11/13/2014

Attended: Katya Gardner (4th),\, Julie Swanson (5th, 7th, 9th), Amber Van Dyke, Yehoshua Segal (6th), Kathleen Taylor (10th)

The meeting opened with a statement from Katya, who had posted the following statement on the CVA Facebook Group, the CVA Parent Group Website, and in the preceding week’s NFTV:

CVA Parent Group Meeting
Monday, January 13th, 8:30

The CVA Parent Group was initiated by our former Tech Teacher, Patty MacDonald, in March of 2013. Its mission:

• Encouraging, participating, and supporting the students, parents, community, faculty, and administrators to work together for academic excellence

• Matching volunteers with school needs to provide pathways for parents to support the school environment and their students
  
• Helping to organize school events that deepen our community connection and enrich our students’ educational experience
  

Almost one year later, there has been a lot of learning and some great, Parent Group initiated events, including informal Class Photos, Family Fun Night, and a very needed first ever CVA Spring Clean Up and Planting in coordination with Talmud Torah School.

In November, Patty stepped down as leader, and we lost another parent highly active in the Parent Group community to homeschool. There is willingness to continue the group, but—not enough bodies making it regularly to the Monday meetings.

After missing the December meeting owing to scheduling issues, this Monday, January 13th, we will be having a meeting. The Agenda will be either how to coordinate dispersal of the tasks that the group has gathered in to itself back to CVA staff, or, attendance permitting, to organize the CVA Family Fun Night scheduled for January 31st.

Whatever the case, all good wishes to the CVA Community—hope to see you on Monday!

The CVA Parent Group-- [email protected] Katya Gardner/Dana White/Julie Swanson

Katya’s assessment was that, with this statement widely disseminated and the number of parents who had shown up on the day, combined with Dana White’s changed schedule (Dana has served as the group’s Treasurer since spring of 2013), which would no longer allow her to attend morning meetings, the responsible course was to close down the group in as orderly as possible a manner.  This motion was voted on and carried.  The group then discussed the various areas in which it had been active since March, 2013, attempting to “close” each one out with recommendations or organized information that could be forwarded, for informational purposes, to Noelle (CVA parent volunteer coordinator), the CVA Principal, and the CVA Board.

ACADEMICS

• Math Supplements There has been interest in supplementing the Aleks program with more interactive math activities, or even a math club, since the beginning of the year.
  1. Robyn and Christy had indicated the desire for a dedicated volunteer since the beginning of the year, a role, as yet, unfilled.  They had expressed the opinion that, to be of use, this would have to be a dedicated volunteer who showed up on a weekly or biweekly basis.  It was moved that this information be forwarded to Noelle, in the hopes that interested parents could be identified to fill this need.
  2. Yehoshua Segal is interested in engaging families to coordinate for a math enrichment club or activity, a motion that many at CVA Parent Group meetings have seconded.  He agreed to speak with Noelle/have his name forwarded to Noelle as a parent who would be interested in making this happen.
  3. UMTYMP.  Katya agreed to write up a notice for NFTV, reminding parents that the deadline for the February exam is coming up.
  

ORGANIZATION/INFORMATION FLOW

• CVAPG Website This will be updated to direct parents to the CVA Facebook page
  
• CVAPG Gmail Drive Documents Katya has collated these into two documents, “Events” and “Collected Notes,” printed copies of which will be sent to Noelle, the Principal, and the Chairman of the CVA Board.  These documents will also be shared online so their information will be readily available.
  
• NFTV After the business of the group is ‘completed,’ Katya will compose an announcement for NFTV to let the CVA Community know that the Parent Group will no longer be meeting.
  
• Other Yehoshua Segal made the point that even if Parent Group was no longer organizing events, it was still useful as a place for parents to exchange information, and should keep going in some form.  After some discussion, it was suggested that a recommendation be passed to Dave or Noelle that on some regular basis, perhaps Quarterly, or during conference time, it would be nice if parents were invited in for a kaffeeklatsch to information share.
  

