MMSA Meeting
Minutes
October 4, 2005
The meeting was called to order at 7:04 pm.
Region 17 School Board candidate Meredith Lindsey spoke on behalf of her candidacy. She invited people to call her with questions and urged people to vote on November 8.
The minutes from the June 7, 2005 and September 6, 2005 meetings were approved.
Treasurer’s Report – MMSA President Mary Sikand reported for Barbara Davis, who was unable to attend. The total account balance was $4594.51, with $4200 of that allocated for the teacher grant program.
Membership Drive- Mary Sikand thanked Vice President Scott Brandon for heading the MMSA Membership Drive, which netted $786 in profit for the association. 155 families signed up at the Open House, 58 from fifth grade, 29 from sixth grade, 47 from seventh grade and 36 from eighth grade. MMS has a total of 621 students. For those who were unable to sign up at the Open House, a coupon will go home asking them to consider membership. Payment of dues is voluntary.
Scott Brandon asked that next year MMSA consider raising dues from $5 to $10 per family. Julie Menard suggested a membership table at National Education Week. Next year’s membership drive coordinator might also consider two tables at the Open House entrance to keep traffic flowing smoothly.
Open House-Mary Sikand thanked Pam Cheney for a great job setting up the Open House. Many people signed up for volunteer committees. Principal Jeff Cryan suggested that future Open Houses continue this year’s practice of not serving refreshments, as it facilitated easier clean up and seemed not to adversely affect social quality.
Grant Committee-Chairperson Eun-Ju Shin reported that the grant committee met in September to deliberate on which of 10 grant applications from teachers would best fit the committee’s goals of funding projects to reach the most students for the longest possible period. The requests totaled about $8000 and the committee was impressed by the teachers’ ideas, but budget necessitated making choices, which totaled $4248. Motion was made and approved to give the additional funds for grants proposed. Another motion was made and approved to accept the committee’s grant recommendations. Details regarding proposals funded will be presented in a future budget report. It was suggested that next year’s committee provide to the membership a written summary of the grants proposed and amounts requested.
MMSA Constitution Review-Motion was made and approved to review further.
Gift Wrap Sale-Forms due Oct. 14. Pam Cheney is organizing the sale.
Book Fair-Sue Kaiser will need parent volunteers to staff the book sale.
Discussion held for other fundraising activities. To be continued at next MMSA meeting.
Open Gym Night-Feb. 3, 2006 date confirmed.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT- Principal Jeff Cryan stated that the school year started differently than in years’ past, partly because of the State’s decision to move mastery testing to March. That shift allowed for class field trips in September and for teachers to learn how kids learn—the social dynamics, etc, rather than concentrating on test preparation.
Mastery testing will be held in March. The No Child Left Behind specifies that the scores must be reported in the same school year.
The school is supporting a new initiative called MMS Cares. The focus of the program is global awareness and personal kindness of students. The school ordered bracelets in the school colors that say “MMS Cares.” A school event to support that theme will be held in a couple of weeks. Toward supporting global awareness, Jeff took four students to a Connecticut rally for Global Awareness, where former U.S. President Clinton spoke, with Senator Dodd and other political leaders attending. Some of the other school programs that support global awareness include the German exchange program, Wayne Trembly’s enrichment program, which attracts foreign visitors, and the partnership with the Chinese school administrators from Shandong province.
Jeff asked the MMSA to consider consolidating the Teacher Appreciation Week to a Staff Appreciation event, in order to honor all those who contribute to the life of the school and thus make staff and community more of a group rather than subgroups. He also requested the event be held in the first week of May rather than the last week of school, when event scheduling is hectic.
Communications with Chinese schools-Jeff is planning to start web boards with our partner school in China so that MMS kids may begin an exchange with Chinese students. Jeff also hopes in the future to implement a cultural exchange of students between the two countries.
The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.