Parent Representative Meeting Minutes 2005-2006
October 19, 2005
January 18, 2006
February 22, 2006
April 18, 2006
(back to top)

Minutes from October 19th Parent Representative Meeting:

Ritu Banga, President, opened the meeting held at Sacred Heart, and welcomed the Parents to the 2nd Parent Representative meeting of the Season.

Treasurer’ Report:  Margie Calaman reported on the status of the JSA funds which are in a healthy state: $10187.  Presently, dues have been received from Browning, Marymount, Dalton , Dwight, Hewitt, Nightingale, Riverdale, Chapin, Spence and CSH, and BWL. The dues allocations are for the annual JSA events:  Voices; Visions, and annual Insurance fees.

Secretary’s Report: Chris Brownie reported on the September minutes; reviewing the of the upcoming Calendar of Events: Publicolor:  Reported by Chris Curtin Barnes:  A highly successful event, with a great turn out.  Approximately 70 students showed up.  Girls outnumbered boys, but all joined in a healthy, community spirit.  The Publicolor was highly organized, with set responsibilities and supplies for all the kids.

Upcoming Events:

Holiday Carnival:  Scheduled for December 10th. 

Supervising Parents: Chris Fields Brownie, (CSH)  Gretchen Mannix (Chapin), and Donna Edbril; (RD).

The event will be held at the Christ Church with 2 timelines:  12:45pm to 1:30pm for Set Up; and

1:30pm to 3:30pm for games and activities.   Donna Edbril will produce a flyer for the students.  Students at the Student Representative meetings determined booths and activities for the Carnival Event.

There is no fee needed for the transportation of the Mission Society Children.  

Volley Ball  Interactive Activity: Discussion of organizing a Volley Ball event where there would be greater participation with boys and girls.  A suggestion was to consider renting space at St. Francis De Salles on 96th Street, where there is a proper size gym facility.   A proposed date for the event is the last Friday, January 27th. 

Sandwich Saturday:  Renovations will be done on the Yorkville Pantry, and foods cannot be held over for delivery on Monday.  This year, a new community partner will be sought for the recipient of the foods, and a space to prepare the foods is needed.

Supervising Parents:  Joan Altman, and Tina Schweid: Dwight, Theresa Kahn:  Nightingale
(back to top)

Minutes from Wednesday, January 18, 2006 Parents Meeting- Brearley

Opening Remarks

Ritu Banga spoke about the success of the Holiday Carnival held at Christ Church on Saturday, December 10, 2005 .

Treasurer’s Report: Margie Nesbitt reported that several schools that have not yet paid their annual JSA dues.  She asked that the parent reps from these schools try to help facilitate payment of the dues.

Sandwich Saturday

This event will be held on February 25, 2006 at the Xavier Soup Kitchen, 55 W.15th St. from 10AM - 2PM .  Dwight and Marymount students have already raised money for this event. Nightingale students are discussing plans for a fund-raiser too. We discussed the possibility of students from other schools also raising money to help offset the cost of bread, meat and beverages.  We are hoping to have a total of 60 students (5-6 per school).  Nightingale and Dwight are the lead schools for this event.

Update on Voices

Rita Chapin (Marymount) reported on the progress so far. This event is on April 28, 2006 at Barnes & Noble, 66th & Broadway at 6:30 pm .  Planning for the event is well under way.  Faculty advisors have been informed of the date. Chris Curtin Barnes (Riverdale) and Carol Tanner (Brearley) agreed to volunteer for this event, including work on the publication of the anthology poems, along with Rita Chapin.

Update on Visions

Helena Parks reported that she sent e-mails to teachers about the event and will follow up with those who have not yet responded.  Visions will be held at the end of April. Annemarie Mann (Marymount) volunteered to work on this event along with Helena . Although a gallery has not been selected, Donna Edbril indicated that she would speak to a Riverdale parent about possible space. Donna will get back to Helena .

Sing For Children.    

