Glen Grove Elementary School

April 10, 2007

Meeting called to order at 6:35 pm.

Present: Lori Hinton, Mary Riley, Patty Patt, Frances Archer, Jodi Kay, Mary Zempole, Agnes Shaikh, Merryl Brownlow, Julie Wrona, Kelly Konrad, Mindy Schloss, Lisa Antzis

Executive Board Elections: The new board members were voted on for the next two years.
The members are:
Patty Marfise-Patt President
Angie Nelson Vice President Volunteers
Frances Archer Vice President Membership
Melinda Boutsikakis Vice President Communications
Lori Samataro Treasurer
Mindy Schloss Secretary

Classroom Placement: Information regarding placement will go home in registration packets this week. Parents will provide input on their child to support the process. Requests for particular teachers or placements are not accepted. If after reading the information, you have a particular placement concern, please feel free to contact the principals. There will be informal visitation for the multiage classroom for second grade parents on Thursday, May 10 from 8:15-9:00 and 1:00-2:00 and on Friday, May 11 from 8:15-9:00 following the orientation session for those who may want to see it firsthand before making a decision about opting out of the program.

Treasurer’s Report: Julie Wrona reported. The current balance on both accounts is $92,756.22. After the main expenses are paid out there will be a balance of $53,989. The budget for 2007-2008 was overviewed and discussed. The final approval will be voted on at the May PTA meeting.

Principal’s Report – Glen Grove Merryl Brownlow reported.
• Enrollment: 3rd – 134 4th – 129 5th – 129 NSSED – 8 Total = 400
• Cultural Arts: Child’s Play came and performed stories written by GG students. We are looking forward to The Klezmer Band on Friday, May 4 at 1:00 PM. TV turn off week will have an evening performance of Jeffrey the Great Magic at Westbrook on Thursday, April 26 at 7:00 PM.
• Transitions 2-3: Parent orientation is scheduled for Wednesday, May 9 at 6:30 PM at GG. The 2nd graders will be visiting GG on Monday, May 7 and Wednesday May 9. 2nd graders and their families are also invited to Academic Showcase on May 17.
• Our students and staff will begin gearing up for the spring assessment which will take place the first week of May.
• Staff changes: Beth Tsoumas is moving from TREE to the Gifted Teacher position (Nancy Kreloff is retiring). Megan Robinson will move from 3rd grade Explorer team to the multiage (TREE) classroom. Lauren Green (currently an RII from the DePaul Clinical model program) has been permanently hired for the 3rd grade position. We are in the process of interviewing for the addition 3rd grade section we are gaining next year. We will also be interviewing for another ELL teacher. Lori Marcotte will join Val Hausman and Nancy Kabat in teaching some of our drama classes. We will be hiring a new part-time drama teacher. The entire Voyager team (4th grade) will move to 5th grade with their students. The Kaleidoscope team (currently 5th grade) will return to 4th grade to begin another 2 year loop. Teachers on a team share the instructional responsibilities for all students on that team. Your child may experience instruction being delivered by various members of that team.
• Upcoming dates: There was a date change for the 4th grade program. It has been moved to Wed., April 25 at 1:00 PM for parents. The 3rd grade program is scheduled for May 23. Parents are welcome to join us for the 1:00 PM performance that day. The Chorus Concert is set for Thursday, May 3 at 7:00 PM and will feature all grade levels. Please check for dates on the building websites. The district calendar is not always correct.
• Parking: With all the upcoming events at GG, just a reminder of the parking options. Please do not block fire lanes or drives when parking. You may park in the neighborhoods adjacent to the school and use the walking paths to school grounds. Thank you for your cooperation in this manner.
• Young Authors: As a building, we decide to celebrate YA Day by moving away from competition and highlighting the efforts of all students. There will be no formal all school awards ceremony at the Academic Showcase. Full attention will be given to the PTA Book Fair in the gym. The 5th grade Kaleidoscope team is doing their own competition as a team event in the LRC that evening. We may look at incorporating a 5th grade competition in future years, if their pilot works with the criteria they are using for the judging this year.

Principal’s Report – Westbrook Lori Hinton reported.
• Enrollment: K – 153 1st – 188 2nd – 185 Total = 526
• New board policy creates max. class size of 20 at the primary level. Based on current registration, we will most likely have 7-8 sections of Kindergarten, 9 sections of 1st grade and 9 sections of 2nd grade in 2007-08. All families with future kindergartners should register at this time. If you know anyone who has not registered, please have them stop by the school office.
• Poetry Week is an annual tradition at Westbrook. We spend a week with “poems in our pockets”. We will read poems in the hallways, playground, and on the busses. Poetry week will be the week of 4/16.
• The week of April 22 WB will celebrate TV Turnoff Week. Throughout the week we will highlight all the wonderful things to do besides watch TV. On Thursday, April 25 we will host a magician.
• Upcoming events:
April 20 - 2nd Grade Fine Arts Program
April 20 - WB PTA Movie Night
May 24 - Kindergarten Program at 10:15 AM and 2:15 PM
May 24 - Ice Cream Social (evening)
May 25 - Senior Day for 2nd graders at 11:00 – 12:00
• Aluminum Can Drive: Students are currently collecting cans as an all school project to help the Earth and sponsor and animal from the Grove. A presenter from SWANCC shared information about recycling last week. In addition to recycling cans, we are focusing on recycling paper.
• NWEA Pilot: A primary version of the MAP has been developed. The assessment is currently administered in District 34 in grades 3-8. Several WB teachers have volunteered to pilot the assessment to help us understand the logistics of testing and the classroom level data it will provide.
• Thank you PTA for the wonderful assembly. The students danced and sang along with the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band.

Committee Reports:

Market Days: The PTA earned $194 this month.

Movie Night: Westbrook will host the night with the movie Cars on Friday, April 20 from 6:00-7:50 PM. Please contact CJ Schultz if you would like to volunteer.

Ice Cream Social: Glen Grove’s will be May 17 and Westbrook’s will be May 24.

5th Grade Picnic: The picnic will be held on Monday, June 11. The children will walk to Flick Park and enjoy an afternoon of lunch and games.

GG Book Fair: The fair will be held from May 16-18.

Teachers’ Luncheon: Westbrook’s lunch is on Thursday, May 10 and Glen Grove’s will be Friday, May 11. If anyone would like to prepare a dish please contact Mindy Schloss for WB at 847-562-9880 or Adrienne Mitchell for GG at 847-657-8460.

Other Business:

Can Drive: The WB can drive is currently underway until May 17. Please send all your aluminum cans to Westbrook for their all-school recycling project.

Dining for Dollars: Thursday, May 26 will be the date to eat at Steak and Shake until 8:00 PM and earn money for our schools. You must present the coupon which was in the newsletters. Pass them out to all your friends and family.

School Days: The beginning times have changed at all school levels for the 2007-2008 school year: Glen Grove – 7:55, Attea and Springman – 8:25, Westbrook – 8:55. The school calendar will be voted on this week and finalized for the 2007 – 2008 school year.

Meeting adjourned at 7:35 PM. Submitted by Lisa Antzis