Unami Parent Council

The purpose of Unami’s Parent Council is for parents to share their ideas and voice their concerns.  Principal David Bolton and Assistant Principal Cheryll Dougherty preside over the meetings, with visits from Unami staff and district personnel.  Parents are able to keep in tune with what’s going on in the school and the district, and help determine expenditures. 

Next Meeting:

There are no more meetings this school year.

Minutes from Previous Meetings (2005-06):

September      October        November        December        January      

February          March           April                   May

Minutes from previous years:         2004-2005          2003-2004          2002-2003

For Info on the Unami Parent Council contact the Unami office.

The Unami Parent Council was held on Friday, May 19^th, in the Library.

Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Council meeting – The topics covered at the last meeting included the increased relevance requirements for graduation – the number of credits required and an additional year of math will be added; and the recognition of students academic performance by designations of summa, magna, and cum laude beginning with the class of 2009. For more information see http://www.cbsd.org/about/parentadvisory/index.htm.

Treasurer’s Report – After all commitments are met, the balance remaining is 3024.11. After a discussion, a motion was made to allocate the balance to the purchase of a poster maker and any unused monies would be put into the principal’s discretionary fund for use by the new principal, David Bolton.

Parent Council Meetings - Minutes are posted on the Unami website.

The Unami 40^th Anniversary activities have gone well. Parent council was invited to see the historical retrospective slide show presented at the Wednesday night community event.

Staff Luncheon – was a wonderful event.

Unami News:

Ms. Dougherty gave an update on the Relay for Life to be held the next day on May 20^th at Tohickon MS.

Sixth Graders will be visiting Unami from Butler on May 25^th and from Mill Creek on May 31^st.

A gift, cards, cake and wishes for a great retirement were presented to Mr. Fuller thanking him for his excellent service and commitment to our students over the years.

This was the last meeting of the school year.

The Unami Parent Council was held on Friday, April 21^st, in the Library.

Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Council meeting – The topics covered at the last meeting included the Nutrition Authorization Act and CB’s wellness policy. Discussions covered changing menu items in the cafeteria and screenings for Body Mass Index (BMI). If parents have recommendations for cafeteria improvements, they can be sent to the manager of the CB schools cafeterias whose name along with further information can be found at http://www.cbsd.org/about/parentadvisory/index.htm. Also, parents should plan to contact their government representatives regarding a bill in the legislature that would mandate starting school after Labor Day each year – this would make the CB school calendar for some years go into very late June. The last meeting is May 3^rd, so if there are any issues to present for discussion, please let Stacey know.

Treasurer’s Report – Currently, there is a balance of approximately $14,000 with $8150 budgeted expenditures still to occur.

Parent Council Meetings - Minutes are posted on the Unami website.

The Unami 40^th Anniversary committee plans are nearing completion. Mr. Cottman spoke about the set-up for Thursday’s Field Day and asked for some parents help. Students will rotate through activity stations during their specials periods. Ideas for activity stations should be sent to Mr. Cottman.

The Teacher Appreciation Lunch is scheduled for May 4^th. Some parents signed up to help with the lunch set-up.

Unami News:

Kathy Houpert spoke about the 9^th grade Health Fair planned for Wednesday, May 3^rd. Students will have an opportunity to participate in 3 areas of wellness activities in addition to attending assemblies and visiting booths of information. The 3 areas offered will include: active activities with opportunities to try karate and salsa dancing, etc; “brain” sessions (thinking about wellness) with information on ‘you are what you eat’, alcohol and tobacco prevention, and similar topics; and emotional discussion sessions with topics like stress management, how-to have healthy friendships. Parent assistance was sought for set-up and serving of lunch to the vendors and community members who conduct the activities and sessions.

Parents questioned if this could be offered every year to 9^th graders – presently it is only offered every second or third year and some classes miss it. Some parents are going to talk with Ms. Houpert after this year’s to see if organization help, parent labor, and funding could make this a yearly event for each 9^th grade class.

