VALLEY CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL PTSA Meeting Minutes Tuesday, September 26, 2017 IN ATTENDANCE: Thomas Balducci, Asst. Principal AnnMarie Brodzinski, Member Samantha Brodzinski, Student Katie Connolly, Vice President Christa Grohowski, Secretary Maureen Hedden, Parent Lisa Kuenzi, Council Delegate Zach Kuenzi, Student Roberta Nakagawa, Member Chris Ann Harper-O Connor, President David Romano, Student Sophia Romano, Treasurer Meeting called to order at 6:35PM Chris Ann Harper-O Connor welcomed everyone to a new school year! TREASURER S REPORT: Current balance in the checking account is $1,950.81 A request for volunteers was made as the books need to be audited; Christa Grohowski & Roberta Nakagawa will do this. PRINCIPAL S REPORT: - Thomas Balducci delivered and reviewed; see attached. Lisa Kuenzi brought up the fact that the new School Tools for parent access is not up & running. Tom will look into this. OLD BUSINESS: Tom to report back regarding the previously requested $200.00 by Jayme Ginda-Baxter which was approved by the PTSA for an Appreciation Day. Student Recognition Night: as Barbara Palmer has retired, what is going to happen with this important, well-received event? Jayme Ginda-Baxter has been working on finding a new point-person. NEW BUSINESS: Jets Football Fundraiser: for the Sunday, October 29 th game @1:00PM against the Atlanta Falcons. The fundraiser has been posted on Facebook with a picture of the flyer (Chris Ann showed us the flyer). Typically, the PTSA makes approximately $1,000.00 from this fundraiser (with our net profit being $10.00 per ticket). o Chris Ann will make copies of the flyer and get them to the elementary schools by October 5 th. o Katie & Sophia will also post in some local shops. Open Mic: Katie Connolly is the Chairperson of these events. Dates are tentatively scheduled as follows: (all Thursdays) November 16th, January 18th March 15th & April 12th;
all events will start at 7:00PM. Conflicting dates with the Music & Drama departments have been requested from Kim Carver. The Open Mic nights are similar in nature to the Sober Night Out events. They will be held in the North Cafeteria and will include acts performing vocals, music, theater anything arts-related. Participation in the Open Mics is being extended to the eighth grade students at the Middle School. Light concessions will be made available A $2.00 entrance fee was established. We have been asked by the VCMS PTO for help in manning their Membership Table during tomorrow night s Open House (Wednesday, 09/27/17, beginning at 7:00PM). Christa Grohowski & Roberta Nakagawa volunteered to do this. Barnes & Noble Fundraiser: this fundraiser is headed by Meghan Rilley. The Sunday date in December has been secured. We will have further discussions with details at the next meetings. Our PTSA Calendar of Meetings for School Year 2017-2018: we will meet the 4 th Tuesday of each month at 6:30PM in the Main Lobby. The students in attendance were asked to recruit more students to become members & attend meetings. It was encouraged to promote PTSA membership to students with their English teachers in class. We will have a working budget in place by the next meeting. Mr. Burns has asked for help with the cost of an assembly. We are providing the auditorium. Grades 6-9 and the Maybrook ALC will be invited. ROUND TABLE: Lisa Kuenzi has agreed to be our Council Delegate! A copy of the minutes from the August 29, 2017 meeting was distributed & reviewed (copy attached). Chris Ann Harper-O Connor brought to the attention of the members an article in the Walker Valley Times that appeared on August 30, 2017. It was about the nonprofit organization that had been started by PTSA Student Vice President, Christina Grohowski. Christina Cares: The Kara-Lynn Project will be fundraising to benefit The Kara-Lynn Caltavuturo Fashion/Design Award which is given each year to a Valley Central graduate who is continuing his or her education in the fashion & design industry. This award was created by Salvatore & Kathleen Caltavuturo when their daughter, a VC alum, lost her life in a bad-weather car accident. This coming spring will mark the 10 year anniversary of Kara s passing. The Kara-Lynn Project was established to mark this anniversary & also in honor of Kara s mother, Kathleen Caltavuturo who was the paraprofessional in Christina s kindergarten class at Walden Elementary School. Congratulations & good luck in your endeavor, Christina! Meeting adjourned at 7:34PM. *SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS: October 24 November 28 January 23 February 27 March 20 April 24 May 22
