April 2017 H&S Meeting Minutes

General Nash Home and School Meeting - Minutes

Thursday, April 6, 2017 - 7:00 p.m.

Nash Library

  • President's Welcome
  • March 2017 minutes approved
  • Upcoming Dates:
  • April:

    7 Disney Spirit Day
    7 Zumba Night - 7:00 p.m.

    **12 School is open! This a snow make-up day! (This will be a Day 3).

    **13 School is open! This is also a snow make-up day! (This will be a Day 1).

    14-17 No School - Spring Break

    19 Montgomery County Reading Olympics (off-site)

    19 Rebounderz - 4:00 to 8:00 p.m.

    20 Spring Pictures

    21 6th Grade Vendor Fair - 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

    25 Wendy's Dining Night Out - 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.

    28 Spring Zing - 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.

    29 Parents' Night Out at AR Workshop - 7:00 p.m.

    May:

    1 Social Media/Internet Safety Parent Discussion with the NPSD Administrators - 10:00 a.m. (ESC - Conference Room A)
    5 Super Hero Spirit Day
    5 6th Grade Career Day

    9 2017-18 Kindergarten Meet and Greet at 9:30 a.m.

    11 H & S Meeting - 7:00 p.m.

    12 Appreciation Luncheon - 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

    13 Iron Knights Triathlon

    16 No School - Election Day
    20 Nash Symphony Performance (off-site)
    22 Dining Night Out - Boston Style Pizza - 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. 26 Olympic Day
    29 No School - Memorial Day

    *Notes on Upcoming Dates:
    -Deadline to register for the Iron Knights Triathlon is Thursday, April 13. The Iron Knights

    Parent Group is still looking for volunteers to help at the event on Saturday, May 13.

    -Nash will get credit for any purchases (dine-in or take-out) for the Boston Style Pizza fundraiser on May 22. The event runs all day from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and they offer a gluten-free pizza.

  • Treasurer's Report - Steph Sharkey
    -We are doing well with the budget so far this year!

  • Teacher Representative - Mr. Kuiken
    -Mr. Kuiken shared with us that Mrs. Hannig was thrilled with how well the Literacy and Art Night and Book Swap went last week. Some of the donated books that remained after the swap were given to classrooms and also to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. She also wanted to send a huge thank you to the parent volunteers (which she referred to as our most valuable asset) and she is already considering options for next year's Literacy and Art Night. She is also looking into possibly having an author visit and an author tea next year.

  • -Ms. Johnson wanted to remind everyone about the upcoming Iron Knights Triathlon on May 13, 2017.

    -Mr. Coulter wanted to express gratitude on behalf of the staff for the delicious First Friday treats that have been provided each month by the Nash parents.

    -Mr. Kuiken also wanted to let us know the Nash Sixth Grade Safeties and their families to an Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs baseball game. More information will be coming home soon about this event.

  • Principal's Report - Mr. Winkle
    -PSSA testing in the areas of English and Language Arts for Grades 3, 4, 5 and 6 was completed today. In two weeks, these students will be taking the tests in the area of Math and the students in Grade 4 will be taking the Science portion as well.

  • -Mr. Winkle recently attended a Safe Schools Symposium on behalf of the North Penn School District. The district is looking at ways to be more prepared for any event that may occur and are examining all safety mechanisms in our schools.

    -Mr. Winkle shared with us the upcoming start of the express bus that will be transporting 62 children from the Towamencin Condominiums starting on Tuesday, April 18, 2017. This shuttle bus is the result of a four-month traffic study that was conducted by PennDOT and the Towamencin Police Department. The data gathered by PennDOT was used to make the decision to add the shuttle bus at this time. A parent in attendance questioned how this decision was made and how it was communicated to the parents of the children that will be riding the shuttle bus.

    -A parent asked how the information for the CDT tests was communicated to the parents of the students taking them. Mr. Winkle shared that he gave a letter about the tests to the fourth grade teachers to send home with the students.

  • New Business:
    - Introduction of changes to the Nash H & S By-laws and vote for approval

  • -The changes that were made included: decreasing the number of Home and School meetings in the 2017-18 school year from one per month to a total of four for the year; and to change the amount needed for general membership approval for non-budgeted items from $100 to $500. Motions were made and approved.

    - Presentation of Nash H & S Executive Board 2017-18 Candidates
    -Shannon Snyder presented the ballot of candidates for the Nash Home and School Executive Board for the 2017-18 school year. For the position of Co-President, Tanya MacGregor and Michele Soltis; for the position of Treasurer, Steph Sharkey; for the position of Controller, Amanda Laubach; for the position of Communications; Jenna Cohen; and for the position of Secretary, Sue Daubert. At the present time, we do not have a candidate for the position of Vice-President. If there is anyone interested in applying for the position, they should contact Shannon and/or Nicole Pritchett. The election of executive board officers will take place at the next H & S meeting on Thursday, May 11, 2017.

    - Vote for approval of purchasing more letters and numbers for the sign in front of Nash -With some of the surplus of funds in the budget, the board asked for approval to purchase more numbers, pre-printed phrases and an extra key for the sign in the front of the school. The approximate cost is $360.00; motion was made and approved.

  • Coordinator's Reports
    -Science Explorers will be run for five weeks in May and the cost will be $82.00. There will be two groups of students (K-2 and 3-6) and the theme is "3-2-1 Blastoff."

  • -The 6th Grade Vendor Fair is being held on Friday, April 21 and we are still looking for tables.

    -The deadline for the General Nash Scholarship has been extended to Friday, April 21.

    We need to get the word out to any North Penn seniors who had attended Nash to apply for the scholarship. We were able to increase the scholarship amount from $500 to $800 this year.

    -We still have open coordinator positions for the 2017-18 school year: School Store; Drama Club; and a co-coordinator for the Spring Zing.


    Thank you to Katelyn Newell and Emily Orth for babysitting this evening!
    Our next Nash Home and School meeting will be held on Thursday, May 11, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.