Sea Cliff PCA Meeting Minutes September 26, 2018 SC School Cafeteria
Attendance: Amelia Hecker, Claudia Ames, Courtney Chambers, Lisa Cashman, Deirdre Leder, Lauren Healy, Tannaz Balooch, Sarah Regan, Veronica Valli, Jessica Rachlin Accetta, Jenny Bernholz, Julie Tortorici Hanley, Miriam Schneidermeyer, Lisa Colacioppo, Joanne Liou, Johanna McAdams, Cara Duffy, Natasha Gordon, Sandra Collins, Maria Mosca, Alison Camaradella, Denise Sussman, Gloria Schaefer, Sara Jones, Adeline Phelps, Mimi, Kathleen Doran, Jordan Loftus.
I. PCA Updates
1. Welcome Co-president Amelia Hecker opened the meeting at 8:30. She welcomed attendees and invited everyone to eat the breakfast supplied by the PCA. ● Thank yous Amelia Hecker introduced and thanked various board members for their contributions, as well as “garden mama” Maria Mosca. She thanked former PCA co-president Natasha Gordon for hosting the successful kindergarten mixer the week before school began. ● Our Harvest Co-presidents Amelia Hecker and Claudia Ames introduced OurHarvest, an online farmer’s market. 5% of proceeds from OurHarvest go to the Sea Cliff School PCA, and first time buyers get 50% off their first order. ● Carnival Claudia Ames updated attendees about the Sea Cliff School Carnival, an upcoming event on 9/28/18 from 5-7 pm. She stressed the event needs additional volunteers, particularly for the second shift. ● After School Program Amelia Hecker shared that the PCA After School Enrichment program’s first session is beginning soon. Information has already been disbursed to Sea Cliff students, and sign-ups begin on Monday, October 1st at 9 p.m.
Due to time constraints, the meeting moved ahead to Agenda item III, Grade Happenings, followed by Agenda item II, Principal’s Report.
III. Grade Happenings Mrs. Hild, the teacher liaison to the PCA, presented a report on the grade and specials curriculum. See below.
Danielle Hild
PCA Meeting – Class Updates
September 26, 2018
Kindergarten In kindergarten, we are getting to know each other and learning classroom rules and behavior to help us learn. We are working a lot with our names through games, songs and other learning activities. In math, we are focused on numbers 1-5. 1st Grade First grade is off to a great start! We are enjoying beginning of the year read alouds, incorporating them into our classroom community and learning the rules and expectations of first grade. We are using a hands-on approach in math and getting to use lots of manipulatives to show our thinking while learning and reviewing our numbers to 10. We are also talking about what a scientist looks like and what their job may be. 2nd Grade Second graders are working on building community while talking about roles and responsibilities. In reading, we are remembering our decoding strategies and making sure to focus on our fluency and comprehension of the texts. In writing, we are using mentor texts to help us develop our craft with personal narratives. In math, we are thinking about number and place value within 1000, including addition and subtraction fact fluency within 20. In science, we are studying the role of scientists through observing and inquiry. 3rd Grade 3rd grade is working on mapping skills. We are looking closely at maps of Long island. In science we are learning about weather and creating our own anemometers. In math we are working on place value and reviewing addition and subtraction facts. In reading we are beginning to work on reading responses such as questions, wonderings and personal connections. 4th Grade In reading, students are pushing themselves to interpret characters in their fiction stories and describe them using more than one trait. The 4th graders are creating and writing realistic fiction stories based on their own real life experiences. In math, students are learning how to organize their work for problem solving. We are pushing the students to solve math problems using multiple
strategies. In social studies, 4th graders are exploring the question, “How does where you live in New York affect how you live?” 5th Grade In fifth grade we are off to a great start. We are just finishing up our first math unit which was on place value. We are in the midst of generating ideas for narrative writing and playing with author’s craft. We are finding good books and sharing our thinking about theme and becoming more adept at using literary language when speaking and writing about our reading. Art 4th and 5th graders are invited to join Art Club. The club meets on Tuesday afternoons and will begin on October 9th. All grade levels are beginning their first projects. Music Permission slips for Sea Cliff Singers are due by September 28th and rehearsals are starting on October 4th. Mandarin The beginning of the school year is the time for establishing the responsibilities, routines, and roles of the classroom, in the Mandarin language. As the best way to learn a language is to be immersed in a language rich context, these three R’s build a hands-on, immersive environment in which all students play an interactive and personalized role in growing their language skills. Spanish In 3rd grade, students have begun working in unit one titled Hispanic Heritage Month. Students have finished learning how to introduce themselves and give greetings and farewells. Students will now begin learning 6 colors in order to describe different flags. In 4th grade, students are working in unit one also titled Hispanic Heritage Month. Students will visit visiting the central American countries and learn how to describe their flags and learn about the geography. This week they are learning new colors as well as shapes and forms. In 5th grade, students are working in unit one titled All about Me. They are currently reviewing basic information such as greetings, farewells, colors, calendar, age, birthday, weather and where they live. This week they will be learning about summer clothing. SWES K – Scientific discovery and exploration in our school garden 1st – Astronomy- Scientific Investigations-Mission to Mars 2nd – Structures and properties of matter 3rd – Weather and climate 4th – Complex math problem-solving 5th – The scientific method and scientific research STEAM Third Grade:
To enrich their classroom science learning about weather, third grade engineers are engaged in a weather-related engineering challenge that asks them to collaborate in groups, and use classroom materials, to plan and create working anemometers that can measure the speed of the wind. Focused around tool design, students began the engineering design process by first investigating and taking apart a real anemometer to better understand the parts of the weather instrument and how the tool’s structure relates to its intended purpose or job. Next up, groups will use our research as they work together to build working anemometer models, and will test their created instruments using hair dryers. Fourth Grade: As part of their scientific investigation of waves in their classrooms, fourth graders are in the midst of an earthquake engineering challenge in the STEAM Lab. After first conducting research about earthquake-resistant structures, engineers then imagined, designed, and built solutions that stop structures from shearing (tilting) during an earthquake. Throughout the research portion of the engineering design process, student findings have been organized into class building codes that student engineering groups are using as they plan and create larger structures that follow certain criteria and constraints and that remain safe and stable during an earthquake. Fifth Grade: Going along with the fifth grade Microworlds science unit, students are busy using microscopes to make detailed observations of the properties of different objects and specimens. Focused around the question, “How can we communicate what can’t be seen with the naked eye?” student design groups are using Makerspace materials (various art and classroom materials, including recyclables) to create artistic pieces that communicate their assigned subjects to an audience. Challenged to make viewers feel like they are looking through the lenses of a microscope, without actually doing so, fifth graders are connecting the detailed observations of their subjects to specific materials they will use to communicate what can’t be seen with our eyes alone.
STEAM Recess Clubs: The S.T.E.A.M. Lab is excited to offer hands-on recess club experiences for all elementary students across the district. These recess clubs will be open-ended opportunities for students to tinker, explore, and create using various materials and technologies. Each class will be invited to the Lab several times throughout the year according to a rotating schedule and attendance will be optional. Club experiences already started for grades 1-5, and kindergarten will begin soon; you can visit our Twitter for pictures of the students in action (@NSElemSTEAM). Gym In PE we are working on spatial and body awareness. In grades K-5 we are completing various project adventure and cooperative games with their assigned color teams. We will be getting into rolling which is the first skill we teach. At the end of October, we will be doing something for Red Ribbon Week and have the National Circus project coming. II. Principal’s Report Dr. Zublionis thanked the PCA for all of the school opening activities. He also thanked Claudia Ames and Laura Ryniker, chairs of the Carnival committee, for their hard work, both this year and in years past. He thanked Mrs. Hild for agreeing to become this year’s teacher liaison to the PCA; last year’s teacher liaison will be on maternity leave this year. This year’s North Shore School District’s Homecoming festivities will take place on October 13th. There will be a parade, although the final route has not been determined. Dr. Zublionis encouraged Sea Cliff students and their families to attend the event. Sea Cliff School will soon have a new school song. The school, with the PCA’s support, hired Carl Strommen, a BOCES-approved musician, to score a new song with lyrics written by last year’s fourth and fifth graders. The large beech tree in front of the school, in the outdoor classroom, was removed over the summer. Three new trees will soon be planted in its place. He has met with the garden committee about possible locations for other new plantings. Sea Cliff School has new recycling and composting procedures in place, due in large part to Mrs. Krupin’s enrichment class project last year. As part of that recycling project, the students presented to the school board and the Sea Cliff Village trustees their desire for a new school-wide recycling program. There is now a Winters Brothers’ cardboard recycling container in the parking lot; the village now collects the school’s paper recyclables; and each class now collects compostable materials which are delivered to the garden. Next week the classes will all have a chance to visit the school garden with garden consultant Renato Stafford. One goal this year is to have the teachers use the garden more frequently; Dr. Smythe met with the teachers to develop a curriculum.
