SANTA MONICA HIGH SCHOOL PTSA
ASSOCIATION MEETING NOVEMBER 9, 2004
SAMOHI CAFETERIA
ASB/Leadership: Jesus Contreras spoke gave an update on the very successful blood drive. 162 pints of blood were collected. There was an enormous student response and the line to give was hours long.
Gus Walsh spoke about ideas for other fund-raisers including the upcoming “fun run” for athletes and others which will be held in December 2004 or January 2005.
Alissa Escarce and Wendy reported about the World Social Forum Project which will be in Brazil next year. The students are hoping to raise $3000 per person to attend. A poster board presentation was made and box left for contributions.
Karen Dickerson acknowledged Jose Escarce – one of the newly reelected School Board members who was present at the meeting.
AAPSSSG Report: Barry Snell reported about the College forum being held on Tuesday, November 16th.
SOL/ELAC Report: Marlena presented in Spanish where she reiterated Barry Snell’s comments about the College Forum and expressed her dismay over the absence of an announcement of this Forum in the Viking Voice.
A discussion was had about this matter and Cheri Orgel and Karen Dickerson explained that the College Forum was not open to all students and families so it was not appropriate to announce in the Viking Voice. They also pointed out that the invited students and families would receive a dialer message and/or letter inviting them to the meeting and that Tere Viramontes, community liaison, was informed. PTSA is committed to providing informative and accurate communication in English and Spanish to all of our parents and will continue to work hard to realize this goal.
Santa Monica Malibu Education Foundation: Cheryl Diamond reported the organization’s mission as a nonprofit organization designed to support programs in the District and she explained the types of grants the foundation makes. She reported about the grants made through the foundation to Santa Monica High School (9 grants last year in a wide range of subject areas), and she also reported about upcoming fundraisers for “For the Arts.”
PTSA Business:
Karen Dickerson: announced the approval of the October 12, 2004 Minutes by committee and reported that they will be posted on the Samohi website for review by interested parties.
Chris Thornton: made the Treasurer’s Report. Attached to these Minutes is a copy of the 10/1/04 through 10/31/04 Report. Chris discussed income, expenses and disbursements. Louise Jaffe moved to approve the Report and ratify the bills as paid, it was seconded and passed.
Denise Mesuro: reported about the Turkey Drive at Samo in conjunction with the Westside Food Bank.
Karen Dickerson: reported about the 2005-2006 nominating committee: Janine Brownstone, Alison Buell, Lori Horn, Louise Jaffe, Debbie Mulvaney were approved as committee members. She made a request to parents to become involved on a committee or in a leadership position. Karen also announced that she and Cheri Orgel will not be eligeable to serve as co-presidents next year.
Karen Dickerson: reported about the I House site governance representative.
A Motion was made to elect Lori Horn as the I House site governance rep.
Principal’s Report: made by Greg Runyon, S House. He reported and reminded us that the 6 week report cards have been mailed home. He explained the Pinnacle program and discussed the fact that House Activities are on hold and that each house is presently devising interventions for struggling students using various techniques.
He talked about the six year accreditation process called “WASC that is currently underway. He said that right now we are going through the re-write and review of the school’s weaknesses and strengths and that we are looking for a “6 year blessing” but maybe we will receive somewhere between a one to six year approval. He said that the API score target has been met and that subgroups have shown significant growth.
He reported about athletic events and the CIF status of Samohi teams.
He reported that there was an incident off campus over the weekend where Samohi students were held up at gun point on Ocean Park. The counseling office is working with the students.
He took questions about class sizes and discussed the budget cuts and the fact that we simply have larger classes as a result.
PROGRAM
Library Services – Ann McKechnie did a power point presentation showing various research tools and data bases available to students. She explained her job when the students come to the library and explained how to use Proquest search engine and the database. A discussion followed.
Delians/National Honor Society - Heather Calahan made a presentation about Delians and explained the requirement for students to do community service on the Santa Monica High School Campus. She presented the deadlines for registration for the Society and explained the two types of Honor Society – standard and service. A discussion followed regarding the appropriateness of restricting service to on site “community service” vs. off-site community service. Ms. Calahan explained the difficulty in verifying 900 students’ community service twice a year. She pointed out the service requirement is 3 hours on campus but that students are, of course, encouraged to perform additional community service hours in our larger community as their schedules permit.
AP Classes/Pinnacle - Greg Runyon made a presentation about AP classes, the curriculum, the scoring, grading and impact on College applications. He also discussed the Pinnacle computer program
Regional Occupational Center (ROP) - Mary Kay McCray made a presentation about the ROP program and College preparation. She handed out a useful handbook and did a great power point presentation on a college search engine that is very interesting and helpful for students called Choices Planner. Check the November Viking Voice for directions on how to use this outstanding program.
At 9:00 p.m., the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted by,
Amy Neiman
Co-Recording Secretary