SES PTA Meeting

Monday October 7, 7pm

SCES Gymnasium

President’s Remarks

Approval of September Minutes

To help save paper, we will now post monthly minutes on the PTA bulletin board and on
the listserve, instead of having copies at each PTA meeting.

April 17th Health Fair, Christine Cheson, School Nurse

This event is being hosted by the Silver Spring International Middle School PTSA, but is
really a collaboration between SSI and two of its feeder schools, Highland View and
Sligo Creek Elementary. The fair will be held on the evening of April 17th in SSI’s field
house. The focus will be on educating families on the importance of exercise and healthy
eating habits. They would love for interested parents to join them in the planning. The
next meeting will be October 26th, at 7pm in the SSI Conference Room.

Tappers with Attitude: Isabel Estrada

Vicki Moss, Artistic Director of Tappers with Attitude, has offered to do a demonstration
of the after school tap dancing program in conjunction with the late night book fare
(November 11). The PTA will ask other after-school programs to participate.

Growing Native: Gina Riazi, Green Kids Naturalist for SCES

SCES is participating in the Growing Native seed collection challenge for the first year.
The goal is to collect hardwood seeds which the Maryland State Nurseries will sprout and
ultimately plant these native trees along highways and in our parks. The challenge is
open through the month of October. Kids may group seeds by kind and place each group
in a paper sandwich bag. They should include a leaf of the tree from which the seeds
were collected in each bag for identification purposes. The bags may be dropped off in
the bin at the bottom of the grand staircase at the school’s main entrance. More
information on native trees and the challenge is available at www.growingnative.org.

Safety and Security Committee: Brian Riley

The new committee has scheduled its first meeting and is focusing on:

1. Recess supervision
2. Security of the font door
 3. Impact of the Purple Line

A schedule of parent-volunteers for recess is now available online...

www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/sligocreekes/templates/default.aspx?id=34182

Fundraising:
A fundraising plan has been developed for the school year. The main fundraisers will be
the Direct Appeal Campaign and Sally Foster. It will also include pottery painting nights
(before the winter holidays, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day), the PTA membership
program, and the Safeway and Giant programs. The goal is to raise $20,000 for the year.

Mrs. Swift confirmed that 50% of the proceeds of the cookie dough sale go to the school.
The drive is separate from PTA fundraising efforts such as Sally Foster.

PTA Mini Grant Program: Diane Raynes

Diane: The PTA has a mini grant program through which it may award small grants of
$100 to $300 to teachers in the fall, winter and spring. Ms. Molly Murray has provided
an application for books to constitute a math library.

A grant of $300 is unanimously approved.

Treasurer’s Report: Lori Kaplan

Lori requests $500 to hire a professional accountant to reconcile bank statements and file
state and federal taxes for the past two years.

The motion is approved unanimously.

Staff Appreciation Committee

Election Bake Sale: an email has been circulated to the list serve about the Election Bake
Sale on November 4th.

Staff Appreciation: a November 11th staff lunch is being planned

Beautification Committee

The beautification committee had a great day on September 30th. A new tree was planted
in honor of Dr. Gale and the kindergarten play area was cleaned up. The committee
hopes to hold another beautification day to work on the mural.

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Principal’s Updates: Mrs. Diantha Swift

• Our students who have moved on to Silver Spring International MS are doing
well, especially in math.
• The artist who created the mosaic in the front hall will come to look at the mural
to discuss potential repairs.

• Fourth graders are doing well. They have small numbers in the classes
• ESOL is sending someone to provide support for ESOL kids once a week
• Everyone should have received their pictures by now. If you have not, please
contact the office. The retake date will be November 13th.
• Ms. Frye is our new Science teacher, and she is seeing the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade
classes regularly. K, 1st, and 2nd grade classes are being seen once a month.

Minutes Prepared by Yasmina Mudarres – Recording Secretary and Emily Sudbrink –

Secretary

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