Welcome to Park School PTA

November 27,2012

Tonight’s Agenda• Treasurer’s Report Kevin Consani

• Update on API Bob Abaya

• Brief Report on How Children SucceedKaren

McCormick

– Park School Character traits of the Month• Update on Safety at Park Bob Abaya

• Enrichment Program Spotlight– Lego Engineering

• Volunteer Spotlight– 4th //5th Science Fair Posters

• Update on Elections Teddy Singer

SAN MATEO PARK SCHOOL PTA TREASURER’S REPORT (October 1, 2012-November 21, 2012)

BALANCE ON HAND 10/1/2012 $7,981.01INCOME10/4/2012 DEP: Membership $540.0010/31/2012 DEP: Interest $0.3411/1/2012 DEP: Membership $45.0011/1/2012 DEP: Fall 2012 Sport Camp $914.0011/13/2012 DEP: Foundation Transfer $10,000.0011/16/2012 DEP: Movie Night $200.0011/16/2012 DEP: Fall 2012 Aviator Program $525.00

TOTAL $ 12,224.34TOTAL INCOME $20,205.35EXPENSESCK 4824 Robin Parsons-Gee, Teacher Reimb $150.00CK 4828 Colleen Forbs, PTA Child Care $40.00CK 4830 SMFC PTA, PTA Dues, Insurance $612.00CK 4816 Shauna Mullins, WAJ Expenses $870.95CK 4822 Karen McCormick, Opening Day Coffee $67.41CK 4827 Lindsay Taylor, Teacher Reimbursement $124.12CK 4832 Attorney Gen, PTA Admin $25.00CK 4833 Michael K White CPA, 2011 Taxes $350.00CK 4831 Franchise Tax Board $10.00Charge Back Insufficient Funds from deposited check $20.00CK 4835 Alexandra Gillen, Back to School $22.44CK 4836 Alexandra Gillen, Volunteer Appreciation $53.64CK 4839 Mary Maso, Movie Night Concessions$71.64CK 4834 Alexandra Gillen, PTA Meeting $10.37CK 4840 Charles Neal, Fall Sports Camp $914.00CK 4837 Margie Roeckel, Library Books $66.78

TOTAL $3,408.35TOTAL EXPENSES $3,408.35BALANCE ON HAND 11/21/2012 $16,797.00Kevin Consani, Treasurer Date__11/21/2012____

Free Money

• Are you going to purchase anything from Amazon this gift giving season? Go to our website (www.smparkschool.org) – 6% to Park School. – You can double dip by using our gift cards (6%

+4%=10%)

• Do you shop at Safeway? Sign up for e-scrip and contribute to our school for no extra cost. – Just fill out a form from the office or go on-line at

www.Safeway.com – Last year we earned over $1836 for this one simple

step!

API• Park School’s API for 2011 for

747.• State of California set the API

growth of +5 points, or 752.• Park School actually gained

+13, an API of 760.• 5th grade scored very low last

year, and actually pulled the scores quite low.

• With the removal of last year’s class, the API was 797, a significant rise.

• Of course, that means that the teachers must maintain the high average of the current 5th grade, while doing a good job with the incoming second grade.

Other Terms to Know

• API: The California Academic Performance Index– A number between 200 and 1000– Each school receives an API for the year & a target

for the next year• AYP: Adequate Yearly Progress

– A part of the Federal “No Child Left Behind Act” of 2001

– Focuses on specific subgroups of students– Mandates that an increasing number of students in

each subgroup must score as ‘proficient’ or ‘advanced’ in reading & mathematics

Brief Report on How Children Succeed by Paul Tough

• Relies on work performed by James Heckman, a Nobel prize-winning economist at the University of Chicago.

• Findings: IQ, as a driver of success,

is subordinate to: – persistence, – curiosity, – conscientiousness, – optimism, and – self-control

• Economists call these non-cognitive skills. Psychologists call them personality traits. Neuroscientists sometimes use the term executive functions. The rest of us often sum them up with the word character. 

Where the Research Started..

• Heckman’s curiosity was piqued when he saw data that GED graduates had the same future prospects as high school dropouts

• His inclinations were confirmed when he dug into the findings of the famous Perry Preschool Project. In the early days of the federal War on Poverty in the 1960s:– three- and four-year-olds from impoverished Ypsilanti, Michigan, – Were provided enriched preschooling, and then – compared their life trajectories over several decades with those

of Ypsilanti peers who had not received any early childhood education.

Perry School Findings (Heckman)

• The cognitive advantages of being in the Perry program faded after a couple of years.

• Test scores between the two groups evened out, and the program was considered something of a failure.

• But Heckman and others discovered that years later the Perry preschoolers were living much better lives, including earning more and staying out of trouble with the law.

• And because under the Perry program teachers systematically reported on a range of students’ behavioral and social skills, Heckman was able to learn that students’ success later in life was predicted not by their IQs but by the noncognitive skills like curiosity and self-control that the Perry program had imparted.