Mr. Cottman gave an update on the Relay for Life which will be held on May 20^th at Tohickon MS. This year, if you plan to drop your child off, do so at Groveland and shuttle buses will take the students to Tohickon. Unami’s registration begins at 0830 am. To date, about $7500 has been collected. Monday’s are the collection days. Any money collected up to registration on the day of the event is credited towards the team, after that it is credited to Unami. Checks should be made to the American Cancer Society. Unami is in charge of paper plates for use at lunch and dinner – if you can donate paper plates, please drop them at the office. There is a mandatory chaperone’s meeting on May 8^th.

Students will be attending assemblies on “Stop the Choking Game”, by Officer Scott Metheny of the Upper Moreland Township Police Department. The single best weapon against the Choking Game is information.   

The ninth grade Charity Dance Marathon will be held May 5^th from 4 to 10 pm. This year’s charity is Alex’s Lemonade Stand. This is a 9^th grade only event.

Sixth Graders will be visiting Unami from Butler on May 25^th and from Mill Creek on May 31^st.

Last Meeting of this school year – May 19, 2006 at 9:00 am.

The Unami Parent Council was held on Friday, March 17^th, in the Library.

Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Council meeting – Reviewed and discussed “PREPARING FOR THE FUTURE - College Selection and Admissions”. This presentation was given by Dr. Laws at the last PAC meeting and is available at the Parent’s Advisory Council minutes link at www.cbsd.org/about/parentadvisory/index.htm. Unami’s discussion was extremely helpful and insightful.

Treasurer’s Report - There is a balance of approximately $3000 after planned expenditures occur.

Parent Council Meetings - Minutes are posted on the Unami website.

The Unami 40^th Anniversary committee plans are being finalized for each day. Monday’s activities will be a pep rally and presentation of the Time Capsule. Tuesday will be 60’s dress-up day. Wednesday will be a 70’s Fashion Show. In the evening, alumni are invited back. Thursday is Field Day with a cake at lunch and Friday will be 80’s day with a slide show at lunch.   

Unami News:

Joan Altemore, Language Therapist, gave a thank you for donated books for the special needs education students. Middle schools need to grow their libraries for these students. Interestingly, other teachers often use the books for illustrating character developments.

PSSA – scheduled over 3 days starting March 21^st. Grade 7 will take the PSSA in periods 1 to 3 & Grade 8 will take the tests during periods 3 to 5. It is Central Bucks policy to test 100% of the district students. PSSA is used to determine students who need to take part in the skills courses.

Spring Sports – started March 13^th. Generally, over 300 students take part.

Some Sixth Graders from Titus will move to Tamanend instead of Unami with the redistricting approved on March 14^th by the School Board. Student population for 2006-07 would have been approximately 1076 and with the move is planned around 1000. The 4 oldest portables will be replaced.

The ninth grade Charity Dance Marathon will be held May 5^th from 4 to 10 pm. This year’s charity is Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

Unami 7^th grade girls will be attending a presentation on April 3 at CB West by Rachel Simmons, “Odd Girl Out”, about the problems of female bullying. The 7^th grade boys will be attending the movie, Burning Bridges, based upon the burning of the covered bridge in Bucks County – this movie is about the restorative and healing process the community and families went through afterwards.

Parent / Teacher Conferences are scheduled for April 10^th from 730 am to 330 pm. Parents are notified if a conference is required.

The Teacher Appreciation Lunch is tentatively scheduled for May 4^th.

EZ Lunch Accounts – if your child buys lunch, consider pre-paying for lunch. It speeds lines and can be used so that Meals Only are purchased to help monitor good eating practices.

There is a Town Hall Meeting on Underage Drinking – March 28^th at 630 pm in Lenape MS auditorium. Special Guest is Pennsylvania’s governor, Edward Rendell.

Materials were made available based upon the presentation, “Stop the Choking Game”, by Officer Scott Metheny of the Upper Moreland Township Police Department. The single best weapon against the Choking Game is information. When the download cooperates and time permits, the related presentation may be run at a future parent’s council meeting.

Next Meeting – April 21, 2006 at 9:00 am.

The Unami Parent Council was held on Friday, February 20^th, in the Library.

Superintendent’s Parent Advisory Council meeting – Topics covered included impact of class rank and possible ways for the district to recognize students academically at graduation, and how curriculum is developed. Additional information can be found at the link for the Parent’s Advisory Council at www.cbsd.org/about/parentadvisory/index.htm

Treasurer’s Report - There is a balance in the account of $14, 671. There are budgeted allocations of approximately $10,900 for the school year leaving a balance of approximately $3771.

