October PTO Meeting Report- Gurney News
Posted on 28. Oct, 2009 by admin in Gurney News, Minutes
Important Upcoming Dates
Picture Day – Oct 28
Halloween Parade/parties – Oct 30 beginning at 2:30
Election Day – Nov 3
School News
The school report was presented by Susan Tatom.
• 3rd Grade Testing: Our 3rd graders took the Reading Achievement Test October 6th. We usually get results late in November and those are mailed home to parents. Please keep in mind that students are not expected to pass it in October; in fact, we are fortunate if we have half of our students who actually do pass it in October. It is an experience in test-taking for 3rd graders as they’ve never taken a test like it before. It also give us as a staff information about students strengths and weaknesses so that we can best prepare them for the test again in May. In May, they will take the Reading AND Math Achievement Tests.
• 1st Grade Nocturnal Animal Unit: Our first graders have been learning about animal characteristics and habitats, particularly nocturnal animals. This Friday, some of our CF high school students will be coming over to teach lessons related to characteristics of nocturnal animals. This is always a very exciting experience for our kids. The high school students seem to make everything much more exciting!
• Parent Book Group: Mrs. Fishman and Mrs. Langer have started a book discussion group for 2nd and 3rd grade parents. It is the start of a dialogue between teachers and parents about various curriculum issues. They had their first meeting last night. If anyone is still interested in participating, simply call Gurney school and ask to leave either of them a voicemail with your contact information.
• Halloween: Our Halloween parade will begin at 2:30pm on Friday the 30th! It’s always a wonderful display of creative costumes….and the children look pretty good too ☺! Class parties will follow the parade.
• Conferences: Our conferences are the first week of November. Parents will receive report cards at their conference time. Please contact your child’s teacher if you do not have a scheduled conference time or you need to change it. Thank you to PTO in advance for the wonderful dinners you always provide us during conference nights.
• Picture Day: Our school pictures will be taken next week on Wednesday. Thank you in advance to all the parent volunteers that make this day run so smoothly!
PTO News
The PTO report was presented by Lauren Jones.
• Recent Events/Updates
New Finger Scanning machine has not yet been put into operation. The school is waiting for a part to properly connect each machine via a wireless connection.
Open Houses were well attended. Most classes collected a majority of the class fees which have been submitted to the Treasurer
3rd grade Reading Tests occurred that first week in October.
Gidding School collection is underway however the collection has been “light” thus far. (Dr Jones will follow-up on keeping some of the coats for needy Chagrin families.) Find out more about the coat drive here.
Health Screenings will begin for new students and all first graders soon.
Picture Day is October 28th which will be handled by the Yearbook committee and PTO parents. At least 20 volunteers are needed. Contact us if you are interested.
• Thank You
To the decorating committee for the new Fall/Halloween decorations
To Ted Kruse and the staff at Chagrin Pet & Garden for their very generous donation of a beautiful fall display!
To all room parents who diligently collected the class fees and prepared the phone chains and to Kathy LaMonica for spearheading the effort.
• Upcoming PTO Related Events
Picture Day – Oct 28
Halloween Parade/parties – Oct 30 beginning at 2:30
Election Day – Nov 3
Conference dinners for the teachers in November
• Approved Requests
Approved a $303.00 request for Jillian Langer and Chris Fishman for books necessary for a second and third grade parent book group that will examine educational issues facing the children. The outcome of this book study will help teachers and administrators adjust the curriculum for these students.
• Miscellaneous
None noted
