Chagrin Falls PTO

It is always nice to see such good news when you drive by the school. Congratulations on making the semi-finals!

Click to download the September 24 CFHS Building Newsletter (70) sent by the school.

The High School staff report was presented by Principal Bill Koons. To read the full report, Read More…

Chagrin Falls Middle School joins our other three schools this year as a National Blue Ribbon School! Congratulations staff and students.

Click to download the September 24th CFMS Building Newsletter. (67)

The Middle School staff report was presented by Johna Graziani.

• Congratulations to all the parents, students, and staff at the middle school.  We had a great start to the year.  It is hard to believe that we are already into the fourth week of school.  We would also like to give our fall sports teams a great big shout out.  They have had a terrific start to the season.  We always receive compliments from other schools when we are traveling.  Our students show sportsmanlike conduct and always represent the middle school well at all away events.
• We held our first student development day on September 14.  Our focus was on movement, good nutrition, and physical well-being.  The kids engaged in fitness and relaxation workshops while learning about good food choices.  Thank you to all the parents who donated items.  We would like to extend huge appreciation to Katie Wetherbee who worked so hard to make sure the day was a success!
• Our Open House will be held on September 15 from 7:00-8:30.  This will be an opportunity for the parents to learn about some of the activities we have planned for the year as well as a time to meet all their child’s teachers.  Thank you to our PTO reps for supplying refreshments during our lunch periods.
• We held our Welcome Back dance last Friday, September 10.  The students had a great time.  Thank you to all the parents who helped to sell refreshments.  All the money from this dance will go to our Principal’s account to pay for activities for our students.
• Congratulations to Amy Fenton, our middle school art teacher.  She has been awarded the2010 Scholastic Art and Writing Award by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers.    This is representation of the great fine arts programming that we have at the middle school.
• Congratulations to Cindy Dean and her first period science classes.  Through global collaboration, the class has been in contact with a classroom in Slovenia.  The students are able to see and talk with one another.  Chagrin Falls is in the forefront of interactive technology through its Bridge to the World project.  Mrs. Dean will be working many teachers in the district to promote global collaboration in other classrooms.
• We continue to award students through our PAW Pack program.  This awards program was started by last year’s PTO representatives.  Thank you to this year’s reps for continuing the tradition.  Students earn the award through hard work, being kind to others, and contributing in a positive way to the middle school community.  They receive a card that gets them discounts to community businesses as well as privileges at school.  The PTO supports a special luncheon for these students at the end of every month.
• As many of you know, the middle school was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon School last Thursday.    This is quite an honor for our students, parents, and staff.  The partnership we have is one of the big reasons the middle school earned this recognition.  Rebecca Holthaus and Cindy Dean will be traveling to Washington, DC on November 14 and 15 to accept the award.  We are planning a big celebration when the award is returned to the middle school on November 16.

The Middle School PTO  report was presented by Ingrid Porter.

• The Chagrin Falls Middle School has been named a Blue Ribbon School! A PTO parent will be working closely with Mrs. Holthaus to plan a well-deserved celebration.
• Planning and preparations for the middle school fundraiser, the Sloppy Joe Dinner, are well under way.  The date is Friday, October 1, the night of the homecoming football game, from 5pm-7pm.  Mark it on your calendars – we’re hoping for record-breaking attendance!
• We had our first grant request at the Middle School.  It was from Mrs. Dennison and Mrs. Mrofchak who planned the first Student Development Day which was held today and focused on wellness.  The request was for the purchase of foods for a program called “Eat this, not that” which showed the kids many varieties of healthy food alternatives.  The PTO was able to get the majority of the requested items donated by parents, and approved the remainder of the grant.
• Middle School Open House will be held tomorrow night, Wednesday September 15.  Parents will start in the PAC at 7:00 for an address by Mrs. Holthaus then be dismissed to their child’s homeroom to follow their child’s schedule.  Open House is scheduled to end at 8:30 pm.

