January 2017 H&S Meeting Minutes

General Nash Home and School Meeting - Minutes

Thursday, January 12, 2017 7:00 p.m.

Nash Library

  • President's Welcome

  • We had 17 people in attendance!

  • Welcome to Josie Charnock, NPSD School Board Vice President and Patrick McGee Jr., the newest member of the NPSD School Board!

  • December 2016 minutes approved (Our daytime meeting was well attended!)


    Upcoming Dates:

January

13 School Store for 4th-6th graders
13 Geography Bee (4th-6th grade students)
16 No School - Martin Luther King Jr. Day
17-20 PA Agricultural Lab (all week for all classes)
17 Social Media & Internet Safety Night - 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. (Adults only)

19 North Penn Choral Showcase, NPHS at 7:00 p.m.

20 School Store for 2nd-3rd graders

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

27 School Store for K-1st graders

30 North Penn Wind Ensemble Concert, NPHS at 7:00 p.m.


February:


3 Nash Spirit Day - Sports


3 Cake Decorating Contest

4 Winter Carnival - 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

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

10 Father/Daughter Dance

16 Math Night

17 Early Dismissal

20 No School - Presidents' Day

24 Nash Basketball Blast at 5:30 p.m.

27 (through March 2) Book Fair (Family Night will be Thursday, Mar. 2)


  • School Board Members - Update on NPSD Board of Directors and open question and answer


  • -Mrs. Charnock presented updates on what the school board is working on right now including the following:


    -SPP results (School Performance Profile)
    -Budget (board is committed to the tax increase cap)
    -Contract negotiations (our teachers have a one-year contract that will be expiring and the board is working on a new contract)


    -No applications for charter schools (application deadline has passed for this year)


    -Nash H & S families were invited to ask questions of the NPSD Board Members and the following topics were brought up: 1. Chromebook concerns


    -The incoming 6th and10th graders for 2017-2018 will be getting Chromebooks before the start of the new school year. Some of the Nash parents asked if the district could provide more information, possible workshops as we move forward with more students getting them.


    2. Montgomery County study on full-day kindergarten
    -The study starts in February and results will be available in May and will be presented to NPSD Board of Directors. A question was asked if redistricting was a possibility and the answer is no. Another question was asked how the district determines these types of decisions and the answer was that there is a methodology that is used and they try to be as least disruptive for the families in the district. The district can make assumptions, but can't give concrete answers at this point. As for capping the numbers in kindergarten, the district doesn't have those numbers yet.


    3. Numbers of students on buses
    -Our buses are filled to capacity. For example, Bus 236 at Nash has 86 seats and has 84 students assigned to this bus. This doesn't allow for children to bring their musical instruments on the bus and safety is an issue.


    -The school board members extended their gratitude to all of the Nash volunteers for all of the hard work they do on behalf of the children!


    -Board members encourage all community members to attend the school board meetings. The agendas are posted on the NPSD website two days prior to the meetings and parents and taxpayers are encouraged to reach out to the board members if they have any questions or concerns. Their contact information is on the NPSD website.


  • Treasurer's Report - Steph Sharkey
    -Our H & S is looking to change banks and will be moving the accounts to another local bank in the next few weeks.


  • Teacher's Report - Mr. Coulter
    -Mr. Coulter shared with the group that the district's literary coach sent to a letter to say how great the Nash community was!


  • -He also wanted to let us know that a freezer in the cafeteria broke down recently. Our cafeteria director Donna Till and our new custodian Mike Oxenford transported all of the food items to the high school to be stored until the freezer could be fixed. Once it was repaired, they packed it all up and moved it back to Nash. Their hard work saved our school a lot of money!


    -Mr. Coulter shared that our arrival and dismissal process is very efficient and our staff has been able to get our 300+ students in and out of the building each day in under 12 minutes. There are some other schools in the district that are looking to our program to find ways to improve their arrival and dismissal procedures.


    -Mr. Moore and Mr. Calhoun will be representing our school in the upcoming basketball game against the Harlem Wizards on Saturday, January 28. Let's all come out and cheer them on! Tickets are on sale through the NPSD website.


    -The Nash teachers and staff would like to thank the Nash H & S for the monthly First Friday treats they have provided this year!


  • Principal's Report - Mr. Winkle
    -Mr. Winkle wanted to remind everyone that the Pennsylvania Agricultural Lab will be arriving at Nash on Saturday, January 14 in the afternoon. From Tuesday, January 17 through Friday, January 20, all Nash students will be visiting the lab to learn all about agriculture. This program has been done at Oak Park and received good reviews. Thank you to Mrs. Koch for getting this program for our students!


  • -He also wanted to give a huge shout out to all of the phenomenal Nash teachers for all of their hard work!


    -Mr. Winkle also talked about the SPP scores and how well Nash did.


  • New Business
    -We will be having another event at Jumpin' Jacks on Friday, March 17 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. At our last outing there, we raised $310.00. We are also looking to schedule an event there over the summer and we are looking for input from parents to see if more families would want to have it in June right after school lets out or to have it in August right before the new school year starts.


  • Coordinator's Reports
    -We are looking for a new co-coordinator for the Father/Daughter Dance for next school year.


  • -We are also looking for someone to help facilitate the Spring Zing this year (all of the preparation work will be done ahead of time; we just need someone to be there the night of the event.)


    Thank you to Jennifer Shafer and Emily Orth for babysitting this evening!


    Our next Nash Home & School meeting will be held on Thursday, February 9, 2017 at 7:00 p.m.