PTA General Meeting Minutes

November 9, 2004
Prepared by Lora Griff, PTA Secretary

The PTA meeting took place in the SCES Media center with approximately 20 member
s present.

1. Call to Order/President^Òs Report ^Ö Cindy Terrell

a) Call to order 7:13 pm
b) Current Issues
· Minutes approved from the October meeting.
· Silent Auction: Plans for the silent auction were reviewed. There are
many donations for
the auction and there will be an international potluck dinner at the same time.
There will be a
small cost for daycare. The entire community was urged to attend.
· GT Laison Team: The team has been formulated to help with the GT tes
ting process. Team
members include: Mdm. Kellinger, Ms. Thies, Madm. Gouin, Mdm. Gabian, Ms. Lamk
yes, and
Ms. Dennis.
· Landscaping: The Bank behind the portables outside the cafeteria was
landscaped with the
help of Lockheed Martin volunteers, Mr. Baldwin and staff, and SCES parents. Th
anks to all.
· Lunch and Recess: The school is purchasing playground equipment; each
class will
receive a bag of balls and other equipment and will be responsible for retrievin
g it each recess
period. Mrs. Lay is also talking to the recess monitors about effective discip
line techniques and
creating appropriate expectations for lunch and recess behavior. More volunteer
s are needed
at lunchtime to help; please volunteer any day.
· Directory: The school directory is being printed and will be distrib
uted soon.
· December PTA meeting on 12/16: will focus on 4th and 5th grade issues
including
information on middle school choice. On 12/3 SSIMS will have an open house for
incoming
immersion students.
· Communication: We are putting up a bulletin board near the office to
help give info. to
those not on listserve.

2. Principal Report on Diversity at SCES: Mrs. Lay

· The students at SCES come from 25 countries all over the world and spe
ak 21 languages.
· Discussion included topics such as "How can we benefit from our divers
ity? How can we
reach out to minority populations? How can we share our international experience
s? Ideas
included development of a language night, Have more outreach to Spanish speakers
, explore
ways to help non-English speakers better navigate the school system, have Discov
ery
employees mentor parents on computer training, and have a school talent show whe
re students
could show off their cultures.

3. ESOL (English as a Second Language) presentation: Ms. Lee

· The ESOL program at Sligo Creek predominantly uses a pull out model wi
th Ms. Lee
running 6-7 groups per day. She also provides in-room help to some students. C
hildren are
placed in the ESOL program when they are new immigrants to the USA. The Interna
tional
Student office provides an English language assessment to the students and then
refers those
students at our school in need of help to Ms. Lee. She also gets referrals from
other ESOL
teachers if the student is moving within the county. Students remain in the pro
gram for 3 years
on average.
4. World Culture Day: Carol Gilbert
· Carol Gilbert would like to organize a PTA sponsored World Culture Day
during school
hours where there are different hands on activities to allow students to share a
nd learn from
each other's cultures. Please contact Carol if you are interested in helping to
organize this
event. Her e-mail is: carolbengle@yahoo.com.

Meeting Adjourned 8:40 PM