Parent Representative Meeting Minutes 2006-2007

April 18, 2007
March 14, 2007
February 13, 2007
January 17, 2007
December 13, 2006
November 15, 2006
September 27, 2006

Minutes of Parent Representatives’ Meeting The Nightgale-Bamford School Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Helena Park, Treasurer, financial update:
The current bank balance is $9,499.90.  Taxes have been filed and no taxes are owed.  All schools have paid their dues.  For next year, dues will increase to $350 from $325.  Also, each school will be asked to organize one fundraiser by their student reps for JSA.

Voices- Liz Auran/Martha Battles/Rita Chapin/Chris Curtin Barnes/ Ritu Banga: 
Event scheduled for Friday, April 27th at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Center at 6:30 p.m.  The books have been printed.  Ritu and Martha will meet the MC tomorrow.  All schools except Dwight have submitted their list of readers.  Volunteers are to meet at Barnes & Noble at 5:30p.m.  Ritu is organizing a package to be handed to the English teachers at the event.  It will include 5 copies of Voices Anthology, and an order form for purchasing additional copies at $7/book.  The teachers will be asked to coordinate the purchases with the parents and to send the money to Ritu. Flyers were e-mailed earlier this week. 

Visions-Anne Sorin/Monique Pettit/Susan Erhlich/Evi Anne Cowing: 
Visions is scheduled for Saturday April 28, 4-6pm, and Sunday April 29, 12-4pm at the Marmara Hotel on Second Ave. and 94th Street.   All schools have now confirmed that photographs will be submitted.  Deadline for submission is this Friday, April 20th, but could be made up to the day before the photo hanging scheduled for that Friday, April 27th.   Posters have been distributed and flyers were e-mailed earlier this week.  Some logistical issues, such as space constraints for refreshments, were discussed.  Nurseli can help address these issues with the gallery/hotel.

Diane Discenza, Student Committee Chair: 
Browning, Calhoun, Chapin, Marymount, NBS, Spence and Trinity (Brearley not there) had student reps attend last meeting. Yorkville Common Pantry has been scheduled for May 12th, 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (Eight 109th Street, Madison/5th Ave.).  Students will help bag and distribute groceries.  Each school will be permitted to send 4-5 students, for a total of 25.  If this is successful, the event can be duplicated 4-5x next year.  A “Masked Ball” at the Sacred Heart ballroom was discussed for end of October.  A date will be reserved (we are requesting Friday, October 26) and students will be asked to start work on it this spring, so that they can finalize plans over the summer and be ready for a fall event. Planning for the athletic charity fundraising activity is awaiting permission from Brearley and Calhoun to use their gym.  The students are very interested in having their teachers’ participation in this. Browning still plans to hold a coffeehouse this spring.

Other Business:

Dana Randall presented “Global Goods” as a possible fund-raising idea for JSA. Twenty percent of proceeds from the sale of items hand-made by mothers in impoverished areas would be shared with the fundraising organization.  Response to this was very positive and it was decided that a private sale be organized for early November.  Dana will be in-charge of the committee and will ask for a few parent volunteers to help her. She has organized a space for it at one of her friend’s homes. JSA will ask PA heads to email the information to the parent bodies of member schools.

Ritu Banga/Year end Matters:  The May meeting is the last and is joint with parents and students reps. In a change of procedure, JSA student participation certificates normally handed out to student reps at this meeting will be sent to the schools’ community service directors instead, in hopes that they will be handed out at the schools’ assemblies and gain student reps some recognition. Ritu announced the new Board:  Carmen Knoepffler is the new JSA president, Monique Pettit will be the Corresponding Secretary, and Anne Sorin is appointed to the newly created position, Board Member-at-Large, to help with overflows in responsibilities. To improve continuity and representation, the schools will be asked to appoint two student and parent reps from each of the grades (9th, 10th & 11th) next year. Returning senior student and parent reps will continue to serve but we will ask that no new senior or parent reps be appointed.