Click to download the September 24th CFIS Building Newsletter.

The Intermediate School staff report was presented by Katie Gill.

• Safety Assemblies -The IS enjoyed two assemblies this year.  On opening day, Mr. Murphy spoke to the students about expectations and tips for success.  Officer Libbons also came to speak to the students about stranger danger and safe walking to and from school.  A couple of weeks ago, someone from the bicycle shop downtown came to speak to students on bicycle safety and to kick off a class being offered on the next two early release days.  Accent on Youth, made up of high school students and director Julia Kolibab also did a skit on bullying while walking to and from school.    They all did an outstanding job.
• Aims Web – Three times a year we give all of our students a short reading assessment that has students read three different passages aloud and we track the number of words read correctly in one minute.  This gives us benchmarks for each grade level and we re-administer these probes to students who are at-risk. We also give a short comprehension test and a math test for the same purpose.  We just finished the fall administration of these tests and will use this data to inform our instruction and help place students in certain intervention classes for RTI.  Intermediate School has had 2 good years of value added and working hard to maintain this record.
• Intervention Classes - Our students have intervention classes every other day.  At least one day a week our at-risk students will receive intervention in a small group setting as part of RTI and will use a specific program to help get them to grade level in reading and math.  One day a week all other students will be working with teachers to help stretch them academically.
• Netbooks – Nancy Kevern and Cory McNamara are piloting Netbooks in their classrooms for the district.  All students in sixth grade will use the Netbooks in science class and they are working with Abby Thacker from Smart Solutions on ways to use the Netbooks to support curriculum and instruction.  There is nothing more awesome than to walk in to a classroom and see every student on a Netbook.
• One Book/One School – National Program called One Book/One School  (check it out here ) where at some point during the year everyone in the school will be reading the same book and doing activities together at home and at school.  This program is designed to get students and parents reading and talking together about literature. Stay tuned for more information.
• Professional Development Days – We will be working on data analysis and training on the new language arts program.  We will be focusing on our Intervention Program and Short Cycle Assessments for the remainder of the year.
• Compass Learning – Teachers will be getting trained in Compass Learning which is a computer program that our students will be using primarily in reading and math in place of Study Island from last year. 

The Intermediate School PTO report was presented by Cindy Ellis.

1.     Teacher Luncheon – Thank you to Sandi Ferguson

2.     New Parent Tea – Thank you to Laura Fricke

3.     New Fundraiser for CFIS – on select early release days, grades will be bused to Chagrin Cinemas for a movie and snack. Proposed $20 per child. More information to come.

Welcome back!

Click to download the September 24 Gurney Building Newsletter (71).

Mrs. Tatom submitted this report on 9/15/10.

• Thank you to all of the PTO volunteers who helped us with Picture Day! It went smoothly in large part to your help and organization!

• Time Change: We have had to adjust the time that we allow students to classrooms in the morning by 5 minutes to be in compliance with our teachers’ contract. Therefore, students are not permitted to classrooms until 8:15am. Prior to that, we do not have proper supervision for them. This does not affect any students who ride the bus in the morning as they tend to arrive at that time anyway.

• Literacy by Design Training: Gurney teachers had their first training session for the new language arts program during early release day. The program is great and teachers are anxious to get all of the components operating in full swing. Additional training/support is scheduled for the teachers again in November.

• Compass Learning: All Gurney teachers are being trained in a new online reading and math program called Odyssey Compass Learning. The program will be used in the district, K-10. Look for information coming home soon introducing the site to you and providing you with your child’s username and passwords. It is a web-based program so students can complete assignments at home as well as at school. There are many fun practice activities and enrichment activities that teachers can assign and students can enjoy doing at home. All of the assignments and assessments are aligned to our Ohio Academic Standards.

The PTO report was presented by Alissa Stinson.

