Discovery Parent Teacher Organization

General Meeting, March 11, 2009

8AM – 10AM

MINUTES





The meeting was held at the Discovery School cafeteria. There were 11 parents and teachers in attendance, including the two Area Administrators and the Head of School.


DPTO Spring Purchase - Router

Carlos Ferrera joined the first part of the meeting to discuss the possible purchase of a router for the school, to be funded by the DPTO. After some discussion of the need and the best way to manage the school’s technology, Debbie Giles approved the router purchase, which will provide wireless Internet for the entire school. Kris Angerthal noted that she could pick up the router while in the United States this month, if she has been given the information on which one and where to purchase. Carlos promised to get back to the DPTO within a couple of days with prices and a point of purchase.


Family Day

Family Day will be celebrated by the Discovery School for the first time this year. This will replace the Mother’s Day/Father’s Day celebrations that took place in the past, and will also serve a farewell/recognition function similar to the previous year’s Picnic Under the Stars.


The event will take place on April 30th. The group set the time for 5:30- 8:30 pm. This will be a joint school-DPTO event. Cristiana Banegas and Amy Robertson agreed to be co-leaders for the event, and Eduardo Retes and Martha Bandes volunteered for the planning committee.


Martha Bandes suggested a scavenger hunt, where there are games in each classroom, which have to be played in order to get the next clue.


Kim Bradley relayed the experience of a carnival-style event at her children’s previous school, where each classroom set up an age-appropriate game, and those who played received a token prize, in this case a little piece of candy.


Cristiana Banegas and Gloria Palacios agreed that the regular classroom teachers could each take responsibility for setting up games. Ideally, these would be games that include interaction with the parents. Those who teach specials could perhaps help with the food.


The DPTO will take responsibility for organizing the food.


Jackie Greene noted the American School had a family day the previous weekend and mentioned the set up and ideas there. She also suggested incorporating parent vs. parent competitions, and parent/kid partner competitions.


While Gloria and Cristiana confirmed that they will organize the second annual Discovery Idol Talent Show in May, there was discussion of having some kind of performances/entertainment, such as a choir performance, a song or two each from the elementary and secondary schools, and even a mariachi band was mentioned.


The idea of having the art teacher organize an exhibition was also mentioned.


It was agreed that this should be an event to build community more than a fundraiser. Games will be free of charge. Money can be raised through the sale of food.


International Flags

There was a very brief discussion of having international flags at the school. Debbie pointed out that she had requested embassies to donate flags through the newsletter and only got one response.


Staff Appreciation

Kim Bradley presented her plan for Staff Appreciation week. She needed one more idea: Debbie Giles mentioned votive candles (“lighting the way for our students”), although Kim pointed out that she doesn’t have much money to spend on this. Elizabeth Morrison mentioned the idea of having parents write notes to their teachers. One parent in each class would need to take the responsibility for contacting the others to urge/remind them to do this. Cristiana pointed out that this would be ideal for Tuesday during the appreciation week, as it is actually Teacher’s Day, and could replace a purchase by the DPTO for that day. Kris and Elizabeth will be responsible for organizing the thank you’s for that Tuesday.


There also was interest in involving Elementary and Secondary Student Councils. We decided that we would ask STUCO to specifically recognize the maintenance, cleaning, drivers, and office staff on Tuesday May 5; for example, that they could make a giant card. Jackie Greene was going to meet with the secondary STUCO the following day, and make the suggestion.


Elizabeth Morrison urged Kim to remember to make the messages all bilingual.


Garage Sale

Darrel Freeman and Kris Angerthal along with Cristiana Banegas as staff liaison are organizing a garage sale, to be held on campus as a DPTO fundraiser. There was mention of possibly combining the activity with a car wash, that could also possibly be part of the community service. Although this would require more effort, there is also the possibility of allowing businesses to have tables or otherwise showcase what they offer, from dance and karate for children, to businesses aimed at the adults. Kris was to coordinate with Carlos F about

Car wash/community service.