***Next Meeting:   Dwight School     291 Central Park West (89th St.)
                    Joint Parent-Student Reps meeting:  May 17, 2007, 4:15 pm

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Minutes of Parent Representatives’ Meeting Trinity School Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Lisa Pinero, PA -President, Trinity School, attended as a guest.
Helena Park, Treasurer, financial update:
The current bank balance is $9,872.50.  Liability insurance payment of about $1,700 was paid this month.  Our other upcoming expense is the printing for Voices. We will not have an income tax burden because our revenues are so low, but we have to file our tax returns because our revenues come from private organizations.  Helen is looking for CPA help in filing our income taxes as a private, non-profit organization.
Voices- Liz Auran/Martha Battles/Rita Chapin/Chris Curtin Barnes/ Ritu Banga: 
Event scheduled for Friday, April 27th at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Center at 6 p.m.  Every school except Dalton has submitted poems, totaling 70 works.  The printing process is on schedule.  The anthology will be about 78 pages long.  We may consider selling extra copies at $5-$7, which will cover most of our printing cost of about $6-7 per booklet. If we do this, it will be through the English teachers who have worked with us on Voices. Barnes & Noble has started publicizing this event.  Posters for publicity will be sent out before and after the spring break.  Flyers will be e-mailed to English teachers, parent and student reps after spring break for distribution and additional publicity.
Visions-Anne Sorin/Monique Pettit/Susan Erhlich/Evi Anne Cowing: 
Visions is scheduled for Saturday April 28, 4-6pm, and Sunday April 29, 12-4pm at the Marmara Hotel on Second Ave. and 94th Street.   All schools except Chapin and Dalton have confirmed that photographs will be submitted.  Ritu will follow up with Dalton, and the parent reps will follow up on Chapin.  Deadline for submission is April 21st, but can made up to the day before the photo hanging scheduled for that Friday.   Food for this event will be ordered through Fresh Direct and delivered directly to the hotel.
Diane Discenza, Student Committee Chair: 
A new community service event for Yorkville Common Pantry has been scheduled for May 12th, 9:30a-1:30p (109th Street between Madison and 5th Ave.).  Only 20-25 students can participate in bagging and distributing groceries.  Participation will be on a first come basis and the students must make a firm commitment. A parent chaperone is needed and volunteers should contact Diane.
The students are interested in doing a “Battle of Improvisation” in the Sacred Heart (SH) ballroom.  A student committee will be formed this fall to organize it.  A date for the SH calendar will be proposed before the end of this school year, ideally for a Friday in January 2008.  Security is a great concern to SH and much discussion centered on RSVPs, the students’ entrances and departures, hanging out on the streets and so on. 
The students are also very interested in an athletic charity fundraising activity.  Space is the difficult factor.  Brearley and Calhoun will investigate using their respective field house and gym, and check for available dates for 2007-08.

Other Business
Improving student attendance at monthly meetings and parent representation on the committee was discussed. Typically, only 5-6 schools have student reps attending at any meeting, and those with the best turnouts at events are those whose student reps have the best attendance.  Ritu suggested that we ask the schools to send 2 student reps and two parent reps for each grade for the 2008-08 school year.

***Next Meeting: Nightingale-Bamford School     20 East 92nd Street                        
 Parent Reps: Wednesday, April 18, 2007 at 8:30am                                   

                 Student Reps: Thursday, April 19, 2007 at 4:15 pm  

Minutes of Parent Representatives’ Meeting The Browning School Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Chris Lambiris, PA Vice-President, The Browning School, attended as a guest.

Helena Park, Treasurer, financial update:

All schools have now paid their dues.  The bank balance on Jan. 31, 07 was $9,204.60.  The JSA Balance Sheet and Income Statement for the year ending Dec. 31, 2006 was presented.  “Total Assets” (cash) and “Total Liabilities and Equity” were $9,215.68.  Net Income (Loss) was ($191.30).