Elissa Bernstein reported that the concert, which will benefit New York City ’s homeless children, would be held on either the first or second weekend in June. Prior to the event, student volunteers will be needed to help send out invitations. On the night of the event, volunteers will be needed to assist at the pre-concert party, serve as ushers and work at the information booths. 

Update on Website

Helena Parks reported that JoAnn Fox-Weingarten, a Spence parent, and her daughter, Sarah, have redesigned JSA’s website.  We discussed the advisability of having password protected student  e-mail addresses on the site.  Parent Reps were not in favor of this and the idea has been dropped. The web-site address is: www.jointschoolsny.org

Ritu Banga encouraged all Parent and Student Reps to visit the web-site.

Next Parent Reps Meeting: Wednesday, February 22 at 8:30 am

Next Student Reps Meeting: Thursday, February 23 at 4:15 pm

Both meetings will be at Calhoun: 433 West End Avenue (at 83rd Street )
(back to top)

Minutes of JSA Parent Reps Meeting Wednesday, February 22, 2006- Calhoun School

Opening Remarks 

Ritu Banga reported that at the Jan06 Student Rep meeting, Ben Wallin said that proceed from the March 3rd Browning coffee house will be donated to JSA.  Interschool Arts Fest on Feb 13th was a success and being a part of it makes JSA more integrated. The JSA website continues successfully updated by JoAnn Fox-Weingarten and her daughter Sarah www.jointschoolsny.org (details to follow). Finally, a non-profit organization, New York Cares called because they got to know about JSA through a Brearley parent and would like us to partner with them in various community service projects.  They have a park cleanup possibility on April 22nd. Ritu will be meeting with the Senior Project Director to see if we can take this forward.  This might be ideal in increasing Community Service activities in the future.

Treasurer’s Report: Margie Nesbitt reported having $10,797 in the bank.  She has an insurance bill for $1,763 that she would like to pay (a slight discount to $1,794 last year).  Coverage is through United Education Insurance that gives us preferential treatment similar to those of schools.   After detailing the insurance coverage it was determined that it was reasonable and the bill should be paid. Major upcoming expenses include printing the anthology for Voices, Sandwich Saturday and Visions.

Sandwich Saturday

This event will be held on February 25, 2006 at the Xavier Soup Kitchen, 55 W.15th St. from 10AM - 2PM .  Dwight ($500), Nightingale ($450) and Marymount ($100) students have already raised money for this event.  Parent Reps should get in touch with school community service directors to make sure students sign up and come. Eight parents have volunteered and we hope to have about 60 - 70 students. Nightingale and Dwight are the lead schools for this event.

Update on Voices

Rita Chapin (Marymount) and Chris Curtin Barnes (Riverdale) reported on the progress so far. This event is on April 28, 2006 at Barnes & Noble, 66th & Broadway at 6:30 pm (they will advertise it under their April events).  Sixteen schools have submitted about 70 poems that are currently with the designer and typesetter.  Faculty advisors should submit the names of students that would like to read at the event – students who are not being published can also read.  Copies of the submissions forms that were given to faculty advisors will be also distributed to parent reps for follow-up.  Our job: to encourage students to read and attend.

This year we will ask Barnes and Noble if we can request voluntary contributions from guests for copies of the Voices anthology, which is distributed at the event each year. This will help to offset partially the cost of printing.

Helena Parks (Spence) and Annemarie Mann (Marymount) reported that e-mails and telephone calls have been made to teachers about the event.  Visions will be held at Gallery ArtsIndia, 206 Fifth Avenue at 25th Street on a weekend between Mid-April and Mid-May.  Margie Nesbitt volunteered to provide food and drinks on opening day.  Parent Reps should encourage publicity within schools.  Talk up the event to heads of upper school, college counselor, newspapers and arts teachers. This is a great opportunity for students to have their work presented in a professional space.

Sing For Children.    

Elissa Bernstein was not present.  Still no date for this June concert, which will benefit New York City ’s homeless children.

