PES PTO Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Attendance: Jen Parrella, Karen O’Leary, Kris Belmont, Maureen Nee, Cindy Bensley, Seema D’Sousa, Barrie Vela, Kellie Sood, Christina DaCunha, Lori Karp, Meg Temple, Sue Grom, Kathy Letendre, Melinda Lovelett, Jackie Westlein, Michele Pangle, Kasey Schneider, Cathy Winter, Dawn Kowalski, Jen Enger, Wendy Nagashima, Rachel Vanness, Eileen Studdert, Pat Hieri, Sharon Cameron, Heather Ellicott, Ann Marie Monahan, Marni Baggett, Silvina Castillo, Karen Opalka, Gina DelVento, Mary Nichols, Marge Skinger, Tara Carter, Christine Koobatian, Beth Rosen, Cindy Canty, Theresa Forish (39 attendees).

Start time: 9:35 AM

President’s Report (Christine Koobatian)

Welcome: Christine Koobatian welcomed everyone and thanked Dawn Kowalski for organizing the refreshments and the Teacher Appreciation Breakfast last Friday.

Introduction: Introduction of the rest of the Board members: Vice Presidents: Cathy Winter, Michele Pangle, Beth Rosen, Treasurers Marni Baggett and Ann Marie Monahan, Secretaries Tara Carter and Eileen Studdert and Rep at Large Yvette Allen-Lomaro.

Sense of Family: The Board has been working hard to create a sense of family here at PES, and build camaraderie and friendships through different programs and committees. It is an inclusive organization, not an exclusive one and our sole purpose is to make PES the best possible school it can be.

Smart Boards: Two years ago our focus was technology, specifically Smart Boards, which is interactive technology in the classrooms. We purchased 13 Smart Boards for PES. Now we have Smart Boards in every 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classroom and one 1st grade classroom. We are now working on local business, personal and corporate donations to fill the balance. Cathy Winter is taking the lead with this pursuit.

Playing Fields: Last year we began to raise money to improve our playing fields. Our fields are dry and dusty, and we don’t have much grass. Our kids run around on a black top area behind the school. Carman Dragone is working with Mr. Joe and professional landscapers and irrigation specialists to give us an estimate. We are hoping to form a committee to assess what our needs are, and also see if we can get the town and/or organized sports clubs (baseball, soccer, lacrosse) to help with the costs. If you are interested in helping, please let Carman know. People with a background in landscaping, negotiations, project management or sports would be helpful. Anyone who has an interest in helping.

Family Picnic: We would like to thank Jen Nikolich and Laura Legg for organizing the volunteers and pizza orders. Please sign up to help at the picnic, even for just a half hour. If everyone pitches in, we can all have fun, and the responsibilities won’t be on the hands of a few.

Evening under The Stars: Last year we raised over $28,000. This year we have the date booked (April 9th), and we are looking to form a committee. The majority of the core committee is staying together, and this year Cathy Winter and Michele Pangle will Chair the event. Looking for a creative person to organize the decorations.

PES Notepads: Finally, thank you to Janet Yule for providing PES notepads to us at cost. We are selling them for $5 each at our PTO meetings.

Teacher’s Representative Report (Cindy Canty)

Cindy Canty and Carolyn Mathews will be sharing the role of Teacher’s PTO Representative for this school year.

A resounding THANK YOU from the entire staff for the incredible breakfast on Friday. What a great way to end the first week of school! Your kindness, generosity and efforts were greatly appreciated.

Mrs. Soltez extends a thank you for the funds to purchase Pomperaug Pall t-shirts – it’s very appreciated by Pal students.

171 students returned the list of books they read or listened to over the summer on the first day of school and received a new book. All students who handed in the list of summer books during the first week of school received a prize. The number of children who read over the summer along with the books they read or listened to is sent to the governor as part of the Summer Reading Challenge.

