GOOD MORNING RAMA ROAD!
Thanks to everyone who came out and welcomed our new Principal, Ms. Denny!
Our President, Robin, called the meeting to order and we approved the minutes from December.
1// MS. DENNY
We got the chance to hear our new Principal lay out some of the plans she has for our school. I can't recap everything she spoke about, but she has developed an Entry Plan that is available on our ever-impoving CMS site and is also available in the front office for parents. It is extremely detailed and should be read by every Rama Road parent.
Our lobby has had a face-lift. Come and check it out when you stop in to pick up a copy of the Entry Plan.
2// CALENDAR
January:
12, Thursday- McClintock Open House! Interested in what is going on in our Middle School? Head over to McClintock this Thursday evening and check it out for yourself. Robin is attending and would love some company.
13, Friday- Teacher appreciation! We are kicking off the new year with healthy snacks. Fruit, granola, energy bars... keep it healthy for our teachers when you drop off your food in the carpool line on Friday.
16, Monday- NO SCHOOL
19,Thursday- Science Fair
23, Monday- NO SCHOOL
24, Tuesday- A special PTA presentation on bullying & drug prevention from 6-7pm. Due to the sensitivity of the presentation, childcare is a necessity and will be provided.
February:
2, Thursday- Curriculum night! Pizza + drinks will be provided... more info to come!
3, Friday- Student Celebration! This is a new tradition at Rama where grades 3-5 will be celebrated for their academic success.
10, Friday- Achievement Pep Rally! Here is another new tradition we are beginning for grades K-2.
Valentine's Day Dance! Father/Daughter, Mother/Son dance. This event is a ton of fun for our students and parents! It does get crowded, so we do ask that only current Rama students attend this event.
14, Tuesday- Virtual PTA meeting. Robin will be emailing minutes/info out to everyone this month. See you in March!
16, Thursday- Monkey Joe's Night! This could be a big fundraiser for us so come on out... 4 to 8 PM. Ms. Denny and Ms. Harris will be there and just might be participating in a sliding contest. We typically receive 20% of the profits made, but our super duper Principal has agreed to serve pizza so this bumps our percentage to 25%.
20/21, Monday + Tuesday- NO SCHOOL
23, Thursday- Welcome Home to Rama OPEN HOUSE! More details to come...
March:
13, Tuesday- PTA Meeting at 6pm
30, Friday- NO SCHOOL
April:
14, Saturday- RAMA FEST!
3// SCHOOL NEEDS
There is a new half-moon 'Welcome' desk in our Lobby. Ms. Denny wants this to serve as a way to welcome guests and parents to our school during our busiest time for tours and visitors: 8-10am. We are looking for parents/grandparents/church members to sit here for an hour or two each morning during these hours. Please let Robin Freeman or Deanna Chillemi know if you are able to help us with this!
**Round of Applause** Ms. Denny is starting up a program of rewards and incentives for our teachers. Each staff member will be given 5 yellow paws each month. In our atmosphere of helping one another at Rama, these yellow paws will be used to thank one another. No task is too big or too little. When paws are received, they will be pinned up on a board in the lounge for everyone to see. At the end of the month, the paws will be taken down and put into a bag for a drawing. 2 people that give a paw and 2 people that receive a paw will be awarded a treat! We are looking for help from our PTA to gather some treats. Examples are gift cards, dinner gift certificates, movie certificates, bowling....
We need incentives by February 1st!!********* If notes on our letterhead are needed or our tax ID- let Robin know. We have this for them.
4// IN OTHER NEWS...
New Yard signs are in the works! We have a limited budget, but want as many of our families to have these as possible. If you live in the Rama district and want a sign- let TIm Jones know! Car decals are on the way too!
We have new PTA name tags in Ms. Chillemi's office. If you did not get one or if your name is misspelled, let Robin know and we will make sure we correct this.
On this note, anytime you volunteer at Rama document your hours. A lot of companies donate money once a certain number of employee volunteer hours are clocked. Check with your company on this.
Did you know we have a facebook page? We do! Join our group 'Friends of Rama Road Elementary' and while you're at it hit Roscoe the Raccoon up for a friend request... that crazy guy is on there too!
