Meeting called to order at 7:01pm.

 

MAM: Introduction of all new officers.

 

Established officers:

 

 

MAM: Welcome to the new school year, we are all very excited for a terrific year. There is a lot to do tonight so let’s get started. We will first hear from Dr, Richard Weisenfeld our superintendent.

 

Dr. W: Welcome back. I have a more formal welcome in the form of a letter on the website so when you have a chance, you can review that so I don’t take too much of your time. This is going to be a great year; we have some new staff, some new library furniture coming including a new circulation desk and book case.

 

As far as staff goes, we have hired a half time Basic Skills teacher for Wanaque and a full time one for Haskell as they are a Title I school. 

 

The difference from last year is then we were letting staff go and this year we are bringing them back. We are welcoming back the Reading Recovery Program, BSI and after school homework help. More information on all of these programs will be going home with the students in the following weeks.

 

There is a national Anti-Bullying Law in effect and it is a true zero tolerance law. It applies to any adult in the school whether they are a teacher, the janitor or a parent volunteer. Episodes of bullying be it physical or verbal, must be reported and then investigated. There is now a legal obligation to do so. The Guidance Counselors have been trained to be the bullying specialists and will be the ones primarily involved in the investigation though it will take time from Ms. Morales as well as all parties involved. Interesting to note, this includes altercations outside of school that might spill over into the school. For example, if an incident occurs on the soccer field, and that incident has a likelihood of carrying over into interactions in school, this too must be investigated and resolved. It will be an experience this year and one that will have notable consequences for those involved. Parents will be notified the moment a report is made against or involving their child.

 

On September 19, the reconstruction of Ringwood Avenue begins and will go from 8 – 4. This project will be going on indefinitely and could pose problems for some. Please take extra time to get here in the morning, we will be lenient for the first little while, but once everyone has had a chance to adjust to the inconvenience we are going to resume marking students late. For the beginning there will be a grace period, but tardiness is disruptive to the class and makes it difficult on the teachers.

 

We are also welcoming back Academic Support and Homework assistance after school. Please allow your kids to enroll in these programs if they are recommended by their teacher. We understand there are sports and other things that take kids’ time after school, but we also want them to know that school should be their priority. If they do not take advantage of this help and they allow their grades to suffer – along with their test scores – their options in high school will be limited, they will be put into the lower track of classes and that can have terrible consequences to their futures. These programs will begin in October and again I encourage anyone who is recommended to participate to jump at this chance. Homework assistance is for grades 3-8 and Academic support for grades 5-8. In some cases kids just need a quiet place to do their work and we will provide that as well.

 

If anyone has any questions or concerns, remember my door is always open and I do my best to answer calls and emails as fast as I can. You can reach out to me in any way that is comfortable for you. Phone, email or in person.

Ms. Morales: Once again, welcome back to the school year. Remember Back To School night is September 20 at 7pm. Detention will begin next week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If your child is assigned a detention those are the days that they will have to serve.

 

To reinforce the anti-bullying law, please talk to your kids. Remind them to be kind and to treat people with respect not only physically but with their words as well. Sometimes it is not what you say but how you say it so teach them to be careful about what they say. No one wants to be part of these investigations – and you are the ones who have the power to make it better starting at home. We feel that the law was put in place for good reason but has gone to an extreme. Both the accused and the accuser will be notified when and investigation begins and parents, witnesses and anyone else involved will be called in for questioning. If your child is found guilty, it remains in his/her file forever. So talk to the kids, tell them if they see something to get someone to help but not to ignore the problem.

 

If you have any questions, I too am available through email, phone or if you make an appointment with the secretary. Have a great year and welcome back!

 

Rob Adams: I am very excited to see so many new faces here tonight; I hope that you will continue to come throughout the year. I am also happy to see so many of the familiar faces as well! Just a few things, there is a public committee meeting on 9/13 at 7pm in the library here. A few times a year we hold our committee meetings for the public to attend so that you are informed on the progress the committees are making and can hear it first hand. Most importantly the committees will be setting goals for this school year so this is a good meeting to attend.

 

There is also a Community Outreach meeting scheduled for 10/5 at 7:30pm also in the library here. 

 

I know this seems early, but it is never too early to register to vote. If you are not a registered voter already, go do it. You need to be registered to vote in our budget and elections in April, as well as in any campaign coming up, so do it now and it will be one less thing to worry about later!

 

Thanks and welcome to a great new year!

 

 

President - MaryAnn: Thank you for the warm welcome. We are planning a great year and the PTA meetings are going to be a huge part of that. Please continue to come and bring your friends!

 

Regarding the anti-bullying law, there is a lot to know and we want to try and put together a mini training for parents so stay tuned for that.

 

We have to increase the dues from $6 to $7 this year and going forward. The national PTA has dictated that change. May I please have a motion to raise the Wanaque School PTA dues from $6 to $7?

 

All in favor? Any opposed?

By unanimous vote, dues have been approved.

 

Thank you.

 

OK, there will be a PTA table at Back to School Night as well as at the Wanaque Town Picnic. We are in need of volunteers to man these tables for a time throughout the events. Please sign up at the front if you are able to help.

1^st VP - Chris: Mrs. Horst needs help in the library. If you can help her out, please speak to her directly or email her for times and needs. Also, we have a need for help in the morning with the late attendance taking. It is really from 8:46 – 9:30 in the front office; if you have some time and would like to volunteer for that, please see me after the meeting.