Help is needed with the Media Center book inventory! If you are available Monday, Tuesday or Thursday from 11:30 to 12:50 and would like to help us get ready to do an inventory of books by ‘shelf reading’*, please email Pat Smith at to let her know when you are available. Mrs. Smith will train you to help in this task. Every little bit helps – you do not need to stay for the entire block of time. After ‘shelf-reading’ is complete, help will be needed to complete an inventory**.

* Shelf Reading is checking to see that all the books are in their exact expected place according to their call number.

** Inventory is done using a special hand held device and a lap top computer to check that all the books we are supposed to have are actually present.

A large zip lock bag is needed in your child’s backpack to safely transport their library book. A zip lock could save you 15 or more dollars if a book is in one when a water bottle, food, etc. explodes in a backpack.

Principal’s Report (Theresa Forish)

Thank you to the PTO. Christine Koobatian has been extremely helpful getting me “up to speed” on the great work of the PES PTO. I am especially thankful to Michele Pangle and Cathy Winter for their hard work making the kindergarten orientation and new family orientation such a success. Every new kindergarten student and family was made to feel so welcome. This speaks volumes for the wonderful school community at PES!

Despite the oppressive heat we had a smooth start to the school year. Central office had industrial fans and bottled water brought in to help make things a little more bearable. In addition to myself, there are several new staff members joining the PES family:

  • Jennifer MacCallum, Grade 3 comes to Region 15 with two years of teaching experience. She taught 3rd grade in Newtown and 4th grade in Region 14 last school year.
  • Liz Szondy, Grade 3 comes to Region 15 with one year of teaching experience. She taught 4th grade in Westport last school year.
  • Ann Lachmann, Long Term Grade 5 is returning to PES having covered a long term position last school year.
  • Christine Allegretto, Long Term Grade 1 is returning to PES having done her internship and student teaching her with Stacey Broden.
  • Kim Saginario, Art worked part-time at PHS last school year.
  • Lisa Calabro, PE is a recent graduate of Southern CT State University.
  • Connie Labbe, Long Term Music is a recently retired music teacher.
  • Nicole Rocci, Intern is being mentored by Mark Ciccone.
  • Megan Porto, Speech Pathologist is a recent graduate of Southern CT State University.
  • Carol Spaulding, .5 Speech Pathologist is a recent graduate of Southern CT State University.
  • Meghan Andreo, Resource Room Teacher is a recent graduate of St. Joseph’s College.
  • Currently interviewing for one SIP tutor and a long term substitute for the Reading Consultant who will be on a personal leave for at least two months.

Connecticut Mastery Test (CMT) Data Overview

  • CMT results will be sent home to parents Friday, September 10, 2010 for those students who took the test last year. When the CMTs go out I always emphasize that every test is a snapshot of a child’s achievement at one point in time. The best means for measuring student academic achievement is to look at growth over time using multiple indicators such as homework, quizzes, tests, report cards and standardized tests like the CMT.
  • Last year PES’s special education population did not meet the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) target under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and therefore PES was considered in “safe harbor.” Under NCLB any school that has a subgroup of 40 students or more, must have all students in that subgroup met or exceed the AYP target. If they do not two years in a row they are identified as “in need of improvement” and subject to sanctions. The special education population did meet the targets this year therefore PES is no longer in “safe harbor.” However, the target was met by less than 1%, showing that there is much room for improvement.
  • The school as a whole continues to do well:

