SFCP Meeting Minutes

2/22/2017

Attendance: Giard, Bordeau, Barber, Beahan, McCleary, Armstrong, Frizzell, Quiles-Glover

The Reading Challenge Kick-off Assembly will take place tomorrow, 2/23. This signifies the start of the Gris-Waldo Reading Challenge (Saturday 2/25) and continues until 3/22.

Family Reading Night, taking place on 2/28, has about 110 RSVPs thus far (a relatively low number, though not all who attend RSVP). There is a good teacher participation with about 15 teachers who have volunteered to read. This event also commences the Gris-Waldo reading Challenge. Kim Neilson (of 1000 Degrees Pizzeria) will be providing food - a very generous contribution. The committee agreed the Reading Night could be encouraged and advertised more by classroom teachers. Mr. Bordeau may explore the possibility of reopening the notion of a Connect-Ed text/email to announce school events to parents (attendance has suffered at school evenings this year).

Spirit Week will take place next week (2/28 thru 3/3), including Book Character Day; it was advertised in the Wednesday Folder and will be on AM announcements. Committee members will ask the PTO to send a half-page flyer home with students.

The 2017Field Daypreparations are well under way and making great progress in the right direction. Field Day events are nearly finalized. A variety of different staff members contributing their input for logistics and appropriate activities.Each grade level will have a different color t-shirt. Teachers will also have their own t-shirts. Field Day will kick off with a whole school pep rally on the high school bleachers for a school photo. Gina Barber’s brother has a drone and a drone license to take photos and video of the entire campus on Field Day; the committee will check for permissions and discuss this further at a later date. Mr. Bordeau has also arranged for a “luau” themed lunch for the students, thanks to Tom O’Connor. The next tasks include the master schedule for the day and recruit parent volunteers (2 per classroom), which will take place in March and April.

Family and Community First Griswold Updates:

  • Guys and Games went well; attendance was a little lower but it was a steady evening and guests were engaged. Everyone was engaged. Mr. Bordeau and Mrs. QG are very impressed with the groups that utilized the GES spaces and how respectful they are with clean up after events; they are very appreciative of this.
  • Equity and Social Justice Council maintains around 20-25 people each meeting, with another taking place tonight 2/22. All participants got a book two weeks ago to read for tonight’s meeting: Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? by Beverly Daniel Tatum. Next meeting will be on 3/8.
  • Bridget Kinnie has been drafting a testimony to go to our legislators for continued funding from the state for local councils, including the early childhood council; this funding is how FCFG is funded, which addresses a variety of community members including children, families, the elderly, and more.

The 2017-2018 Author Visit will be funded by the GES PTO; they have approved a $2000 budget for an author. While several different authors have been discussed, the committee is now exploring the idea of a storyteller returning. Our last storyteller was Len Cabral in 2002. He will be visiting another nearby district this spring; Judy Beahan will check in with that school to determine if it might be worthwhile to have him back to GES. Mrs. Beahan contacted Len Cabral who would cost $1500 for three in-school performances and an additional $500 for an evening performance - reaching the $2000 budget set by the PTO. Mr. Cabral has dates available in the early fall and in spring. More information will be collected. The team explored the idea of establishing a sub-committee for the Author's Visit. In addition, the Connecticut Storytelling Festival will be taking place this April and Mrs. Beahan is considering attending to network with other potential storytellers.

Principal's comments: March is a busy month with reading assembly, reading challenge, reading night, and spirit week. Mr. Bordeau’s preview of the kick-off assembly has been fantastic - Mary Strout can do impressive things with a videocamera. On another note, there will be a full-day professional develop day on Friday, 3/10. Also, parent teacher conferences will take place on 3/15 and 3/16 (both early dismissal days). There is currently no new budget information or updates. Superintendent McKenna presented at the last PTO meeting. There will be a budget meeting this coming Monday night; the budget will be presented to the Board of Finance in early March.