 

2^nd VP - Jason: Thank you for your welcome. I just wanted to say that looking out over this crowd I don’t see too many men. I would really like to boost the interest of the dads out there. I will be thinking of events we can host that might get the men out and involved so please if you can encourage your husbands to come to meetings sometimes too! Thanks

Treasurer - Wendy: Just a few little things – please look over the budget, we need to vote on that. Also, if you are the head of a committee and you see your budget, please keep a close eye on it during your event. Things need to be approved BEFORE they are purchased or you run the risk of being denied reimbursement. Also, forms must be filled out or your requests will be returned to you unfulfilled. Everyone here is a volunteer and donates a lot of their time to PTA activities, so please have the courtesy of taking the 2 minutes it takes to fill out the forms and attaching receipts as necessary. Your cooperation will be greatly appreciated.

 

We will also need a lock box for the front office for deposits. The PTA will purchase the box and Ms. Morales will secure it in the front office. Deposits and checks need to be put in this box and not in the Treasurer mailbox to keep it safe.

 

I would like to request a motion to approve the Wanaque PTA budget for school year 2011-2012:

 

Motion to approve:       Sue B.

2^nd:                               Joy G

Budget approved by unanimous vote

 

Corresponding Secretary - Karen: Hi everyone, part of my job is to send sunshine baskets to people in time of need or crisis, and then I receive nice thank you cards and I read them to you. (Reads thank you cards)

Also, I have been sending around emails from Wanaque PTA – if you are a registered member and have not been receiving them, please let me know so I can check. Thanks

 

 

Recording Secretary - Yvette:  Please remember that you must be a registered member of the PTA in order to vote and participate on a committee. Please renew or issue your registration soon so that Wendy is not bombarded all at once. Thanks

 

 

As always, if you are interested in being on a committee, please just say the word, even if you want to develop a new committee, we welcome every new idea!

 

Drama K-1: As you can see there is no K-1 drama right now as there is no chair for this committee. If you are interested and want to chair it, please let us know. We need a committee of at least 5 people.

Drama - 2^nd - 4^th:  There will be a meeting with the director Erica on 9/14 where we will discuss timing and choose a show. We will also work on rehearsal days and get the paperwork going. Once we have this meeting there will be more info for interested kids and parents. Thanks

 

5^th - 8^th:  Also putting together a meeting with our director Denise. Once we have that meeting and choose a show we will also have a parents meeting for interested individuals. Thanks

Cultural Arts – Chris S.: Working on some great assemblies for this year. I am putting the word out with the teachers so I get their involvement as well as organizing a binder of ideas that I will leave in the teacher’s room so they can browse and maybe find something that interests them. More to come!

 

Bingo: Dates so far for the year are October 28^th and December 16^th.

 

Fundraising: Organizing the materials for the fall fundraiser, you should be seeing something soon. There will be a Wendy’s fund raiser on 9/27 from 4:00 – 8:00pm; the PTA gets 15% of whatever is sold during that time.

 

Box Tops for Education: We will have a flyer approved and have something ready for Back to School night.

 

Tricky Tray: Nothing to report right now, we have a tentative date in March but we might need to change as it is close to another local tricky tray. More info coming soon.

 

Reading Program:  We are putting together some different events for the different ages. Kids love these programs and they are all free so it is a great way to encourage reading across the grades – watch for info and bring your kids.

 

Membership: Please get your membership forms and checks in ASAP; please be sure the check is secured to the form so we don’t lose anything! Make sure you write legibly too.

 

Directory: We will have some info at Back to School, be sure you check off the box in the middle of the membership form if you want to be included.

 

Field Day: We would like to ask for an additional volunteer for this event. It is a lot of work for one person and also a lot of fun. Basically it is helping with organizing the food and the giveaways as well as working with the PE department to get the games together and distribute volunteers evenly. Please let Michele Adams know if you are interested in helping her.

 

Holiday Shoppe: There will be a sign up list for volunteers at Back to School Night. This is the event where the kids get to shop for their family members for the holidays. Volunteers need to walk with the kids and help them choose gifts that stay within their budget. There will also be time during the Holiday Bazaar for them to shop.

 

Holiday Bazaar: 12/3 is the tentative date. This is the event where vendors come in to the gym and set up tables to sell items and the town is invited to shop there for the holidays. We will firm things up this week and get the letters out to the usual vendors right away so that they can reserve tables. We always have standing room only at this event and we collect the $15 per table.        

 

Newsletter: If you did not receive a copy, we have some extras so please just ask and we will get your name on the mailing list too.

 

School Pictures: The dates for the year are as follows: 10/3 for fall pix and IDs, re-takes and graduation pictures are 11/22. Graduation re-takes are 1/29 and Spring pictures are 3/27.

 

Town Picnic: Need a chair person for this event. The town gives us a tent with 10 tables and we re-sell them to interested people needing a table. We retain one for our sale as well. So far 6 are rented and 3 are on hold.

 

School Apparel: Same clothing will be available. We will have a table at Back to School night. If you take an order form and return it be sure it goes in the lock box with your money. We have had money stolen out of the mailbox so we want to be extra careful.

 

Back to School Picnic: The date is 9/21, the price is now $6 per person and the site will no longer be supplying drinks and ice cream. It will still be a lot of fun and a great time to get to know people. It will be a Spring Lake Camp and will be from 5-8. Positively no drop-offs, you must accompany your child. Bring your own food and have a great time.

 

Old Business: Kindergarten T-Shirts will be in next week. They are meant for field trips and school outings so be sure you keep it separate from their other things so that they are clean when the field trip day comes.

 

New Business: Check out the NJPTA.org website. There are some interesting things there and if everyone checks it out there will be lots of things to discuss at meetings and maybe someone will be inspired to create a new event and committee!

 

MAM: If there is no other business, our next meeting will be October 3 at 7pm right here in the library.

 

Motion to adjourn until October 3, 2011

 

Motion:            Lisa S.

2^nd:                   Wendy W.

 

Meeting adjourned until October 3, 2011

 

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Respectfully submitted September 16, 2011