More from Paul Tough’s analysis

• Research demonstrates that resilience, optimism, perseverance, focus, and the other noncognitive skills that Heckman and others have found to be so important to success in school and beyond are malleable—they can be taught, practiced, learned, and improved, even into adulthood.

• Martin Seligman, a University of Pennsylvania psychologist and author of Learned Optimism, and Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, research has demonstrated that students taught to believe that people can grow intellectually earn higher grades than those who sense that intelligence is fixed.

– This commitment to the possibility of improvement, Seligman, Dweck, and others contend, invests students with the ability to persevere, rebound from setbacks, and overcome fears.

• Psychologist Angela Duckworth, a protégé of Seligman’s, has done a range of studies—on college students with low SAT scores, West Point plebes, and national spelling bee contestants, among others—and has found that a determined response to setbacks, an ability to focus on a task, and other non-cognitive character strengths are highly predictive of success, much more so than IQ scores.

This is good news…and makes sense

• Tough suggests (in interviews) that we pay attention to these traits and support their development by– letting our children meet the challenge of homework, book reports, and

science projects, etc on their own, all the while supporting and discussing their progress with them

– having them deal with upset & disappointment themselves– “help(ing) young people improve their sense of self-efficacy – if we can

help them develop what the psychologist Carol Dweck calls a growth mindset – they do better not just in the long run, but right away, in class. Dweck’s data shows that students who believe that they can improve their own abilities deal better with setbacks and apply themselves more energetically to difficult tasks – all of which would be very useful to a student about to tackle Homer or the Pythagorean Theorem.

– being in conversation, perhaps• discussing the ‘Character Trait of the Month’ with your child (found in the

Park Press, on the school office window)• asking our children’s teachers how they are implementing the ‘Character

Trait of the Month’

Park School Character Traits of the Month 2012-2013

• September:  Effort • October:  No Put Downs• November:  Cooperation • December:  Patience• January:  Perseverance (persistence) • February:  Pride • March:   Curiosity • April:   Self-discipline (self-control) • May:   Sense of Humor (optimism)• June:  Friendship

Update on Security at Park School• Last meeting we discussed security at Park• Since then, Superintendent Simms has issued a letter regarding updated

safety policies, and even gave each principal a checklist of security measures to be implemented at each site, and required them all to be part of principals’ individual goals for the year.

• Park has completed or are currently addressing each of the checklist items, including a walk-through with the principal, lead of operations, and head of facilities to review campus security.

• We have also acquired 2 videos and a CD from The Safe Side– Stranger Safety– Internet Safety

• These videos are available by filling out the simple form, and placing it in my file folder in the office. First come first served. The videos have Spanish translations.

• Video Clip

Park School Campus Security

TEACH YOUR CHILDREN:•Who a stranger is…may not always be a person that looks strange.•First/last name, address and phone number.•9-1-1•To run away, scream, and find a trusted adult if approached by a stranger.•Always walk or ride bikes (use helmets always) with a friend or family member, using safe routes, and avoiding vacant buildings, alleys and potentially dangerous places.

LEGO® Pre-EngineeringFirst and Second Grades

Thursdays 3:00-4:30January 17-March 21

• Let your imagination run wild with over 100,000 pieces of LEGO®!

• Build engineer-designed projects such as boats, bridges, mazes and motorized cars, and use special pieces to create your own unique design.

• Explore the endless creative possibilities of the LEGO® building system with the guidance of an experienced Play-Well instructor.

Spotlight on Enrichment-

Spotlight on Volunteering- 4th & 5th grade Science Fair

PostersObjective: To support our children in completing their required posters

Your Engagement: 1 or 2 afternoons (Wednesday February X & X) from 1-2:50

What We Do:• Listen to their presentation. Ask thoughtful questions.• Become familiar with the Scientific Process and required elements of the

poster• Support (artistic materials, looking up spelling in dictionaries, etc) students

in the construction of their posters (gluing, etc)  We Do NOT: • Critique their posters• Rearrange their posters• Do their posters

Update on CA Education Budget

• Proposition 30 passed! Thanks for voting! $6 billion in additional state revenues will occur this year, with continued but less amounts through 2017 with smaller additional amounts through 2019. $6 billion in education cuts in CA was avoided.

• Stay informed! There are proposed cuts for federal education spending, including Title I programs that help pay for tutors and supplemental help in schools in high-poverty areas, special ed programs covered under IDEA, funding that helps English Language Learners, or Head Start.

• Budget Development Assumptions Fiscal Year 2012-2013 is posted on district’s website. On December 15, 2012 the first interim report is due.

Dates to Know!

• Through December 2nd: Scholastic Book Fair! – Books are great gifts for Family, Friends, and Classrooms!

• Sunday, December 2nd: 1-4pm

Holiday Craft Fair– Children can visit each booth to make holiday crafts– $5 donation

• December 3rd, 4pm: SMFC District Study Session– Open to public– Questions/statements from the public only at the end of the

session

Next PTA meeting is January 15th

‘Coffee with Bob’

Goodnight & Drive Safely!