Parent Council Meetings - Minutes are posted on the Unami website.

The Unami 40^th Anniversary committee plans are moving forward for the week of activities, May 15^th – 19^th. Field Festival day is scheduled for Thursday.

The Winter Dance on January 20^th went well with the recommendations for improvements made from the previous year: the new DJ, limited attendance, and staggered dismissal times.  The next Dance is the Charity Dance, which will be held on Friday, March 10^th, and all proceeds are donated to charity. Tickets will be sold the week preceding the dance.

Ninth Grade Assessment Presentations are scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, February 27^th & 28^th and March 2^nd from 3-7pm. Students are nearing completion and preparing to rehearse their presentations. 88 student groups will present both sides of a pro/con subject to a panel of teachers. The 9^th grade assessment counts as ½ a graduation credit along with the senior project.

Program Planning is in progress. Students moving to 9^th grade are finished. Students moving to 8^th grade are in the process of identifying their potential courses and getting their DRAG sheets signed. 6^th grade course selection will be during the middle of March with a parent’s orientation meeting on March 7^th at 7 pm. Gary and Cheryll asked if there was any additional information to present to parents. One recommendation was to add a list of school activities and the approximate calendar time when the activities occur similar to what is published in the Unami directory. One recommendation to include more on student safety caused some discussion – it’s a balance problem on how much to overwhelm parents.

PSSA – Grade 8 Writing Assessment is complete. The 6 Reading and Math Assessments for Grades 7 & 8 will be scheduled over 4 days starting around March 21^st. The state limits the window when tests can be administered and it is Central Bucks policy to test 100% of the district students. PSSA is used to determine students who need to take part in the skills courses. PSSA scores are due to the schools in mid-July and will be sent to the parents probably with the August newsletter. Next year PSSA is adding a Science assessment for 8^th grade, which will be administered in late April or early May.

The Unami Musical, “Into the Woods, Jr.” is scheduled for March 3-4^th with approximately 75 students involved in the production.

Miscellaneous News

A presentation, “Stop the Choking Game”, by Officer Scott Metheny of the Upper Moreland Township Police Department, is being offered at Tohickon MS on Wednesday, February 22, 2006, at 7 pm. Unami MS is discussing whether to cover this topic in school and how to cover it. Part of the problem is to convince students that this not a game – it is deadly.

Unami 7^th grade girls will be attending a presentation about the problems of female bullying based upon the book, Odd Girl Out by the author, Rachel Simmons. This is scheduled for April 3 at CB West. At the same time the 7^th grade boys will be attending the movie, Burning Bridges, which discusses vandalism and its consequences and is based upon the burning of the covered bridge in Bucks County.

The CB Healthier Community Team and CBSD is looking to provide cable TV programs. They are looking for parent volunteers to participate in a parents hosted discussion program. If interested, contact BGross@dh.org.

Next Meeting – March 17, 2006 at 9:00 am.

The January meeting of the Unami Parent Council was held on Friday, January 20^th, in the Library.

Superintendent’s Advisory Council meeting – none held this month.

The Treasurer’s Report was presented and there is a balance in the account of $16,996. From this, there are budgeted allocations to be paid during the rest of the school year leaving a balance of approximately $3000. The camera requested by Mr. Kesilman for the art department, Claymation Club and newspaper was just purchased.

Parent Council Meetings - Minutes are posted on the Unami website.

At this point, Gary introduced Stephanie Kramer of Interquest Detection Canines. Stephanie and her dog, Puma, perform sweeps for illegal and controlled substances in Central Bucks schools. The middle schools and high schools are routinely patrolled. Using canine patrols to find prohibited or illegal substances is another tool to get the message to students that alcohol, drugs and weapons will not be tolerated in the schools. There was an interesting demonstration followed by a comprehensive discussion of the searching of the school and follow-up procedures.

The Unami 40^th Anniversary committee planning continues for the week of May 15^th – 19^th. One change in schedule will be the Field Festival day, which is now scheduled for Thursday.

Ninth Grade Assessment. Work is in progress with 88 teams, topics and mentors chosen and assigned. Presentations are now scheduled for Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, February 27^th & 28^th and March 2^nd from 3-7pm.  Please note the date change.