Sandwich Saturday- Wendy Van Amson/Renee Ward/ Sharon Yellin: 

Event was very successful. 71 kids total attended with breakdown as follows: CGP (29), Calhoun (4) Marymount (6), Dwight (13), La Scuola (6), Nightingale (2), Spence (7), BWL (2), and Hunter (2).  The turkey ran out early and last minute cheese was purchased.  Suggestions for next year include parents supervising the kids to ensure that the lunch bags are complete, and to organize the work so that it is more varied for each child.  Total cost was $1440 for approximately 770-750 sandwiches that were distributed by Coalition for the Homeless.

Voices- Liz Auran/Martha Battles/Rita Chapin/Chris Curtin Barnes/ Ritu Banga: 

Event scheduled for Friday, April 27^th at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Center at 6 p.m.  Poems have been received from every school and are now at the printer/typesetter.  500 copies will be printed.  Andrew Fanelli, an ex-JSA student rep from Browning (now at NYU) will be the master of ceremonies for the evening.   Extensive discussion ensued regarding fundraising for this event, focusing on selling additional copies to families of students who submitted poems.  Suggestions included placing order form inserts into copies distributed at the event, or collecting e-mail addresses at the event for follow-up solicitation.  It was decided that we send advance e-mails to parents inviting them to the event as well as to purchase additional copies, and perhaps make a contribution.

Visions-Anne Sorin/Monique Pettit/Susan Erhlich/Evi Anne Cowing:  

Gallery space at the Marmara Hotel on Second Ave. and 94^th Street is confirmed.  Visions is scheduled for Saturday April 28, 4-6pm, and Sunday April 29, 12-4pm.   Schools that have not yet responded about submissions are Birch, Chapin, Calhoun, Dalton, Horace Mann, and La Scuola.  Parent reps for these schools are asked to follow-up with their school’s faculty.  Deadline for submission is April 23.   This event has only food for the reception and the cost of the picture hanger as its expense.  It was suggested that the students should volunteer to bring in food.

Diane Discenza, Student Committee Chair: 

Yorkville Common Pantry will be moving back into their space (109^th Street between Madison and 5^th Ave.) in March.  They have a weekly Saturday morning volunteer program that bags and distributes groceries.  At most, 20-30 volunteers are needed.  This presents an opportunity for the students but commitments must be made in advance.

***Next Meeting:     

Trinity School

Parents -139 West 91 St.

Students-101 West 91 St.

Parent Reps: Wednesday March 14, 2007 at 8:30am

Student Reps: Thursday, March 15, 2007 at 4:15 pm

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Minutes of Parent Representatives’ Meeting Marymount School Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Joy Habian, PA President, Marymount, attended as a guest.

Helena Park, Treasurer, financial update:

Current bank balance is unchanged from last month at $9,215.68 as no checks were written or received.  Schools that did not submit their dues yet were sent another reminder invoice.  Liability insurance is being renewed and payment for this will lower our balance for next month.

Sandwich Saturday- Wendy Van Amson/Renee Ward/ Sharon Yellin:  Scheduled for Feb. 10 at Columbia Grammar (CGP), 36 West 93^rd Street between Columbus and CPW, 1:30-4:30pm .  Wendy handed out flyers for the event and an approximate budget workup of $1904.  Overall increase in costs along with using more expensive turkey meat for the sandwiches have increased the budget substantially.  Possible ways to reduce the cost was discussed, including asking Flick, CGP’s food service, to donate some of the goods, and substituting some of the lunch components with lower cost alternatives (fruit drink for juice, clementines for apples). Ritu asked the parent reps to e-mail their schools’ student reps about undertaking fund raising activities to support this program and to e-mail other parents to volunteer as chaperones.  Ten chaperones total are needed.  In addition to the committee chairs, parents who volunteered are Ritu Banga, Diane Discenza, Kathy Howard, Linda Franchi, and Nurseli Seker.  Volunteers should plan to arrive at the event at 1pm .

