September 2016 H&S Meeting Minutes

General Nash Home and School Meeting - Minutes

Wednesday, September 14, 2016 7:00 p.m. Nash Library


  • President's Welcome
  • We had 23 people in attendance.
  • August 2016 Minutes were approved.
  • Upcoming Dates:

  • September:


    17 6th Grade Car Wash - 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
    Clothing Drive - 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
    23 Room Parent & Coordinator Orientation - 9:20 a.m.
    30 Early Dismissal (AM Kindergarten will attend this day; PM Kindergarten will not)

    October:

    3 No School - Rosh Hashanah 5 Walk to School Day
    7 Show Your Colors Spirit Day 9-15 Fire Prevention Week

    1. 12 No School - Yom Kippur

    2. 13 H & S Meeting - 7:00 p.m. (back to Thursday evening)

    1. 17 Box Tops Due

    2. 18 March-a-Thon

    23 Painting With A Twist (fundraiser for adults) - 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. 23-31 Red Ribbon Week
    25 March-a-Thon (Rain date)
    31 Halloween Parade & Parties

    Notes on Upcoming Dates:


    1. 6th Grade Car Wash: There will also be a bake sale!
    2. Clothing Drive: Impact Thrift is providing the truck to collect the items on Saturday.


    Nash will be receiving $0.05 per pound for books and $0.10 per pound for everything else. We recently found out that Towamencin Township will now allow clothing collection bins at Nash and we will be getting them from Impact Thrift when the paper recycling bins in the lower parking lot are removed. We will continue to recycle paper through Waste Management.


    3. Box Tops: Please place box tops in bags or on the forms that will be sent home soon. Also, please check to make sure that the box tops that are being sent in have not expired.


    4. Halloween Parade & Parties: Mrs. Koch is going to find out what the times are for both events. The school district is requiring that all volunteers need to have their clearances on file this year. If you are not sure if the district has your clearances, please contact Terry Dolan at the ESC.


  • Treasurer's Report - Steph Sharkey
    Receipts have come in for the Welcome Back Picnic and for a couple of field trips. We are in good shape for the start of the school year!

  • Principal's Report (Dana Koch, Principal's Secretary)
    (Mr. Winkle was unable to attend the meeting tonight as he was going to his son's school for their Back To School event.)
    Mrs. Koch shared with us that the school district will be hosting a districtwide parent information night on the Chromebooks (details will follow). The Nash staff has implemented a new arrival and dismissal procedure and there are three groups of teachers that will be monitoring the parent pickup area at dismissal time each day. These teams will be rotating so that the teachers will get to know the adults that are picking the children up. Mrs. Koch reminded us to please let the office staff know if there is any change for your child's plan for dismissal.
    Mr. Winkle is continuing to send out his weekly Nash Notes to share information with parents. Mrs. Koch also mentioned that Walk to School Day is coming up on October 5 and the Nash staff is working on the details for this event.

  • Teachers' Report - Ms. Catto
    Ms. Catto shared that the teachers and staff really enjoyed the "candy bar" that was provided by the Nash parents and wanted to say thank you!

  • New Business
    • Fundraising:

    • -Directory Ads: To fund our yearly H & S budget of approximately $22,500, we started selling advertising space in our school directory. Forms are still available to place a directory ad, but they are due back by September 23, 2016. The school directory should be coming out by November.


    -March-a-Thon: This is our fifth year of running our March-a-thon and we raised approximately $12,000 in 2015. Our fundraising goal for this year is going to be $12,000. The event is being held on Tuesday, October 18, 2015 with a rain date of Tuesday, October 25, 2015. The students will earn "feet" that they can put on a bracelet to show how many laps they completed.


    -Jumpin' Jacks: This event will be held on Friday, November 11, 2016 and will cost $10 per child ($5.00 of that will go back to Nash as a fundraiser). Students from all grades are invited and we will probably another event at Jumpin' Jacks in the spring.


    -School Store: Tanya MacGregor and Michele Soltis are heading up this new fundraiser. The School Store will be open before school on three Fridays each month. Kindergarten and First Grade will be allowed to shop one week; Second and Third Grade the next week; and Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Grade the following week. The students will be required to check in with their classroom teacher when they arrive to school in the morning before they'll be allowed to visit the School Store. More information will be coming home about this!

    • FUNraising:

    • -Show Your Colors Spirit Day (October 7, 2016)

    • (Last year when we did this, a member of the yearbook committee was able to get a "whole school" picture. We are in the process of getting NPTV to bring their drone to Nash to get this year's picture.)

    Events:


    • -Social Media & Internet Safety Information Night: Nash hosted an event such as this in February 2015 with the help of Ray Wilson, head of NPSD Security. We are looking to host a similar event this year and are working on making the arrangements.


    • -Mother/Son Night: Planning is in the works for this event

    • -Father/Daughter Night: We did this activity for the first time last year and it was very successful. This year it will be held on Friday, February 10, 2017.


    Volunteer:


    • -Room Parent & Coordinator Tea: Forms to sign up to be a room parent and/or coordinator went home already and are due back on September 16. The Room Parent & Coordinator Tea will be held on Friday, September 23 starting at 9:20 a.m. in the cafeteria. This meeting will give the volunteers an opportunity to meet with each other to begin planning grade level events for the school year.

    -Nash Volunteer Crew (NVC): Flyers went home this week for parents to sign up to be a part of the Nash Volunteer Crew. These volunteers must have their clearances. The NVC will have opportunities throughout the year to help with various jobs at and around Nash.


    Kindergarten: Violet 1st Grade: Dark Blue 2nd Grade: Light Blue 3rd Grade: Green 4th Grade: Yellow 5th Grade: Orange 6th Grade: Red


  • Coordinator Reports

  • -Communications (Shannon Snyder): A form was sent out to ask parents the best way to send out information to them. Shannon asked that these forms be returned. She also asked parents to let her know if they are not receiving the Nash updates (Constant Contact) through their email. She is working on updating the Nash website and it should be completely updated by the end of September.


    -Spirit Days (First Friday of the Month)


    September: Red, White and Blue October: Show Your Colors November: Hat
    December: Fashion Disaster January: Pajamas


    February: Sports March: Dr. Seuss April: Disney May: Super Hero June: Beach


    **These spirit day themes are subject to change and we will let the families know if they are changed.


    -Drama Club: Again, we will be providing a Drama Club program for the Nash students. We will have three groups (First & Second Grade; Third & Fourth Grade; and Fifth and Sixth Grade) with approximately 20-22 students in each of the three groups. These workshops will run from 3:45-5:45 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays for 18 weeks. For information about the Drama Club will be coming home soon.


  • Open Forum Q&A
    -Kindness Rocks: The Nash staff loves this theme and the families really enjoyed making the rocks at the Welcome Back Picnic. If anyone has ideas of how we can incorporate this theme throughout the year, please share them with the Home & School.

  • -Mr. Lee, our Nash custodian, has been out on medical leave for the past couple of weeks. If students and families would like to make or get cards for him, please give them to the Nash office staff and they'll make sure to pass them on to him. We hope to see him back at Nash soon!


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


    Next Nash Home & School meeting will be held on Thursday, October 13, 2016 at 7:00 p.m.