Update on Website

JoAnn Fox-Weingarten, a Spence parent, and her daughter, Sarah, have redesigned JSA’s website. The web-site address is: www.jointschoolsny.org.  If schools would like to have events posted they should email details and website links to webmaster@jointschoolsny.org  (there is a link in the interschools non JSA events calendar under EVENTS).  Ritu Banga suggested adding a section on the website for partner organizations and their links, i.e., Publicolor, Barnes & Noble, Mission Society, etc. and another area for non-audited financials, including student fundraisers.

Others

The possibly of a more inclusive, larger social event was discussed as a future fund raising opportunity.

Next Parent Reps Meeting: Tuesday, April 18 at 8:30 am

Next Student Reps Meeting: Thursday, April 20 at 4:15 pm

Both meetings will be at Browning: 52 East 62nd Street (bet. Park & Madison)
(back to top)

Minutes for the Parent Representative Meeting  Tuesday, April 18th 2006 - Browning School

Announcements:

Ritu Banga opened the meeting and announced there was one last JSA meeting left until the end of the school term.

Sandwich Saturday: Ritu acknowledged the superb organizational efforts of parents of Nightingale and Dwight for the successful planning of the Sandwich Saturday event, with a special thank you to Theresa Kahn and Anne Sorin.  There were approximately 60 students who prepared lunches.  A suggestion was made for next year to distribute color coded cards to the students, to mix up the groups, and encourage the kids to intermingle. 

Gretchen Mannix supervised the Community service credits for those students who participated.

Browning Coffee House: An acknowledgment was made to the students of Browning for the planning and promoting Coffee House night which raised additional funds in support of the JSA.

Parks Clean up:  April 22nd.  The Hands on New York Day event which involved thousands of volunteers working across the City in 60 parks was cancelled due to insufficient parent coverage for this effort.

New Business:

Independent Voices: (Rita Chapin and Chris Curtis Barnes)

Scheduled on April 28th, an anthology of poems and prose.  In an email following the event, Ritu thanked each of the parents who helped to organize Independent Voices which resulted in a spectacular turnout at Barnes and Noble on Friday, April 28th.    Sasha Rubel was the moderator, once again this year: “It was a wonderful event, with a high quality of poetry. Most of those attending stayed on till the end, which made it a very high energy and enjoyable evening for all.”

Independent Visions:

The JSA’s photography event, Independent Visions exhibition was scheduled at

Gallery ArtsIndia at 206 Fifth Avenue (at 25th Street ), 5th Floor. The Opening was held on Saturday, May 6th from 4:00 pm till 6:00 pm

and Sunday, from 12:00pm to 5:00pm .

Refreshments provided by Margie Calaman were available for friends, families and faculty. The exhibition remained opened through Sunday, May 7th from 12 noon till 5:00 pm .

Treasurer’s Report:  Margie Calaman provided an updated report on financial status. Current bank funds: $9447. Approximately $4.0 was spent in expenses for Voices, which were primarily related to printing, production and design fees.

2006 -07 New JSA Office Assignments:

The position of Treasurer will be assigned to Helena Park from Spence School .

The position of Student Chair will be assigned to Donna Edbril, Riverdale.

The position of Recording Secretary will be assigned to Sabrina Wu, Chapin.

Upcoming Events:

Elissa Bernstein from The Brearley School reported on the fall upcoming event:

Sing for the Children:  A Rock Singathon to Benefit NYC’s Homeless Children

Featuring Ben Harper & the Innocent Children and, Damian Jr. Gong Marley

Date:  Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2006 at Rumsey Playfield, 72nd & Fifth Avenue Central Park

The event will benefit the Association to Benefit Children, Bailey House, The Children’s Aid Society, HELPUSA, Homes for the Homeless, and Women in Need.

This event would provide an opportunity for the JSA students to volunteer their time in two hour rotations in collecting tickets and guiding audience members to their seats.

Suggested JSA Group student participatory events:

Softball game in Central Park .

Student Volleyball game. Sports event in January.  The parents were asked if one of the JSA schools could offer their gym for one of the sports events: Dalton Gym was suggested.

Next JSA Parent Meeting will be a joint Parent and Student Meeting on Thursday, May 18th at 4:15pm at Dwight School . (back to top)