Voices- Liz Auran/Martha Battles/Rita Chapin/Chris Curtin Barnes/ Ritu Banga: 

Liz provided an estimate for printing of about $2600. This includes the typesetting and design, which will also be done by the printer.  Last year’s cost of $3344 included $400 for various late charges, which we hope to avoid this year.  Jennifer Stark, Barnes & Noble’s marketing director, offered vouchers that will provide for a portion of any book sales proceeds from our students to go to JSA as a means of fundraising. However, it was felt that this would not be successful amongst high school students (our audience) because they would not specially go to B&N, Lincoln Center to buy books to support this event. Other means of fundraising were discussed such as selling extra copies of the anthology and selling ad space.  Printing fewer copies (currently at 500) might also save some money.  Liz Auran will explore savings on account of a smaller print run.  Rita handed out “Voices” flyers to the parents to give to the faculty in charge of Voices submissions. Andrew Fanelli, an ex-JSA student rep from Browning (now at NYU) has offered to be the master of ceremonies for the evening.

Visions-Anne Sorin/Monique Pettit/Susan Erhlich/Evi Anne Cowing:  Evi Anne has e-mailed the faculty about submitting students’ works.  Spence, Riverdale and Hewitt have responded.  She needs another contact for Dwight as the e-mail sent was returned.  The Marmara Hotel on Second Ave. and 94^th Street may possibly have gallery space.  Nurseli has given them some dates and is awaiting their reply.  For any gallery that we use, we will use their picture hanger, which will cost about $300-400.The Sacred Heart (SH) ballroom is available but the pictures cannot be hung on the walls, they must be displayed on easels, or hung off the picture rail.  As an aside, SH is eager to offer its ballroom for a JSA function, such as coffeehouse or a karaoke.

Diane Discenza, Student Committee Chair:  The students loved doing the Holiday Carnival.  They suggested for next year the prizes be more tailored to the age/sex of the attendees and that its distribution be improved (i.e. use a ticket system to redeem prizes to avoid overload at booths giving out popular glow sticks and candy).  Responses on the Student Activities Questionnaire were received from CGP, Marymount, SH, Spence.  Students unanimously supported continuing the Holiday Carnival, Visions, Voices, and Sandwich Saturday.  They miss Publicolor.  Students would also support any kind of charity-athletic event, e.g. volleyball or basketball tournament, and would also be interested in a park clean-up/planting event.  Students also liked the idea of dances, coffeehouses, and battle of the bands.  They are uninterested in any kind of academic seminar or math or chess type events/competitions.

Other:  Rafe Esquith, winner of The American Teacher Award and author of “Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire”, will be at the Lincoln Center Barnes & Noble, 1972 Broadway @66^th Street on Tuesday, January 23^rd at 7pm for discussion and book signing.   Carmen had previously e-mailed this flyer to all, but everyone is encouraged to pass the word on.  The Calhoun student reps handed out postcards for their Indie Rock Concert at the last student reps meeting.  Dwight’s Dare-to Dream conference had very good attendance. 

***Next Meeting: Browning School , 52 East 62^nd Street

                                 Parent Reps: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 at 8:30am

                               Student Reps: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 at 4:15 pm

Please note the change from the regular Wednesday and Thursday schedule for February.

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Susanne Fischer, Columbia Grammar & Prep PA President, attended as a special invitee.

Gretchen Mannix and Kathy Howard gave feedback on Nov. 18 Holiday Carnival at Christ Church: Went very well, 52 students attended. They suggested that next year’s event be shortened by half an hour; and that we speak to Mission Society about sending some younger children, if possible.

Helena Park, Treasurer, financial update:

CGPS double paid their dues. The second check was returned to Susanne Fischer, PA President of CGPS.  Some schools have not yet paid and Sabina will send out follow-up letters.  Current bank balance is $9,215.

Sandwich Saturday- Wendy Van Amson/Renee Ward/ Sharon Yellin:  Scheduled for Feb. 10 at Columbia Grammar, 36 West 93^rd Street between Columbus and CPW, 1:30-4:30pm.  Coalition for Homeless will pick up as many lunch bags as can be made.  Lunch bags will include dry turkey sandwiches, fruit juice and fruit. Wendy is exploring the possibility of purchasing supplies through the CGPS cafeteria vendor to get the best price. Suggestion was made that the student reps hold fundraisers at their schools to raise money for this event. Browning parent reps will check with their student reps to find out if proceeds from one of the Browning coffee houses will be donated towards this event.

