BEACON PTA MEETING MINUTES – MAY 2021

BEACON PTA MONTHLY GENERAL MEETING – MINUTES

May 10, 2021 (6PM, Zoom)

AGENDA

1. WELCOME – Nancy Molesworth, Meeting Chair (PTA Co-President);

Shirley Brady & Robin Broshi, co-presidents

Welcome from Nancy, who reads PTA meeting norms and expectations & introduces Brady

2. PRINCIPAL’S REPORT – Brady Smith

May 11th – Parent fall planning session, another one with staff will take place and planning a session with students too
School survey going out tomorrow and closes June 11th.
AP exams are coming up at end of May and June – some will be in school and AP Physics will be digital on June 9th
Summer Bridge plans: rising 9th graders is August 23/24 and rising 10th will be August 25/26 – half-day in-person programming. Will try to create a remote version.
Summer – there will be significant summer enrichment options
Summer NX resolutions – will be turned into credit over the summer. Will be remote work.
Grade-level meetups continue. 10th grade was a success in Central Park, great turnout.
May 21st – 9th grade meetup with Big Sibs. More grade-level meetups will continue
Peer Health Exchange continues working with advisories. Ryan Health Center is partnering with Beacon.
June 18th is the day Juneteenth will be recognized this year. No PBA’s or Regents that day. Next year, this will be an official school holiday.
Jump Rope pilot is starting. Will be continuing next year. Brady likes it better then Skedula (PupilPath) and other programs currently in use.
CEC elections continue through tomorrow, May 11.
Martha Kessler spoke about CEC elections, the positions and the importance of Beacon having a voice. Brady encourages parents to vote.
Orientation for all grade levels is being planned for beginning of school next year

3. PARENT COORDINATOR’S REPORT – Erdene Greene

4. COMMUNITY SERVICE UPDATE – Kevin Jacobs

Beacon Community Service coordinator, teacher Kevin Jacobs, spoke about plan for current 10th graders to complete their CS requirement in the fall.
Background: CS has been part of Beacon for 25 years. Program was cancelled this year due to COVID.
Now, CS for sophomores will be moved to fall of their Junior year (i.e. current 10th graders will have CS this coming fall). 35 hours will be expected instead of standard 50 hours. 2-3 hours a week of CS will let them complete their 35 hours by the middle of January. Avoids overlap of college program in Advisory, which starts in early Spring
Note: Honors CS is 75 hours.
Students can also choose to do CS in spring 2022 instead, only if approved in advance.
CS venue need to be NY-based non-profit and secular organizations (ex. if faith-based, must serve entire community, not just people of that faith)
Question if CS is shown on a student’s transcript. Brady will follow up with an answer.
Advisory – there may be graded advisory next year.

5. PRESIDENTS’ REPORT – Shirley Brady, Robin Broshi, Nancy Molesworth (Co-Presidents)

Deferred to New Business section.

6. TREASURERS’ REPORT – Spencer Green & Andrew Flamm

Andy gave report
We are on pace to meet fundraising goals for this year.
$288K expenses have been spent. Have $12k of funding left
Funding requests:
- $2K merchandise request to sell in the fall and at summer bridge. Sales have been doubled as to what was projected this year so inventory running low
- $2652 guidance counselor request to fund Lauren Scheff work on summer bridge program.
- $400 from Dungeons & Dragon Club
Vote: All funding requests approved.

7. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Anju Gupta & Katherine Bruck, Secretaries

April 2021 monthly meeting minutes presented for approval (click here to view). Approved.

8. COMMITTEE REPORTS

• Fundraising (Karen Jolicoeur & Alison Overholser)

Karen gave report.
The Magic of Coby event was a success: Over 60 tickets bought, $2200 net proceeds

• Auction (Diana Mahiques)

May 26th is Beacon auction – live and silent auction, community-building event
Live event will have special guests, participation of seniors and teachers (including a teacher band). Stay tuned for details!
May 19th at 8am is the preview of auction items – restaurant GC, wine GC, Rangers tickets, college prep courses. 70+ items in silent auction and 5+ items in live auction.
Must register at Give Smart website in advance of auction

• Diversity Equity & Inclusion (Gary Ramsay & Windell Williams)

Gary gave report.
Last DEI committee spent on planning for the fall.
Content & community subcommittee plans include: Workshop on DEI and STEM; Tulsa Race Massacre anniversary event; Juneteenth event; DEI summer reading for Beacon teachers (and families/students)
Focus on professional development for teachers and staff
Considering a “belonging” survey which could improve culture at Beacon
Admissions subcommittee – waiting on admissions numbers to figure out next steps
Beacon equity team is working on a plan to make Beacon an “anti-racist” culture. Working on exact wording. Final version should be ready by June PTA meeting
Book club – final meeting of this school year is May 12th; discussing NYT article in NYT by Isabel Wilkerson (“Caste” author)

• Community Building/Relations (Karen Stonely)

Communities are building within the Beacon community, which is great
Neighborhood reps have been having meetings; next up: June 4th Manhattan meet up at 5:30om in Central Park South (rain date: June 11th)
IEP community of parents & guardians: last meeting of this school year will be May 27
New Google Group for families with IEPs.
Meeting with Sarah Shams and Amy Kucker is coming up

• Communications (Justine Keil & Kathy Morgenstern

• Merchandising (Tali Mermelstein & Jeff Rosenblum)

• Hospitality (Elle Melaver & Kate Williams)

9. SLT UPDATE (Robin Broshi & Windell Williams)

Meeting last week focused on CEP (Comprehensive Education Plan)
Waiting on DOE school survey results (which close on June 11) but need to write CEP goals in advance.
Any bylaws changes will be handled by new SLT, including adding targeted reps

10. NEW BUSINESS

—June PTA/SLT elections discussion & overview (Application form is here for nominations)

—Click here for upcoming events

11. ADJOURNMENT

Questions? Please contact beaconpta@beaconschool.org