March 2016 Meeting Minutes

General Nash Home & School Meeting Minutes

March 10, 2016

Nash Library

The meeting was opened by President Laura Boquist. 9 people were in attendance.

February 2016 minutes approval - minutes approved

Upcoming Dates:

March:

13 Painting with a Twist Mom's Night out 6-9pm, PWAT Skippack

18 Jumpin' Jacks Family Night 6-8pm

  1. 20 Dining Night Out - Grub Burger Bar

  2. 21 Crazy Sock Day for Down Syndrome Awareness

23 No School (In Service/Spring Conferences)

24-28 No School - Spring Break

April:
1 Spirit Day - Backwards Day

8 Early Dismissal; Vendor Fair

14 H&S Meeting, 7pm, Nash Library

11-15 ELA PSSA

18-22 Math PSSA

19 Wendy's Dining Night Out

21 Spring Zing

25-29 Science PSSA

  1. 26 Snow make-up day; 6th grade trip

  2. 27 Reading Olympics at NPHS

Notes about Upcoming dates:

  • Jumpin Jacks - $10 per ticket and we get $5

  • Grub Burger Bar - this is located by Montgomery Mall (309 side). It runs all day and they deliver (for a charge).

  • Vendor fair - fundraiser for Class of 2017 (current 5th grade class). This is the 1st fundraiser for this class.

  • Spring Zing has been changed to Thursday night (21st), since Friday night is the first night of Passover. It will run from 6:30-

    8:30.

    Teacher Representatives - Ms. Johnson and Ms. Catto

  • Mrs. Hannig wanted to send her thanks to H&S for the book fair - that it was really nice

  • Ms. Caiola wanted to convey that they are still looking for speakers for the Career Fair. It runs from 9:30-3, for 45 minute

    session. Even if folks could help with 1 session, it would be greatly appreciated.

  • Ms. Catto told us that the teachers were very appreciative for the Popcorn Bar that the H & S put out for them on Dr. Seuss

    Day.

    Iron Knights - Ms. Johnson

  • Date is Saturday May 21st , cost is $22 (slight increase from $20 last year)

  • Ms. Johnson just gave a triathlon presentation to all classes. The district IronKnights information is linked off her website.

  • It's the 5th year for the triathlon. The 1st year had 450 participants. Last year there were 1,100+ participants.

  • This year there is a parent group (IPSG). They are meeting every month. The organizers didn't want to raise entry prices significantly, so now they have approval to do advertising. They have reached out to local companies to see if they want to put a flyer in pickup bags. The parent group will also run the snack stand. Get in touch with Jason Theodore if interested in participating in the group.

  • They are in need of volunteers for the actual triathlon- please see the IK website for the signup genius.

  • They also have their own store with IK merchandise. This is the same company who does the shirts. It isn't known what color the shirts are this year.

  • Registration is closing April 21st

  • Swim practices start 3/12. Nash is assigned 1:15-1:45. Please be truthful about child's swim ability when you sign up sothey get slotted in the right spot.

  • North Penn Aquatics has swim lessons specific for triathlon participants.

  • Ms. Johnson will try to do a few IK practice sessions, but this is not set in stone yet.

  • The distances are listed on the website.

  • There is a pick up night to pick bags up.

  • The transition areas are closed at certain times. Please pay attention to when transitions are open for set up.

    Principal's Report - Mr. Winkle

  • Mr. Winkle shared that our school was the second highest in donations for the Foundation February spirit days.

  • He reminded everyone that classroom teachers will be holding parent conferences on Wednesday, March 23 and they willbe contacting the parents with appointment times. All 6th graders will have a conference.

  • He also reminded us that PSSA's will be taking place in the next few weeks. Mr. Winkle will encourage the teachers to notassign homework, tests, quizzes or additional projects. The students need downtime.

  • There will be school on Tuesday, April 26 which is Primary Election Day. The school district is using this day as a snow make-up day. The district has decided that a student absence on this day would count as an "excused absence" (including the sixth graders participating in their class field trip.) Mr. Winkle has developed a security plan to keep the Nash students safe that day since there will be many people in the building. He has submitted his plan to the district for approval. He told us that many safety measures are in place and that he believes our school is very safe.

    Treasurer's Report - Laura Boquist

  • Laura shared that the Nash Basketball Blast raised $460 for the Nash Alumni Scholarship Fund. 51 Nash students in fourth,fifth and sixth grades participated in the blast. Other schools heard about our event and are looking at ways they might want to do something similar to our model. Laura also explained what the Nash Alumni Scholarship Fund was and the application process for the scholarship.

  • She explained how the "break even" events (Book Fair, Daddy/Daughter Dance, Winter Carnival) were represented on the budget.

  • She also announced that the Yankee Candle Fundraiser flyer will be coming home in the communication envelopes on Monday with the fundraising packet to follow.

    New Business

Welcome Committee: Since the school district is talking about a border realignment that would affect Nash, we are looking for ways to welcome the new students/families who would be coming to our school next year. (There will be an ECP meeting on Monday, March 14 at 6:30 p.m. to discuss this topic.) We will be looking for a representative from each grade and each school to plan no cost/low cost social events and gatherings to take place over the next few months. These activities will give everyone a chance to get to know each other. We will also make sure we share information about any of our upcoming Nash events (ex: Jumpin' Jacks) with the other elementary schools.

Previous Business

  • Book Fair: We had a successful Book Fair this year! A great big thank you to Kristen Mallitz and Tiffanie Stanton and their team of volunteers for all of their hard work! We had $3,725.11 in sales and $1,017 credit to redeem. The details of the amounts to be given to the library and teachers will be decided later. The ice cream social was also a big success!

  • Be The Match: We had 10 people register for the bone marrow donor program during the Book Fair. With all of the people that registered at the Gwynedd Square events, a total of 75 people were added to the registry!

    Coordinator Reports

  • Box Tops: Our last collection earned our school $450. Keep sending them in!

  • Since the Campbell's Labels for Education is ending, we need to send in any that we have by the end of this school year(June 2016.)

  • Vendor Fair: The Vendor Fair will be held on Friday, April 8. We already have 30 paid vendors.