PS26 Jesse Owens PTA Executive Board meeting

October 12, 2023

Present: Sam Posner, Rachel Hills, Michelle Choi, Sophie Richards

Executive Board Meetings

• Sam, Rachel, and Michelle agree that it would be good to set a standing time that the PTA Exec Board is available for meetings - or at least a standing time for the Exec Board meeting each month - so that we don’t have have to organize meetings on the fly. • ACTION: Sam to set up a Doodle poll to find out what times work best for everyone.

Picture Day - Tuesday October 24th

• Happening in less than 2 weeks, on Tuesday October 24th. • Shahla and Chris have volunteered to be on the picture day committee. Both were involved last year, so coming with a level of experience. Sam will be there from 8-11, filling in the gaps. • We are looking for two additional volunteers: one who can be there from 8-9am (for set up), and one who can be there from 8-11 (calling kids and bringing them from the classroom). ◦ Mish suggests asking Oliver (pre-K class parent) to be a volunteer for Picture Day. Or Sherice, who also has a son in Pre-K and a long history with the school. • In previous years, we would pay the photo vendor and then they would process the check. This year we will bank the money and then pay them. • Mish says Chris says only 10 people have submitted so far. Can we send something on Dojo or remind the teachers to give forms that have been submitted to PTA? • ACTION: Sam suggests printing out picture day flyer and stick to the door, so it’s visible. And maybe backpack flyers next week.

Funding campaign for translating devices

• Fundraising campaign for translating devices on Donors Choose got funded in less than a week. Raised $1471 in total, through some generous people and a matching campaign from the Allstate foundation. • Sophie says she liked the “Funded” flyer, sharing with the school community that the items had been funded. • Sam says he wants to do more communication in the future that highlights the good things that are happening in the school. Eg 92% attendance in September. • Sam says that the success of the campaign speaks to our ability to use Donors Choose again in the future for similar campaigns that target a clear and urgent need.

Halloween event - Tuesday October 31st

• The PTA hosted a planning meeting on Thursday 10/5, with 7-8 people in attendance. • Ms M is working on putting together a flyer. • The party will be free for people to enter, but the costume contest will have an entry fee of $5. Sell participating on advance, like the auction last year. • Need to secure volunteers at the next PTA meeting on 10/17 - who is available to work the event, and/or set up? • Also need to make sure we communicate that after school will not be happening on the day of the event.

Reflections on the last PTA meeting - September 19th

• Everyone agrees that the turnout at the last meeting was fantastic, but that there were challenges involved in the simultaneous translation, which many English-speaking parents considered disruptive. • Discuss alternatives that may be less disruptive, but still inclusive for all participants, including: ◦ Translation headlines, where Ms Torres or someone else could provide simultaneous translation, but it would go only into the ears of people who needed it, rather than to the whole room. ◦ Simulcast the meeting into a nearby room (but this would make it even harder for Spanish speaking parents to participate in the discussion). ◦ Auto-transcription/translation of the meetings via Zoom or Google meet, which could be used for both in person or virtual meetings. • Sam suggests we acknowledge the issue at the beginning of the next meeting, explaining that we are navigation this in many ways as a school community, want to be inclusive, and are trying to figure things out as we go along. • ACTION: Translate and print the agenda in Spanish as well as English.

Next meeting - October 17th

• Sam will send a link to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting. • Rachel suggests including the agenda on ClassDojo and on the flyer, so that people know what to expect and will be more likely to attend. • Sam says he included a very rough agenda passed out in the flyer that will be backpacted today..

LinkTree:

• The PS 321 PTA has a LinkTree they use to easily compile all information about their activities (upcoming events, suggestion box, meeting minutes, etc) for interested families. • Sam has created a LinkTree for the PS 26 PTA, which will be shared in our email signature and across all communication.

Fundraising + school survey

• Results from the school survey are in. Key findings include: ◦ Parents most prefer to be communicated with via text message, and hate robo calls. ▪ Sam: The DOE now has an internal system that allows schools to send text messages to the school contact list.  ◦ Parents prefer to participate in activities weekday and weekday evenings, rather than weekends. ◦ Music #1 activity preference (followed by dance, stem and art), as well as small-group tutoring. • In terms of what activities the PTA fundraises for, need to differentiate between what the school is already doing (eg, Ms Funtleyder mentioned doing a school musical, the school is starting clubs this month) and what the PTA can add. ◦ Sam mentions the Metropolitan Opera Guild program that ran this year was cancelled this year. Wonders how much something like that would cost to run, given music is such a clear priority for parents. • Mish says she wants to assess families’ interest in different fundraising activities (eg, Scholastic Book Fair, fun run) before embarking on them, to make sure they are a success.

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