EVENTS/ACTIVITIES/EXTRACURRICULARS

• Silent Auction Raffle Dana White (not present) will be depositing all remaining checks from the raffle to defray expenses, award prizes, and finalize the accounting.  Target Gift Cards will be awarded to Trey Kelly (1st place seller) $50, and Spencer Marks (2nd place seller) $20.
  
• Treasury All funds collected during the School Picture Day organized in the spring of 2013 will be dispersed for a specific project in the school.  Various suggestions were made, including plantings for the school grounds (in collaboration with Talmud Torah and their gardening scheme), direct support for teachers in their classrooms, and library donations.  After a vote, it was agreed that these funds would be directed to Jennifer Naglak’s classroom, with the possibility that a second, smaller fund would be directed to Lauren Odle, if the Treasurer (not present on the day) felt there was sufficient money available to justify splitting the total.
  
• Events The Parent Group contributed significantly to the organization of several events over the past ten months.  The document that Katya had prepared, collating all notes, links, signage, and forms she could find, was reviewed by the group.  A number of suggestions were made as to how to increase that document’s utility.  Katya said she’d do more work on it, as well as attempt to include specific contact information  for all those who had volunteered in the past.
  
• ECO Club Michelle Albrect de Grados, currently in charge, has been collaborating with Noelle.
  
• Soccer Amber discussed some of the issues that had come up with the team organization this year, and expressed her willingness to be involved with the team next year.
  
• Library Katya reported that she’d processed most of a new donation, was working on the “multiple copies” closet (in Amanda’s room).  Noelle wants her to get other parents involved.  After she’d completed her secretarial work for the Parent Group, she intended to be in touch with Noelle to help make this happen.
  
• IEP/504 Subgroup Becky Daniels was leading this effort but has not been in touch with the group for some months.  The status of her efforts is unclear
  
  

A.O.B.--Final

It was agreed that the group had been a great experiment, had done some good work, but it was also accepted that owing to CVA’s hire of a Parent Volunteer Organizer, aspects of the group’s mission  were now redundant, and, coincident with leadership losses, it was best to discontinue the group in its current form.  Everyone present at the meeting expressed a desire to continue volunteering at CVA, working directly through Noelle and staff requests.

11/11/2013

Attended: Patty McDonald (8th), Dana White(6th), Julie Swanson (5th, 7th, 9th), Katya Gardner (4th), Yehoshua Segal (6th), Yvonne.  Faculty Guest: Principal Dave Glick

ACADEMICS

There was no opportunity to discuss CVA Academics at this meeting owing to extraordinary circumstances.

ORGANIZATION/INFORMATION FLOW

• New Issues of Concern
  This was an extraordinary meeting as it commenced with Patty McDonald’s announcement that she was retiring from the post of CVAPG President (an announcement that would be swiftly followed by the news that Misha Liang would be also be resigning from the parent group as her family situation is changing and she will now be schooling from home).
                Patty founded the CVA Parent Group in March of 2013.  The news of her resignation was received with sadness and dismay, as her departure from this role will leave a huge hole in the CVA Community and necessitate much ‘stepping up’ from other CVA Parents if the CVA Parent Group is to continue.
                Principal Dave Glick stepped in for the first part of the meeting to join in the discussion this issue.
                Patty’s departure was triggered by events on the evening of the Silent Auction.  Funds from the CVA Parent Group Eagle Bluffs Raffle, an amount of ~$557.00, were inadvertently mixed into the proceeds from the general Silent Auction and Spaghetti Dinner Night.  The smaller part of this money was in checks written to the Parent Group, the remainder was in cash.  When the Silent Auction organizers needed change as Auction Winners came forward to pay for their prizes, the raffle cash was, first, used to help make change, and, second, removed from its separate envelope and combined with the cash taken in from the rest of the evening.
                The Parent Group has, in the past, approached CVA leadership regarding its fundraising (April 2013 and the Class Pictures event).  It was determined at that time that CVA Parent Group Funds should be held separately from the school’s accounts. 
                Because of mistakes that were made, including mistakes that the CVA Parent group made, it was not deemed convenient or possible to exactly hand back to the group the cash element of the fund we had raised.  Because of disagreements over the management of this money, Patty chose to step down from her leadership role.
  
