Parent Group Meeting December 16 notes

There were about ten of us in attendance in the conference room.  Sandra provided coffee.  Rachael brought a handful of Christmas cookies her husband and sons made the night before.  It would be great if we had more refreshments for the next meeting.  Anali mentioned that, last year, some of the Free Dress Day money went to providing refreshments for the parent group.  Rachael said we could look into ways to make money for the parent group (for example, she knows a parent group that hosted a baby sitting night at their school to make money for their parent group and made quite a bit of money in one evening). Rachael nominated Anali to be in charge of refreshments and hospitality, once we get some funds.

Sandra couldn't translate for the meeting because she was running the book fair, so Emma translated.

The two women who made suggestions of organizing against post-election harassment (directed at non-whites) and finding out how to get a school to be an immigration safe zone were not in attendance.

Rachael brought up the Resource Fair and how it was poorly attended by parents.  Here is some parent feedback:

1. Resource Fair is a vague description.  It was never clearly communicated to parents who would be there and what kind of resources would be offered.  Last year, for example, parents could sign up for presents and Santa actually came to people's doors and delivered the presents.  Also, a policeman had a signup sheet for Christmas toys.  And they knew this in advance, so they could decide if they were interested in signing up or not.
2. Parents don't want to come through with their kids, so it would have been better to have it during school, while students are in school.
3. It was not clearly communicated that Ms. Ellis was offering crafts for kids to do in her room.

A running theme was poor communication.  For example, the women who offered to bring refreshments for this meeting said it was not clearly communicated to them that they should.  So, they didn't.  Also, parents were bringing in donations of used winter gear, as well as used stuffed animals, and it wasn't clear if they were for the coat drive or for the Family to Family Holiday Help initiative.  We suggested putting out the stuffed animals during the drama performance on Wednesday.

Rachael mentioned that she would be leading a Holiday song singalong in the cafeteria on Monday during lunch.

Rachael reported that 15 families requested help with gifts and clothes for the holidays, and only 3 families offered to help, so she was going to ask teachers after the parent meeting if they wanted to help a family.  She also opened it up to parents at the meeting to take on a family, if they wanted to.

One parent voiced her frustration that Mr. Donner wasn't at the meeting.  She said, why do we have these meetings, if Mr. Donner isn't even here to hear our concerns?  Which, brings up the question of what are the parent group meetings for...are they just a place to complain?  It was Rachael's understanding that we were coming together to support one another and the teachers and our children by talking and organizing.  We agreed that we should not set a date for January's parent group meeting until we know that Mr. Donner can and will plan to attend on that date.  In January, we should also talk more about what the parent group meeting is for.  (Since there seemed to be a lot of talk of wanting a place for freebies and venting more than wanting to get to know each other and work together for the good of our school community...)

A couple of parents voiced feeling not "welcome" in the morning at school, because they were accustomed to walking their children to class, and now they have been told that they no longer can, because it potentially holds teachers up from getting the day started with their class.  Rachael agreed to organize a meeting with Mr. Donner and the parents who were concerned about this. 

Tamika confirmed with Ms. Roberts and let us know that parents were welcome to the drama performance on Wednesday, December 21. 

Rachael encouraged the group to remember that we were about supporting one another, which meant speaking the truth to one another in LOVE and giving one another the benefit of the doubt, since we were all busy and sometimes forgot things or didn't communicate well but all really cared about the school and the well-being of our children.