The 7^th grade is in the midst of monitoring their number of steps after a Fitness for Life assembly and receipt of their pedometers. Although Coca Cola provides the pedometers and is one of the sponsors of the program, no product branding is on the pedometers – a concern raised previously.  

Program Planning is in progress. Students moving to 10^th grade are in the process of identifying their potential courses and getting their DRAG sheets signed. Students moving from 8^th to 9^th will start their planning beginning to middle of February, and 7^th to 8^th will be end of February to beginning of March. 6^th grade course selection will be during the middle of March.

Mid-Term Exams will be held from February 1^st through 9^th. For certain subjects, the mid-term is averaged with a Final Exam to create a 5^th marking period grade.

PSSA – Grade 8 Writing Assessment will be held for three consecutive days beginning February 14^th. The 6 tests for Grades 7 & 8 Reading and Math Assessments will be held over 4 days starting March 20^th. The state limits the window when tests can be administered and it is Central Bucks policy to test 100% of the district students, so it is extremely important for all students to be present during assessment days. It is Central Bucks district policy to teach the skills needed for the Assessments, not to teach to the test. Students must achieve Proficient or better on the Assessments. Students at the Basic or Below proficiency level take part in the remediation skills courses.

Additional information regarding Program Planning, PSSA and the Ninth Grade Assessment can be found on the Unami website – www.cbsd.org/unami

The Winter Dance was held on Friday, January 20^th. The theme of the dance was “Hooray for Hollywood”. Last year, a task force made recommendations on improving dances at Unami. Improvements suggested and made were for a different DJ, different music selections, better lighting, improving the chaperone directions, shortening the dance by a ½ hour with staggered dismissal times and limiting the number of students who attend.

A “comfortable” number for a dance was determined to be between 400 and 500 students for a dance. Unami has approximately 980 students, so the decision was made to sell tickets to each grade on a first come, first served basis with 150 tickets allocated for 7^th, 150 tickets for 8^th & 200 for 9th. Announcements and E-notes made it clear that tickets would be required and when they would be sold. However, because this was the first time Unami sold tickets to a dance, there were some disappointed students who waited until too late to get tickets.

Next Meeting – February 17, 2006 at 9:00 am.

The fourth meeting of the 2005-2006 Unami Parent Council was held on Friday, December 16th^th, in the Library. Gary noted that if school is cancelled or delayed on a planned meeting day, the Parent Council meeting will be cancelled. Also, due to the inclement weather, the 9^th grade concerts were rescheduled to December 20, 2005.

Stacey LaHoda reported on the Superintendent’s Advisory Council meeting. All meeting minutes are available at http://www.cbsd.org/about/parentadvisory/index.htm. Two issues were of interest to Unami – one regarding redistricting and one regarding a possible addition to Unami. There will likely be some spot redistricting in the future to alleviate overcrowding in some elementary schools. Unami faces a size problem – not enough classrooms for the number of students.  Stacey met with Geri McMullin, school board member, to voice concerns about building an addition versus adding additional modular classroom space. Stacey is invited to attend the next building committee meeting to continue these discussions. Three years ago, a plan for an addition of 8 classrooms to Unami had been approved but then the building was delayed because of other district building projects. Also noted was the continued improvement of Central Bucks scores on the PSSA – the district is the ninth highest performing school district in the state.

The Treasurer’s Report was presented and there is a balance in the account of $16,749. From this, there are budgeted allocations to be paid during the rest of the school year leaving a balance of approximately $3000.

Parent Council Meetings - Minutes are posted on the Unami website.

The Unami 40^th Anniversary committee is putting together themes with subcommittees for this week-long event to be held May 15^th – 19^th with the Field Festival day on Friday. Mini-celebrations will be held each day.

Congratulations were extended to all the students who participated in the Holiday Concerts and the Fall Play. These activities involved many students and were well received by the audiences. The Spring Production will be Into the Woods, Jr. to be held in March with casting completed last week.

Stacy Rosenthal, Librarian, thanked all the parents who helped with the Book Fair.