• Library volunteers have been assembled, and the schedules have been compiled. They will be having their orientation with Mrs. Graham September 15th.
• Volunteers have been plentiful for the clinic and for most grades of lunch and recess. Volunteer schedules have been created for both of these committees. The number of volunteers for kindergarten lunch/recess is a bit light. We may have to recruit more volunteers later in the year if needed.  (Click here for information on volunteering.)
• Room parents were assigned and lead room parents attended an orientation meeting.
• Open Houses were well attended. Class fees were set at $5 and were collected in grades 1-3. Due to a lack of an open house for kindergarteners, class fees have not yet been collected for Kindergarten. A letter will be sent home to kindergarten parents along with an envelope to return to school. This letter has been submitted to Mr. Thompson for approval.
• Picture Day was Monday, September 13th. PTO volunteers ensured everything ran smoothly.
• The Giddings Coat Collection Drive has started and will run into October. Collection bins have been delivered to the school and donations have begun to come in. There will be an incentive week for kids so they will be encouraged to bring in donations, not their parents.
• The Box Tops committee is preparing for a “Fall Blitz”. This will run the first week of October (4th-8th). They are going to be using Ziploc bags this year (bags each will contain 50 box tops). The ease of use of the Ziploc bags will hopefully encourage participation.
• Thank you to the following:
• Joelle Snavely and Mindy Goodin on the decorating committee for the new back to school decorations, and the planters of mums.
• All room parents who diligently collected the class fees and are preparing the phone chains and to Kathy LaMonica for spearheading their effort.
• Joan Newell,Tina Nerpouni and the hospitality committee for organizing the back to school lunch. We received thank you notes from teachers and staff in appreciation of the lunch.
• Lunch, library and clinic committee chairs for their efforts in compiling the volunteer schedules for the year.
• Annie Amata and Renee McLain for serving as Gurney contacts for the Welcoming Tea and to Jesse Weinberger for continuing to develop/maintain database of PTO volunteers for Gurney.

A new garden in the CFHS Commons courtyard.

Click to download the September 10 District Newsblast (78) sent by the District.

The Board of Education’s Report was presented by  Karen Penler.

• The District earned an Excellence with Distinction on the State Report Card this past summer (view the district report card by clicking here.) Value added component was met.
• Reports by grade detail are available via Chagrin Falls Board of Education.
• Goal: Improve Student Learning:  Passage rate (3 and above) on AP test scores have dropped from 80% to 74%.  Board of Ed has asked High School to evaluate this drop.
• HB264 – $1.2M bond initiative with debt repayment achieved through energy savings.  Retrofitting lights in buildings and boiler in Intermediate School.  (HB 264 information at this site.)
• New Learning Center in High School Upper Library
• Board retreat in October – will discuss next levy cycle.

All our sports teams are doing well this season despite a rash of injuries. Thanks to the cheerleaders for all the clever "cup signs" on the school fence!

The Administration’s Report was presented by Charlie Barch (Athletics) and Kurt Gabram (Business Manager).

Charlie Barch:

• Charlie is new athletic director – worked at Notre Dame College for 6 years before coming to Chagrin Falls as the associate athletic director. I also worked one year at Brush High School as the faculty manager. I am very glad to be at Chagrin, it is a great community with many great support organizations. I look forward to having a great year.
• Team Updates- Teams are doing great, the girls cross country team just won the Ray Sweeny Invitational. The golf team is undefeated in match play. The girl’s tennis team is 7-1 and off to a terrific start. Football is 3-0 and the volleyball team went 2-1 at the Rocky River Invitation this past weekend. Both soccer teams are off to a good start.
• Weekly Varsity Home Contests- boys golf plays Aurora at home on Wednesday along with Volleyball playing Perry at home on Wednesday. The football team hosts Aurora on Thursday.
• Misc Updates-
  • The football game will be broadcast live via the internet on sportstalkcleveland.com. This same website will be hosting a high school sports show at the new Panini’s in Chagrin Falls.
  • New Hire – girl’s lacrosse coach KC White. She was the assistant lacrosse coach last year.
  • Volleyball and girls soccer team are working with Darby O’Brien and Kristin Weitzel to have a “Network of Strength” week (1^st week in October). This week we will be raising funds to support a group that helps raise money for breast cancer support groups. It is different from Susan G Komen because it is not for research, but support for breast cancer survivors and/or patients. The website for the group is www.networkofstrength.org.   Team and Athletic Dept selling pink tee-shirts with the groups logo on it. Everyone who comes to either the volleyball match (10-7) or the girl’s soccer match (10-5) will get in free with their pink shirt. We will be trying to have a “pink out” similar to some school white out (everyone wears a white tee shirt) for each event. I attached a flyer that has when and where the tee shirts will be sold. (More information and flyer available for download here.)

