October 14, 2014 Minutes

1. Welcome –Maggie Gumbinner and Martha McIntosh
2. Approval of the September Minutes – Shelley Cohen
   1. Motion was made and seconded by Jill Shalett
3. Presidents’ Report–Maggie Gumbinner and Martha McIntosh
   1. Principle appreciation month; thanks Principal Cebrynskifor his work
   2. SOS Pete’s Apizza night: all day on the 21st
   3. Thank Jill for movie night
4. Principal’s Report–Chris Cebrzynski
   1. Diversity Meeting: org called east end came in to broaden diversity appreciation. Great start to the discussion, however he wants to broaden reach by inviting 3 additional individuals to the next meeting. Action items to create a more inclusive school community. Highlight some great things that we do like movie night, international night, and focused on how diversity plays out at Murch. Identified ways that people feel included. What are some of the needs at Murch to build a more inclusive community. Communicate more effectively with non-English speaking families, teacher staff training, better support networks. Goal: create a more inclusive school community. Three items: create partnerships with a community service element. Community potlucks in Rock creek park, communicate more effectively with non-English speaking families and have translation services. How do we implement, improve diversity, and improve achievement to allow all students to excel?
   2. 100% audit. Checking residency of all students. We are at 620 students. Only students accepting are those that move in boundary. Class sizes are appropriate and where we want them to be.
   3. Halloween is a half day and a Friday. Have a costume parade, which will take us to the end of the day. Classes are planning events.
   4. Four major events:
      1. Lip sync in early march (one night)
      2. School play. Held in late may
      3. Talent show at the beginning of February
      4. International night in June. Entertaining the idea to have this earlier in the year to highlight inclusion and diversity earlier in the year.
   5. Math focused school: teachers attended district level training. It was not at the level they had hoped, so they are going to look into having a trainer come into Murch. Three E model: they do, we do, I do. How to teach math. Big emphasis for the year.
5. Treasurer’s Report–JoAnna Graham
   1. The treasures report as of 9/30 was handed out. Please see attachment for the listing of expenses and income. Not a lot of activity to report. New Treasury system line item called xero. Try to make the report more accessible on a more frequent basis.
   2. $2000 auction expense? It is the deposit for the Temple location.
   3. 5th grade: $ raised for the fund for the cake and diploma. Monies sometimes are raised from P&P and the money goes here because they have no place else to go. They are reserved funds and can not be reallocated.
   4. 2013 line is for the class gift and may include some funds for the class gift for 2014
6. Budget Presentation
   1. Budget passed last spring, not proposing any changes
   2. HSA operates on a balanced budget.
   3. It has grown over the past few years because the school has grown and reflects increased ability and need.
   4. Largest piece of budget goes to additional staff, and a small piece goes to fundraising, and additional support around the school.
   5. Major source of funds is SOS and the auction, and a few fund raisers over the year.
   6. Budget is consistent year to year. Biggest change is that they are funding 2 additional teacher aids and a storage locker for HSA purchases, class gifts, things want to keep safe during construction.
   7. Added budget lines for stipends for science and enrichment coordinators
   8. Two new set aside funds: technology replacement and renovation opportunity fund(planning for the renovation). These dollars do not necessarily need to be spent. Have to go through the board and be voted on by the board.
7. Personnel Report–Melissa McInerney
   1. Going well. Looking into the aides salaries to make sure they are aligned with DCPS. Also looking into establishing requirements for being an aide.
8. New Business
   1. Fall Fair–Maggie Boys: two weeks away, off to a good start… have a great response from parent volunteers. Push for community service hours for Murch grads,Deal, Wilson. They will come to help. Added a climbing wall, which was an additional expense. New lay out because of the building in the play ground. More food, Rocklands will be there. Obstacle course on the soccer field. Small bouncy on the hill. Looking at how they are organizing things. New this year: Kid stuff swap, Halloween costumes, books. These are by donation. In the Marketplace, Jennifer Landry took this on in charge of table renter cost. Making it on a 3 sliding scale… retail vs. stuff from basement. Need to get a table if you want to see, not just a free for all. Donations for the books will be collected next week. Drop off and pick up will be outside the gym. Books that are left over after the fair will be  donated.
   2. School-wide picnic;looking for feedback, and willingness to help. Do we want to take this on as a group? Interesting idea building on the class potluck, and just a chance to have people together, off of school grounds. Like class potluck, but with kids. Kids often help us to connect. Martha report. Something to think about because there could be expenses for rental and other items. Adds logistics…. What about Fort Reno? Are there other, closer locations? Rock Creek Park (RCP) is good for out of boundary families. Timing would be hard on a weekend day. Perhaps have it on one of the half days or teacher conference days. RCP generally gets reserved 6 months to a year in advance. Great spots in RCP with the grills. Also might get more staff to come in for a picnic. If at Murch, we would need to pay for security, custodians. May want to ask parents if their work locations have a place for a picnic.

End of agenda