  

On a more positive note, the group will be able to cover its expenses and will be awarding the two top student ticket sellers their gift card prizes out of the check money that will be returned to us.

EVENTS

• Silent Auction and Spaghetti Dinner Night
  Through the CVA Parent Group Eagle Bluffs Raffle, CVA Parent Group raised ~$557.00 to support the Eagle Bluffs Eighth Grade trip.  Additionally, in coordination with the faculty who were organizing the evening, Parent Group members (and specifically Patty MacDonald) aided in coordinating the collection of items for the dinner menu, creating and printing flyers and news items, helped with set up, and generally put in a tremendous effort to help in the success of the evening.
  All this was organized with approximately two weeks notice.
  
  Because of the rush, some problems were created.  Raffles, as a form of gambling, are subject to legal limitations.  In future, if another raffle is held, whatever the CVA Parent Group’s involvement, the raffle itself needs to be conducted under the aegis of CVA’s non-profit status.  Should proceeds exceed $5,000, tax issues will be raised.
  
  

Next meeting:  12/2/2013 (not held)

Monday, October 14th, 8:30 am
Attended: Patty McDonald (8th), Misha Liang (4th), Dana White(6th), Julie Swanson (5th, 7th, 9th), Katya Gardner (4th), Jen Jeffries (12th), Janet Pope (8th), Beth Samy (8th).  Kelly Mann

GOALS

• To support Kelly Mann, Allissa Koenen and Cassie as they prepare for Silent Auction and Spaghetti Night
  
• To publicize the event
  
• To raise money for the event
  
• To broaden parent involvement in the event, and lighten the load of the work
  
  

SUPPORT
Ms. Mann

• Silent Auction
• described the timeline ahead to November 7th.  A key date is next Monday, October 21st, when all 8th graders and their parents will be attending an informational meeting for the trip.  
  
• The CVAPG was given an overview of auction items collected to date.  The donors from previous years have all been contacted, many have already responded with donations, and she and Cassie are in the process of following up with those who have not responded.
  
• overall donations are a little down from this time last year, but more are expected.
  
  
• Spaghetti Dinner
  
• last year dinner supplies came in very late.  CVAPG discussed strategies to try to avoid this. 
  
• Specific instructions on what was needed were suggested (“6 packages of 40 12oz cups” or “9 3lb packages of gluten-free rotini--Costco can supply”).  Volunteers find it easier to bring things in when they have specific ideas of what might be needed.
  
• Kelly said she was planning on having a sign-up list at the parent meeting next Monday for supplies and jobs.
  
• Katya suggested that these things should be written down somewhere (like on a shared document) to make planning next year easier.
  

PUBLICITY

• NFTV
  
• Flyers - Patty said she’d do this
  
  

RAISING MONEY

• AUCTION ITEMS
  
• Advisory Baskets will be put together by each advisory group.
  
• Prior year donors have been contacted.
  
• The CVA community will be solicited for donations via flyers and NFTV.
  
• David Glick supplied the group with a fundraising letter so we can seek further donations.  The group discussed how to best personalize this letter to each potential donor to maximize response.
  
• The current donation list was reviewed.  Janet, Beth, Jen and Dana volunteered to contact individual potential donors, both on the list (in collaboration with Cassie and Ms Mann) and some of the new potential donors who were discussed.
  

IMPROVING ORGANIZATION
Ways to improve turn out and increase the fundraising potential of the evening were discussed.  Attendees suggested several ideas from their experiences at other schools

• DOOR PRIZE
  
• Misha Liang suggested this, and said if we went with it she had five concert tickets to the SPCO that she could donate to be used in this way.
  