Math Spring 2010
Grade / Below Basic / Basic / Proficient / Goal / Advanced / Proficient
and Above / Goal
and Above
3 / 1.2 / 2.4 / 19 / 50 / 27.4 / 96.4 / 77.4
4 / 0 / 0 / 5.9 / 54.1 / 40 / 100 / 94.1
5 / 0 / 1.1 / 10.5 / 35.8 / 52.6 / 98.9 / 88.4
Reading Spring 2010
Grade / Below Basic / Basic / Proficient / Goal / Advanced / Proficient
and Above / Goal
and Above
3 / 7.1 / 7.1 / 11.9 / 47.6 / 26.2 / 85.7 / 73.8
4 / 2.4 / 2.4 / 12.9 / 60 / 22.4 / 95.3 / 82.4
5 / 4.2 / 4.2 / 7.4 / 53.7 / 30.5 / 91.6 / 84.2
Writing Spring 2010
Grade / Below Basic / Basic / Proficient / Goal / Advanced / Proficient
and Above / Goal
and Above
3 / 4.7 / 12.9 / 28.2 / 32.9 / 21.2 / 82.4 / 54.1
4 / 2.3 / 5.8 / 17.4 / 51.2 / 23.3 / 91.9 / 74.4
5 / 1.1 / 1.1 / 11.6 / 61.1 / 25.3 / 97.9 / 86.3
Science Spring 2010
Grade / Below Basic / Basic / Proficient / Goal / Advanced / Proficient
and Above / Goal
and Above
5 / 0 / 4.2 / 18.8 / 50 / 27.1 / 95.8 / 77.1
  • Results suggest Math is a relative strength and language arts is a relative weakness.
  • Most areas show a natural progression of growth as children move from 3rd to 5th grade.
  • Spotlight on the 4th grade 100% proficient and above score in math – very rare to receive a perfect score.
  • In comparison to other Region 15 elementary schools, PES performed similarly on CMTs in all areas aside from writing. Other area schools, such as Longmeadow and Gainfield, scored higher in writing. Similar scores are expected, as areas within Region 15 are relatively homogeneous in terms of demographics.
  • I presented the results along with a cohort analysis to the staff at our first staff meeting. We will be looking more closely at these results and the trend data to determine our focus for improvement.

Implementation of the new Language Arts Curriculum.

The new LA curriculum is a result of several years of work in the region. Recommendations for the new curriculum came from the leadership of our district LA Curriculum Team with continuous input from teachers. The goal was to develop a standards-based conceptual curriculum that would increase the rigor and relevance of what students should understand, know and be able to do in LA. The intent was to allow students more time to practice authentic reading, writing, speaking, listening and viewing tasks, to offer more choice in text selection, to organize the curriculum around units of study (genre studies, author studies, thematic studies) and to provide instruction through a workshop framework.

A workshop framework emphasizes the social and collaborative nature of learning through some defined lesson components (mini lesson with a specific teaching point, student practice, small group instruction, and closure where students briefly share their learning). Collectively, these lesson components help build a rich literacy community.

Teacher writing teams worked each summer reviewing, redefining and revising the work to create units that support deep process instruction. The content of each unit serves as the vehicle for teaching students the essential skills, knowledge and understandings of language arts.

Birthday Celebrations

  • Each student will be recognized by the principal on their birthday.
  • There will be a birthday celebration done by grade level for those in grades 1-5 in the cafeteria each month.
  • Each grade level has brainstormed ideas of non-food ways of recognizing each students birthdays.
  • Ideas for parents are listed in the school’s handbook; donate a book, stickers, pencils, bookmarks, erasers.

Vice President’s Report (Cathy Winter)

PES is participating in the A+ School Reward Program at Stop & Shop. For those who registered last year, registration is needed again each year. The first three digits of your last name along with your thirteen digit Stop & Shop number are needed. As long as registration is completed at the same time, sponsorship can be divided between more than one school. Anyone from anywhere can join – parents, grandparents, distant relative, friends, neighbors and acquaintances. Last year PES was rewarded approximately $2,500 through the Stop & Shop Program. Sign up forms were recently distributed to students. Contact Cathy Winter () should you need an electronic version of the sign up form.

Secretary’s Report (Tara Carter/Eileen Studdert)

Please remember to sign in on the PTO Sign-in sheet and add your name to the raffle.

Treasurer’s Report (Marni Baggett)

Discussed the process of creating the 2010-2011 school budget and that each month year to date actual will be reported at the PTO meetings.