Chuck Cottman spoke about a Fitness for Life activity for 7^th grade. Coca Cola provides kits with step-meters for the students to wear and monitor number of steps progress for a period of time. Several parents expressed concern about the kits/meters not being promotional advertising. If the kits are suitable, an assembly will be held to kick off this activity – with the intent of helping students learn about the value of exercise and making informed nutrition choices. 

Chuck asked for volunteers to help with the paperwork for the Relay for Life. This year’s event will be held on Saturday, May 20, 2006 at Tohickon. Last year, students raised about $25,000 for charity with about 330 Unami students involved. Volunteers would be needed for about 2 hours per week from approximately March 1^st through May 20^th to organize and coordinate the forms and money received.

The successful Ellis Island Day for the 9^th grade occurred on Monday, December 12^th – it was rescheduled due to the snow day. The students immersed themselves in the culture of another country for an amazing experience. One parent volunteer did recommend that some minor reorganization occur as some lines for activities were very long – however, this did mimic what really happened.

Lynn O’Hara, in costume, gave an introduction to Greek Times, discussing the kick-off day being held and the events scheduled for Thursday and Friday, December 22^nd and 23^rd.  She also explained how to make a chiton – the Greek dress all students would wear for the 2 days. Students will participate in an agora, a quiz bowl and Olympics, earning points for their city-state.

Lynn also gave an overview to the Ninth Grade Assessment. This is a mandatory graduation project where students self-select a group of four to present both the pro and con viewpoints of a topic in a formal 20 minute presentation. The teachers and counselors have a list of about 60-70 choices to help the groups pick a topic. The teachers proffer guidance because there needs to be enough available research material to present proficiently. Parents must sign a form indicating that the students can work on the topic as some can be very controversial. Some preliminary work is in progress with the primary research and presentation preparation to be done in January and February with presentations from February 28^th through March 2^nd from 3-7pm.

At the conclusion of the regular meeting, a short discussion was held on the Choking Game. Gary and Cheryll were wondering what role educators should play. A future evening meeting will be planned.

Next Meeting – January 20, 2006 at 9:00 am.

The third meeting of the 2005-2006 Unami Parent Council was held on Friday, November 18^th, in the Library.

There was no meeting of the district’s Superintendent’s Advisory Council.

The Treasurer’s Report was presented and there is a balance in the account of $24,798. From this, there are outstanding allocations to be paid during the rest of the school year. The list of clubs, groups and supplies to receive this funding and the corresponding amounts was reviewed. In December, one new request will be coming in for the 9^th grade marathon for start-up funds. This is a charity fundraiser held in the spring. 

Parent Council Meetings - Minutes are posted on the Unami website.

Unami Wear – the sale has ended. The ordered items will be available before the holidays and distributed in the cafeteria at lunch. If there are problems with an item, please contact Melissa in the office.

Parent Conferences – Will be held on November 21^st and 22^nd from 12:30 – 8 pm.

Stacy Rosenthal, Librarian, spoke about the upcoming Book Fair to be held from December 12^th – 16^th. In addition to books based on the Unami curriculum and for middle school students, there will be books available for younger children and for adults. All classes will visit the Book Fair between Monday and Thursday. This year’s fair is a pilot program with Barnes and Noble of Montgomeryville. Stacy also asked for parental help with the fair.

Community Newsletter – The principals of Pine Run and Butler are coordinating a brainstorming meeting on Tuesday, November 22^nd, at 10 am at Butler to develop a community newsletter. They have invited Unami parents to participate. The area covered would be Chalfont and New Britain. If any Unami parent attends, could they please communicate relevant information back to Unami?

November 18^th was the last day to order a pie to support the Manna project “Pie in the Sky”. This service fund raiser charges $25 per pie which provides a holiday dinner for a person with AIDS. Art students made ceramic wall vases to include with each dinner. Pick-up is Tuesday, November 22^nd from 12:30 – 8 pm.

The Fall Play will be held on December 2^nd. Student viewing of the play will occur on December 1^st. Tickets will be on-sale prior to the play.

Ellis Island day for the 9^th grade will occur on December 9^th. This is a day where the students immerse themselves in the culture of another country. It is a close simulation of the experience of coming to the US through Ellis Island.

