PTA General Meeting #2 December 5, 2014 Agenda - Goals - Budget - Fundraising - Volunteer Opportunities - Administration Update - Focus on Technology

Welcome ✤ Mission – Integrate efforts of parents, teachers, staff and students to create one community. ✤ Goals ✤ Increase PTA membership and family involvement ✤ Foster an inclusive environment that fully utilizes all volunteers, including male role models, and broader community members ✤ Enhance community outreach ✤ Maintain communication between the PTA and administration, staff and parents ✤ Encourage staff support of PTA activities ✤ Officers ✤ President: Iraina Nelson-Brooks ✤ 1st Vice President: Ali Tatum-Davis ✤ 2nd Vice President: Annette Varoli ✤ Treasurer: Dionne Lynch ✤ Corresponding Secretary: Carese Warren ✤ Recording Secretary: Kristel Ruch

Fundraising Swansfield PTA Goal - $10,000 Fall Fundraising Thank you to all the families who made a donation to the PTA either through a direct donation,Fall catalog fundraiser and Panera Bread and our Chipotle event. Our next fundraiser is going to be a Silent Auction which will be held at the Father Daughter Dance in February. In the spring we also do a fundraiser to assist with 5 th grade activities. A SPECIAL THANK YOU to all the parents, guardians and SES staff who have already become members of the PTA! As of December1st we have 244 members. WOW! We truly appreciate your support!! If you have not joined yet, there is always an opportunity. The annual dues are only $6 per adult and you can choose to only have one adult from your family become a member if you'd like. Also, these dues help to pay for PTA activities and events. Paying dues does NOT obligate you to attend meetings or volunteer-- we know you are busy! Of course, any amount of volunteering big or small is appreciated! ✤ One of the easiest ways to sign up to become a member or to make a direct donation is throughIf you would like to make a direct donation to the PTA there's still time! Please go to the fundraising page on our website, SwansfieldPTA.org, and donate via PayPal, or send your donation to school in a sealed envelope labeled "PTA Fundraising."

Volunteer Opportunities STRIDERS – Now Fitness Fridays!!! ✤ We ended the Striders fall sessions on November 15th. Although the students might be willing and able to run through the winter, it gets very cold for our volunteers to stand outside for anywhere from 30 minutes to 4 hours. ✤ We would like to thank the numerous volunteers who help make Fitness Friday possible. Whether you made it for one week or all 8 weeks this fall, we appreciate your coming out and helping to get our students moving. ✤ We are pleased that participation in Striders was at an all-time high. The students were enthusiastic about the new dog tags and building their own custom Striders neck chain with the new tokens selection. Some student even earned other prices for their efforts. ✤ We will announce total school mileage and other statistics in a future newsletter. ✤ We are starting our Staff Appreciation days again for the new school year this is such a great way to say thanks to our staff. We have made it really easy and convenient this year by doing it all online with Sign up Genius. ✤ Please go to sign up genius there will be a flyer in the Monday folder. Also please be sure to forward this information on to any other parents that you know who would love to help out.

Blessings in a Backpack ✤ Dine out to Support Blessings in a Backpack! Take a break from cooking and support Swansfield Elementary School’s Blessings in a Backpack Program on Tuesday, December 9, 2014 from 11:30 A.M. – 10:00 P.M. at Tino’s Italian Bistro, 8775 Centre Park Drive, Columbia, MD, % of all the restaurant’s sales will go to the Blessings in a Backpack Program at SES. Dine in or carry out (DELIVERY is also available!) -- you do NOT need to bring this flyer or mention the program. CATERING ORDERS MADE THAT DAY FOR A LATER DATE ALSO QUALIFY, but in that case, please do mention SES Blessings in a Backpack. Tino’s: (410) ,

Contact Committee Chairs to Learn More CommitteeCommittee Leads Carson Reading RoomMichelle McGuiness/ Gerald Stinnett Cultural ArtsFreni Jani / Munazza Ali Hospitality and Teacher AppreciationScott Brown Volunteer CoordinatorOpen Outside Sign NoticesChris Hoy International NightDarka Nebesh MembershipKim Stinnett Swansfield SwingsMichelle Sapp FundraiserClaire Mize Fundraiser – Box TopsAnne Brown Market DayStephanie Behel StridersJess Ayers

Upcoming Events ✤ Please join us for a walkthrough of "Symphony of Lights" on Thursday, December 11, from 4:15pm - 5:45pm. Please arrive before 5:15pm as no one will be allowed to enter after that time. You all received a flier/waiver in last week's Monday Folder. Please fill out the waiver and bring it with you to the event. Our group leader, Ali Tatum-Davis, will be collecting the waivers at the entrance. Look forward to seeing you all there! ✤ Father Daughter Valentine’s Day Dance will take place again in February 2014, last year was a hit! This time we are looking to expand it to one of the pods and have silent auction going on at the same time. ✤ Battle of the Books- Swansfield has 10 teams registered this year! We are so excited and in efforts to support our students we plan to have mock battles in March to give students real feel of what to expect the day of.

Administration Report ✤ Twitter: We’re on ✤ School Improvement Focus- Review SIP Plan in a Flash ✤ Upcoming Coffee w/ Admin: Ideas for Testing Info. ✤ Our Renovation/Addition Projext: Begins planning Jan ✤ Collaboration opportunities for parents, staff and students  We want to replicate the evening last year but from resources within our school and in our community! ✤ Testing: CogAT and MAP ✤ Information ✤ FAQ’s ✤ Next Steps

Administration Report ✤ Our Staff Wish List… ✤ A new die-cut machine!

Testing Info. ✤ Upcoming Timeline For Testing ✤ Winter MAP Testing: December 15-January 20 ✤ ACCESS for ELLs: January 12-February 13 ✤ NAEP (4 th Graders Only): January 26-March 6 ✤ PARCC Assessment (PBA): March 2-March 27 ✤ MSA Science: April 13-April 24 ✤ PARCC (EOY): April 20-May 1 ✤ MAP (EOY): April 20-May 22

MAP Reports & Understanding Results ✤ RIT scores are independent of grade level and used to show growth over time ✤ Grade level-typical performance RIT scores are available (green paper) ✤ RIT scores are NOT an indicator of how to mark students’ instructional levels ✤ RIT scores from MAP are one piece of many points of data that should be used in decision-making.

SAMPLE MAP REPORT

Thank you