shari Gold

 

Joe, We “need YOU!” the parents to help provide a really special school – we want to be the new Cordalaine!

 

You are the ones who provide Studio, computer lab, PE.  We need to do our share as these programs are cut!

 

VP Update:  Kinder play date raised over $12,000 at play date!!!!  Parents came mingled, Rebecca did an art project – and thanks to Cindy and Claudia for organizing.

 

Treasurer Update:  Last year we passed a budget of $172,000 that includes programs Joe mentioned and trying to get an aide in every class. 

 

Mailing list – if anyone is interested in the budget breakdown, sign up on mailing list and Mark will forward info.  Right now, we have paid for 3 aides for the year.  Have about $30,000 in cash right now, sounds like a lot but if you look at cash flow breakdown, if we don’t raise anything we will run out of money.

 

Joe – we start at a deficit at the beginning of the year, we commit to the studio teacher, the pe teacher … assuming that we will raise this money if we don’t raise it then they won’t get paid. 

 

As of now we are expecting about 13 classes in all – already have one kindergarten class less (3 total).  We budgeted for about 15 classes last year, but who knows, could be 13 or 15 classes total (more or less). 

 

Warner Tataki --   Class Aides – LAUSD pays for some, and FOW pays for some.

 

Joe intro:  Warner Tataki; she has been core member of school and getting FOW off ground, if you need go to person – she’s here.

 

Warner intro:  Lori as a former FOW president and another “go to” person.

 

Miss Biolatto – needed art organizing parents to organize prints to create a print library that can be initialized by the school at large for projects.   Possibly getting started the 2^nd or 3^rd week of school.

 

 

Annual Fund Update – Claire Theodore and Frances

 

Asking people to pledge to FOW monthly and have looked at people and pledges needed, it comes down to someone giving a family donation of between $75 and $100 per month.  Asking people to think of extended family and send them a pledge card or direct them to our website.  With amount of pledges we have received so fart this year, not CASH gifts is $23,450!!!

 

Pledges are a 10 month commitment, if we don’t get pledges in early on and don’t know how much money we are going to have further in year there could potentially be a delay in hiring aides or spending money on other important resources.  If the money isn’t coming in then we won’t be able to hire people in the future.

 

Sara Reimers – heading up  “Whole” Fundraising. 

 

Joe F. – just to reemphasize annual fund – if you want an ordinary school, you can have one, if you want an extraordinary school, we need your help financially.

 

Sara – we crunched then numbers and got to that $750 -$1000; last year we only asked for $200.  We need to be getting out there to our existing families.  It’s a big jump, but we believe we can do it. 

 

Our overall – Fundraising calendar (one side is budget) – just to give an idea to breakdown month by month with specific goal by month so you have an idea so people aren’t caught off guard with our big picture planning.

 

Sara Dee and Sara Reimers (co fundraising chair) turns out Sara Dee had to step down and she and I had divided up all the events this year – which means “I” need to get more people on board with fundraising.  Sending around  list for people to sign up for all the parts to play so it doesn’t fall on one person.  As it stands now, if more people don’t sign up we will have to start dropping events b/c I can’t be responsible for entire calendar.  Some people need to step up – so if interested, passing around a clipboard for information.

 

Michelle Dean – if you have filled out this info previously, I will get the information over to Sara so don’t feel like you need to keep filing out info.

 

Sara – two things coming up fast – if you can take on something in Novemember  -- entertainment coupon books and Sally foster catalog.  I need a team of people to take it on, maybe 2 people.  Dine outs, these are 3x per semester to go to Californian Pizza kitchen or Islands on Wed/ Thursday night if someone wants to spearhead that?  

 

Lori volunteered

 

Scholastic Bookfair – need a volunteer for that. 

 

Parent—brings up points that upper grades aren’t getting the focus/ added efforts  (aides).  Trying to say that “whole” school needs to benefit, not just low grades.

 

Sara – only classes don’t have aides are 1^st and 2^nd.    Acknowledges that it is a valid concern and that last year there was more of a concentrated effort on lower grades, but these concerns were addressed this year and 3/ 4/5^th grades do have aides.

 

Joe – there is a lot more participation this year from lower grades b/c of an influx of active parents in the lower grades.  If you can help “corral” efforts in upper grades to help with this effort.

 

Sara R. – Quickly, school directory will come out on BSN, but please get your information in.  Has information like who the teachers are and will give you an idea of how this place functions.  Also, have old directories on hand – please take them.

 

Arlene – in district parent handbook, parents can indicate if parents want to be part of a directory or not.  Sara – there are very specific fields we want.

 

Joe – grant writing – it costs about 7600 per aide.

 

Grant Writing Update/ Shari Gold:  Lot of federal money on the table, but hard to get to.  Have identified a couple of grants:

California Beautification grant – to update front office entrance.

Federal Money/ Corporate Money

Outdoor Greenhouse – anyone want to get involved? 

 

Parent:  Recommends, tree people?   Knows three or 4 people. 

Shari asks for volunteers for committee

 

Welcoming Tours/ Outreach

Room Parent Update/ Carolyn Healy:  What is a room parent?  The room parent is the commicnation liaison between your class and FOW.  Looking at this room tonight, don’t know if all levels are repped, but hope that we would have a rep from someone in every level so they could then go back to their group and say, “here’s what’s going on.”

 

There are other things to volunteer to help teacher, key things – if you can be the room parent – and be the volunteer liaison between FOW and your class, please volunteer and sign up on this paper.

 

Does room parent need a lot of face time (parent asks) – no, it breaks down into FOW communication/ yahoo group.  Keep your class connected by going to FOW 1x per month.