  
• RAFFLE
  
• This would ideally feature a fabulous main prize and several smaller prizes.  Tickets would be given to the eighth graders to sell on their own time.  It was suggested that the student who sold the most tickets would be given a bonus on his/her share of the take to cover his/her trip expenses.  Other ideas were that the student who sold the most tickets could be awarded some (reasonable) number of raffle tickets.
  
• 8th Graders could sell them before school too--so people who couldn’t attend the night of could still participate.
  
• This would need to be organized by next Monday to be effective this year.
  
• CVAPG agreed to attempt to do this, with the idea that this could be a both a “dry run” for doing it next year, and, with some work, potentially be a great fundraiser even without a huge prize--provided that the tickets were priced low.
  
  
• Kids’ Auction
  
• Several of the parents have seen this used effectively at other schools to drive up attendance.  Kids are informed, in class, of specific desirable Auction Items--and they then hassle their parents to bring them to Spaghetti Night.  The auction is held in the form of a raffle. Typically kids are given a few “starter” tickets to encourage them to come, but they can buy more tickets if they want to.
  
• Beth mentioned that her sister would be willing to donate an archery lesson to a class (as a field trip), but her employer could not donate it for an individual’s party.  We discussed putting this in a kids’ auction and perhaps having kids compete to earn the treat for their class.
  
• Katya mentioned that at her old school, a rummage sale was held in the spring.  Auction organizers would select out a few of the more kid-friendly desirable items and hang onto them for the kids’ auction. 
  

Next meeting:  Monday, November 11th, 8:30 AM

October 7, 2013
Attended: Patty M (8th), Misha L (4th), Dana W (6th), Michelle A-G (5th [6th]), Julie S (5th, 7th, 9th), Katya G (4th), Jen J (12th), Yehoshua S, Eileen P

Follow Up
    ACADEMICS

• Math Supplements [Dana/Misha]
  
• Talked to Robyn and Christy (email)--they said they are going by the Standard, but could use a dedicated volunteer on Tuesdays.  Syllabi should be posted soon. Still need an afterschool math group parent volunteer. 
  
• Katya presented the Edina Schools website information on the UMTYMP program.  Elements of this information will be integrated with the information previously posted on the CVAPG Website.  Should this info also be included on teacher websites?
  
• Parent Volunteers - Noelle visited from the front office.  Discussion included the office’s collating process for volunteer sheets; “information flow” issues; and “institutional memory” issues, as there has been a large teacher turnover in the last two years (Science, Global Studies, Technology, Phy. Ed, plus others) and recent budgetary constrictions which have impeded information sharing.  Concerns were expressed regarding volunteering in classrooms and the perception of the CVAPG that ‘no one has, or makes, the time to integrate volunteers into their schedule.’  We mentioned to Noelle that we would like it if there was one volunteer contact.  This person would solicit volunteers and then connect the volunteers with the person in charge of the program. CVAPG believes that people/families would find it easier to volunteer for something if they knew what it was and the hours that it entailed.

    ORGANIZATION/INFORMATION FLOW

• Communication.  This is a big issue, and took up many minutes of discussion.  The CVAPG would like to see most things listed on the calendar (see Calendar, below).  Also suggested: posting staff pictures with job and room number on the bulletin board by the Front Office.  A better balance needed between “that information is on the CVA website” and “here’s information available on-site in the building to make your visit easier/friendlier.”
  
• CVAPG Website
  
• Facebook Link initiated
  
• CVA Calendar has been added, along with instructions as to how individuals can personally subscribe to the calendar. 
  
• Also Academic Resources (including UMTYMP info), Extracurricular Resources
  
• Teacher Websites Now up--some have more info than others.  Is help needed here to achieve some sort of standard?
  
• Calendar Patty presented several school calendars.  As a group, the consensus is that the CVA Calendar does not provide sufficient information regarding activities, assemblies, and special events, and is insufficiently coordinated with “News from the Village.”  Once something is listed in NFTV, it should also be cut/pasted to the calendar, with as much detail/info as possible. These concerns were presented to Noelle.
  