The Unami 40^th Anniversary committee held their meeting to discuss plans for this week-long event to be held May 15^th – 19^th. The two main events will be a Field Festival day and an evening reception. Mini-celebrations will be held each day. Ideas will be solicited from student council and the faculty. The next meeting will be held on December 16^th at 830am prior to the regular Parent’s Council meeting.

Mrs. Dougherty reviewed several upcoming events – and some changed dates:

Cyber Police – The final presentation on internet safety for the 9^th grade has been moved to December 14^th at 9:50 am in the auditorium. One resource for important information is isafe.org – it contains parent, child and educator components.

The 9^th grade will also be seeing a powerful anti-drug presentation by the Philadelphia Narcotics Drug Awareness team on November 30^th at 9:15am. This very graphic presentation is being given at all 5 middle schools.

The last day of clubs was November 18^th. If a parent has a special skill they would be willing to share with a group of students the next time clubs are run, please contact Mrs. Dougherty.

At the conclusion of the regular meeting, the Primetime Live video, Caught Cheating, was shown. Gary and Cheryll spoke about Unami’s issues related to cheating, internet copying and plagiarizing.

Next Meeting – December 16, 2005 at 9:00 am.

The second meeting of the 2005-2006 Unami Parent Council was held on Friday, October 21st in the Library. Gary Fuller welcomed the group and mentioned that he would be skipping around the agenda to allow teachers to make presentations requesting funding for clubs / activities. 

The Treasurer’s Report was presented to provide the status of fund expenditures outstanding and income derived from the magazine sales. The magazine sales generated approximately $56000 total sales.  As of October 20^th, it appeared that there would be $17000 – a conservatively generated estimate - to spend after paying for the magazines and prizes. A goal was to allow for a reserve of about $2500 for other requests throughout the year after the outstanding commitments and new requests for funding are processed. Funding requests involving teacher time are based on the EDR – the extra duty responsibility – which is $266.93 and represents 20 hours of service.

The following Requests for Funding were approved and seconded during the meeting:

Yearly expenses:

1. Agenda Books – these are the student daily planners with an approximate cost of $4000 to provide one for each student plus extras for new students during the year. A parent requested that the planners have a tear off tabbed corner to make it easy to find the current day.
2. Freshman Day – approximately $1000. This funding is used to reduce the per student cost of a day of fun including a casual dance usually held at Lenape Swim Club.
3. Clubs - $1000.  After school activities that are tied to community service can request funding support. Unami’s clubs are usually given $100.
4. Staff Luncheon - $750.

New Requests for Funding:

1. Student of the Quarter – Ms. McKellin requested $350 for an end of the year luncheon to recognize as a group the 7^th & 8^th grade students chosen as SOQs. There are 48 students – one boy and one girl for each of the 4 quarters and the funding requested was derived by multiplying $7.25 per student lunch. She explained how the SOQ are chosen from teacher information and student surveys and answered questions on how parents or community members could make a recommendation – this can be done by emailing Ms. McKellin or the school administration.
2. Musical and Drama – Ms. Caldwell requested approximately $3000 to support the 2 fall one-act plays and the spring musical. The funding for the fall plays was broken into 7 EDRs + $300 royalties and $100 props and for the spring musical it was 17 EDRs, $500 royalties and $200 props. The total cost of the productions was expected to be $7500 with ticket sales reducing the need for funding by $4000 and student fundraising by another $500. Ms. Caldwell spoke about the number of students involved in the productions and the Drama Club – which is expected to be an all year club.

Kathy Hooper – the school nurse first spoke about the district’s plan for implementing the state mandated BMI testing and how it will be a phased approach with 5th through 8^th grade being measured next year. The information will be gender and age specific and sent to the home with recommendations for students who fall outside the recommended BMI.

3. 9^th grade Health Fair - Ms. Hooper then requested $1000 to support a health fair for 9^th graders. This event was held at Unami in 2000 and 2004 and was extremely successful and she would like to see it become an annual event. The students attend workshops, mini-exercise classes, and listen to motivational speakers. While there is much that is donated by the community for the health fair, some costs do exist. The funding is used for the speaker, food and prizes, a banner and t-shirts for the students. The funding for this event was approved and seconded with the caveat that the banner (generally a cost of about $200) should be re-usable for future years.
4. Claymation Club and Newspaper - Mr. Kesilman requested approximately $750 for an external CD/ROM burner, a Digital Camera and supplies for the Claymation club which has grown from just 4 students to over 40 in a few short years. Mr. Kesilman had some sample pictures from the club. The camera and CD/ROM burner would actually be used by both the club and the newspaper staff.