I'll leave you with this article from the South Charlotte Weekly on our very own Ms. Denny!! http://www.thecharlotteweekly.com/education/2012/01/patricia-denny-comes-from-a-long-line-of-educators/
Rama proud,
Erin Hanks
11/10/2011
Minutes submitted by Erin Hanks, PTA Secretary (thanks, Er!)
Rama Road PTA!
Robin's updates from last PTA meeting:
- The Tyler Ream meeting went well. He was sincerely impressed with our turnout and participation/feedback. There was a connectED put out last week updating our families on the search for our new Principal. They are conducting a second round of interviews with more candidates.
- We are holding off on our 'Come Home to Rama' open house that was slated for mid-November until we have a permanent Principal in place. Hopefully, this can happen in January before the first round of the lottery. In the meantime, keep up the positive talk in your neighborhood about our wonderful school.
FUN RUN RECAP:
- Karen let us know that $4500 was raised in this year's Fun Run. It will be more along the lines of $4800 after the matched donations come in. Kim wanted to let all of the hardworking volunteers know how much she appreciated the support and help.
- Kim is ready for ideas for next year's Fun Run. What worked? What didn't? Suggestions? It was brought up in the meeting that we should have additional cones around the tracks for the smaller kids and Robin brought up that we need someone to run interference for Roscoe, our hardworking and (overly) loved raccoon. Roscoe, being mute, needs someone with him at public appearances to help with the kids and all their excitement.
MOVIE NIGHT:
- Was a complete and total success with a huge turnout! Things we learned: next movie night, we will need to block off more hallways and move more of our cafeteria tables out of the way for more floor space.
PARENT ROOM REPS:
- The list has been drawn up, with most classes covered.
CALENDAR:
- No school this Friday (VETERAN'S DAY)
- December 1st: La Posada!! We need pinatas donated to Ms. Perez, please. More info to come on this!
- December 8th: Winter Concert
- December 5-9: Book Fair in the Library. We usually have plenty of faith based volunteers for this event, but will be looking for additional volunteers. Email Ms. Chillemi if interested.
- December 6: Monkey Joe Night on Independence Blvd. from 4pm-8pm. Tell them you are with Rama Road!
- December 9: Teacher Appreciation... Hot Cocoa, marshmallows, whipped cream, donuts, muffins... yummy!
- December 13: PTA meeting in our cafeteria at 6pm.
- December 19: Out for winter break.
ETC .
- April 14 will be our annual RAMAFEST! Mark your calendars now!! Planning will start in our PTA meetings in February with Karen Jones as the head of this event.
- PTA name tags will be made. Please find yours when you come in the school to do any volunteering. We want to distinguish ourselves from other volunteers. Thanks to Jennifer Collins for volunteering to do this!
- Time to clean out our many PTA closets! Robin is looking for some help (along with Ashley Reed and Amy Hart)- shoot her an email if interested!
- Candice has been helping with our lost and found and will coordinate with teachers, Ms. Chillemi, and the school nurse to round up everything we have, take inventory, and find one central location for it.
- Peggy is lending Rama a hand and going to help write grants with Robin.
- Linda Peak mentioned to Robin about social language 'classes' to be held at Rama for our parents. English for our Spanish speaking families and Spanish for our English speaking classes. We are going to look into this further and hold these conversational tutorial times at our school.
- A.R. prizes: We want to reward our hard working kids with a little something from the PTA. If you meet your quarterly goal, you get a prize! Candy bars, frosties, etc.. were mentioned.
- Box Top competition: Jennifer C. mentioned starting a class or grade level competition with the box tops. She will speak with Robin further about starting this up for our kids!
Thanks to everyone who attended our meeting!
Erin Hanks
PTA Meeting Minutes 10/11/11
Minutes from previous meeting reviewed, motion to approve made and seconded.
All positions cited during the last meeting have been filled.
Calendar
10/14 Teacher Appreciation
10/20 Rama Fun Run Money due
10/21 Rama Fun Run
10/25 Chik-Fil-A Night for Rama
11/8 PTA Meeting
11/10 Parent Event
12/2-12/9 Scholastic Book Fair
12/8 Winter Concert
12/9 Teacher Appreciation Friday
Teacher Appreciation Friday, Oct. 14th
· Theme is Halloween/Fall Festival. Candy, fall treats, homemade food is allowed.
· PTA needs to step up their donations of food items. Teachers LOVE these Fridays. Items can be brought to Ms. Chillemi’s office prior to Friday or to the front office on Friday morning.