For those Committee Chairs who did not speak to Marni after the meeting, please reach out to her for your budget packet.

If anyone has any questions regarding the budget, please contact Marni Baggett or Ann Marie Monahan.

Marni will be phasing out in her role as PTO Treasurer. Ann Marie Monahan is transitioning to assume Marni’s role.

Committee Reports

1.Family Picnic (Christine Koobatian)

Big thanks to Jen Nikolich and Laura Legg for helping to coordinate the volunteers and pizza orders, respectively.

All pizza must be pre-ordered; no pizza will be available for sale on the day of the event.

2.e-Labels for Education Program offered at Shop Rite (Ann Marie Monahan)

This program allows those who register their Shop Rite card to accumulate points for PES through the purchase of certain brand products. Points can then be redeemed for school supplies. Ann Marie will be sending further information to parents.

3.After School Enrichment (Eileen Studdert)

After school enrichment forms will be sent out October 1st.

Program registration will begin October 4th.

Classes begin October 12th.

4.Room Parent Coordinator (Karen Opalka)

Teachers are selecting room parents from those who submitted the blue Room Parent Form.

There will be a meeting for all Room Parents on September 16th at 9:30am in the Southbury Public Library.

5.Student Directory (Christine Koobatian)

Erin Delaney is organizing this year’s student directory.

Please return the gold form that went home in student backpacks the first week of school to be included in the directory.

Directories cost $2.00 to cover the cost of printing.

6.Odyssey of the Mind (OM) (Christine Koobatian on behalf of Marge Skinger)

An Odyssey of the Mind registration form will soon be coming home in student backpacks.

OM is an international creative problem solving competition that was created to help nurture the creative spirit of children. It also has a strong focus on team work. There are 4 divisions – elementary, middle school, high school and even college level.

PES has participated in the program for 7 years. Last year’s primary team, coached by Tara Carter, has already said they will do it again this year!

OM has students work on teams of 5 to 7 members that work together from now through the end of March to solve a problem in the most creative way they can.

Each year there is a list of 6 problems that teams select from: The problems are: A Vehicle problem that has the team build a large or small vehicle that must complete certain tasks. (This year the kids will have to build mousetrap cars.) A Structure problem that has teams building a structure that can support as much weight as possible, but with very specific guidelines.The other 3 problems are more performance based, although ALL 5 have an element of performance in their solution.For example, the technical problem will have teams building a Rube Goldberg machine but it is incorporated into an 8 minute performance.

A primary team of Kindergarten, First and/or Second graders have a special problem that ONLY they can do. The requirements for this problem are a little less strict, and although the kids go to the state competition, it is not competitive and all teams receive lots of positive feedback and a medal. It’s a great way to ease into OM. But you definitely do not have to start as a primary team to have fun and do well.

OM is a commitment – teams form now and work together each week until the state competition in March.

Students are encouraged to make their own team or partial team. A team has a minimum of 5 students and a maximum of 7. Each team also must have an adult coach, or better yet – 2 co-coaches.

OM requires parents or other adults to serve as Coaches for a team, however, the team must solve the entire problem by themselves!!! Every prop, costume, scenery, dialog, MUST be from the team’s hands and minds. Parents and coaches can NOT even make a simple suggestion because that is outside assistance. They CAN, however, teach team members a skill such as sewing, or how axels work on a vehicle, or different methods of painting. But they can’t influence the decisions of the team in any way.

Every year students are turned away from the program because there are not enough coaches for the teams. PLEASE consider coaching (or better yet – CO-coaching) your child’s team. It IS a commitment for everyone – teams must meet weekly for the best progress. The Place of the meetings is usually at one of the coaches’ house because the kids eventually will be building sets and props and they need a location to do that. A basement is an ideal location.WHEN, WHERE and for HOW LONG is determined by the team and the coach once the teams are put together.