After the Funding Requests were approved and seconded, the regular reports and other agenda items were discussed.

Superintendent’s Advisory Council – contact Stacey LaHoda at smlahoda@comcast.net if you have an issue to bring up at this district-wide meeting. Minutes and agendas are posted on the cbsd.org website.

Parent Council Meetings - Minutes from parent council meetings are posted on the Unami website.

Unami Wear - Clothing items with the Unami logo/name are available for purchase by students and parents. The try-on day will be Tuesday, October 25^th.

Blood Drive – will be held on November 4^th from 12 – 6 pm in the auxiliary gym.

Parent Conferences – Will be held on November 21^st and 22^nd from 12:30 – 8 pm with each conference 10 minutes and generally conducted by the team. A letter will be sent home on November 2nd discussing conferences. If your child needs a conference you will be notified. If you are requesting a conference, contact Unami.

Unami Dance - The 8^th & 9^th grade dance was held on October 21^st. This year there is a staggered pick-up time for evening dances –8^th at 945 PM and 1000 PM for 9^th grade. When 7^th grade attends an evening dance, the pick-up time will be 930 PM.

Information will be coming home about the Manna project “Pie in the Sky”. Ms. Janet Rodenhausen is sponsoring this with student council. This service fund raiser charges $25 per pie of which $10 is used for the pie cost and $15 provides a holiday dinner for a person with AIDS.

Magazine Drive - Mrs. Dougherty thanked all the parent volunteers for the time and support and she reported that it was a wonderful campaign. Although the magazine sales have been completed, additional orders can be made through the Great American website with credit for Unami throughout the school year. As mentioned earlier, the students sold over $56,000 in magazine subscriptions. There was a minor prize mix-up but most of the students already have their prizes.

Cyber Police – Mrs. Dougherty also gave a chilling overview to information related to internet and computer safety. It takes a remarkably short time for a predator to establish a connection with vulnerable teens and gain personal information such as home addresses. One of the smartest safeguards for parents is to put the computer in a public area – not a student’s bedroom. Information on how to be safe on the computer will be presented in 3 assemblies: to the 7^th grade on November 2^nd, to the 8^th grade on November 7^th, and to the 9^th grade on November 16^th.

 Next Meeting – November 18, 2005 at 9:00 am.

September

The first meeting of the 2005-2006 Unami Parent Council was held on Friday, September 16 in the Library. Principal Gary Fuller welcomed about 45 parents and staff. He presented the agenda and spoke about the first four Reporting areas and asked for volunteers to support the areas.

·         The Superintendent’s Advisory Board meeting meets once a month with Dr. Laws to discuss topics of interest for all the CB schools.    Stacey LaHoda will be Unami’s representative this year.

·         A Treasurer’s Report is presented each month showing the status of fund expenditures and profits from the various fund raisers.  The Treasurer’s report is based on information collected in the office. Principal Fuller summarized the current balance and commitments to-date and then explained the types of requests that come in throughout the year for example, for an extra assistant coach, for service clubs, for teams or teachers, and so on. He also described other activities where funds may be spent, such as field trips, plays, Freshman Day and faculty luncheon. At a future meeting, Mr. Fuller and or staff will present the Requests for Funding received.  The funds that are allocated come from the money raised during the Magazine drive. Cheryl Walker will supply Unami’s Treasurer’s report this year.

·         The Parent Council Meeting Minutes are a summary of the meetings and are posted on the Unami web site – see http://www.cbsd.org/unami. Karen Fein will record meeting minutes.

·         The Unami Wear Sale is to help foster school spirit by displaying the Unami name. Forms will be sent home in a few weeks and the apparel comes home after Thanksgiving – in time for the holidays. If a parent wishes to order a gift, they can mark the order form and drop it at the office so that the student is not involved. There is a try-on day so the students can determine proper sizes. Annette Girona volunteered to lead this task with two additional parents. 