 

 

Principals Report:

Thanks to FOW we are maintaining.

 

Our teachers are on fire for this year, our test scores went up 10%.  We went up 5% in mathematics!  Your kids are in great hands.

 

PS Arts – they have been coming in for several years providing a music teacher once a week and a visual arts teacher 3 days a week. 

 

Last week, got a letter from them saying they wanted $7500 – I can say, there is no way we can flip the budget whatsoever, it is really tight.  I did speak w/ Joe that my personal feeling, if we are going to pay $7500 it would have to come from FOW .  $7539 is also an aide.  At this school we already have studio where they experience art on a variety of levels..  K 1 and 2 will be in studio weekly.  The district is paying for 1 day of their arts prototype so a couple of grade levels will have that, that’s 50 mins weekly.  12 weeks visual arts, 12 weeks of dance and 12 weeks of theatre, we have teachers coming in.  The district is sending their music teacher. 

 

Those prints (re: the art prints) are used to motivate our kids and Ms. Biolatto is more than happy to create additional art programs for teachers additionally, so what I am saying, I am good w/ not having PS arts this year, we already have enough art.  From my standpoint, it’s not a necessity.  No class will be left out of art. 

 

Joe – the first step is to explore if the cost is zero? 

Arlene – yes, but this school is so arts rich that we are covered if it goes away.

 

 

Ocean Charter

Thursday we are having a town hall meeting, Ocean Charter wants to sunshine a vision for coming up with how we co-exist here. 

Michele King and I both felt it was important that they sunshine their intents.  They are beginning a conversation to say “how we both exist on this site”. 

 

Ocean Charter has been here for about 4 years now.  They are a 4^th through 8^th grade school.  They have another site for K-3.  What happens every year, we go to a meeting in June and determine our shared use.  Our organic garden is part of theirs.  We share that.  The auditorium, everything is done on a yearly basis, it is a renewable thing.  This year, they are picking up two new classrooms.  Every year, it is reevaluated and must be signed off on again.  In terms of me signing off on anything, I won’t sign off on anything, I rep you all as the Walgrove community and I represent LAUSD – nothing happens I don’t put pen to paper until I hear from you.    The meeting is this Thursday, 7 pm, here. 

 

Joe – this is going to take a long time to unfold.  We are going to make sure that there is value to Walgrove before we sign off on anything. 

 

Arlene – it’s a conversation, that’s all we are having, there isn’t signing anything, we just want to begin the conversation.

 

Arlene:  One last thing-

I need two parents to form a site co-location team:

I need:

2 teachers from each school

2 parents from each school

the office managers from each school and Tamesha Jones the plant manager, we are going to meet for 1 hr after school 2:45 to 3:45. 

We want to be the filter group if there are issues between the two sites, you can go to one group that meets regularly.  We had a good relationship last year.  We need to know each other.  If you are interested, your kids can stay at after school, so know your kids are covered if you are interested in being a part of this.

 

Grants – it has come to my attention that we are going to have to move forward on writing grants for new computers in the very near future.  Starting Nov 2^nd all schools go “on-line” and we are going to start to submit attendance online.   Jon Fischer, one of our parents, is going to come in and inventory the computers, then I will be working closely w/ Shari’s grant group on this. 

 

Warner Tataki:

A couple things….

Recognizes Dr. Ambrose – who dedicated this wonderful auditorium in memory of his daughter.

Grade level volunteers – when you volunteer in classroom, please look at your grade – not just your class, we want it to feel like looking at our grade as one .  Look at that and know that if you have a talent, there is a place for you to be.  We are looking for teacher’s aides.  It’s important to know, it’s a great job .. it’s 8:30 to 11:30 so if you know someone who is creative and loves children, if you know anyone, we need to hire three aides. 

Please talk to me, Warner Tataki or Arlene Fortier.

You need a TB test, you need  to take a test, then they finger print you, it’s nothing.

 

If you are going to be a volunteer at this school you have to be cleared and you have to take a TB test.  It’s just a rule. 

 

Michelle Dean:  Friend-raiser – We need a place for this., September 26^th (someone volunteers) .  I need a few people to help plan this, please see me.  We are not going to talk about money/ raising money, we’ll just get together for fun. 

 

Shakespeare Club – Mel Ryane; not a parent –a volunteer.  This is for the forth year.  This year we are doing MacBeth and this is open to the 3^rd -5^th graders.  Auditions will be Nov. 19^th and 30^th.  The notifications will go out on Nov. 25^th.  I am looking for 20 kids to be  actors, a 21^st member to be a stage manager a 23^rd/ 24^th will run lights and sound.  Hundreds of children will see the show.  Teachers are given a one sheet for storyline so they can prep the kids before seeing the play.  Over the 4 years, hundreds of kids are exposed to the works of William Shakespeare.  We are creating a resource in the library for books about William Shakespeare. 

 

Two challenges:  I need to send a letter to Myra (Star Program) about as of Jan 13^th I need auditorium on Wednesdays after school. 

 

The auditorium – bad acoustics, I would like to somehow get something great that would be better (PA system).  If anyone is an expert or knows of a way we can rig a better sound system.

 

Performance is Thursday, May 22^nd.  The last thrus in May, have a 10:30 dress  rehearsal and then a 1 pm performance and 3 pm performance. 

 

I have a blog about it www.teachingwill.com 

 

These are the stories of working w/ the kids in Walgrove Shakespeare club.  The names and places are all changed. 

 

Joe – nothing to vote on, but just so all should know, Michael Steinger is taken ill but he is thinking about not being able to be the campus beautification guy.  If you can reach out to him, he is an amazing guy.  He’s in the directory.