• Secretary Katya will be taking these responsibilities over from Patty for 2013-2014.
  

    EVENTS/ACTIVITES/EXTRACURRICULARS

• Dance/Fun Night (October 11th) - Four members present volunteered as Chaperones. Julie, Patty, Katya?, Michelle?  More needed?
  
• Activities/Ideas There is now an “ideas” doc in the CVA Parent Group Google Account “Drive.”  As yet, no one has contributed.
  
• Thursday/Friday Event Scheduling - Currently, school events appear to be (somewhat) balanced between Thursdays (Concordia Language Village, Spaghetti Night, Movie Night), & Fridays (Dance, Chili/Potluck, Family Fun Night).  For greater inclusiveness to all our busy CVA families, this is an ongoing concern.
  
• Extra Curricular Activities [Michelle] 
  
  • Has talked with Noelle about activities--teachers still figuring it out.  Parents are encouraged to start whatever activities we want. 
    
  • The current school activities are: Future City, Bells (not an all-inclusive list).  Other ideas discussed included Lego League (which after one year still needs a dedicated parent volunteer), and Eco Club (which Michelle volunteered to lead)
    
• Library [Katya] 
  
  • Concerns regarding the failure by CVA to make use of parent volunteers were aired to Noelle. 
    
  • Katya will be meeting with Noelle this Thursday to get the process of volunteering in the library started.
    

New
    ORGANIZATION/INFORMATION FLOW

• “Village” Group - Last year, the decision was made to drop IB Middle School Accreditation for CVA.  IB Language can no longer be used by the school.  An alternate system was put in place to provide similar but not congruent structure within the school. 
  
• CVA now has three focus areas: Cyber, Village and Academy.  A representative from the Parent Group will be a part of the “Village” group. 
  
• CVA is initiating the "Character Traits."  These will be discussed monthly in the Advisories, with awards presented at Assembly at the end of each month.  Noelle requested donations for student awards (small gift certificates and the like).
  
• We suggested this information be put on the calendar, in NFTV, and maybe on a scroll on the CVA website showing the Character Trait of the month.
  

    EVENTS/EXTRACURRICULARS

• Next Event:  The Silent Auction/Spaghetti Dinner (Thursday, November 7th) (annual fundraiser for 8th graders/Eagle Bluff)
  
• It was felt that this event had been insufficiently publicized, and the evening was identified as one where CVAPG should be taking more of a lead role.   The issues regarding this evening were determined to be so complex and diverse that an Extra meeting of the parent group, dedicated to this topic, was called for October 14th, 8:30 AM
  Ideas/Topics Raised:
  
  • Get list of Auction Items to date from Cassie.
  • Letter from Dave - via Noelle or Cassie (for soliciting donor contributions)
  • Do a Raffle so people who can’t come can contribute
  • Items to try and get: Lindens & Stepping Stone (Dana), St. Paul Chamber Orch (Misha), MacPhail (Michelle) -- talk more about it on Monday, Oct 14
  • Make a Flyer to generate knowledge and excitement  (i.e. lots of people don’t even seem to know about the silent auction and what’s available)

• What are the “Next Events” that CVAPG should expect to help coordinate? Make a list? (see Activities/Ideas, above)
  

Next meeting (Special Silent Auction/Spaghetti Night Meeting):  October 14th, 8:30 AM

Attended: Katya, Julie, Michelle, Misha, Dana, Karla, Patty

Bank Account

• Open CVA Parent Group account today May 6  9:30 a.m. - Katya, Dana, Patty

Class Photos

• Tuesday, May 14 Recess/Lunch
• Pictures through Costco
• Need Mirrors?
• 11:30. no early arrival
• Do a whole school shot?  If yes, need a step stool.

Link to the CVAPG website

• Email sent to Dave.
• Done.

