PTA, Parent Teacher Association News
PTA MEETING
The next PTA meeting is March 10th
Set up and childcare sign in at 5:30.
Meeting starts at 6!
The February Parent meeting was held on Wednesday, Feb 10 in the library. Childcare was available.
Jeffrey Clark, Principal, from Denny International Middle School came to talk about Denny and answer parent’s questions. In the new student assignment plan, Concord is a feeder school to Denny so most Concord students will go to Denny for middle school.
The New Building–
The new building that will house Denny Middle school and Chief Sealth High School is under construction and will open in fall 2011, when our current 5th graders are in 7th grade. The middle school portion has been designed from the ground up with Middle School education in mind.
Several parents expressed concern over Chief Sealth and Denny sharing a facility. Jeff explained that the Denny/Sealth campus is 12 acres and there will be a separate middle school building so the middle and high school students do not mingle during the class day. The entrance to Chief Sealth faces SW Thistle and the new Denny entrance will face SW Kenyon. There will be structured opportunities for the middle and high school students to interact through mentoring programs under the direct supervision of a teacher.
A time of transition –
Middle school is a time of transition, the kids are going through a difficult developmental phase and parents at the meeting expressed concern about risky behavior the students may start being exposed to such as vandalism, gangs, drugs, and teen pregnancy.
Jeff stressed the importance of the teamwork between the parents and school as they work together to guide the students through this sometimes-rocky transition. The school works to make a connection with each student and family. Denny has a home-visit program that helps staff understand the needs of individual families and family involvement at the school is highly encouraged.
Denny developed the slogan “We All Belong” as part of a school-wide anti-bulllying program that strives to create a positive school environment for all students. A strong community environment at the school can help students feel involved and be less likely to be participate in risky behavior.
Parent Involvement –
One of the first opportunities for parent involvement is working with the school to make a 3 year academic plan. Denny and Sealth teachers work together to ensure there is curriculum alignment so the students can start on a math or reading curriculum in middle school that continues through 12th grade. Making the 3-year plan is a chance for parents to make sure their child is in the correct classes from the beginning to make sure they achieve their goals by 12th grade.
Parents can also tell Denny what exploratory programs their child is interested in. Denny has an award winning music program that includes Concert band , Jazz, Marching Band, mariachi and others. There are also several language options including Spanish for native speakers, beginning Spanish, immersion Spanish and Mandarin Chinese (that can be continued through 12th grade).
Middle School parents can also use the Seattle School District’s online system “The Source” to stay connected with what’s going on with their student. The system has up-to-the-minute attendance, student schedule, grades and standardized test results. It’s an easy way for a parent to monitor their child’s progress.
Denny has an active PTSA with lots of Latino parents. The meetings are held at different locations to increase access of families in Denny’s large service area. The February meeting was held at the South Park Community Center. Parents can also volunteer at the school and Jeff highly encouraged parents to be involved. Your child may cringe when you chaperone the dance but it’s a great way to be involved and your child will appreciate it later.
At the next meeting on March 10th
We will have a showcase of the PTA sponsored after school classes. Come see the kids show off their new skills and art. It’s a great opportunity to find out if the classes would be right for your child!
We’ll see you there!
PTA, Parent Teacher Association, January
Parent Involvement
There are many opportunities for parents to volunteer at Concord. Concord parents are helping out before school on the playground and in the classrooms with literacy groups, science class and writer’s workshop. The library can always use parent volunteers.
If you are interested in volunteering at Concord, please call or email our volunteer coordinators: Kathleen Mongrain (English only) at Katmon2@comcast.net or 206-764-9867 or Angelica Mendoza-DeLorenzo (Spanish or English) at angiemg2002@yahoo.com.mx or 206-923-0249.
This year, the PTA started an after school enrichment program which offers Concord students the opportunity to have fun together while trying out new activities. We are currently offering classes in choir, jump rope, art, and hip hop. Next quarter we are hoping to add a drumming class. Please contact Kathleen Mullins if you have questions, or want to sign up your child for a class. Kathleen can be reached at mulka@comcast.net or 334-2242. Volunteers are always needed, so please join us.
The PTA has secured a large grant to remodel our outdoor spaces at Concord.
This exciting work is in the design phase and final plans will be shared with the Concord community in the upcoming months. Please check out the web site for the latest information and ways you can help at www.concordplay.com
Concord 's PTA meets every month on the second Wednesday from 5:30 pm- 7:00 pm in the cafeteria. Please call Concord to get specific dates as conflicts arise. There is child care available and the meetings are conducted in both English and Spanish.
Please consider joining us at a PTA meeting soon, we would love to have you. If you have any specific questions, please feel free to email or call Susie Clark, 2009-2010 PTA President and parent of a 2nd grader and kindergartener who are both in the two-way bilingual program, sgclark@seattleschools.org or 206-933-7589.
What the PTA at Concord is doing this year …
After School PTA Activities
PTA sponsored classes
This is first year the PTA has sponsored after school activities at Concord International. Last year the PTA decided that the school would benefit from expanded after school activities, especially for children that are not participating in the Community Learning Center Classes offered at Concord. The PTA after school classes currently offered are Working with Clay, Jump Rope, Drumming and Hip Hop. Last semester International Choir was also offered.
The PTA is committed to making the activities accessible to all Concord families, we ask families to pay what they can afford from $5 to $40 as a class fee. About $2000 was included in the PTA budget for the new after school programs and the money comes from fund raising the PTA has done. This allows us to make our limited funds to support these classes last throughout the year. The PTA pays the expenses for these classes such as pay for the teachers, class expenses such as clay and jump ropes and snacks for each of the kids.
The parent volunteers and PTA After School program coordinator are all volunteers and are not paid. We appreciate their commitment; these classes would not be possible without them. The classes have been very successful and popular.
PTA and ARTS CORPS Partner to offer Exciting after school Art class
The PTA with Art Education group, ARTS CORPS, has an after school class this quarter that is being given by a passionate, professional, teaching artist, Tomas Oliva. The in depth class will give the students an opportunity to learn about color theory, working with clay, symbolism in art and coming together as a community to create beautiful art. The students are creating crest poles that represent their ancestors with images of animals. A picture of a crest pole made by Concord Students during a previous ARTS CORPS class is on display on the PTA Board.
Community support
Financial assistance for family support worker’s budget - $650
This year the PTA gave the Concord family support program $650 to assist families. The Concord International school family support worker’s job is to make sure the families she works with have their basic needs met and giving the students emotional and academic support. Concord’s family support worker, Sharon Baez, works weekly with a set of families that have been identified as most in need. Her budget covers these families but there are always other families and children that could use some help. The PTA’s financial support allows Sharon to help more families than her budget would otherwise allow.
Fundraising
The PTA is actively fundraising to pay for the programs it supports. In addition to the programs above the PTA pays for programs that buys books for the kids to have at home (Reading is Fundamental and the Booktrust Grant). It will also help fund activities like field day, classroom projects (based on teacher requests), and field trip scholarships for individuals.
This year’s fundraising includes:
Believe catalog fundraiser. This year’s fundraiser raised $3384.35, a big increase from last year.
ESCRIP - Register your Safeway card and a percentage of every dollar you spend at Safeway will be given to the school, at no cost to you. Register at escrip.com. Need your Safeway card number? Call 1-877-SAFEWAY.
TARGET - register your target credit card and a percentage of every dollar you spend with the card will be given to Concord, at no cost to you. Register at target stores or online at target.com.
PCC – Buy a PCC scrip card and use it every time you shop at PCC. PCC will donate 5%. Of the amount of every purchase when you use the card. Available from Kathleen Mongrain katmon2@comcast.net