However, security is a concern, so the group agreed that targeted marketing would be best. Extra security could be hired for the day. Cristiana mentioned the possibility of asking the police to send a presence for double surveillance. Visitors could also be required to leave an ID at the entrance.



Recycling Bins

STUCO has been tasked with coming up with the plan for which to buy. It was noted that Rapido Cargo will pick up items anywhere in Miami, which Jackie will relay to STUCO at their meeting on the 12th.


PE Equipment

A partial list of purchases (those already made, and those being planned) for the Elementary PE needs has been given to the DPTO. Debbie noted that we still need a list for the Secondary PE needs. Everyone present underscored the importance of getting the purchases made before the end of the school year.



Volunteer Recognition / Future Volunteers

Kris and Jackie have been working on certificates to be distributed to DPTO volunteers at the May General Assembly. Vivian Flores will provide the certificates.


Kris has requested 15 minutes at the May General Assembly in order to hand out these certificates, and to make a call for volunteers. After some discussion, it was agreed that the following positions should be filled by mid-May, both for a transition, and to prepare some items for the Fall (such as plans for welcoming newcomers).



The positions of Vice President, Secretary and Communications Officer could all be filled in the fall, also hopefully as a way to engage and draw upon new families.


The call for volunteers can also be made at Family Night, and Julia Pineda offered to have information available in her office so that any interested parent can easily stop by and pick it up.


All parents agreed to think about volunteers and start asking. The need to better engage Honduran families as well as teachers in the DPTO was especially noted.


By-Laws

Proposed by-laws were distributed. These include “job descriptions” and basic information on the functioning of the DPTO, with the aim of serving as a tool for the incoming board.


It was agreed that membership in the DPTO could be subject to a nominal fee that will be charged by the school as part of the registration process. The charge will be 100 lempiras per year per child.


The proposed by-laws include the head of school and two teacher representatives as part of the DPTO Executive Board, as a way to ensure a fully-integrated team. Debbie agreed that this is important, and was willing to free up teachers from after-school activities to enable them to fully participate. The group discussed having all meetings at 8:00 a.m. on campus, and Debbie could then ensure that the two teacher representatives are freed up to attend.


Logo

There was a brief discussion of the Discovery school logo, and putting it on products. Debbie was asked to bring this issue up with the Board of Directors, so that the school can set a policy for the use of the logo.


It was also agreed that logo shirts should all be the same color, to make identification of students easier when on field trips.


Kim suggested selling existing logowear cut-rate between now and the end of the school-year, in order to be able to start over next year with new products.


The discussion of the logo also led to comments on the lack of school colors. Amy Robertson suggested that three color combos be presented to the students for a vote.

Parents were also enthusiastic about the idea of putting the Discovery logo on other school supplies (rulers, notebooks, pencils), and having a small DPTO store, that could be open an hour or two per week (for example, 7:30-8:00 on Monday and Wednesday mornings).


Open Forum

Kris opened up the floor to questions and comments from the parents. Eduardo Retes discussed the excellent performance of the choir and other musicians at the recent national competition in San Pedro Sula. Eduardo said that the Teatro Manuel Bonilla can be rented for 2,000 lempiras, and proposed a music festival as a fundraiser. Jackie expressed concern that presenting the event as a Discovery School music recital, for example, could be a bit misleading, since some of the musicians that are not in the choir are only taking private music lessons. Gloria confirmed that the Discovery Idol Talent Competition will be held to showcase all of our talented students. Eduardo also stated that he felt choir should be a year-long commitment. Debbie and Amy wondered if by asking for a year-long commitment, the choir would lose some of its singers to the other after school activities. Debbie suggested offering choir as a “zero hour” class before school, for which students would receive credit. Eduardo thought choir could be one day a week, and a sport another day. Jackie thought choir/music/band should be integrated into the curriculum through the music classes, during the school day.


Another subject was brought up regarding the Homework Detention/Lab and its impact on after school activities.