This month’s February Board Meeting had a lot of valuable updates. Our 5K income is hard at work, bringing in some much needed improvements and additions to Cedar Park this school year, such as new microscopes, new outdoor picnic tables, a 7th grade class trip to Kingpins, and a new Cedar Park sign.
Here’s a quick recap:
School Updates (Dr. Anderson):
BSD’s proposed Common Middle School Experience is a big deal. Dr. A encourages all parents to look at the materials, ask questions, come to conclusions, and email Superintendent Grotting and/or fill out the parent survey.
The 5K ice cream party was easy and fun.
Cedar Park’s closet of clothes (our internal stash of donated clothes & items for students) needs to be organized to be more accessible and current.
Parent Teacher conferences are coming up. No students on Feb. 27th or 28th.
Dr. A will be presenting to the school board and will be sharing the high student growth being seen in math as an example of our continuing success. CPMS is the only school to have 5th graders pretest in the spring for best placement.
6th Grade is asking to use their allocated “6th Grade Experience” line item on 22 brand-new microscopes, complete with LCD screens & streaming capability. These screens allow 3-4 students to easily see findings (and eliminates constant fiddling/focusing). Three of four major units in 6th grade use microscopes. The rest of the fund would supply new goggles and $1000 worth of book club sets for the Humanities teachers. Because 6th already has Outdoor School as an all-class experience (and is paid for by the State), the Board approved this reallocation.
The new picnic tables have arrived & will be in use soon. This endeavor was funded by the PTC’s Principal’s Discretionary fund for $5000.
7th Grade have decided to use their Experience line item on a class trip to Kingpins, for bowling, food and laser tag. Details are being sorted, but students will most likely walk, with a staggered start.
The Student Socials will be held during electives this year, meaning more teacher chaperones. Items include: face painting (x2); caricature artist; djj/dancing; games in gyms; board/computer games; $1.50 food ticket for each student. Socials are paid for by the PTC budget.
Dr. A has received bids on a new CPMS sign. They have taken measurements and art proposals will be communicated soon.. Installation should begin in April. The crazy hall sign on Cedar Hills Boulevard will be removed (as it’s extremely difficult to change the announcement).
PTC Updates :
Due to a conflict, Bettina asked to change the May PTC Community Meeting to 5/11. The Board approved.
The Board will begin recruiting for next year’s committee leads, including 5K chair.
Ideas were thrown around for some sort of Volunteer Appreciation event this spring to thank our dedicated volunteers, ranging from treats/snacks at the check-in computer to a coffee event on the last day of school. Dr. A suggested tagging a parent thank you event to the week of 5/26, where all grades have some sort of experience and many parents may already be at the school.
And that’s all she wrote! Look for the meeting minutes from our 2/24 PTC Community Meeting coming soon.