Voices- Liz Auran/Martha Battles/Rita Chapin/Chris Curtin Barnes/ Ritu Banga:  Scheduled for April 27^th, 6:30pm, Barnes & Noble Bookstore by Lincoln Center.  Mailing was sent to English departments’ faculty and most have responded. Deadlines are Feb. 2 for submission and March 14^th for readers. Each school is allowed 3 readers for a total of 4 minutes per school. There will also be an Open Mike at the end.  Liz has finalized the printer and quotes.  Susan Silverman offered to check with Scholastic to see if they would consider printing, or underwriting, this for the future.

Visions-Anne Sorin/Monique Pettit/Susan Erhlich/Evi Anne Cowing:  Still have not found gallery space, proving to be difficult as spring is often a busy time for galleries.  Renee Ward will check with the Nash Family at Birch Wathen to see if their gallery might be available.  300 attendees are expected, and the exhibit will have about 150 14”x11” framed works.  It was noted that SATs are first weekend in May.

Diane Discenza, Student Committee Chair:  Students have responded to the survey on JSA activities, of which the results will be summarized in a separate communication.  Chapin students are working to establish a NY chapter of STAND, an anti-genocide organization.  On January 15^th, the Dwight School is hosting its annual “Dare to Dream Conference” for youth leaders at The American Museum of Natural History and has asked JSA to assist in publicizing the event.  An e-mail will be sent to all JSA student reps and community service heads.  It is unlikely that JSA students will be able to participate in the Special Olympics floor hockey event on January 13 due to demand from that organization’s corporate sponsors. 

Open Session:  It was announced that Nightingale will be hosting a Diversity Dance for 7^th and 8^th graders on January 26^th.  

***Next Meeting: Marymount School, 1026 Fifth Avenue (at 84^th Street)

                                 Parent Reps: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 at 8:30am

                               Student Reps: Thursday, January 18, 2007 at 4:15 pm

Alice Elgart, Nightingale Bamford PA President, attended as a special invitee.

Helena Park, Treasurer, financial update:

Latest bank balance as of last week is $8252.02.  Schools that have not paid dues are:  Calhoun, Chapin, Collegiate, Dalton, Hewitt, Horace Mann, La Scuola d’Italia.  

Diane Discenza, Student Committee Chair: 

Possible new student events that were investigated include Special Olympics at Jacob Javits center.  However, corporate sponsors have priority in sending their own volunteers, thus precluding our students.  Volunteers can help at charity events held at Bowlmor.  Those events require 20-30 volunteers, but we have missed a lot of the events.  This and the Central Park Conservancy provide a lot of possibilities for next year. The big issue in finding suitable events is that it is difficult for charities to accommodate such large crowds of volunteers at once.

Members suggested investigating kidsforcommunity.org website for other volunteer opportunities.

Sandwich Saturday:  still searching for venue, possibly using kitchen at Columbia Grammar & Prep.  There are 16 different soup kitchens/pantries within the school’s area but delivering the food is an issue.  Coalition Against Hunger might pick up and deliver.  Yorkville Common Pantry is still under renovation until February.  Xavier’s is a solid fallback, although it has limited storage space.  Making sandwiches Sunday morning from 8:30-11:30am is an option that avoids the storage problem but the parents felt the kids wouldn’t want to get up that early.

Gretchen Mannix, Nov. 18 Holiday Carnival at ChristChurch:

Events finalized for most schools. Still awaiting details from: Calhoun, Collegiate, Browning and Riverdale.

Voices:

Existing printer is still the best.  Mailer to faculty sent, deadlines for submission Feb. 2^nd and for readers in March. 

Visions:

Inquiries for gallery space being made but nothing found yet.  Targeting for a date right after spring break.

***Next Meeting: Wednesday December 13, 2006
8:30am at Columbia Grammar & Prep.

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Minutes of Parent Representatives’ Meeting The Brearley School Wednesday, September 27, 2006

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