Principal Fuller then discussed various Unami News items:

·         Back To School Nights –

o        Tuesday, September 21 – 7^th Grade parents are to meet in the auditorium at 7PM and after an introduction by Principal Fuller the parents follow an A day student schedule.

o        Wednesday, Sept. 22 – 8^th Grade parents meet for Team presentations at 7PM. Also, Wednesday, Sept. 22 – 9^th Grade parents will meet in the auditorium at 7PM and then 8^th and 9^th grade parents follow a B day student schedule.

·         Principal Fuller provided dates for the upcoming Dances and then described the dances for the school year. Grade 7’s dance was held on Friday afternoon, September 16. The 8^th and 9^th grade dance will be held on October 21^st.  Other scheduled dance dates are posted on the web site. Student Council runs the dances – some are for charity events. New this year for evening dances is a staggered pick-up time – 7^th grade at 930 PM, 8^th at 945 PM and 1000 PM for 9^th grade.

o        Note – the bleachers in the gym will be replaced over the next 2-3 weeks, which is why the 8^th and 9^th grade dance was pushed to October 21^st. Phys Ed classes will be held outside during these weeks.

·         On October 3, Unami will be on the Synervoice Phone System – this computer system will call for all absences starting about 930 AM. Parents should still call the school when a student will be out – an answering machine takes messages if the school is not open.

·         Unami’s 40^th Anniversary – a committee has been formed to plan a celebration of this milestone sometime in April or May.

·         The Magazine Drive is underway. Assistant Principal Cheryll Dougherty explained the drive and the turn-in dates, the assemblies that the students had just attended, and the rationale for choosing a different vendor -Great American - this year. Ms. Dougherty thanked those parents who had already volunteered to help with the magazine sales and asked for additional assistance on the three drop off days and several parents did volunteer to help.

·         Jeanne-Marie Kita gave an overview of the Science department fund raiser which helps support the science fairs and competitions. Zap-a-Snack orders – for pizza and various snack items - will be taken from September 28 through October 20^th with a delivery on November 10^th – the ½ day. Parents were asked to sign up if they could help with the distribution.

Unami’s Librarian – Stacy Rosenthal – presented an overview of the Library Website And Research Services. All students have received an orientation of the library. Unami’s library website is http://www.cbsd.org/unami/library/ The research sites can be reached from home by students – check the library E-notes for more information on access. Parents who shop Genuardi’s should sign-up for E-Scrip and designate Unami to receive funds that are allocated to the library.

The following Questions and Discussions took place during the meeting:

·         There are currently about 990 students with 350 in 7^th grade, 321 in 8^th grade and 311 in 9^th grade. The teacher ratio is 17-24 in 7^th grade, 25-28 in 8^th and 28-30 in 9^th. There are two 9^th grade classes with 32. Mr. Fuller also explained more about the teams and that there is a split 8^th / 9^th team which is why those class sizes are a little higher. The Pennsylvania guidelines and the school board number recommend 30. After October 1^st, there will be more accurate numbers as reports on enrollment are due.

·         The Subject Coordinators this year are:

·         English - Darlene Crumley

·         Math - Barbara Barber and Debra Bryan

·         Science - Jesse Scheck

·         Social Studies - James Massey

·         The Guidance Counselors are:

·         7^th – Lisa Corr

·         8^th – Mandy Cammann

·         9^th – Steve DiStefano

·         For information, parents should check the web and newsletters that come home during the middle of each marking period. Teachers and staff can be reached via email using first initial and last name @cbsd.org for an address. Also, many teachers post E-notes containing classroom assignments and information and club / organization notes.

·         Directories will be on-sale at Back To School Nights and they do contain sports teams and club lists. There is also a map directory for all the schools Unami competes with available as a fund raiser for the cheerleaders.

·         A parent questioned why the students had to be assigned to one table for lunch. Principal Fuller explained the rationale. Students will be able to change tables at the semester break. Also, if a student must change seats, then the student should see a guidance counselor.

Meetings are generally held the 3^rd Friday of the month and the next meeting will be at 9 am on Friday, October 21^st, 2005. Plans for the agenda for the meeting include reviewing Unami’s Mission Statement, the Funding Requests, and time permitting viewing a video on “Cheating”.

Meetings are generally held the 3^rd Friday of the month.

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