Principal s Report for September 26, 2017 1. Besides the opening of the 2017-18 school year, class assemblies took place on Thursday, September 7 th whereby administration spoke to the student body about rules, procedures and expectations. Students were given an extended privilege regarding personal technology, specifically cell phones. 2. Open House took place on Thursday, September 14 th and the county wide early dismissal drill was on Wednesday, September 20 th. 3. Fall sports are in full swing as football, tennis, soccer, cross country, swimming, volleyball teams all have plenty of home games scheduled for this month. Check out the VC athletes in action. 4. Thursday night football takes place September 28 th vs. Monticello at 7 pm. 5. In the month of October, we have Spirit Week (the week of October 9) followed by Homecoming Events and the Dance. 6. A long lasting tradition at VCHS is the Senior Faculty Tea (semi-formal event) which is scheduled for Tuesday, October 3 rd at 1:50 pm. 7. Students will be dismissed at 10:20 am due to Teacher Conference Day on Wednesday, October 4 th. 8. Students should be aware SAT Prep Class will take place every Wednesday in October in room 226 & 227 from 6-8:30 pm. 9. There will be no school on Monday, October 9 th in honor of Columbus Day. 10. Second Cup of Coffee with the Superintendent will take place on Friday, October 13 th either in the main lobby or on the front steps. 11. On the same day, homecoming decorations is scheduled from 2 pm- 6pm, Hall of Fame Inductions begins at 5:30 pm located in the Gym, SC and the Auditorium and lastly the Homecoming game vs. Warwick at 7 pm. 12. The following day, Saturday, October 14 th, is the Homecoming Dance from 7 pm -11pm. Students remember it is a semi-formal affair.
13. Wednesday, October 18 th, the National English Honor Society will have their Induction Ceremony in the auditorium at 6:30 pm. 14. Going to college? Parents should not forget about an important meeting, Financial Night, sponsored by the Guidance Department takes place at 6 pm in the auditorium on Thursday, October 19 th. 15. VC Dreams is sponsoring their 3 rd Sober Night Out at VCHS on Thursday, October 26 th from 6-9pm. It s a night of activities reminding our students they can have fun without using illegal substances. $5 entrance fee will benefit the VC Dream Scholarship fund. 16. School Pictures? Senior Class and Underclassmen picture retakes scheduled for Friday, October 27 th throughout the day in the professional library. 17. Students should be aware that VCHS does not celebrate Halloween. As such students will not be allowed to wear any costumes to school. Announcements to follow. 18. Please remember as of this Thursday, VCHS will revert back to its original bell schedule. Students day starts at 7:25 am and ends at 1:52 pm; post session ends at 2:25 pm. 19. Any special custodial requests please email me ASAP.
Valley Central PTA/PTO Council Delegate Report for Tuesday, August 29 th Prepared by Lisa Kuenzi on 8-30, 2017 Superintendents Report: HS and MS will run on a new schedule this year, starting 15 minutes later Bussing All busses will now have 2 cameras and audio recording!! 30 of the busses will run on propane All new busses Construction in High School All bathrooms except one, have been refinished. The last one will be finished during second shift, so classes/students will not be disturbed. Ceilings will be open all year and finished next summer. Windows will be replaced next summer, as well. Our new parent portal will be run on School Tools Restructuring of duties in the Administration Building. Mike Bellerosa and Lisa Raymond will be taking over the duties of the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources and Pupil Services. Curriculum will be done by three Curriculum Councils: Elementary Schools, Middle School and High School. We are on the DOT queue to get a traffic light, which is expected to be years away. The District is considering funding the light initially and then getting reimbursed by the state, other grants or taxes. A study is being done to reconfigure the parking lots for the HS & MS with the new light see how we can implement this in a cost-effective manner. The high school auditorium will be getting their seats reupholstered and air conditioning will be installed! September 23 rd is Community Day at the MS/HS Complex. It was suggested that all PTAs/PTOs merge their activities into one calendar to note scheduling conflicts and duplicate fundraisers. If the PTSA wants to put their calendar onto Google Calendar, the council will merge all the calendars into one. Would the PTSA like to set up a table at Community Day? Fill out an application.