FFN Video

• post to website - done
• let people know in NFTV
• w/ coupon/note CVA family free sitting fee this summer

Clean Up

• Meet with Carol - Wednesday before? Check with her.  Patty, Katya, MIsha,

Fundraising Ideas

• Chipolte - Sponsors a school for a day.
• Mini-Photo Sessions (Julie can take the photos)

Next meeting Agenda Items (May 20)

• Webinar / Parent Orientation
• Parent Volunteer Form - add our items, send to parent group
  
• Summer Fun get together
• Schedule for next year.  Back to School Night?
  

Change of date!  Due to the late spring, mother's day and fishing opener we have changed the date to Saturday, May 18.  Same time: 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon.

Carol of TTSP met with us to talk about who, what, where, etc.  She then walked around the school and showed up the areas that will need attention:

• Pick up litter every where and rake out old leaves from all garden beds.
• North Side - Hosta garden along the side of the building: weed, split
• West Side - Memorial Garden: weed, mulch, plant
• South Side - Bushes/Roses:  weed, mulch,  trim
• Door - Front:  Mulch

Will need: wheel barrows, rakes (metal and bamboo),  shovels, grain scoops, gloves, trowels, garbage bags, gloves, tarps (2), pruners.

Flyer to go out in mail boxes on Wednesday, May 1, and put it in News From the Village.

Attended: Katya, Julie, Misha, Michelle, Patty

Attended: Misha L, Misha J, Dana W, Amber V, Michelle A, Katya G, Patty M

We covered a lot of topics!

Library
Can parents help out more in the library?  What is the best system?  Need book donations?  Misha L to talk to Christy about the library.

Tutoring
Start next year.  Get list of what is taught when so parents know when would be a good time to volunteer for specific skills (e.g. research, poetry, photography, etc.)

Parent Orientation
Have a New Parent Orientation at the beginning of the year to help parents understand CVA and different ways to approach helping their kids at home.  Make some webinars/videos to post for parents that can't come to the orientation. Misha J and Dana W have experience with webinars.

Class Group Photos
Katya brought up getting group photos for each class (instead of the college type LifeWorks does)--and make them available to purchase.  We'll see if there is a photographer interested.  Check with teachers if they'd come out if we did it at recess.  Do it early in May? Depending on snow!

School Clean Up
Have an extra meeting next week to discuss this.  Ask Carol to join us.  Still looking for avid gardener/Master Gardener to help instruct people day of...

Family Fun Night
Discussed how things went.  What really worked, what to change for next year.  Created a file in Google Drive with thoughts and ideas.

What a great night! I'm sorry if you had to miss it--we had a lot of fun :-)  We had about 27 families attend--including toddlers, kids, teens, parents and grandparents--for about 90+ people.

We had some action packed dodge ball games, amazing origami, beautiful art work, silly photos, new martial arts moves, rousing games and bingo!  See the slide show on the Family Fun Night Page.

Thanks to all of the volunteers who made it happen--and going the extra mile to get supplies, come early to set up, and work all night to make sure things went smoothly.  Julie, Roy, MIsha, Jenny, Michelle, Carlos, Kassia's sister (I forgot your name--sorry!), Carl, Dana.  I think I remembered everyone--if not I'm sorry, please let me know.

Attended: Julie, Misha, Michelle, Dana, Amber, Patty

Family Fun Night

• Bingo - Michelle - 217 (Misha, Beth?)
  
• Games - Patty - 214 (Carl)
  
• Photo Booth - Julie - Library (Dana)
  
• Arts & Crafts/Origami - 226 - Misha/Jenny (Katya)
  
• Dodgeball/Open Gym - Amber - Gym (Megan)
  
• Martial Arts - Roy - Library
• Snack Sales - student council by 217
  

Signs - Master sign by entrance
Room signs at each room

Bring fun stuff for photo booth
Idea: Fundraiser when we do it next year.

Set time:  arrive 6:15 - 6:30ish