Kurt Gabram:

• Ben Needham was hired to manage the PAC. Ben has a long resume in the area of set design. Ben will be responsible for scheduling, supervision and upkeep of PAC. He will also be teaching set design and construction for the Academy, and will assist in Chagrin Falls Schools’ productions.
• Marti DeSantis was hired as our food service supervisor. Marti is a registered dietician and has her Master’s Degree from Case Western Reserve University. She has been working with an insurance company as a wellness consultant. Marti was a big part of Tuesday’s movement day at the middle school. She worked with students concerning nutrition.

Side by side comparison of the courtyard in front of the High School entrance. The left side is before repair - the right, after. Great job!

• Facilities Update: The HS courtyard has been completely renovated.   This was a project that desperately needed to be done. The new benches, retaining wall and Commons picnic area give the courtyard a very collegiate feel. We also completed the new learning center project.   This is a state of the art facility where we can provide assistance to students that meet many of their learning needs. Our custodians, grounds and maintenance crews did a fabulous job in preparing the buildings for the return of students.
• HB 264 gives us the ability to implement energy conserving upgrades to all of our facilities. The State funds that are used for a house bill come at a 0% interest and the savings generated pay back the loan so there is truly no cost to the tax payer. We are in the process of reviewing the final contract.

District PTO reports were presented by the following officers:

Secretary’s Report – Beth Judge

• Shared thank you notes.
• May 2010 approved minutes on the PTO website. Minutes are approved via email and will post on the web within a week or so of meeting.

Treasurer’s Report – Katherine Collins

• Approval of 2010-2011 budget budget pdf (91) by Meg Nachtwey and Gigi Kuper-Lewis, unanimous by those in attendance.
• Monthly financial report (73) available for download.

First Vice President’s Report – Gigi Kuper-Lewis

• PTO Calendar Sales– Approx. 200 calendars left as of last week.  Approx. same number calendars sold as last year. For next year, we need to evaluate if we want to spend the extra money printing the books with so many pages, tabs, etc. or try to keep the cost down.
• Membership – Gwenn put staff membership envelopes in all the teacher/staff calendars and we haven’t had many teacher join PTO. Anticipate 300 memberships for $5,000 total.
• Website / Publicity – The website looks great.  We asked Angie to please keep only PTO items on the website.  We are no longer going to include other district announcements, events, etc. on the website.
• Welcoming – Many welcoming “teas” were held in the fall to welcome our new families. Gwenn suggested considering revamping welcoming next year due to low new parent attendance.

2^nd Vice President’s Report -  Meg Nachtwey

Responsive Community is no longer an active PTO committee, as Amy Price, the long-time leader is no longer chairing the committee.  In an attempt to keep the movement afloat, Meg will be speaking with the guidance counselors at all of the schools to offer our help and support, and also inform them of the $550 in funds available for responsive community type of programming.  Meg will also work to maintain relationships with groups such as SAY   and CPFY  and offer our support of their programming.

Financial Vice President’s Report – Laurie McCormack

• School Supplies –
  • Gurney

Sold 202 school supply boxes, up from 193 last year.