Rama Fun Run (RFR)
· Money is due 10/20
· If company makes larger donation, is there sponsorship opportunities available. Group decided that corporate sponsorship is better suited to the RamaFest in the spring, but we don’t want to turn away donations now. Corporation in question, Greenspring Energy, can donate money and give volunteers t-shirts to wear if they are interested in advertizing during the RFR.
· Day of Event: 8:30-1:30 younger classes first, exact schedule to come. Children run 15 minutes. Children who raise $30 or more get to throw a pie at a teacher or the principal. 6 classes every 40 minutes. Music provided by the school’s new sound system.
· Volunteer spots still needing people:
ü Pie Area now covered by Christie Kelley 8:30-9:15 & Amy Hart 9:15-12:30
ü Special Ed. Class assistance covered by Emmalee Lambert & Jessica Brown
ü All hands on deck at the conclusion of the event for clean up
Chik-Fil-A Night, Oct. 25th
· Invite friends, neighbors, family—don’t have to be a Rama family to participate. A portion of the proceeds that evening comes back to Rama.
· The class with the most students in attendance will get the stuffed Chik-Fil-A cow in their classroom.
· Ideas to increase revenue during event: station people in store and drive-thru line to ask non-Rama patrons to support Rama by mentioning the school when they order. Have Roscoe on site with the Chik-Fil-A cow. Kim Matone will contact the liaison at Chik-Fil-A to determine what they will allow us to do.
· Need PTA Volunteers to help with class tally and general organization. Peggy MacKay and Dana Albert (?) have offered. A few more volunteers are needed. Please contact Kim Matone if you’re available. kim.matone@gmail.com
Scholastic Book Fair in December
· Mr. Silbaugh, Rama’s Media Specialist, spoke regarding the upcoming book fair. The event will be coordinated by Mr. Silbaugh, but volunteer assistance is needed to help with deliveries, set up and implementation.
· The Book Fair generates funds for the Media Center.
· Scholastic delivers books on 12/2
· Book Fair runs from 12/5-12/9
· Scholastic offers workshops for volunteers on 10/13 at 10a.m.-12noon & 4-6p.m. and 10/18 10a.m.-12noon. Workshops are not required, but will offer insight on how to properly run a book fair.
· Volunteers should contact Mr. Silbaugh at andrewv.silbaugh@cms.k12.nc.us
Welcome Home Event, Date TBD
· Open House type event targeting prospective parents.
· Held this event last year and it was very well attended.
· Current PTA parents are invited to attend and share their experiences at Rama.
· Volunteers need to help coordinate event: Whitney Norton & Erin Hanks will return as coordinators from last year and they will be joined by DeeDee Davis, Genecia Brown, Christie Kelley and Victoria Johnson.
Car Magnets/Stickers
· Lots of requests. New design? Possibly similar to t-shirts.
· Tim Jones will research and design several suggestions and PTA members can weigh in. The favorite will be ordered and sold in the school store.
· T-shirt sales are fantastic. Ordering more soon, including the blue and pink in children’s sizes.
· Considering a new color choice or tie-dye shirt in the spring.
Canned Food Drive
· 1 in 4 children in the US is hungry.
· PTA will coordinate a Food Drive with drop offs available in the Carpool line and in the lobby.
· Need some volunteers to encourage involvement and collect items.
· Food Drive will benefit the Second Harvest food bank. Second Harvest provides food for the families at Rama who are in need of assistance.
· Ms. Chillemi will contact Second Harvest to ask when they are in most need of donations and what items they need most. Our game plan will then be determined.
Other announcements
· Volunteer needed to attend to our unruly Lost & Found. This volunteer could also help our school nurse maintain her supply of extra clothing.
· Coat Drive idea posed for Rama Students. Ms. Chillemi coordinates donations for children in need.
· Angel Tree program in conjunction with Church partners is already in place. PTA is not currently involved.
· Relink your Harris Teeter VIC card. #1920
· PTA sponsored Family Movie Night social event. Ms. Chillemi will check with Mr. B about this idea.
· There is a need to formalize teacher needs/wish lists. Possibly Room Reps can coordinate this. Ask each grade level to generate a list. Wish lists available on PTA website. The Room Rep. Coordinators are in the process of collecting info about Room Reps and which classes are in need of a Room Rep.