Parents' Association  of P.S.144Q

93-02 69th Ave.

Forest Hills, NY 11375

MINUTES FROM MEETINGS

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8/11/08
Revised 9/12/08
Approved 9/12/08
Minutes from July 14, 2008, Executive Board Meeting
In Attendance:
Nancy Nisselbaum
Tricia Kampton
Lisa Brody
Kathryn Thome
Amy Woo
Liz Morrow
Judy Huie
Kim Ramazan
Susan Izeman
Maria Cognata
J.R. Nocerino
Caroline Walter
Jeanne Kwok

Discussed:
1) Donor matching. If a person works for a corporation that offers a matching gift program, does the donor who is matching contributions to PS 144 match just the person’s gift or will he match the person’s and the corporation’s match? We need to check whether the corporate matching gifts are actually getting to the school. Will the bank have a record of it?

UPDATE: Jeanne Kwok has confirmed that the donor will match both the person’s donations and the corporate match.

2) Backpack News and Student Council. Jennifer Lucadamo is taking over Student Council. Try to get the Student Council more involved with Backpack News and getting more kids to write for the newsletter. Write more about the residencies so parents know what is going on in classroom. Should we generate more advertising for Backpack News?

3) Committee Chairs:
After School Program—Joanne Rios
Auction—Tricia Kampton, Caroline Walters
Backpack News—Kim Ramazan
Fall Fundraiser—Maria Cognata, Kathryn Thome
Career Day—Kathryn Thome and Lisa Brody
Carnival—Maria Cognata
Grade Parent Coordinator—grade parent position has been eliminated
Community Affairs—
Fifth Grade Committee—
Halloween Party—
Holiday Boutique—Amy Woo and Kathy Reddy
Hospitality—Caroline Walters
In School Volunteers—Sue Izeman and Jeanne Kwok
KidzCare Coat Drive—Jane Sanders
Membership—
Nominating—
Picture Day—Judy Huie and Rhonda Barrish
Plant Sale—Lisa Brody
Pre-K/K Liaison—Nikki O'Sullivan
Programs—Tricia Kampton, Rhonda Barrish
Safety—J.R. Nocerino
Sixth Grade Committee
Staff Appreciation—Sue Izeman, Jeanne Kwok

4) Question was raised about whether we should change photographers for Picture Day. Other names were thrown into the hat.

5) PA is to write a letter informing the 5th and 6th grades what they need to do to prepare for graduation. The 5th grade needs to create a committee to help organize the 6th grade graduation celebrations for the next year.

6) We’re on a mission to increase volunteerism in school.

7) Website. Everything should go on the new website except for the budget and
Principal’s SLT quarterly minutes. Add email addresses for teachers so parents can more easily contact them (pending approval from Reva). It is hoped that teachers would read their DOE email at least once a day. Pa144.com should be live in August. Maria needs to see the new contract.

8) We need to create a letter to put in the Welcome Packet asking Class Parents to make a class list. DOE says you can’t share kids’ name without permission. If more than one parent volunteers to be Class Parent, they need to email each other to divide up class duties such as who makes the class list. A form will go on the website telling parents how to go about putting together a class list.

9) We need to schedule and prioritize schools events better. Schedule what’s happening in the school and better inform parents about what’s going on. Events to be planned with the PA need to come before the Board for approval. There was a question about whether email approval was enough in that it wasn’t always possible to factor in what else was happening before approval was needed. Maria Cognata is going to prepare a master calendar of PA-sponsored events.

10) Auction. Should the auction be divided? Possibly doing the class baskets around the holidays and then the major auction in spring.

11) This year, we need to do an Election Day fundraiser.

12) The 6th grade fund has $900 left and wants to donate it to the library. Is the electrical updated and can windows support air conditioners?

13) We should do an ice cream sundae social along with a PA meeting.

Nancy Nisselbaum
Board Recording Secretary