Sales for Gurney totaled $12,234, up from $10,090 last year.

• Intermediate School

Sold 192 school supply boxes, down from 206 last year.

Sales for the Intermediate School totaled $ 13,769, down from $15,981 last year.

• Middle School

Sold 80 school supply boxes, up from 54 last year.

Sales for the Middle School totaled $5,653, up from$3,382 last year.

Summary – Number of boxes sold for the district were up by 19 boxes. Total sales were up by $2,203. Our rebate from Innisbrook is estimated to be $1,583, up $110 from last year. Gurney purchased 5 boxes for students in need. One box was requested by the Middle School and purchased by the PTO. I would recommend continuing the protocol of families requesting boxes be purchased for them first ask the school, for privacy reasons. If the school declines the offer, the section rep or school supply rep can request that PTO purchase the box.  I would also recommend that as long as the school can verify the family is in need that PTO use rebate funds to purchase the boxes.  Again, for privacy reasons it would be best if the family could work through the school with the school ordering the box, and PTO reimbursing school.

• Shopping – Heinen’s registration has started.  If you haven’t already, click here to re-register your school choice for 2010 .  PTO gets credit for all purchases made between October and April regardless of when you register.  Giant Eagle registration will begin in next 2 weeks.  The link for that will also be on the PTO website.  The Giant Eagle school credit program runs October through March.  You must register for Giant Eagle prior to October, to get credit for the full timeframe, it is not retro-active.
• Fundraising – TheDistrict Fundraiser 2010 is Otis Spunkmeyer and Cherrydale wrapping paper and gifts.  Gurney and Intermediate schools will get catalogs for both.  High School and Middle school will get the Otis Spunkmeyer.  Incentive programs are: Gurney/CFIS:  for every $30 in sales or donation they will have one raffle ticket entered into a drawing with prizes of 2 family Kalahari water park packages(4 tickets each), a Nintendo DSiXL, a Apple iPod touch, and lots of gift cards. Prizes totaling over $1000.

MS/HS:  for each 10 tubs of cookie dough sold, receive a ticket to Kalahari water park.  For every $30 sold, have one raffle ticket entered into a drawing for a Kalahari package of 4 tickets. Kathleen will cut us a check for $800 to be used for the raffle prizes and is providing the 3 Kalahari packages. Sales packets will go home with students on Sept. 15^th.  Sale will run through Sept. 29^th.  The high school would prefer that we do not hand them out to all students but would rather have them available in the office for pick up.  They generally find them all over the high school and not making it home if passed out to all via 1^st period classes/homeroom.  There will be a kickoff assembly at CFIS and during lunch periods at Gurney.  We will have extra packets at the middle school open house which is the same day as our kickoff.

• Advertising – Information fliers in beginning of year “mailings”/folders; PTO website and school website advertising; school newletters and email blasts; open houses with product samples; glass case at Gurney with samples and info; sandwich boards; periodic announcements at schools once sale starts. Kristin Reboul has been great as a co-chair and we have been able to collect some volunteers via open houses, volunteer forms, etc but will still be able to use more for our pickup day shifts!
• Grant Requests Update – Karen O’Hearn

o   Gurney – Rachel Jones – $2,800 for One Book, One School initiative unanimously approved.

o   Intermediate School

1.     Jansen/Mitchell – Two sets Student Clickers for $1,800 unanimously approved. Remote controls that work with classroom computer to collect student data instantaneously. Will be used primarily in math classes but can be used in all subject areas. This will assist the educator is gather data and developing appropriate curriculum for students.

2.     Ms. Gill – PTO approved payment of tuition portion ($1,680) of Ms. Gill’s teacher development trip to Israel, a meeting with the International Reading Association.

Announcements

• Thank you to Jessica Gardner for all her work on PTO fundraiser, kicking off on 9/15.
• Gwenn reminded PTO of signup sheet for sandwich board in PTO closet as well as plentiful supplies in closet.