Sea Cliff School Parent Community Association

 

Sea Cliff PCA Meeting Minutes

January 9, 2019

Sea Cliff School Cafeteria

 

Attendance:  Claudia Ames, Courtney Chambers, Laura Ryniker, Lauren Healy, Peg Friedman, Natasha Gordon, Lisa Colacioppo, Adeline Phelps, Danielle Hild, Marianela Marco, Jessica Accetta, Heather Shrader, Sandra Collins, Sarah Regan, Mari Perez, Sara Hosey, Sara Jones, and Gloria Schaeffer.

 

  1. PCA Updates
  1. Welcome: Co-president Claudia Ames called the meeting to order at 8:30 and welcomed attendees. She thanked everyone for attending.

 

  1. Events Update: Sarah Regan
  1. Jamboree: Sarah announced that this year’s Jamboree will be held on February 1 at 6:30 p.m. Phylicia Lebow is the event chair and she needs additional volunteers.
  2. Casino Night: This year’s casino night is coming up quickly on January 25th at 7 p.m. at the fire hall. Natasha Gordon is the event chair and she needs more volunteers, particularly for set up beginning at 6 p.m. and for clean up after the event is over. She reminded everyone to please buy their tickets and also announced that there will be a 50/50 raffle.

 

  1. Grade Happenings:

Teacher liaison Mrs. Hild updated attendees about ongoing grade level and specials (music, art, FLES, SWES, PE) activities. Please see attached report.

 

III. Principal’s Report

Dr. Zublionis began by thanking students for participating in the winter break “yet statement” homework assignment, which ties into the school’s ongoing work in helping students set goals. He reported that students are continuing to work in the school garden, averaging once per month.

 

Dr. Zublionis reported on his work with the shared decision making committee, which is focusing on outdoor learning, movement, and mindfulness. He also reported on the strategic planning committee’s work on social and emotional learning.

 

Sea Cliff School students began participating in community service last year, primarily in 4th and 5th grades. This year the school hopes to include the younger grades in community service work, primarily in service to the school.

 

Dr. Zublionis thanked the PCA for their overall work in the school and specifically for the following two purchases:

  1. The PCA has purchased new audiovisual equipment from Long Island Video & Entertainment for the auditorium and the school will now be able to record performances and concerts.
  2. The PCA purchased large new building blocks from Imagination Playground for use during indoor recess. They can hopefully be used on the blacktop as well in the future.

 

Dr. Zublionis reported that the Sea Cliff School teachers have begun taking “learning walks” through classrooms with debriefing meetings following to discuss observations in their colleagues’ classrooms. The teachers report that it is a great learning experience.

 

The musician Carl Strommen recently visited the school and spoke to students about the importance of musical education. He is working with the fifth graders on the new Sea Cliff School song. Last year, while in fourth grade, this year’s fifth grade students wrote lyrics to the new school song with local poet and fifth grade class parent Matt Curiale.

 

Finally, Dr. Zublionis announced that the Sea Cliff Singers will be performing during an Islanders game on March 24th at the Nassau Coliseum.

 

  1. District Reports:
  1. SEPTA: Although there was no report from SEPTA, Dr. Zublionis reported that there will be a meeting next week on student advocacy. Some Sea Cliff students will be speaking.
  2. LAC: No updates.
  3. BOE: Sara Jones reminded attendees that Board of Education meetings take place every other Thursday at 7:45 p.m.  On February 7th, the board will begin to discuss the budget for the upcoming school year.  The board will begin to discuss budget specifics during the board meeting on February 28th. Sara urged parents  to attend the BOE meetings, but reminded that the meetings are recorded and posted on the district website. Additionally, the budget book will also be posted online and will include a narrative about district achievements and goals.

 

The district will be beginning conversations about what should be covered in an upcoming bond. The bond will cover updates to security and safety as well as infrastructure, and hopefully improvements to learning spaces. Finally, applications to be a trustee on the Board of Education are due April 22nd.

 

  1. NS CASA: Co-president Claudia Ames read the following report submitted by NS CASA:

 

It was an impressive turnout for NS-CASA December education event entitled “Hidden in Plain Sight.” This presentation was given to educate parents on current substance trends, terms and paraphernalia used by today’s youth. If you missed it, here are a few things we learned:

“Dabbing” is not just a celebratory dance! This term refers to the growing trend of vaporizing highly concentrated marijuana oil (between 50 and 90 TCH) and inhaling the smoke.

Familiar with Four Loko? It looks like an energy drink, but is a malt beer sold locally that can have as much alcohol in it as four cans of beer!

More information will be shared in our quarterly newsletter. To get a copy, sign up as a CASA Partner at www.nscasa.org.

NS-CASA is building strength in the community with over 300 individuals on our NS-CASA Partner list.

The SAFE Homes Parent Pact is growing too! Over 100 families have signed the pledge to use best efforts to keep alcohol and other substances away from those who are underage in their homes. Go to our website and sign today!

Want to get involved? We are developing committees on education, wellness, and more! Send an email to northshorecasa@gmail.com to learn more.

 

  1. PCA Updates, continued
  1. Enrichment committee chair Laura Ryniker discussed the changes in this year’s PCA After School Enrichment program. Sign-ups for the current session went live on the PCA website and all went smoothly. As in the first session, the enrichment classes no longer require parent supervision as the committee has hired paid supervisors, with the exception of chess. This has been positively received. Another new change to the enrichment classes is with the dismissal process; parents now pick up children from the front door. The last session of the PCA enrichment program will begin in late March or early April; the committee is looking for volunteers to teach a sewing or knitting class.

 

  1. School play committee chair Heather Shrader updated attendees about this year’s school play, which will be the story of the prince and the pauper.  She reports that she is still seeking additional parent volunteers to help with chaperoning. The play needs a piano accompanist; this will be an approximately 15 hour commitment. The professional actors who put on the play with the students each year need room and board. Also, she is looking for a parent volunteer to help supervise 5th grade students who will be doing the videography and lighting.

 

  1. REMINDERS:

Claudia reminded attendees to please support Sea Cliff School and the PCA by ordering through Our Harvest, Amazon Smile, or collecting box tops. Please be sure to regularly check the Sea Cliff PCA website and facebook pages.

 

VII.  Closing: Claudia concluded the meeting at 9:30 a.m.

 

Attachments:

 

Grade Happenings Report from Mrs. HIld