The Sea Cliff School club catalog has been sent home with information about school clubs run by the teachers. Information on Makeshop clubs will be sent home soon; between school, Makeshop, and PCA enrichment clubs, there are many options for students to choose from. Dr. Zublionis will soon be compiling the school directory, with the PCA’s assistance. He will send an email soon giving parents the option to opt out of inclusion in the directory. Finally, results from the New York State Assessments have not been released but should be soon.
North Shore School District trustee Sara Jones gave a Board of Education report at this time due to time constraints.
Sara Jones reported that the next Board of Education meeting is this Thursday, September 27th at 7:30 pm in the high school library. She urged people to attend, noting that the five year strategic plan will be discussed. She also reported that the Board will hold a preliminary conversation about a potential future bond for a capital intensive project. Eventually, if there is a bond, it will come to the community for a vote, so she urged all to attend board meetings to learn more. If unable to attend, the board meeting minutes and a recording of the meeting are posted on the district website.
Events Update PCA Co-vice-president for Events Sarah Regan reported on past and upcoming PCA events. She thanked co-presidents Amelia Hecker and Claudia Ames for hosting the kindergarten event Playground and Popsicles, and former co-president Natasha Gordon for hosting the kindergarten mixer. She reiterated that the upcoming Carnival needs second shift volunteers. Other upcoming events that need volunteers include the school play, held this year on March 8th and 9th, which also needs committee chairs; the Scholastic Book fair, held the week of October 22-26, chaired by Katherine Kletter and Lisa Colacioppa; and game night, November 16th. The PCA photo day fundraiser will be held October 27th. Finally, Sarah Regan announced that Natasha Gordon and Veronica Valli each won a chrysanthemum plant as part of the traditional Newcomers’ Breakfast raffle held each year at the first PCA meeting of the school year.
Garden Update Maria Mosca announced that the garden will be open to visitors after school the next two Wednesdays. There are still tomatoes and some yellow peppers to be harvested. There will be a garden club as part of the PCA after school enrichment program.
BUDGET Co-Treasurer Peggy Friedman presented the 2018-2019 budget, attached. She explained that the PCA, as a non-profit, has a 0% surplus, and thus puts all money generated back into the school and school programs as outlined in the budget. Co-president Amelia Hecker made a motion to pass the budget. The motion passed unanimously with all in the room voting.
NSCASA
Alison Camaradella, who sits on the board of NSCASA, encouraged everyone to attend the NSCASA event on September 29th at Tappen Beach. NSCASA is presenting a positive event focused on wellness, with many activities for participants to take part in while becoming educated on substance abuse in the North Shore community.
REMINDERS Co-president Claudia Ames reminded attendees to use smile.amazon.com while shopping on Amazon, to generate funds for the PCA. She also suggested that everyone participate in the box tops program, which raises a surprising amount of income for the PCA.
Co-presidents Amelia Hecker and Claudia Ames adjourned the meeting at 9:25 a.m.
Sea Cliff School Parent Community Association 